Love at First Cut; A Will Halstead Fanfic

Lesson Learned

Yn's POV

Here I was, standing on the 10th floor balcony, looking at the city of Chicago. This was such a nice view. No wonder Jason chose it to be his final sight. "Dr. Ln" Dr. Charles said and stepped onto the balcony with me. "You haven't been answering your pages. There's a patient in the ED for you." "Sorry. I was just thinking" I say. "About what" Dr. Charles asked. "When Jason Wheeler jumped, do you think he was scared? Or was he at peace? Right before he stepped off, was there a moment of regret" I ask.

"Why are you asking" Dr. Charles asked. "Because I can't stop thinking about him. I mean, I knew seeing a man kill himself would have tolls on me, but I didn't think it'd be like this" I say. "The thing about suicide, it's never really a lone act. It tends to leave a lot of victims in its wake. I'd be lying if I said I'd been sleeping too well recently. Now, you've got work to do" Dr. Charles said. "Right. Back to the ED" I say.

After checking out my patient, I ended up paging Dr. Charles and Dr. Reese down to the ED. "Sean Adams, formal Naval aviator, now flies for a private charter company. He was doing his pre-flight check and felt faint. Co-pilot brought him in. Says it's not the first time. Now I checked Mr. Adams out, but I can't find anything wrong. He's probably just dehydrated and overworked. Says he feels fine and wants to go" I say. "So why are we here" Dr. Charles asked. "The charter company wants a psych evaluation" I say.

"Co-pilot also says he's been acting different" Dr. Charles said as he read the chart. "Doesn't go out with the boys anymore, naps a lot, seems to be low energy." "Sounds like depression" Sarah said. "Possibly" Dr. Charles said. "In any case, the company won't let him fly until you sign off" I say. "We'll have a little chat then" Dr. Charles said. "Great. Thank you" I say.

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"So what do you think" I ask. "I think that Mr. Adams is linear, lucid. I mean, he's certainly not confused" Dr. Charles said. "Are you going to sign off on him" Sarah asked. "Well, I didn't say that. I mean, I thought he was a little defensive around the medication issue" Dr. Charles said. "Well, the man has to prove himself to keep his job. That would make me defensive" I say. "You know what, that could be all there is to it. But look, he's a pilot. Let's just take the extra step. Run a tox screen to make sure he's clean" Dr. Charles said. "Okay. I'm on it" I say.

As I walked to the command center to put in an order for a tox screen, I bumped into Will. "Hey. I heard that Dr. Rowan was here, and I also heard she's not looking too well. I'm sorry" I say. "Thanks. How's the baby" Will asked. "She's very active today. I guess we know who she's going to take after" I say and glance at Will. "What? No way she gets that from me" Will said. "Seriously? You and Jay were the most active kids I knew. You always wanted to play sports or go out and do whatever" I say. "I guess you have a point" Will said.

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"See, Mr. Adams, as part of our evaluation, we run a toxicology screen, and I'm happy to say that yours was normal" Dr. Charles said. "I told you I don't take drugs" Mr. Adams said. "However, we did find something else. Profound anemia. It could explain your feeling faint" I say. "Okay, I guess I've got to eat more steak" Mr. Adams said. "It's actually more serious than that. We need to transfuse you with several units of blood right away. We also need to find out what's causing it, so I'd like to admit you for a battery of scans and tests" I say. "I've got my own doctor. I'll make an appointment with him" Mr. Adams said. 

"Mr. Adams, we don't want you to leave in this condition. You're not well" I say. "I feel fine" Mr. Adams said. "Sean, are you sure about that" Mrs. Adams asked. "Yes, and a car ride home and sleeping in my own bed isn't going to hurt me" Mr. Adams said. "That may not be true. I emphatically recommend that you take Dr. Ln's advice" Dr. Charles said. "As far as the psych evaluation goes, am I in the clear" Mr. Adams asked. "Well, not listening to your physician isn't the greatest sign to me" Dr. Charles said. "Well, you're not the only psychiatrist in Chicago. I'll get a referral from my primary. Now please get me whatever paperwork I need to sign, so I can get out of here" Mr. Adams said. "I'll be back shortly" I say and leave the room with Dr. Charles and Dr. Reese following behind me.

"Something's just not right with him" Sarah said. "I agree" Dr. Charles said. "But is it physical or mental" I ask. "Your guess is as good as mine. Unfortunately, we have no grounds to hold him" Dr. Charles said. "I guess that means we have to discharge him. I'll start getting the paperwork ready. You guys do whatever you can to find out what's wrong with him" I say.

In the short amount of time it took me to get Mr. Adams' discharge papers ready, Dr. Charles and Dr. Reese found no reason to hold him. However, as Mr. Adams tried to leave, he started coughing up blood. "All right, he's not breathing. Get a laryngoscope and a 7.5 ET tube" I say. "Monique, you start the IV." I started the intubation process as everyone around me did their thing. "He's got a massive upper GI bleed. His stomach's filling with blood" I say as I intubated Mr. Adams. "Good breath sounds bilaterally" April said. "All right, hang two units of blood and get another four ready" I say. "What's going on? Why is this happening" Mrs. Adams asked. "I don't know, but we're going to find out. Hang saline" I say.

After a few more tests, and after Dr. Charles and Dr. Reese talked to Mr. Adams, we found that he had been drinking gasoline. As long as he got the right treatment, he was going to be fine. On the other hand, Will's mentor, Dr. Rowan, died. I walked into the lounge and saw Will standing at his locker. "Hey. I'm so sorry for your loss" I say and hug him. Will hugged me back tightly, and we just stood there for awhile, enjoying the feeling of being in each other's arms. At the moment, this was the only place I wanted to be; in the arms of my boyfriend, and future father to our child.