Paralyzer [Gotham]

21

Sparing a glance at the clock, I sighed in relief and rolled my neck, my doubleshift finally over. Releasing the keys from my hip, I opened filing cabinet and put my work away, grabbing my bag instead and leaving the hospital. I waved to the nurse at the reception station, peaking into my patient's room as I past.

Though the florecents and the chemo made her look twice as sick, that girl was one of my strongest fighters. One or two more surgeries and she could go home. "Goodnight, Dr. Cane," she called, waving a small hand at me.

"Goodnight, Katie. I'll see you in the morning, try and get some sleep." With a nod, the girl curled into her stuffed cat and closed her eyes, allowing me to exit Gotham General. Of all places to apply myself, I was glad I chose oncology.

I had barely pulled out my regular key ring before I stopped dead in my tracks, recognizing the heavy, metallic stench of blood as I neared my car. "Who's there?" I softly called, my breaths shallow. I nearly jumped out of my skin when someone rolled off the car beside me, clinging onto my jacket and staining my scrubs as I fought to keep them upright.

"Hey, Luci," their voice gurgled out, instantly bringing my eyes to his face.

"Andrew? What--"

"I couldn't go home," he rasped, so I held my arms out and examined the source of the slick. there was a hole just above his collarbone, slowly spilling more blood down his chest.

"What happened to you?" I inquired as I pulled him to the hospital.

"I...owed the wrong guy," he grunted, trying to keep pace with me as I rushed him inside. "I got away better than he did." I frowned, not allowing myself to dwell on what that meant as I dragged him to the receptionist, her eyes going wide. Afterall, we didn't usually handle gunshot wounds in the oncology department.

"What happened?" she asked, standing and ready to call someone.

"I was shot," Andrew rasped in explanation. I could see the nurse hesitate, so I frowned deeper and shifted his weight on my shoulder.

"I know we normally don't take gunshot victims, but please, he's my brother," I pleaded, ready to break even our strictest of policies. However, I could tell she wasn't.

"If we treated every gunshot victim in Gotham, we wouldn't have the resourses to care for anyone else, Dr. Cane. We hardly even have enough to cover the police that come through here. I'm sorry, but we can't help him here." Her expression said it all, she wasn't going to budge. Pulling him to the side, I put my keys in Andrew's hand and looked him in the eye.

"Go start the car and wait for me to get back, I won't be long." Though he was normally taller than me, the way he slouched over put him at just about eye level with me, his eyes scanning over my determined face before nodding. I waited until the nurse that had dealt with us had been distracted by something else to slip further into the hospital and going into the medical supply closet.

Sutures, needles, guaze, antibiotics, I listed off in my mind, having to recall a completely different field of medicine and putting what I'd need in my bag. I cautiously looked around before making my exit, Katie asleep when I passed this go around.

Andrew was hardly concious when I dragged him through my house, his breathing twice as ragged when he laid out on my guest bed. "Hey, Andy, wake up," I insisted, slapping his cheeks to rouse him. "Tell me a story." Once I was sure he'd stay with me, I started preping the anesthetic, injecting him near the wound.

"I remember when Mom found out about Martha," he rasped, staring at my ceiling in a daze as I worked silently. "God, she was so mad at Dad, I thought she was gunna kill him."

"Yeah, she just talked a couple of our family members to change their last names to a 'C'," I played along, needing to keep him responsive. "Don't really know how that changed things, but it made her feel better."

He chuckled, sending blood spraying over his chest. "Not after you started getting nosey. You meeting Martha really set her off." I nodded with a small smile, picking up a flashlight and looking at the wound. I could see the bullet reflecting the light, but taking a look around inside I was hesitant to. "How do I look?" he mumbled, turning his eyes to meet my identical green ones.

"Keep talking about me and Martha," I distracted, the smile I donned more pathetic than lifting.

Rolling his eyes, Andy complied with a shakey breath, "You know I took the fall for you once?" I shook my head, a frown pulling on my lips again. He was shot in the collarbone, he should've bled out by now, but the bullet lodged in his flesh was actually keeping him alive - ironically enough. "Do you know how hard it is to say that I thought of getting that pretty princess make-up kit for you?"

"But I got that for Martha," I breathed softly, pulling away a second.

"Better than saying I'd gotten it for myself." I couldn't help but laugh with him, even when his cut short in a terrible cough. With a deep breath, I began packing the wound with gauze, stuffing it until the flow was staunched. "I know I'm dying, Luci."

"Actually," I countered with a deep breath, "for now, you're alive. The bullet is keeping your artery from rupturing; without the right tools, taking it out could kill you. Nobody in town will treat you."

"You can't?" he tried, even he knew the idea was weak.

"I work with cancer, tumors, not bullets tearing arteries," I explained with a soft breath. "I don't know if you'll last through travel any place else." Andy took hold of my arm, smiling at me despite the blood staining his teeth.

"Don't worry about me, I'm not. I'm in perfectly capable hands." Maybe it was a twin thing, but I'd found the strength to smile, even if it was a small one. "Be strong for me, okay? Gotham needs your good energy."

"I got it all from you," I shrugged, letting go of his wrist to grab a bandage.

I was smoothing it down over his chest and shoulder when he mumbled, "Be strong for me, I'll be for you." By the time I dragged my eyes to his face, his eyes had rolled to the back of his head, unable to awaken despite my attempts.