Chapter Text
Jack's POV
"MVA incoming! Vehicle versus pedestrian, pedestrian and driver both incoming, ETA 5 minutes."
Five minutes into the shift and it was already hectic. Lovely,
"Shen, Ellis- get the driver, Crus and I have the pedestrian," I called out as we all started gowning up. Pedestrians rarely fared well against vehicles.
I was fully in work mode until the second EMTs came in wheeling an all too familiar face.
No. No no no no no, this couldn't be happening.
"No identification, female approximately late 20s, struck by a drunk driver, was semi-stable until midway through the ride when she crashed due to suspected blood loss. No known medical history."
"She- she's allergic to penicillin. Don't give her, Crus add that to the chart I can't..."
"You know her?" He asked, obviously feeling me out.
"Yeah she's... she's Robby and I's...." our what? roommate? kind of lover? "I need to find Robby, Shen come help Crus, Ellis grab a resident to help you with the driver."
I looked around desperately, Robby hadn't left yet so where was he?
My gaze flickered to movement on the gurney and I got my hopes up when I realized it was just her arm falling over the edge, a bracelet or something sliding off her mangled wrist.
A familiar twine of leather that I remembered intimately. Because I'd made it. And gave it to her for her birthday last month.
Oh my dear sweet girl.
"Has anyone seen Robby?!"
I knew he cared, he needed to be here. Regardless of how angry I was with him right now.
"Robby." I called out when someone finally spotted him, knowing he wouldn't ignore me. He looked over, his gaze spotting the blood and then honing in on the bracelet.
"It's not..." He spoke quietly, and yet his words carried across the noise of the ER as he moved closer, eyes trained behind me through the glass doors of the trauma room.
"Robby we should let-" He pushed straight past me, because of course he did. Do first, think later. Practically Robby's life motto.
"Let us handle it Robby." I heard Crus saying as I entered the room behind Robby. "We have it under control."
"But-"
"They have it." I turned him slightly away from her, begging him not to interfere and let his emotions slow things down. I trusted my people with her life. I had to.
She needed speed. Efficiency. Something neither of us were capable of at the moment.
"Try her emergency contacts. Please." I heard Robby ask someone. I couldn't tear my eyes off her laying on the gurney.
She was going to be okay. There was no other option.
My phone started vibrating in my pocket but I ignored it. The only two people I cared about were in this room so it couldn't be important.
"No answer on the first number." She said sharply after a few minutes of trying.
"Try the second one." I chimed in.
"They hung up."
"Try again, sometimes they just don't recognize the number."
She dialed again and it was then I realized Robby's phone was ringing. I turned towards him with a look of abject horror.
"Hello." He answered, and I heard his voice simultaneously echoing through the receiver by the nurse.
"Hello I- Oh." The nurse set the phone down as she realized who'd picked up.
"I'm her emergency contact?" Robby asked shakily, and even in my muted state I could tell he was half a second away from a breakdown.
First things first though.
"Try the other one again." I asked as I pulled my phone down, staring at the phone and willing it not to buzz.
It did.
We were her emergency contacts.
I barely had time to process the thought when I realized Robby was hyperventilating next to me.
"Robby.... Robby.... Michael!" I shook his shoulders but all he could focus on was her broken and still body across the room. I dragged him out, turning him so he couldn't see into the room.
"You have to breathe baby. In for four.... Out for four...." Eventually his eyes came into focus and he seemed to calm down a bit. Well at least I wasn't worried about him collapsing from lack of oxygen.
"Jack... she...." He sounded so broken, and my heart would've clenched painfully if it wasn't currently sitting bloody in the room next to us.
"I know. I promise. But right now I need you to keep it together. I can't be worried about both of you at the same time. Will you be okay out here?" Please be okay, don't make me choose who to help.
"I'm okay. Go... Go watch over her." He waved me off and I pushed back into the trauma room where monitors were screaming slightly less than when we left. "What's going on?"
"Most of it's superficial but the abdomen is concerning, some internal bleeding, possible broken ribs. We have it more or less under control, Garcia's on her way down to take her into surgery." Crus debriefed carefully, obviously watching for me to break down like Robby did. Fortunately therapy helped some. Or it was more years in the military training me to bottle things up. Probably the latter.
Either way it kept me controlled enough to keep it together.
"Okay. That's..... okay."
It could be a lot worse. It could be so much worse.
"Shen stepped over to Trauma 1 to help with the driver."
"The driver?" Fury was a little harder to control than pain.
"Yeah, he's wasted. Ellis yelled for help cause he started seizing if you want to go..."
"No." I cut him off, knowing where that was going.
"No?"
"No. Conflict of interest, I'd probably let him die." I turned back to my girl, letting the stony look of anger fade into something soft, even though she wasn't conscious to see me. I squeezed her hand tightly. "Come back to us please pretty girl, we have to put Robby in the doghouse together."
You have to be okay. I don't think Robby would survive losing you, and I don't think I'd ever find it in myself to forgive him for chasing you away.