Tainted (Criminal Minds / One Chicago FanFic)

Chapter 19 (Edited)

Emergency Department, Chicago Medical Center, Chicago Illinois 

"Chout talk to me what do we got? Oh God, Alexa?" Maggie said immediately recognising the ginger on the stretcher being wheeled into the ED. "61 got struck by a pickup truck on the way to a call, they spun out and the rig went into the river. Alexa's couldn't get out," Chout replied. "Dr, Halstead, you're up. Treatment room 4," Maggie said as they began wheeling Alexa into the treatment room. 

Dr. Halstead paused for a moment when he realized who was just brought into the E.D. Without a second thought he sanitized his hands threw on a pair of gloves and started ordering X-rays, CT and Head scan, and additionally called cardiology after discovering her heart stopped and started again on the scene. "Is she gonna be okay?" Sylvie asked from the doorway as the rest of Firehouse 51 showed up in the doorway to the treatment room. 

"The fact her pulse is back to regular sinus rhythm and she's breathing on her own are both good signs," Dr. Halstead replied as he took his stethoscope and started listening to Alexa's lung sounds when she suddenly started coughing, and her eyes fluttered open followed by a groan of pain as Alexa clutched her right arm to her chest. 

"Alexa? do you know where you are?" she looked towards Doctor Halstead confused to see him as she looked around. "Med," she replied as she let out another couple of coughs. "Are you in any physical pain?" Dr. Halstead asked her. "my shoulder," she said nodding to her right shoulder. He walked around the bed to the other side getting a closer look at her shoulder. "I can get X-rays to confirm it but, I can tell you now it's dislocated. We can get the x-rays to confirm it- Just pop it back into place, please," Alexa asked him. 

Dr. Halstead nodded, "We can give you a local anesthetic or a sedative so you do not feel any pain?" he offered as Alexa just nodded as April drew up the syringe. "Take a deep breath in," April said and the moment she did April stuck the needle near her shoulder numbing the area before they rotated her shoulder back into place which felt weird but didn't hurt as bad as Alexa thought it would. Afterward, Dr. Halstead put a sling around her arm in order to rest her shoulder. 

"How long do I gotta keep this on?" Alexa asked him, "The next 4-6 weeks depending on how your shoulder heals," Dr. Halstead replied. "I still want to send you for a head and CT scan as well as keep you overnight for observation," He added. "Thank you," Alexa said as he made his way to the door where everyone from 51 was standing. 

"How are you feeling?" Sylvie asked her as she walked into the room with Gabby, Kelly, Matt, and Chief Boden. "I know you all want to see her but you guys can't be crowding the hall. No more than 4 people visiting at a time," Maggie said ushering the rest of 51 out to the waiting room. "A little shaken up, not gonna lie," Alexa replied honestly. "No doubt, you had us really worried about you," Gabby replied. 

"You should probably call your dad, let him know you're okay," Chief said. "You called my dad?" she said more than asked. "Hotchner when I pulled you out of the river you weren't breathing and you had no pulse, of course he called your dad," Kelly replied. For a moment Alexa remembered the last thing she saw before she woke up here. The last person, her mom. In a way it made sense she saw her mom, she had no pulse and wasn't breathing. She was clinically dead. 

"Can I borrow someone's phone to call my dad? Mine is in the ambo," Alexa replied as Gabby handed her phone to her. Taking a breath she dialed her dad's cell number, the line started ringing as she held the device to her ear. The line rang a few times and went to voicemail, Alexa was about to leave a message when she heard her father's voice in the hall. 

Alexa handed the phone back to Gabby as her dad appeared in the doorway next to Chief Boden along with the rest of the BAU agents. Her dad physically sighed in relief when he saw Alexa before he walked over and pulled her into a hug. "Are you okay?" he asked after he let go of their hug. "A bit rattled but other than that and a dislocated shoulder I'm alright. I'm just lucky I had 51 on the scene," Alexa said looking toward Kelly, Matt, Gabby, and Sylvie. 

"What did your doctor say?" her dad asked, "He wants to run some head and CT scans and wants to keep me overnight under observation," Alexa replied. "Alexa, neurology is ready for you," April said walking into the room with a wheelchair. Her dad helped her to her feet and into the wheelchair before April rolled her out of the room. 

April wheeled Alexa past Derek and down the hall towards the elevators. "Alexa," he said jogging to catch up to them as they waited for the elevator. "I'm really glad you're okay," Derek said causing her to nod as the elevator doors opened. "so am I," she replied honestly before April rolled the wheelchair onto the elevator. 

The scans didn't take long and April wheeled Alexa back to the treatment room in the ED. Where her dad and the rest of the BAU were waiting along with Sylvie. However, Gabby, Chief, Casey, and Severide were gone. Her dad helped Alexa up with her left hand, and back onto the bed. "Thanks," she said to her dad. "Thank you April," she added earning a smile from the nurse as she left the room. "They went back to 51, and said they'd check in later," Sylvie said earning a nod from Alexa. 

"Don't scare me like that again, I thought..." Sylvie said suddenly. "Didn't you hear me yell jump?" She asked confused. "My seatbelt locked/ jammed when the truck hit us, I couldn't get out. Did you really jump while we were spinning out?" Alexa asked her earning a nod. "It all happened so fast," she added. 

Maggie and April ended up moving Alexa upstairs into a room for the night shortly after she got back from her scans. It didn't take long for the day to catch up to Alexa, who fell asleep when JJ, Spencer, David, Emily, and Penelope left the room to grab something to eat for themselves, Alexa and her dad who refused to leave. 

Alexa woke up the next morning to Dr. Halstead coming in and checking on her, making sure everything looked okay. Her dad woke up in the armchair next to the bed the moment Dr. Halstead walked in. Alexa noticed the girls asleep on the couch on the other side of the room, Spencer and Derek were sitting on the floor leaning against the wall and each other sleeping and David wasn't there. 

"Everything looks good, your lungs sound healthy. Your CT and Head scans were clear, you're all set to go. If your shoulder starts hurting take some Tylenol if the pain doesn't get any better I want you to come back to the E.D. Get it checked over," Dr. Halstead said. "Thank you," her dad said shaking his hand. "I'll get started on your discharge paperwork," Dr. Halstead said to Alexa before he made his way out of the room. That's when she noticed David standing in the doorway holding a tray of coffees. "Nice to see you're both up, I brought fresh coffee," he said walking over, handing a cup to Alex and her dad. "Thank you," Alexa said slowly taking a sip of the coffee with her left hand. 

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Hey, everyone I hope you liked chapter 19, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments. I'm hoping to have Chapter 20 posted before the weekend ( April 13th & 14th 2024) I won't really have much of a chance to write throughout this week. Thank you for all the love and support on this story <3 

-Muskokagirl204