TW: descriptions of trauma and medical intervention. Skip past the *** to avoid.

Someone explain to me why I thought a chapter made of so much dialogue was a good idea. I hate writing dialogue. This was painful. I hope you have a better time reading it than I did writing it.

Chapter Text

In front of her was Bang Chan. In front of her was Bang Chan! Cleo couldn't help but look down at her scrub top, convinced her heart was beating hard enough the motion would be visible.

He smiled and waved, "Hello! It's nice to meet you, I'm Chan. What's your name?".

Cleo swallowed. Get it together, he's just a person. She thought before returning his wave and introducing herself, "My name is Cleo. It's a pleasure to meet you! I know we don't have much time, so I really just wanted to say I'm incredibly indebted to you for your music. I know I'm not the only fan who feels like your music saved their life. Stray Kids has gotten me through some really dark days and has been a source of strength when I needed it. I guess I really just wanted you to know what a positive impact you have had on the world."

"I can't express how grateful I am to hear that. It's always my hope that my music can connect with people on a personal level and provide some solace. What specific songs resonated with you?"

"'Grow Up' was something I listened to a lot. It felt nice to have someone telling me I was doing well, even when everything seemed to be falling apart."

"I'm glad that song could be there for you. Writing that song was a way for me to process my own experiences, so it means a lot that it resonated with you. If you don't mind me asking, it looks like you're in scrubs- what do you do for work?"

Cleo looked down, she'd honestly forgotten where she was and what she was doing. Chan had completely put her at ease. It didn't feel like she was chatting with a celebrity, but rather with a friend who she shared an interest with.

"I'm a nurse at an Emergency Department in Minnesota. It's actually been crazy here tonight, which is why I look…." She gestures to her general being, "like this haha".

"Trust me, you look great. You should see Hyunjin after dance practice, he's a sweaty mess."

What did you just say? Cleo heard a muffled indignant yell and had to cover her laugh.

"I think he might have heard that"

Chan snorted, "It's nothing we haven't told him a million times before, he'll get over it."

A ding sounded from Chan's side of the call. "That's our time, it was really lovely to meet you Cleo. I wish we could chat more. I'd love to hear about your job sometime. I hope your day slows down." Cleo thought Chan looked really sincere, like he actually wanted to continue talking. She gave a short tip of her head.

"Thanks for listening Chan. I hope your upcoming concerts go well." And with a wave he stood up from his seat.

"Felix will be next! Bye!" And he walked out of frame.

In no version of today's events had she expected the conversations to go as well as her conversation with Chan had gone. She felt herself begin to relax. She'd always enjoyed meeting new people and ultimately the members of Stray Kids were just 20 something year old's like her…Even if they were internationally famous and criminally good-looking ones.

A blur of blonde drew her eyes back to the screen. Settling himself into the chair was Felix. He looked back at her flashing one of his dazzling smiles. She could see why his nickname was Sunshine, the man exuded happiness and warmth, even through a video screen.

"Hiya, I'm Felix. Chan said your name was Cleo and you're a nurse- that must be so exciting, what's it like?"

You would have to be made of stone to not feel an immediate pull towards Felix. Cleo found herself recounting a few of her more entertaining stories.

"But really, I cant imagine anything I've seen can compare to performing on stage in front of thousands. How do you do it?"

Felix began to answer with a laugh, "Honestly, it's still just as nerve-wracking as the first time. We just get better at dealing with it. Changbin actually…"

Cleo's eyes were torn from her screen. Was that a scream? She popped out one of her Bluetooth headphones to listen.

"Is everything okay?" Felix looked concerned.

"Yeah, I just thought I heard…", Cleo was cut off immediately by a piercing shriek coming from the direction of the waiting room. Moments later an alarm began to ring overhead. Without a second thought Cleo tossed her phone in her pocket with a hurried, "Emergency, got to go".

******
Screaming in the emergency department isn't abnormal. Screaming from the waiting room however is never good. Cleo took the turn and pushed through the double doors. The first thing her eyes found was red. Smears of red covered the usually shiny white floors. As she took the corner around the desk she found the source of the bleeding. A middle-aged woman was bent over what looked like a pile of red and black rags. She was screaming gibberish. Cleo only caught the occasional "Help, please" and "I didn't see him!" amongst the strangled screeching. Huddled around the rags was the triage nurse, Abby, and assisting tech. Despite knowing Abby to be a very calm and capable nurse her complexion was flat white, she appeared unable to do more than try to pull the woman off the rags.

As Cleo made her way to the small crowd she saw the rags take a sputtering gasp, the pool of red underneath growing larger. Finally, as Abby moved the woman out of the way she was able to see properly. The pile of rags was actually a man. Or what remained of one. The right side of his skull had caved in, leaving the rest of his face nearly unrecognizable. What could be identified as facial features were so coated in blood they looked made of wax. His left leg bent in at the shin and Cleo was sure if you looked under his jeans you would see bone piercing the skin. Lacerations and what Cleo recognized as road rash covered what skin was visible on his torso. As she bent down to feel for a pulse the man opened his eyes and moved as if he were going to stand before, with a grotesque sucking noise, he gasped and stilled.

Taking charge, Cleo pointed to the frozen tech and Abby, "Get a stretcher now, we need to move to Bay 2". Jolted into action they sprinted away. At the same time two more nurses arrived to the waiting room. Cleo ordered one to stabilize the man's head, preventing any further spinal injury, the other nurse she asked to begin cutting off the man's clothing, so they could get a better look at the sources of bleeding. Cleo herself began chest compressions. After the last gasping breath, she had felt no further pulse.

Despite her three years of experience in the emergency department and countless coeds Cleo had been a part of, there was no preventing the rush of adrenaline that spiked in her veins. To keep time with her compressions Cleo always reverted back to singing "Staying Alive" like was taught in any basic CPR class. The refrain contains the perfect tempo for compressions, preventing adrenaline from taking over your actions. Cleo made it through two rounds of compressions by the time Abby and the tech returned with a stretcher. With one nurse maintaining proper c-spine the rest of them rolled the man onto the backboard and into the stretcher. Climbing on top to continue compressions the group began the run into trauma bay two, where hopefully the rest of their team was standing by.

As they made their way to the trauma bay Cleo allowed herself to look at the man's face properly. On closer inspection he was much younger than she had originally thought. He couldn't have been older than her and was likely younger. The woman's screaming had faded away as the doors swung shut behind them.

And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive

Cleo continued compressions until they arrived. Once in the room the rest of the team fell into action as they had many times before. Cleo called out what little she knew; it looked like pedestrian vs car, loss of pulses, major head trauma, obvious open fractures, and severe diffuse lacerations to the torso. Abby seemed to have recovered as she began to add information Cleo had previously missed. Someone was inserting an IV, respiratory therapy was beginning preparations for intubation, and the physician directed the chaos from the foot of the bed.

Momentarily relieved from compressions as another nurse took her spot, Cleo stepped to the side to catch her breath and assess what was needed. Now that the man had been undressed she could see he had a penetrating chest wound and would likely need a chest tube placed. She went to open the chest tube kit when she realized one of her Bluetooth headphones was still in her ear… and she could hear multiple voices on the other side.
*****