TW: physical trauma, medical situations

Chapter Text

Pain

Screaming

Red and blue

"I've got a pulse"

Chan?

Bright lights

Cold

Darkness

—-

"Unconscious female- fall from stairwell. Found down by a neighbor. Neighbor thinks she lives on the third floor, was found halfway down to the first. Looks like she caught the railing instead of falling all the way down. Head and facial trauma, obvious broken ribs. Responding to pain. BP low in the 90s/60s but otherwise stable. 18s in bilateral AC with fluids running in left. "

Another voice, "Pan scan, CT head and neck, run a rainbow. Keep her on O2 until we get a better look at those ribs"

—-

Allie entered the room, preparing to assist transfer the new trauma patient to CT. Holding c-spine she stared down, her face only a foot from the patients. no She squinted she looks like without thinking she glanced to the patients right hand. On her ring finger was a plain gold band and Allie felt certain that if she could get a closer look she'd see STAY engraved on it.

"Cleo?"

"CLEO?!"

Lee looked up in alarm from where he was charting across the room, "Allie what-"

"Lee come here now. Check the patients left wrist."

"What? Why?"

"Just do it!"

A bemused Lee made his way over to the patient and picked up her wrist, turning it over to check the back.

"Is there a tattoo there?"

"How did you? Yeah there is"

"What is it?"

"Some numbers? 129? Allie what's going on…"

But Allie had dropped her head, she couldn't breathe. Resting her forehead on the patients for a moment before looking back at Lee.

"It's Cleo. Lee this is Cleo. Go get Maria. Now!"

Recognition quickly followed by horror spread across his face. Without another word he sprinted from the room. Allie smoothed Cleo's hair back as she grabbed some alcohol pads, intending to clean the dried blood from her face. The swelling and bruising from the fall had obscured Cleo's features and, Allie thought, you never really expect your best friend to roll in on a gurney a bloody mess.

Katie had gone by Cleo's apartment and found her phone under the stairwell. The screen was cracked but it was still functional. Allie plugged it in at Cleo's bedside as she waited for her to wake up. She'd been there all-night, sleeping on the stiff armchair. Both her and Katie had spoken with the police who left hours ago. Katie told them about the flowers Cleo had received and the threats from people online. Allie filled in the gaps and told them to look for Cleo's ex-boyfriend, Jason. "He's put her in the hospital before but nothing this bad"

The swelling across Cleo's face had gotten worse. An ugly purple bruise formed across her forehead, partially obscuring her left eye. Sutures were scattered over her body, holding closed the multiple cuts she'd sustained. A cast covered her right wrist and bandages wound around her chest. Allie had carefully washed the blood from Cleo's hair after the doctor confirmed there'd been no damage to her neck and spine. Head scans showed some mild swelling but nothing that should cause permanent damage. At this point there was nothing more to do but wait.

At 9am a phone rang.

Allie checked her own phone thinking Katie was calling for an update, but her screen was blank. It took her a second to realize the sound was coming from Cleo's phone. She picked it up and saw a call coming from Bang Chan .

"This is Cleo's phone"

"Oh, hello. Is Cleo there, I was hoping to speak to her?"

"This is Chan, right? From Stray Kids or whatever?"

"Yes. Who is this?", Chan sounded taken aback.

"Allie. I'm Cleo's best friend. She can't talk to you."

Chan took a deep breath, "Look I know she's probably angry with me, but I wanted to apologize for how she was treated. We really miss her, if I could just-"

"No. you don't understand, she's in the hospital. She was attacked."
It took everything in Chan not to drop the phone. His vision tunneled down until he couldn't see. He collapsed onto the bed.

"Hello? Are you still there?"

He's been quiet for too long and the voice on the other side of the phone sounded concerned.

"Yeah, I'm here. I'm sorry. Is she? I mean. What happen- who?" He couldn't string two words together to form a coherent sentence. Luckily the voice on the phone could sense his desperation for information.

"She's alive, but in pretty rough shape. I don't know when she will wake up. They don't know who did it, but they think she was thrown down a stairwell. My moneys on Jason but the police said…"

Chan felt his blood run cold. Memories of a threatening phone call ran through his mind. "Who's Jason?", but something in his tone made Allie pause.

"Oh um. If Cleo hasn't told you I don't think I should…"

"I understand", suddenly Chan couldn't stand to be in his room anymore. He leapt from his seat and began to pace. "Where are you?"

"Uh, the hospital?" she sounded confused by the sudden switch in his tone.

Chan rubbed a hand across his brow, "Yes, I know, Allie, but which hospital?"

Allie hesitated, unsure what to do. She knew that Cleo thought the safest thing for Stray Kids was for her to stay far away from them but looking down at her face all Allie could think about was how lost and sad Cleo had seemed the past few weeks since leaving them. Before she could regret it, she rattled off the name of the hospital to Chan who thanked her before hanging up. Allie stayed on the phone for a few seconds after the line went dead.

He began throwing things into a suitcase with little concern as to what he was actually packing. As he fired off messages to an assistant requesting the first flight out, he heard a knock. Chan opened his door and came face to face with Felix.

"Hey, I know it's late, but we were about to start a movie in Changbin's room and… What's wrong, what happened?"

Chan was too worked up to care about how sweaty and disheveled he appeared. He returned to his suitcase on the bed and began to zip it up. "There's an emergency. I'll be back before the next show. Tell Minho he's in charge."

"Wait!" Felix grasped Chan's wrist, stopping him from fully zipping the bag. "You can't just leave? Where are you going? What emergency?"

He took a deep breath. His instinct to protect Felix warred with his need to get to the airport as soon as possible. Making up his mind, he met Felix's eyes. "It's Cleo, she's in the hospital. She's in bad shape and I need to go to her."

Felix's grip on his wrist tightened, "What happened? Is she going to be okay?"

"I don't know." The full breadth of the situation was finally seeping past his adrenaline and he suddenly felt exhausted. "I don't have all the details I just know I can't stay here. I'll explain everything as soon as I can, just... apologize to the guys for me okay?"

Felix released his hold on Chan and took a step back. "You can't seriously think I'd let you go alone? Give me 5 minutes. I'm coming with."

Before Chan could argue Felix was out the door, sprinting for Hyunjin's room to pack his own bag. Once he was alone he knelt on the ground and began to beg. Please, please, please let her be okay. This is all my fault. He didn't even know who he was pleading with.

As he finished his silent plea, he rose to his feet. Chan grabbed his suitcase and checked his phone for the updated flight information from the assistant. Within minutes, Felix had returned with a bag slung over his shoulder.

"I'm ready. Let's go," Felix declared, determination in his voice.

Chan nodded to him. Together they left the room, Felix reaching for Chan's hand as they rushed for the elevator.