"ETHAN!"
Will's desperate scream at Ethan drowned out Erin's anguished 'Jay!' as she backed further into the corner and sobbed.
The whole of Intelligence's gasps and exclamations from were they stood by the door went unnoticed, just like their arrival moments ago.
Will ignored the rule that he couldn't treat his brother and started compressions while the defibrillator was charged and epi's were demanded.
There was a fleeting moment of panic at what he was doing to his brother and why. He cringed as he realized that he was hurting his brother to save him but that could be dealt with later when Jay's chest hurt because he was alive!
His tears stopped as the brother in him moved to the background and the doctor stepped in to save the patient. They were a well oiled machine, compressions, epi, shock...again!
Watching Jay's body arch off the bed and flop back down unmoving, slammed him back into brother mode as they repeated the process two more times and were finally rewarded with the erratic heartbeat Jay came in with.
He was unsure of what happened but suddenly Jay was taken away from him...he missed something...something important... "ETHAN!"
"Bringing him upstairs...he needs pacing wires...then we'll take it from there..."
Will power walked with the gurney, heartbeat, breathing and footsteps out of rhythm as they rushed Jay to surgery.
He was vaguely aware they cut a path through an anxious Intelligence Unit on their way out the door, that Erin was left sobbing in the corner, but he was in the elevator before the looks on his brother's team truly registered and he realized they had seen everything.
They wheeled Jay out of the elevator and through the doors of the OR, but before he could follow, he was stopped by a gentle hand on his chest.
"We got him Will...Will...I got him..."
Will was at a loss, stunned by the turn of events in the ER and being stopped from going with his brother now. He found himself staring into the face of Ethan Choi, a comforting hand on his shoulder, "It's a quick procedure...go talk to his team...I'll be down soon."
He heard what Ethan said, processed it as his friend walked through the doors, but didn't move except to slide down the wall and sit, pulling his legs up to his chest. The ER was too far away, he couldn't do what Ethan suggested...he couldn't be that far away from Jay, he just couldn't.
XXXXXXX
Ethan started with 'He's okay,' but given the look on his face he was still extremely worried.
"His..." He cleared his throat, "...heart stopped in the ER. The number of shocks he suffered wreaked havoc on his heart, it was unable to keep a steady rhythm."
This wasn't news to any of them. They all saw what happened to Jay in that ER room, heard his screams of pain, saw the tears and saw when his heart stop beating. They had collectively held their breath when Jay's body violently flopped on that bed with every shock, silently begging for him to come back. Yes, this wasn't news to them and the reminder of what they saw wasn't welcomed but they could only pray words of hope would follow Ethan's painful reminder.
"We put pacing wires in his heart to regulate the sinus rhythm. If pacing does the trick they should be able to come out in a couple of days.
"We've started him on antibiotics. His temp is currently hovering around 104 due to the pneumonia and with that on top of the heart issue, he isn't out of the woods yet. He'll be in ICU for a couple of days and we'll take it from there.
"The concussion, we'll monitor, but for now it isn't a concern. We'll know more when he wakes up. That said, a couple cracked ribs and a whole lot of bruised ones. The taser burns will heal with no scarring and there's no significant damage with the shoulder separation. Same with his wrist - the cuts where deep, needed stitches but no other repair."
"That seems like some heavy duty stuff for, 'he's okay.'"
Jay was Ethan's friend and he responded to that statement as such, with brutal hope and gratitude, "He's not dead...".
Adam blanched at his foolish declaration that elicited Ethan's reaction, but Al patted his back in solidarity...they were all thinking the same thing, Adam just voiced it.
Ethan cleared his throat and pulled it together, knowing that Adam didn't mean anything by the statement. They were all equally freaked out.
"I know. It's a lot...24 hours or so we'll now more. He's going to be miserable, but I have no doubt he'll be okay."
Knowing how freaked out they all were, Voight had a thought, "Where's Will? How's he doing?
"He's with Jay...give him some time...I'll check on them in a bit and text you when it's okay to go up.
"Okay, thanks Doc."
Ethan gave them solemn nod and walked back towards the ER. They all took their seats again and even though they knew Will needed time with his brother, they selfishly hoped he cut the alone time to a minimum. They were all itching to see Jay and none of them could count patience as a virtue they possessed, especially with what happened to Jay.
