Chapter 2
As soon as Eliot was safely nestled onto the medics chopper and headed off to the nearest hospital that could offer the comprehensive care and treatment that he would require. Nate and the team were off themselves, racing like hell on high water to get to their hitter as quickly as possible. It didn't matter how many stop signs the burglar sped past or how many alterations Hardison had made to the local crossing systems, while the last two team members gripped nervously to their seatbelts. All the crew cared about was getting to the hospital in time to see if their friend was still alive.
And so in the end, it only took them just under an hour to get there, however, when they arrived, Eliot was already in surgery, his condition having gone critical on the ride over.
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Eliot was set up in the back cabin, tied down to a stretcher with a number of cables trailing off his chest. One of the leads that ran from the hitter's body was for a patient monitoring device that kept a check on the casualty's vitals, such as temperature, heart rate, and of course blood pressure that according to the fast beeping sound coming from the machine was starting to drop.
As soon as the alarm started to blare, one of the paramedics was straight up and working to find out what the problem was, uncovering the hitter's torso to see where the damage lay.
"There's some deep bruising on the left that looks to be spreading," he announced to the other medics before sliding in closer to see if he could get a response from the patient. "Mr. Krane, can you hear me?"
Eliot was semi-conscious at this point, he started talking, but it was clear to everyone there that the hitter was seriously confused. And when the second paramedic started feeling his chest and face, cautious not to move him too much, or touch the head wound, she took note of a few symptoms that were beginning to make her nervous.
"He's clammy and showing signs of confusion. That paired with his BP and the bruising, I'm pretty sure we're looking at shock symptoms. Call ahead and let them know."
The male paramedic nodded and unclipped the radio from his jacket. The device was already hooked up to the headset in his helmet, allowing him to be heard over the loud noise coming from the chopper.
"This is air ambulance 77, we have a patient on board showing signs of shock from what we believe is internal bleeding. We need a trauma team on standby."
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As soon as the chopper landed on the hospital's rooftop, a team of doctors and nurses had the hitter removed quickly and headed straight to a prepped theatre space ready for his emergency surgery.
That was well over three hours ago now, and ever since the team got to the same hospital's waiting area, Nate had been pacing back and forth waiting breathlessly for any kind of news.
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"Family of Mr. Krane."
Sophie was just about to grab her husband's hand to try and still his movement when a tall woman wearing scrubs walked through a set of swinging doors. She looked to be in her mid-40s, with dark brown hair and hazel eyes, and as she walked further into the waiting room, Nate didn't let her get too far before meeting her halfway.
"Yes. Hi, I'm Eliot's brother, Nate." He reached out a shaky hand toward the doctor, his eyes glancing up and down her blue uniform, hoping not to see any signs of the hitter's blood. Lucky for him, it looked like the surgeon had changed their scrubs before coming to see them, the only evidence that she'd been involved with the emergency operation was the tired set to her aching shoulders and the darkening circles that lay under her eyes.
"Hi. My name is Dr. Jennings. I was the surgeon who treated your brother. Would you come with me so we can discuss what has happened?"
The mastermind nodded quickly ready to race off where ever the doctor lead him but stopped when he remembered the group of thieves still loitering behind them. "Can they come too?"
The doctor shook her head. "Sorry, direct family only." She knew these rules seemed arbitrary when dealing with the life of a loved one, but they were important for patient safety.
The mastermind was about to argue, he didn't feel right about going alone when they all were practically the hitter's family, but the grifter interrupted him before he could. "It's ok Nate. We'll be here when you get back." Sophie's voice always did have a calming effect on him.
So after a quick hug and a few other encouragements from the rest of his team, Nate followed the doctor to a large office in a quiet part of the hospital. Her wall was filled with certificates and thank you notes. She was clearly an expert in her field, Nate thought. As they sat down, they were separated by a large oak desk. On top of that desk was a file with his hitter's alias written on it.
"Mr. Krane. As I am sure you are aware, your brother was involved in a serious accident earlier tonight. Whilst being brought here via air ambulance, Eliot went into shock due to blood loss. One of the paramedics found evidence of internal bleeding caused by a ruptured spleen." She paused for a moment to give the gentleman in front of her time to process. "They alerted us to the problem and we got him into theatre straight away. I'm afraid the damage was too bad to save the spleen so it had to be removed."
"What does that mean?" Nate's eyes widened with fear, he didn't know exactly what a spleen did for the body, but he was petty sure not having one would cause the younger man some issues. "Is he going to be ok?"
"The spleen helps us fight infections. Now, you can have a perfectly healthy life without one, he will be able to fight off low-level infections without a problem. But he might not be able to fight off more serious infections, so he'll have to watch out if he's becoming really sick."
"You said he went into shock, is the dangerous, will there be any side effects?"
The nail on Nate's right thumb had been chewed down the skin, so now he was concentrating on his left as the doctor continued to explain the situation to him. "Hypovolemic shock is caused by loss of blood; this can lead to other complications. The most common being damage to other major organs due to strain put on them from a lack of blood supply. We will be monitoring your brother just in case he starts showing signs of organ damage." The mastermind then added this information to the ever-growing list inside his head.
"Was that all he needed surgery for? He looked pretty bad when I saw him."
"Because of the bleeding, we have yet to treat anything else. Right now, your brother is having x-rays and a CT scan to assess the damage. A colleague of mine is already on standby to take him back into theatre to treat the multiple fractures. His name is Dr. Davis, and he will be taking care of Eliot from now on." She reached down into a drawer and grabbed some informational leaflets for the patient's brother. "These should help clear up any questions you may have about your brother's aftercare, but if you need any more information feel free to call me."
Nate released a huge breath before standing and taking the leaflets softly from the kind doctor's hand. "Thanks, Doc."
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It was a while later until they heard from the elusive Dr. Davis, who just like the previous doctor, walked into the hospital waiting room and called for the Family of Eliot Krane. He was a tall man, much taller than the hacker standing just over 6ft 3, with his long dark blond hair pulled back under a surgical cap, and his grey eyes sat tiredly over dark circles.
The doctor was moving quite slowly (probably exhausted after spending so long performing surgery) as he entered the room and had barely taken a step before getting rushed by the team.
"That's us. Dr. Davis, I presume." Nate shook the man's hand vigorously. By this point, his body was just a ball of nervous energy, longing for release.
"Yes, if you would like to come with me, sir." He led Nate down the corridor and into a lift. They rode up a couple of floors, and then exited onto the orthopaedic ward and headed towards a large office. "Mr. Krane."
"Please call me Nate."
"Nate." He gave a warm smile. "As I am sure you are aware, your brother was involved in a motor accident and a subsequent fall. This caused a large number of fractures that required a lengthy surgery. I would like to discuss Eliot's injuries with you if you feel up to it."
Nate swallowed hard as thought for about the fifth time that day if it was right for him to be here. He's not actually Eliot's brother, and although he feels like a father to him, the hitter must have a real family that would want to be with him. But in their absence, someone had to do this, and that someone would be the mastermind that caused it all. "Fire away, Doc."
He nodded and flicked a switch, lighting up a row of X-rays behind him. "We'll take this one area at a time. Let's start with his arms." He walked over to an image on the far left of the room. "Both of Eliot's arms have breaks, although the ones on his left side are less severe." As he mentioned each injury, the doc proceeded to point it out on the black-and-white image, detailing the damage and how he intended to fix it. "They should only require a splint, allowing him some level of use whilst he heals. His right side, however, will require a cast and possible surgery to realign the bone."
"Will that affect him? In the future I mean."
"At this point, I can't say. He will definitely need rehabilitation, but until he's woken up and less sedated, I can't tell the full extent of the damage." The doctor paused to let all that sink in, before continuing with his explanation. "His left leg also had some significant breaks, so we placed a cast on him that goes all the way up to his knee. The right leg was where we had the most concern." He signalled Nate to come closer to the screens so he could point out the problem and describe it in detail. "You see here," the doctor dragged his pen down the image stopping at a section that Nate could tell was damaged even without him having a 'legitimate' medical degree in his arsenal. "Eliot had an open fracture. Basically, what that means is, that the bone on your brother's leg broke through his skin. Now we inserted a metal rod to keep his bone fixed in place, but due to the nature of this type of injury, infections are quite likely so we've started him on a dose of antibiotics and he's being monitored closely."
"Was his spine ok? When he called us, he said he couldn't move."
"His spine is fine. He does have some other fractures. Three fingers on the right hand, his right foot, and a complete fracture to his pelvic bone. All of these should heal pretty well in time." Again he displayed the x-rays for the mastermind to see, and again even without the necessary training, it was clear which parts were broken.
As Nate and the doctor returned to their seats the room fell into a stark silence.
"I must inform you that your brother also suffered a head wound. Although he'll be staying on this ward, a neurologist will be having regular visits to see where we're at with that. At the moment we can't tell much until he wakes."
Nate breathed heavily, his hands shaking with a need for alcohol as well as other things that he couldn't yet face. He forced the feeling away as he rubbed his palms into his eyes. "I understand... And thank you, for all you've done for my brother."
"He's still unconscious, but you can wait with him in his room if you like." The doctor started to guide him toward the patient's room, taking the mastermind through a set of double doors and down a short corridor.
As they walked, they kept a stoic silence but soon Nate was interrupting that when he realized he needed to ask something.
"Can the others come up? They're practically family and I know they would like to see that my brother is safe." Especially Parker, Nate thought to himself. The picture of the crash site was still burned in his memory and he was just so grateful that he'd soon be able to replace it with the much nicer image of his friend in a hospital bed, but then he realized that the thief would need that also. On further inspection, Nate knew now that he shouldn't have taken the young blonde with him, that he should've handled that burden alone. But hindsight is 2020, as they say.
"Sorry. They can be here during visiting hours though, between one and five pm."
Eventually, the pair stopped outside a patient's room, the neat block capitals scrawled across the door stating that a MR. E. KRANE was waiting inside.
The mastermind hesitated at the entrance for a moment staring into the room that was both too large and too crowded somehow at the same time. In its centre, the usually active fighter was lying completely still (and kind of lifeless) with wires and tubing attached to various parts of his body, sending bits of data to various screens and monitors that lay next to his bed. And when his eyes flicked to one of said devices, just to check that his friend was actually still breathing under all that technology, Dr. Davis noticed and insured Nate that "he's still with us. It's just the sedatives keeping him under at the moment."
After that, the mastermind was led on shaky legs, to a chair set up next to the bed, where his legs then collapsed from under him like he just now realized how tired he was. Nate was about to grab the hitter's hand but stopped remembering the number of injuries that sat in that appendage alone, as his eyes once again took in the younger man's body, taking note of all the plaster casts and bandages that would obviously restrict Eliot's movement to a great degree.
'God, he's gonna hate this when he wakes up.'
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"Hey, guys, you listening?" Nate spoke aloud into the now empty room, Dr. Davies having left a few minutes ago with instructions on how to contact the medic should he have any concerns about his brother's immediate health. It was a small comfort to the mastermind, to know that help was only a button press away, yet his mind was still reeling with all the information given to him, causing his body to ache in painful remorse.
Or maybe it was just a regular old cramp, he never was any good at getting comfy in these cheap and horrible hospital chairs, despite almost a year's worth of experience.
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"Damn these chairs" Nate groaned quietly. "Why can't they make these things softer? It's not like we have enough crap to deal with, might as well add back problems to the list." It was a complaint that his wife had heard many times recently, and would probably hear a few times more.
'God let me hear it just a few times more.'
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"Yeah, Nate, we're here."
Hardison's reply jerked Nate out of the flashback.
"Sophie just nipped to get us all some coffee to help wake us up, but I gave her a coms unit so she should be able to hear us." He was clearly trying to keep an upbeat tone despite his obvious worries.
"Yeah, I'm here Nate. Tell us, how's our boy doing?"
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"How's a boy doing today, doc? Any changes?" Maggie always kept such a positive outlook at the beginning. Her voice was often soft yet jovial despite how scared and lonely she felt. It made Nate feel even worse when he couldn't manage a smile most days, knowing full well that he was bringing his son's mood down with him. He should have tried harder to make these last few months happier for him, but then again, Nate had always been such a selfish bastard.
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As the mastermind slowly opened his eyes, he groaned and scrubbed his face wearily, anticipating that trance-like states would become a lot more frequent over the next few days.
"Not sure. They say they won't know much until he wakes up and they can speak to him." He rubbed his eyes tiredly, trying to fend off sleep for as long as possible "He's pretty banged up though. They showed me all these x-rays, doesn't look like there're many bones not broken."
The sound of suddenly inhaled breaths flooded the coms.
"His Spine is fine though." Nate realized he should clarify that straight away before panic started to spread even further, listening closely as his teammates all released their stollen air. "The doc took some scans and he said that there was no visible damage to his spinal cord... Look, it's been a busy night and there's nothing left for you guys to do here, so why don't you go home and get some rest? You can come back tomorrow and see him during visiting times."
"Ok, but you have to tell us the moment anything changes." The hacker warned in a low yet weary tone.
"Will do."
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Nate woke up a little while later, with a stiff neck and an aching back. It turned out that the two-hour nap he'd taken wasn't as rejuvenating as he would have liked, but still, he managed to stretch himself out slightly in the painfully small chair, a few joints cracking with the effort.
"You really scared us this time, El. Hearing you go over that cliff, the panic in your voice after you fell, you had my wife near tears. I should really punch you for that... might actually stand a chance at the moment." Nate tried to be jovial, but the short chuckle died on his lips. He just didn't have it in him right now, not when salty water was filling up his eyes. "We really need you to wake up and tell us you're ok. The doctors keep telling us that they won't know how bad things are until you do, and you know how I like to jump to the worse possible outcome." He found a section of arm, that though bruised, seemed the least damaged. Holding on for dear life, Nate carried on with his pleas. "If you're scared of waking up because you think we'll be disappointed, don't be. I know you tie a lot of your self-worth to the things you can do, but you're so much more than that. Maybe we should tell you that more often, but since we started this team, I've watched you grow as a person. You started excepting the parts that you thought made you vulnerable and seeing them for the gifts they are. Your passion and love are what make you such a great fighter because it gives you something to come back for." He slumped back into his chair, pushing the unruly curls from his face. "Guess what I'm trying to say is... whatever happens next, we'll be there for you because we love all of you, not just the hitter."