The Night Shift One-Shots

Brianna/Drew/Rick/OC - No, never.

Word count: 1353

Warnings: Major Character Death

A/N: I cried writing this, so I apologise to you guys!

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When Emmerson, Brianna's older sibling, returned, they skulked past, looking exhausted – jetlagged after their return flight from Japan – and went straight to bed. It was half ten at night, so we all followed them pretty quickly. I had four nights off now and was planning on sleeping for as long as possible.

"DADS!" Emmerson yelled, waking the both of us up. They came into our room, Bri lay across their arms. "Dads, she can't breathe!" Emmer was panicking. Now I listened, I could hear her choking on nothing, wheezing horrendously. Rick stumbled across the room, pulling on a pair of jeans as he went. When he reached the dresser, he pulled on the first shirt he could find – which happened to be mine – then took Brianna out of Emmer's arms.

"Emmerson, go start the car and bring it around the front of the building." He ordered, voice rough from lack of sleep. He looked down to the writhing, wheezing Brianna. "Sweetie, we're gonna take you down to the ER, get TC or Krista to look at you ok?" Bri nodded, then reached out for me, grabbing the hand that I offered. I spoke to Rick.

"I'm gonna grab her oxygen tank, mask her up while I drive. I'm not letting Emmer drive, not when they're this jetlagged." I snapped groggily, jogging through to Bri's room to grab her spare tank and mask. We kept it at home for emergencies. This had happened a few times since her transplant, and it was probably the usual, just some fluid on the lungs, but it was dangerous if no-one noticed. It caused dry drowning, the same sort of effects as chlorine gas, drowning in her own lungs.

I drove to the ER, Emmerson in the passenger seat, Rick in the back, Bri still across his arms, breathing hard into the oxygen mask. When she coughed, thick phlegm came up, telling us it was something different than usual. That made us panic.

I crashed through the doors of the ER, Rick behind me. Emmer stayed in the truck. The place was deserted. "Can I get some help here?!" I yelled. T.C skidded around the desk, steadying himself on Topher's corner. "T, it's Brianna. Same symptoms as usual, but she's coughing up phlegm this time."

"Ok, get her into trauma three," He said, looking at Rick. "Where's Emmerson?"

"In the car. They've just got off a long haul they're jetlagged beyond belief." I explained, following Rick and Bri into the cubicle. Rick gently laid our daughter on the bed and stroked her hair back as she continued to cough.

"I'm gonna send her straight up to radiography, get an MRI and an X-ray. Check out what's goin' on." TC explained to me. Then he stopped dead. "Wait – how long since her transplant?"

"A month and a half – Oh Shit!"

TIME SKIP

Rick took Emmerson home to sleep, so I was sat with Brianna when TC came back with the results of the scans. "Drew, Bri, you know I'm not gonna lie to either of you." He said in a sombre tone.

"TC, come on. Spit it out." Brianna snapped. She'd stopped coughing after they'd given her meds, but her lungs were crackly, and she wheezed with every breath.

"Your body has rejected the lungs. You're wheezing because your body is filling them with fluid to try and flush out what it thinks is a foreign object." He explained.

"How long?" Brianna asked. TC didn't answer. "T, how long have I got?" She urged, half crying through her words.

"It's already gone septic, and there's nothing we can do. I'm sorry, but I - I don't think you're gonna make it through the night." She burst into tears and leaned over to me. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close.

"I don't want to go, dad. Please don't let me go!" She begged. I had to fight not to cry too.

"We're gonna do this together, Bri. I'm not gonna leave you alone. Ever." I soothed, kissing the side of her head as she sobbed into my shoulder. "Do you want me to call your dad and Emmerson, get them back here?" She nodded.

"If I go, I want whatever organs that can be saved to be donated. I know it's not gonna be much if I have sepsis, but whatever you can save, do." She said with certainty between sniffs, but only to break down again.

"I'll stay, go call them." TC offered, taking my place and allowing Brianna to cry on him. Since we'd fostered Bri, waiting for the adoption to go through, TC had somehow developed some sort of bond with Brianna, and whenever we brought her or her sibling in for anything. He was there. I walked out and sat on the bench outside the ER.

I called Rick first.

"Drew, we've just got home, what's going on with her?" I tried to snap into doctor mode, not father.

"Her body's rejecting the lungs, she's got sepsis. You both need to get back here, ASAP."

"What, Why?" He was panicking now. I heard him talk to Emmerson, telling them to get back in the car.

"TC doesn't think she's gonna make it through the night. Her blood toxicity is already at twenty per cent."

"Ok, we're on our way. I love you."

"I love you too." The call cut out. I needed to call Nina, Brianna's social worker, now.

"Drew, how come you're calling me, everything OK?"

"No, no it's not. How fast can you get to the ER?" I babbled, trying, but failing to stay calm.

"I can be there in five, what's going on?" Her voice suddenly too business-like.

"Brianna's rejected the lungs. She'd got sepsis and she's not going to make it through tonight."

"Ok, I'm on my way." The call cut quicker than Rick's had.

When I got back in, TC was sat next to Brianna, holding her hand now. The place was eerily silent. Mollie gave me a pitying look as I walked past. Jordan and Scott were stood outside Brianna's curtain; Jordan looked like she'd been crying. Where the hell was Krista when you needed her?

"They're on their way. I called Nina too." Rick and Emmerson walked in just behind me. Apparently Rick had used the lights on the squad car to get here as quickly as possible. TC filed out, leaving us as a family.

"Emmerson!" Brianna choked, reaching out for her sibling who instantly ran into her arms and hugged her tightly.

"Hey, Bri." They lulled. "Bri?"

She'd gone limp in Emmer's arms.

The monitors connected to her and the machines flatlined.

"No, Bri no, no, no, no!" I repeated, pushing Emmerson back into Rick's arms and starting CPR on Brianna. "C'mon – no – don't – do – this – to – us," I said through gritted teeth as I pressed down on her chest. TC came in and tried to pull me off her.

"Drew, DREW c'mon man. Let her go. She chose her time and you promised to give her that. She's gone." I continued to press down on her chest, though I knew it was useless. TC finally succeeded in pulling me off her, and I looked around at the others in the room. 

Emmerson was being restrained by Rick, struggling feebly against him to get to his sister. Their face was tear tracked and their eyes were swollen. Their voice was inaudible, but by lipreading, I could see them mouthing 'She died in my arms' repeatedly. Rick pulled them so their back was flush to his chest and pulled their fringe back in an effort to comfort them; their struggling ceased and they crumpled into his hold.

TC let go of me, then gave me a pained expression. "You have to call it, Drew. I'm sorry." 

I looked at my watch and deducted two minutes from the current time. "Time of death, four thirty-one AM." I croaked through a fresh onslaught of tears. 

After everything that girl had gone through, everything the world had thrown at her, she made it through. She didn't deserve this.