AN: Thank you as always for your kind reviews, and sorry (as always) for making you wait so long. ^^; I'm glad you're enjoying the angst, haha, and sorry I made some of you mad with the last chapter. xD I'm not sure how you'll feel about what's ahead, but here we gooo!
Chapter 39: Waiting
"If you are not too long, I will wait here for you all my life."
~Oscar Wilde
"How's he doing?" asked Sasuke.
"Still here." came the croaked quip from his brother.
Naruto said nothing. His arms were drenched in red, the blood just kept flowing. He pressed his jacket hard on the wounds on Itachi's back unsure if he was even getting them all. Itachi winced in pain.
"Sorry." said Naruto. "I just need to stem the flow."
Itachi gave a slight nod and closed his eyes. The blood showed no signs of stopping. His entire back and chest were soaked. Naruto squeezed the fabric of the jacket tighter, mouth set in a grim line. He hadn't seen how many bullets he took in total, but one thing he knew. It was too many.
A blur of blue and red lights whipped past in the opposite direction, their sirens creating a discordant cacophony along the freeway. Sasuke glanced in the rearview mirror as the squad of police cars faded into the distance, headed in the direction their car had just come from. It was going to be full-out war back at the farmhouse.
He gripped the steering wheel tighter as they sped along the road. The city of Konoha was in sight, the glow of its lights painting the sky a dull orange.
"Just hang on a bit longer," he said. "We're almost there."
He pressed his foot down harder on the accelerator.
It had been a quiet night, well, quiet was relative. For Madoka, this meant not being so rushed off her feet that she wanted to collapse. She'd even had time for a quick sandwich in between seeing patients.
Madoka stifled a yawn as she examined the IV dosage. Mr. Nakamura kept complaining that someone had been cutting back the drop rate, but whenever Madoka checked it, it was at the prescribed rate it had always been. Still, she pretended to adjust it every time just to keep him quiet.
"Thank you, nurse." said the elderly man. "That already feels better."
Madoka smiled, a response so automatic she wasn't even aware of doing it.
"Glad I could help, Mr. Nakamura. Nurse Ana will be taking my place on this ward for the next shift, so you let her know if you need anything else. For now, try and get some sleep, okay?"
The man nodded and closed his eyes obediently.
Madoka pulled the curtains back around his bed and left the ward, heading down a few flights and to the front desk of the emergency department.
The reception area was buzzing as usual with outpatients pacing the room and filling out forms, many cradling their various injuries. Suppressed groans and hushed conversations created the usual depressing atmosphere. Madoka scanned the room as she leaned on the desk.
"I'm here to relieve you, Asami." She said to one of the women sitting at the desk.
"Thank God." said Asami, her short-cut bob brushing against her cheeks as she threw her head back in relief. "If another person throws a form at me tonight, I think I'm going to kill someone."
The older nurse sitting next to her chuckled. "That's how I feel every day. How I have not become a serial killer yet, I've no idea."
Asami grinned, the kind of carefree smile that only comes from being relieved of your shift. She stood up, handing Madoka a stack of papers.
"It's been a quiet night, Madoka." She said with a wink. "You know what that means."
Madoka opened her mouth to reply, but didn't get the chance as the automatic doors at the entrance opened letting in a gust of cool, night air, and three figures staggered in covered in blood. The one on the right looked up, his jet-black, anguished eyes shooting laser-focused on Madoka.
"Please…help us! My brother – he's been shot!"
Madoka shared a momentary glance with Asami.
"It begins." muttered Asami before they both sprang into action.
The two nurses rushed over to the men and took hold of the slumped, bloodied body.
The older nurse picked up the phone. "We have a code red in emergency. I repeat, code red in emergency."
The calm before the storm, thought Madoka. Asami had been right…as per usual.
"Okay, we have abdominal gun shot wounds and massive internal bleeding."
"He's just lost consciousness. We need to get him to the OR stat!"
The doctors and nurses surrounding Itachi were a hive of activity as they deftly loaded him onto a gurney and took off with him down the hall, their brows knitted in concentration as they ran alongside his prone form and down the hall towards the OR.
Sasuke and Naruto jogged helplessly behind.
"You can help him though, right? You can fix him?"
Sasuke found himself blocked by a petite, brown-haired nurse as the gurney disappeared through a set of swing doors.
"You both need to wait here." She said, holding up her hands.
"Like hell I'm waiting here, lady." retorted Sasuke, pushing past her.
The nurse grabbed him firmly by the arm. He shot her a warning look.
"Get your hands off me. Now."
The nurse swallowed, but stood her ground.
"You go in there and the only thing you will do is decrease that man's chance of survival, do you understand? You need to let the doctors do their job."
Sasuke hesitated, turning his gaze to the still-swinging doors.
"Sasuke." said Naruto softly. "She's right. The best thing we can do for Itachi right now is stay out of the way."
Sasuke's eyes stung. He ripped his arm out of the nurse's grip.
"Fine." He said, stalking over to the chairs of the waiting area. He slumped down onto the scratchy, grey upholstery of one of the seats, and put his head in his hands. He felt suddenly very tired.
"You want to wait. We wait." he said.
Madoka let out a silent sigh of relief. Her fingers had been hovering over her radio ready to call for security backup. She turned to the other young man next to her.
He seemed calmer than his steely counterpart though perhaps that was due to sheer exhaustion.
She glanced him over, taking in the cuts and bruising on his face. His eyes and cheeks were swollen, and dried blood caked his skin. At first she'd thought all the blood on these kids was from the man they'd brought in. Now that she could see the damage close up, she was certain it wasn't.
"We're going to need to check you both over too. Did either you sustain any gunshot wounds?"
The blond swallowed, his eyes fixed on his friend slumped in the chair.
"Sasuke has a wound on his hand. Could you - "
"We're fine." said the one in the chair, cutting off the blond.
"I think fine is one heck of an overstatement." replied Madoka. "You've both clearly been through the wringer. Were you assaulted?"
The dark-haired teen's head lifted, the glittering black eyes glancing over at his friend who quickly looked away, focusing at some unknown spot on the wall. Neither of them answered, so Madoka pressed on.
"I think you should both come to the ER for now so that we can check you over."
"I'm not leaving." mumbled the boy on the chair. "You should go, Naruto."
The one named Naruto flicked his gaze towards his dark-haired friend, before giving Madoka a tired smile.
"I'm not leaving either."
Madoka nodded. She wanted to argue. The boy looked dead on his feet. Still, she couldn't force either of them to be treated, at least for now, and they didn't appear to be suffering any fatal wounds requiring emergency treatment.
"We'll send someone along later with some forms to fill out for both of you. That will put you on the treatment waiting list at least. As for the patient just admitted, his name is…?"
"Itachi Uchiha." said the kid on the chair, his voice flat and hollow. "He's my brother."
"Ok." said Madoka. "Also, just to inform you, the police have been notified. It's standard procedure for gunshot wounds. They'll be along shortly and will need to ask you some questions."
"No shit." said the dark-haired boy with a bitter laugh. "They probably won't be here for a while though."
"Why's that?" asked Madoka with a small frown.
He smirked at her, his mirthless smile sending a shudder through her.
"They're busy."
Step. Step. Step.
Turn.
Step. Step. Step.
Turn.
Step. Step. Step.
Turn.
The ache in Naruto's head only increased as he watched Sasuke pace the waiting room.
"Sasuke, sit down for a second. Just take a moment to rest." He said.
Sasuke shook his head, eyes fixed on the floor as he paced.
"I'll rest when I know he's okay."
He glanced up at the doors to the operation room, and ran a frustrated hand through his hair.
"Ugh! They should have let me in there."
Naruto stood up and put a hand on Sasuke's arm.
"You're too high-strung. You have to let them do their job."
Sasuke shook his hand off and continued pacing.
"Then they need to do their job better. We've been waiting here for an hour with no news."
Naruto sighed and nodded before resuming his seat facing the doors to OR.
"They'll save him, Sasuke. They know what they're doing."
"They'd better."
The boy continued pacing.
Step. Step. Step.
Turn.
Step. Step. Step.
Turn.
Asami hurried through the hospital hallways. The slapping of her shoe's rubber soles against the linoleum echoed through the corridor.
So much for the end of her shift.
After those bloodied men arrived, the storm had truly broken. The whole ER department had been put on the alert for a major influx of casualties, and every available staff member was needed. Already the first of them had arrived – a couple DOAs and 3 men presenting bullet wounds. One had been a police officer.
Asami wasn't sure what was going down, but whatever it was, it must be big.
The other nurses were covering for now, and she had a moment to spare before more casualties came in.
Curiosity was her weakness, and right now the gossip in her wanted to glean what information she could. The police were being tight-lipped as usual.
She rounded the corner and pushed through the double doors to the waiting room of OR number 3.
Two faces turned to meet her. The dark-haired boy glared at her with eyes black as night and the intensity of a cold, burning fire. The other one, the blond, was a quilt of blood and bruising. His face was tired and worn from exhaustion, and it looked like he was having difficulty keeping his eyes open at all.
Asami swallowed.
These were just kids. What did they have to do with all this?
"I, uh, I came to give you these forms to fill in."
The blond teen's eyes flicked to the sheets she held in her hands before fixing her with a quiet stare.
Naruto had no time nor need for forms right now. They had more important things to worry about. He sighed and reached out his hand for them, but before he could take them, a man dressed in green scrubs pushed through the swing doors for the OR department.
Sasuke dashed to him.
"How is he? How is my brother?"
The doctor pulled down the mask covering the lower half of his face. His lips were set in a grim line.
"I'm sorry." He said carefully. "We did everything we could, but…"
The words faded into a distant buzz and Sasuke could only stare as the man continued talking.
"…tried to resuscitate…too much blood loss…"
Sasuke staggered back. He was vaguely aware as Naruto took hold of his arms and said something.
This wasn't possible. It couldn't be.
Not possible. Not possible. Not possible.
"Not possible." He murmured.
The doctor frowned. "I'm sorry?"
Sasuke jerked his head up, burning eyes fixed on this disgusting liar.
"It's not possible." he said in a seething tone. "You're a doctor. You had a whole team."
Naruto yelled as Sasuke jerked away and shoved past the doctor into the OR department.
Doors slammed open and surprised hospital staff were shoved aside as Sasuke dashed into the surgery.
There lay his brother, his body an unrecognizable bloody mess splayed upon the operating table. Tubes stuck out in all directions from his mouth, neck and arms, and the harsh lights glared down on his chalk-white skin, lighting his still corpse.
His face though, his face was still and calm, a small smile lit its features.
Peaceful, as if he had simply fallen asleep.
A lump formed in Sasuke's throat and he took a step towards the table, reaching out. His fingers almost brushed the pale skin, but then hands grabbed him, pulling him back.
His instincts kicked in, struggling against the intrusion. Why were they leaving him there?
"Let me go. Let me go! I have to help him! Let go!"
"Sir, sir, you need to calm down."
"No, let me go. Let me -!"
The arms wrapped around him in a tight lock around his neck, effectively immobilizing him. The last he saw was Itachi's calm, pale face smiling at him before he was dragged out of the theater.