Love Hurts

C is for Cardiac Arrest - Part 4

After the initial proking and probbing since Jay opened his eyes, and various tests, Jay was finally left alone with Ellie. But everything had been a blur to Jay. The brief conversation with Will, and Frank, Danny, and Jamie excusing themselves to the cafeteria, but in actuality, they left to give Jay and Ellie time alone.

Jay looked around, taking in all the equipment around him. All the wires and tubes he was hooked up to.

Ellie sat by his bedside holding on to his hand. Jay glanced down at their conjoined hands, and then back at Ellie. Despite everything, she was smiling, that smile he fell in love with the minute he met her when he ended up at Med with a ruptured appendix. She was just happy he was awake. Jay remembered the deal gone wrong, he remembered being abducted, being tortured, Ellie rescuing him, but he doesn't remember what happened to make him feel this way.

"What happened? Why am I in the ICU?" He asked Ellie.

"You're not exactly in the ICU. You're in CCU. It's the cardiac care unit."

"Ellie?"

"How much do you remember?"

He thought for a moment. "I remember being taken, you coming in and the team getting me out...and I remember us talking in the back of the ambo, I remember waiting on you while you talked to IRT, I remember talking to Danny, and then Adam. After that...it's a blank til now. Waking up here, with everything. I was waiting on you, I remember you telling me I would have to stay overnight for fluids and basic testing. Then I wake up like this, with every tube and wire imaginable hooked up to me and your Dad and Jamie are here now too. So what the hell happened?"

"You remember most of it. You were in the middle of a conversation with Adam and Danny and you started having an arrhythmia and Adam came and got me. Then your heart stopped."

Jay shook his head in surprise. "Shit."

"Yeah, It's rare but all the tasing your body took along with all the other beatings you took and all the stress on your body is what caused your cardiac arrest" Ellie shook her head, eyes glazing over with moisture. "If they'd Tasered you one more time, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation right now."

Jay met Ellie's gaze and clutched onto Ellie's hand even tighter.

"Hey, I came back. That's the deal with us right?"

Ellie just nodded her head solemnly.

"Talk to me, Ell."

"Ok so I know your next question will be when you can get out of here."

Jay grinned, of course Ellie knew him so well, but he let her continue.

"Jay, you're going to be here for awhile, and you're not going to be able to work for awhile."

Now Ellie had his full attention. Sure, he felt worse than he ever had before, but it couldn't be that bad. What happened that was going to keep him out of work for awhile.

"I'm listening."

"Ok, so you were abducted for over 24 hours and you were beaten and tased, I'm sure you remember that part"

Jay nodded, urging her to go on.

"Like I said, the tasings and beatings disturbed your heart rythym. You also had internal bleeding from the beatings, all of that contributed to your cardiac arrest. Jay,"