So Long, and Goodnight

4. The Nightmare.

Chapter 4
The Nightmare

POV - Scott

As soon as I heard those few words, I breathed a sigh of relief. I knew he wasn't out of the woods yet, but at least he was alive.

"Just think about how John's alive right now. He's alright for now." I told Virgil, pocketing my letter, "So it means we still have a chance to make it up to him."

I looked back at the EMT's. They were getting John, along with all the wires attached to him, onto a backboard and re-doing my shoddily done tourniquets.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of him while I can, and the hospital will do the best they can for him when we get there. I won't let anything else happen to him."

By this time, the two EMT's had John on the backboard and were getting ready to lift him up. They couldn't get the stretcher up here, so they'd had to leave it downstairs.

"One, two, three and lift." One of the paramedics said, and John was hoisted into the air.

Virgil started down the stairs first, followed by the paramedics, John and me; granted the EMT's were slower. And our home isn't really backboard friendly, with the sharp corner turns and bannisters.

When we finally got downstairs and got John onto the stretcher, that's when we ran into our first problem.

It seemed as though Gordon and Alan had been tentatively listening out for our return downstairs, and had walked out of the den when they heard us. And there was no way I could hide my blood soaked clothes from them.

They stood in the doorway, looks of shock on their young faces.

"Why are your clothes red?"

"Are you okay?"

"Is Johnny okay?"

A bombardment of questions I knew I couldn't answer. Well I could, but not right now. I had to go with John.

Looking at Virgil, I knew he would do what he had to, even if he was barely keeping it together. He'd do what he had to till Grandma arrived.

"Don't give them the letters." I whispered in his ear, "Give Grandma hers when she gets here, but keep the others hidden. I'll call when we get to the hospital. Remember what I asked?"

He gave me the faintest of nods, before hiding the other letters in his rucksack on the stairs.

"I'll answer your questions later." I told our youngest siblings, looking out the door to the ambulance; where John was being loaded up, "But I have to go."

I took off at a sprint and nearly fell into the back of the rig, closing the doors behind me; taking one last look at the three brothers I was leaving behind.

"Why didn't you talk to us, Space Case?" I said to him, paying close attention to what the EMT, named Greg, was doing, "We could've been there for you. Helped you before it got to this."

It was silent for about a minute, only the steady beeping of the machine making an impact on me, when another noise made me nearly jump out of my skin. I don't think it would've been that bad if I'd actually been paying attention.

"Shoot." Greg suddenly whispered, "Do you know what blood type your brother is?"

What blood type was my brother? Shit, I don't know... Wait, I do. He was tested in the hospital back in January. Come on, Scott. Think!

"He's uh... He's O negative." I told him, looking down at John's wrists.

The blood had started seeping through the bandages, all be it slower then when I first found him. But he couldn't afford to lose any more blood.

Greg hung another bag of something up and attached it to the IV port in John's hand.

"Lindsey, call ahead. See if we have any O neg patients." He called through the little window, "We need at least a couple of pints, and some spare."

From the front of the rig, I heard Lindsey talking to somebody. Her voice was calm and steady, but I could hear how frightened she was in it.

"Isn't Greenie O neg?" I heard her ask, "She could give blood."

He thought about this for a couple of second, as if he was trying to remember. A little bit like me when I was trying to remember John's.

"I think she is, but get the hospital to check that. We don't want to do more harm than good."

"What do you mean 'more harm than good'?" It sounded like my voice had gone up an octave or two, making me sound a bit like a chipmunk, "Can't he receive any blood? He's a universal recipient, right?"

Paramedic Greg looked like he was about to tell a child that their pet rabbit had just died.

"John has a rare blood type. His blood can be given to anybody, but he can only receive blood from somebody with the same type as him." He told me, raising my brother's arms above his head. He was trying to stop the bleeding, or at least keep it to a minimum.

The sirens were going full blast as well, something I hadn't noticed when I was focused on John's heartbeat. It seemed to be louder then it did when you hear it on the street or in passing.

I looked down at my next down brother. He looked so pale, so peaceful... a little bit like an angel. Like he looked when he was laying unconscious in the hospital, after he'd been pulled out from under the snow. When we were still trying to get his body temperature up. When we didn't know if he would actually live.

"Greenie is O neg." A voice cut through my train of thought, "Says she's giving blood now, and that we owe her a big bag of maoams."

"That's great news. I'll find her before we have to leave again. Give her a big hug, and tell her we'll get her sweets." Greg almost laughed with glee.

They've found somebody who has the same blood type as my brother. Somebody who can save John's life.

"You know how she is with touch, Greg. Be careful, cause last time you hugged her; she gave you one impressive shiner and broke your nose."

If the situation had been different, I'd probably have laughed. John was sort of the same when it came to touch, but he didn't lash out when he was hugged. He just tensed up and waited until it was over. You had to let him come to you.

"I will never, ever say that girls are weak again. It hurt like hell, and looked like I'd gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson."

That did make me smile. I looked something like that one time when I'd been roughhousing with Virgil, and he elbowed me in the face.

"Who's Greenie?" I asked. I wanted to know about the person who was potentially the person who was saving John.

"We don't really know anything about her. She's known as Jane Doe. We know she likes maoam's, her nickname is Greenie, she going to turn thirteen next month and she's been in the hospital for close on five months. She just won't talk to anybody about what happened to her."

"What happened?"

"She was found on a walking trail in early February, bleeding and beaten. After we got her stabilised, we found out she'd tried to kill herself. She freaked once she realized she'd been not only been found, but saved as well. She keeps trying to runaway or kill herself again."

I was going to ask another question, but Lindsey's voice cut through our conversation. She sounded a little angry, but I think she was more pissed that Greg was discussing 'Jane' with me.

"One minute to the hospital. Be ready to move as soon as we stop. We don't have any time to waste, and the sooner he gets the transfusion the better."