Living our past

Chapter Seventeen

THE DOOR TO THE ROOM BURST OPEN AS FLASHLIGHTS AND SEVERAL INVESTIGATORS ENTERED. Following the police were Amy and Jason. As their mind processed what they saw, their mouths dropped open, their eyes started watering, and after a few seconds of shock and bewilderment, both of them dropped to their knees heavily near the bed on which lay Alex.

"No, no, no!" screamed Jason! "Alex! Baby, please." He brushed Alex's hair with trembling fingers. "Where are the meds?!" he shouted, turning to look at the police.

Amy was wordless and motionless. Her eyes stared blankly at Alex. Through the blurry vision she had, she could only make out the three wounds on Alex's body: one in his leg, another in his shoulder and another one in his abdominals.

"Sir, stand up, please," one of the police officers told Jason Winchester. He helped him to his feet and put two fingers on Alex's neck to check for the pulse. "He's barely breathing!"

Hearing the words, Jason's muscles loosened. His body was an inch away from falling. He stood gazing at Alex, his lips unsteady; his body shuddering. "Alex," he whispered to himself.

"Alex..."

The EMTs finally arrived, taking care of Alex immediately. "This man can die from bleeding," one of the paramedics said. "Hurry up! He has already lost lots of blood." And off they went, out of the door.

"Where are you taking him?" Jason heard Amy say from somewhere in the room. The only thing he could think about was Alex, consequently, every single object or person was blurry to him. In the midst of all the police, he couldn't distinguish Amy.

"To the Lucas Hospital," Jason heard somebody answer.

One second later, Amy came to stand next to Jason, holding his hand to support him. She stared at the bed on which lay Alex a few minutes ago; it had plenty of blood stains encircling Alex's silhouette. The whole bed was drenched in wet, red, shining blood, except for the place on which Alex had lain.

The paramedics checked the other body on the floor. Tobias Michel had been shot by a sniper. He was near the bed, on the ground and on his stomach. Crunches of shattered window on his body glittered in the flashlights of the policemen. The paramedics carefully turned his body around, lifted it placing it on their emergency bed and left the room. He had been shot in the lung – just like Jason had been before – and if direct medical attention wasn't addressed, he could die.

After explaining everything they knew to the police – which turned out to be a long and tiring process – Amy and Jason eagerly left the hotel to join Alex in the hospital. Calling the police turned out to be a good idea, after all, because if they hadn't informed the investigators, Alex might have been already dead by now. Amy and Jason hadn't been able to guess or be sure whether Alex was in the room but after the suspicious words of Tobias, something had told them to notify the police.

Both friends took the lift, crossed the lobby and went outside, scanning the streets, desperately looking for a taxi to jump in. After some long five minutes, one driver stopped and they took the cab, told the taxi driver where they wanted to go and sat in silence, Amy putting her head on Jason's shoulder.

IN THE HOSPITAL, THE SMELL OF DESINFECTENT WELCOMED THEM. AMY AND JASON LOOKED around, seeing a nurse sitting behind a white, high counter so that only her head was visible from where they stood.

Pacing quickly towards her and leaving Amy behind, Jason asked, "I'm looking for Alex Smith. He was admitted an hour ago. Where's he?"

She typed on her keyboard. "Was it an emergency?" she asked. "When did he enter the hospital?"

Amy came to join him.

"Yes, emergency, and I don't know!" said Jason, trying to keep his calm. "An hour ago, I guess."

"Sir, if it was an emergency, his name was probably not even entered in the computer. If you want to see him, you should take the elevator to the second floor," the woman advised with a perfect British accent.

Without thanking her, he ran to the lift and punched the button, pacing back and forth as he waited for it to come. Finally arriving, he entered the elevator and Amy joined him. The doors closed, the elevator started ascending and a few seconds later, he found himself on the second floor.

The corridors where long and white; it was like a maze: too many corridors leading to different places.

Seeing a nurse, he asked her about Alex and she said that he was in the Operation Room, on the left, at the end.

Jason started literally to run, tears dropping on the floor as the air brushed them apart. Arriving in front of two white doors on which OR was written, he waited stiffly.

Somebody touched his arm from behind and Jason turned around fanatically. It was Amy; he had forgotten about her. "Don't you want to sit?" she asked, pointing at the chairs. "You're not going to stand like this. It might take a while."

He nodded with an almost imperceptible nod and approached the chairs, turned then sat down. Amy sat beside him.

After around two hours of waiting, a short woman emerged from the white doors of the OR, pacing quickly. She wore scrubs that were a little bit too long for her.

As soon as he saw her, Jason jumped to his feet and blocked her way. "Alex, is he there?

How's he doing?" he asked rapidly, all in one breath.

She frowned at him then said, "And who are you?"

"I'm... his partner."

"You need to inform his family," she said professionally.

"Look, we're on vacation and his family is currently in France. So, tell me how my boyfriend is doing," he snapped back at her.

"In that case... I'm so sorry," she said, both to Amy and Jason, who stood, looking with astonished expressions at her. "He has lost a lot of blood. His situation is extremely critical. Currently, he's barely breathing... We've done all we can. We don't think he will make this." "Are... are you... saying... he's going to..." started Jason, unable to finish his sentence. His legs loosened and he fell to the ground, Amy dropping down to hug him. Tears streamed down his face and his eyes were swollen. He gazed into space and rocked slowly back and forth, muttering, "Alex... Alex..."

Amy cried with him, hugging him tightly, her tears wetting Jason's shoulder.

Jason sniffed, glanced at the surgeon that still stood there and shouted, "Do something! He can't... No...!"

Something in the short woman's pockets started beeping.

"I apologize, but I have to go back."

As tears rushed down her cheeks, Amy tried to make sense of everything that was happening. Then, it hit her. This woman is the surgeon; therefore, they are calling her to... to... declare his...death. She closed her eyes as tightly as possible and wished she had never come to London.