Seasons (Ari AU)

Chapter 22

  My purse slips right out of my hand, emptying itself at my feet all because Schneider said his name, 'Levinson.'  

  This is not the first time he'll be taken to the emergency room. It was in fact where I'd met him for the first time just two and half years earlier. I remember Shauna telling me that it was actually his tenth time in the ER since she'd started working at the hospital.  Since meeting him a couple years ago, he's scared us with three more visits during his shift hours. 

  Always trying to be a hero.

  But why does this time fill me with more fear than any of the previous three? I know the answer, it's because of the look on his Chief's face.

  The sound of my purse crashing to the floor makes me stifle my anguish sob that's threatening to break forth. Immediately I crouch down, pushing everything back inside while fisting my keys with my only purpose being to get to the hospital. I feel a gentle but thick hand on my shoulder, "I'll drive."

  I nod in agreeance with him, keeping my lips shut tightly against one another, telling myself to breathe only out of my nose or else this man is going to have a hysterical pregnant woman on his hands. 

  I expect us to get in whatever his everyday vehicle is, but instead he's pointing over to a smaller pick up truck that has emergency lights across the top, the sides labeled specifically for Station 143.  

  The ride is quiet except for the siren that howls every so often, lights flashing red and white above the cab of the truck. I'm too busy clasping my hands together to keep them from shaking to even look out of the window, or ask what exactly has happened. 

  That part may be out of total, utter fear.  And I'm just dumb enough to let myself think that in this situation if I don't know how bad it actually is, then I can keep myself from tumbling over the ledge. 

  Shauna.

  My  heart clenches again as my hand begins to dig through my purse. No, she's working a double, they'll call her like all the times before. She'll be by his bedside before we even pull into the parking lot. 

  When we pull up into the emergency area I realize that's not all that is there. Storming through the glass doors that are normally used for the patients coming in on an ambulance, the back area filled with other firefighters, still in their bunker gear, along with a couple of EMTs as well. Schneider looks like a man on a mission, looking for someone specific I'd guess.  

  I jog straight past him as he stops to talk to another guy. I'd probably even recognize him if it weren't for the fact that his face is covered in soot, wearing just the bottom half of his gear with a tee.  

  Since I've been here for longer now, no one questions when I'm down here, until today when they see my frazzled state. I go up to the nurse's station, waiting for a moment as I look around, seeing there isn't anyone available to help me. My teeth tug on my lip, ready to break protocol and sign myself into their computer system when I hear my name yelled from across the floor. 

  "Holland!"

  My feet take off running, pushing past more firefighters that are either waiting for help of their own, or worse, waiting to hear some news of Ari. I'm inclined to think it's the latter in this case. Previous injuries he's come in for there's only been maybe one or two guys that hang around. This looks to be near every one that went out on this particular call. 

  I only halt my steps when I reach her, throwing my arms wide around Shauna as she nearly collapses into my chest. She's never acted this way when they've brought her brother in before. 

  That one factor is enough to tell me, it's bad. 

 I try to pull her out of the worry and fear I know she's feeling. "What are we looking at?" I ask, hopeful that she'll toss on her nursing cap for even a half a moment rather than continuing the upset sister card. 

  "I don't know!" she wails, my plan falling completely flat. 

  With my hands held tightly to the back of her head while she bawls into my chest, I realize how stupid my idea was. I know I'd have been the same way if Jeremy had been brought in.  I want to tell her that at least she's not sitting at home unknowingly about to answer the door and discover he's gone from this world completely, leaving you with no answer to a hundred different questions.

  Get a grip, Holland. Now is not the time to turn your anger and frustration towards Jeremy onto anyone else.  

  "I need this corridor cleared out!"  

  I recognize the voice, the doctor who was with Ari the day we met. He's not nearly as calm this time, his voice loud enough to command everyone in the area rather than just the room. I pull Shauna further away but she fights me on it, trying to push out of my grasp. The doctor locks eyes with me for a moment, the subtle shake of his head gives me further confirmation.

  "We need to let them do their job," I tell my friend, desperate to get her out of the way as I see the foot of the gurney being pushed through the bay and into the main area. 

  Shauna ignores me, the same way I would someone in the same situation. "Ari!" she cries out, gripping the bars of the gurney the further the bed comes out of the room.

  I don't have it in me to pull her away, the feeling of my heart actually stopping is too strong to even lift a finger. All I can feel is a stream of tears falling down my own cheeks as I see his battered, bloody and bruised, unconscious face.