The blood was everywhere. The strong tangy stench of copper hung in the air as Doctor Will Halstead forced his palm flat over the padded gauze in attempt to staunch the bleeding from his friend's chest. On the opposite side of the gurney Doctor Natalie Manning was using scissors to cut away the material of Ethan's burgundy scrubs.
It had been five minutes since SWAT had allowed them into the room, four since they had managed to shift Ethan's prone body from the floor to the gurney so that they could transport him into Baghdad, the treatment room set up especially for dealing with the victims of gunshot wounds. The first thing Will had wanted to do was get this friend straight out of the hellhole that Treatment Room Five had become. The level of carnage in there...
A con let lose with a gun, could do was frightening and he thanked God that SWAT had managed to take the shot when they did otherwise they wouldn't be treating Ethan at all. The only good thing that had come out of this was the fact Wallace was dead, killed in the same manner in which he had intended to finish Ethan off in, according to Sarah.
"Ethan, I need you to stop fighting us." Will said in his sternest tone as Ethan reached up with his right hand and tore the oxygen mask from his face.
He'd been unconscious when they had gotten to him, lying in a pool of his own blood from the ragged wound in his shoulder and the second in his chest. His pallor was grey, his pulse weak and thready as perspiration dried on his forehead. It wasn't until they got him onto the gurney and placed the plastic oxygen mask over his mouth and nose that he began to regain consciousness, he'd been combative ever since.
"Ethan look at me." Natalie attempted, dipping her head in attempt to reassure their friend. "You're safe, Sarah is safe."
Ethan's dark eyes fixed on her, that wet rasp echoing in the air around them as Natalie moved to replace the oxygen mask. His right hand shot out, clamping down on her wrist in a grip that was almost painful as he wheezed rapidly in an attempt to spit the words out.
"Get Connor."
There was an urgency in his features that Natalie had come to know well over the years she had worked in the E.D and it broke her heart into a million pieces. Her friend knew just how close he was to death, why he wanted Connor was a mystery to her but obviously it meant something to him. She wouldn't risk betraying his final wish if this was what it was.
"Get Doctor Rhodes in here." she barked at April, who disappeared out into the E.D in search of the other man.
Connor was there in what felt like seconds, his pale features distraught as he reviewed the scene before him with a raising sense of horror. There was an ache in his throat, his whole chest felt like a weight was crushing down on him as he took careful steps around the team working on his lover and squeezed into the gap that Natalie had made for him at the top of the bed. His vibrant blue eyes were stinging as his fingers sought out Ethan's hand, grasping it tightly in his own. He used his hand to brush away the damp, dark hair plastered to Ethan's forehead, a watery smile on those handsome features.
"I'm here." he said, forcing his tone to remain hopeful and upbeat despite the fact it felt like someone was tearing his heart right out of his chest. "April tells me you've been misbehaving."
Ethan's soulful dark eyes focused on his, his hand squeezing as hard as it could as he forced the words he had been longing to say for what felt like eons out of his mouth.
"Love. You."
Connor choked out a sob, his entire body wracked with the force of it as he brought Ethan's hand up to his mouth, his lips gently brushing over the knuckles. Ethan's hand fell limp, slipping from Connor's as his eyes rolled backwards into his head. Around them all of the monitors were shrieking, that familiar, deafening whine was the only thing Connor could hear as April grasped his arm and tore him backwards away from Ethan. His back hit the wall, his knees trembling as he watched his friends go to work on his lover, his eyes fixated on Ethan's unmoving chest.
The ground was shifting once more, he could feel the floor disappearing under his feet as he slid down the wall, those bone quaking sobs overwhelming his entire body. He couldn't breath past the immense pressure in his chest, tears were flowing thick and fast down his dark stubbled cheeks as his entire world began to fall apart.
