„Holy fuck!", Lip cursed as he almost slipped on a beer puddle right on the edge of the track. Friday night and although it was only 6pm, the whole station was crowded and already covered in the weekend dirt, vomit, beer, piss, in addition to the usual dirt. When he got into the L he managed to get a seat so he didn't have to stand between people wearing the smell of sweat, fast food and cheap perfume. The city seemed all blurry through the window as the train was rushing downtown, leaving shitty South Side behind. Lip looked around. Other than in the neighborhood he called his home, there weren't just poor people, fucked up people and criminals. No, on the L you could also find decent mothers with their children, always looking around, afraid that some piece of South Side trash would come near them. Or business men in suits who were constantly talking via headset or reading some newspaper that would make them look more intelligent. The L was a place were whole Chicago was. He wondered if he liked that and didn't find an answer before he reached Racine and got off.
Shit, it was hot. Chicago was at the beginning of summer and the city was already drowning in heat. Lip could feel the sweat running down his back although he had showered right before he left the house.
It was almost 6:20pm when he reached the main entrance of the hospital where he was supposed to meet his brother. The glass doors slid to the sides as Lip entered the building and let his eyes wander trough the lobby. The hall was busy as fuck, doctors running around, families sitting on the chairs in the waiting area or just standing in the middle of the room and making it hard for everyone else to pass. He looked to the right and spotted the doors of the ER. Ian had said they would meet in the lobby at 6:20 but Lip thought it couldn't hurt to search for him at the ER since he was an EMT. As soon as he entered the emergency room, it got even busier around him. Apparently they were having a lot of emergencies right now and he wondered if maybe Ian had squeezed in an extra drive in the ambulance. He loved his job because he felt like he could actually make a difference by saving people's lives and Lip had been more than relieved to see his brother smiling again. At least sometimes.
Lip pulled out his phone to check if Ian had texted him when someone bopped into his side. It was Ian.
"Hey! Looks like business is buzzing.", Lip greeted as he hugged his little brother.
"Yeah, although an ER is a place that shouldn't be so busy.", Ian answered but Lip knew he kind of liked doing so many drives.
"But you can leave now?", Lip asked and Ian nodded, "My shift's done and we don't have code black so I can go and catch up with my brother."
Lip smiled. Since he started working at that tech firm and Ian spent so much time with his beloved job or Trevor, they didn't get to see each other as often as they used to do.
But his smile frowned when he saw who got off the ambulance that was outside where the emergencies arrived. The doors opened and two EMTs pushed a stretcher inside. A third one was sitting on top of it, holding her hands down on the body beneath her. There was blood everywhere, but Lip barely noticed all that because his eyes focused on the person that was laying there, obviously fighting for their life.
"Ian, we should get out of here.", He said and grabbed his arm, but Ian's eyes met the mess when the woman on top of the guy started yelling, calling doctors and nurses to get an OR.
Lip looked at his brother who didn't move and just stared at the patient. Fuck.
They passed them as they were running towards the OR section somewhere in the shallows of the hospital and for the split of a second that felt like an infinity Lip stared at his face. A breathing mask covered his nose and mouth and his eyes were closed. He looked more dead than alive.
