As Tanner sat impatiently in the waiting room, he couldn't help but wonder what events were unfolding back at Chris' place.  Clearly whatever he thought he knew about the guy was just the tip of the ice berg.  Granted he hadn't been involved with him or his organization for too long, but he always thought Chris was more of a 'what you see, is what you get' type guy. 

Sure, he conducted his business with a sense of insanity and recklessness, but it was that type of attitude that made him in to the business man he is today.  A man he once looked up to.  Unfortunately, given the turn of events over the last few days, he wasn't sure what to think of the guy anymore.  He used to get a thrill out of watching Chris' instability and lack of reasoning.  He wanted to be just like him.  To have that power and be able to have anyone or anything he wanted with the snap of his fingers. Except now the prospect of having that kind of power scared the living hell out of him.

Laughing to himself as he pondered his previous fascination with the guy, Tanner struggled to come to terms with the fact that in a matter of days the same thing he once admired about the guy was now the same thing he feared the most.  He never would have thought that one person could inflict such a massive amount of damage to another human being without so much as blinking, but after watching the way things went down with Michelle, he knew with certainty that Chris had to be the closest thing to satan himself.

Startled by a slight commotion coming from across the other side of the waiting room, Tanner was instantly ripped from his train of thought and glanced up at the two gentleman carrying on next to the vending machine.  He wasn't sure what the ruckos was all about, but clearly alcohol had been a major part of their festivities prior to their arrival at the hospital.

Shaking his head with utter disbelief, Tanner watched as the nurse finally escorted one of them to the back, leaving the other behind to laugh hysterically in the waiting room. 

Once the waiting room quieted down, Tanner pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Jackson's number.  After a few rings, Jackson picked up the phone and barked hastily in to the receiver.

"What now?!"

"You told me to call and keep you informed.  I'm just following orders man."

"And?  Is she alright?"

"I don't know.  No one has come out yet."  Tanner replied, casually walking over towards the exit door on the other side of the waiting room.  "But you know, I was thinking about this whole situation on the way here and we might have a problem."

"What kind of problem?"

"Like, what if they question her about what happened to her?"

"She fell down the stairs TJ.  It is what it is."  Jackson said, heading out Chris' bedroom door.  "I mean, you don't think she would say otherwise, do you?"

"No.  I mean, the paramedics already took a statement from her on the way here as to what happened, but you and I both know that her dress is covered in blood and that she had other injuries that weren't from the fall down those stairs." he continued, walking over to a vacant area of the waiting room hoping to get some more privacy.

"You mean from the club with Wade?"

"Yeah...from the club with Wade...from the mess with Chris back at his place.  I mean, she looks like the god damn poster girl for domestic abuse!  Do you really think they won't question her about the marks on her?"

As Trace sat reclined in his chair of the waiting room typing up a text message, he heard someone mention the name Wade and stopped typing.  With the name not necessarily being mainstream among LA residents, it would normally only merit a brief glance in their direction to see if he knew the person talking, but something about the way the guy was acting had completely captured his attention and he suddenly found himself eavesdropping in on the conversation being conducted a few feet in front of him.

"I'm not saying they won't ask her.  Hell, it's probably standard procedure when someone comes in looking she did, but from what I can tell, she isn't about to offer up any information to them or anyone else concerning what she's been through.  I wouldn't worry about it too much man." 

"Hey, if you say so."  Tanner said, letting out a heavy sigh as he glanced back over to the double set of door that led back to the ER.  "So then, I guess we're now left with the million dollar question."

"And that would be?"

"Do you really want me inquiring about Wade's condition or are we just going to let sleeping dogs lie.  I mean, I don't want to be the one opening up the door to an investigation, if you get my drift." 

"Just let that thing run it's course for now.  I'll get someone else to get me an update later.  I've got bigger problems than that right now."

"Well you won't get any objections from me on that call. Honestly, I think that's in our best interest anyway."  Tanner replied as he headed towards the exit.  "I'm just going to step outside for a few minutes to get some fresh air, but once I get word on Michelle I'll give you a call."

"Sounds good."  Jackson said, heading down the hall towards the stairs.  "Just keep me informed and if I don't answer my cell phone, leave me a message. I don't know what the fuck is going on with Chris right now, but I don't want to let him out of my sight." 

"Will do man.  I'll talk to you later." 

Then with a quick flip of his wrist, Tanner shut his phone and slid it back in to his front pocket before walking outside.  Once Tanner was out of view, Trace quickly jumped to his feet and headed over to the nurse's station.

"There is no way in hell that this is just a coincidence.  Two people back there with the same name?  No fuckin way.  It's them, I know it."  he said, letting out a slow and steady breath as he impatiently tapped on the glass partition.

"Can I help you sir?"

"Yeah, I hope so."  he said, quickly glancing over his shoulder towards the main door before continuing. "Can you tell me if someone was brought in here?"

"I can check for you.  What's the name?"

"Wade Robson."

"Alright, one second."  she said, moving her mouse to another position on the screen

After typing a few things in to her computer, the nurse closed a few open windows and turned her attention back to Trace.

"The paramedics brought him in about two hours ago.  He's down in the trama unit now.  Are you a family member?"

"No, just a friend."  he said, slightly in shock over the news that Wade was in a trama unit.  "Do you know what happened?"

"No, I'm sorry sir I don't and by law I can't release any information to you unless you're a family member or have the patients consent."

"It's ok.  I understand." he replied, his face now scrunched up with a million different question surging through his mind.  "Do you happen to know if he came in by himself?"

"I'm not sure sir."

"Can you check another name for me?"

"What the name."

"Michelle.......umm.....fuck!"  Trace yelled, frustration quickly getting the best of him once he realized he forgot her last name.  "I'm sorry.  I can't even think right now.  Can you hold on for a second?"

After nodding her head, Trace quickly pulled his cell phone from his pocket and began to frantically dial the number to Justin's cell phone.  After a couple of rings it kicked in to voicemail and he groaned inwardly.

"Not a good time to ignore my calls J."  he mumbled to himself, as he impatiently waited for his best friend's greeting to end.  Once it had, he heard the small beep and began to leave his message.

"Yo!  Man!  Call me back AS SOON AS YOU GET THIS!  I think I may have found Michelle, but I need you to call me back.  I'm serious!  CALL ME BACK!"

After flipping the phone shut, Trace turned his attention back to the nurse at the desk.

"Look, is there anyway you can tell me if anyone was brought in by the name of Michelle within the last few hours?"

"I'm sorry sir, but unless you can give me a specific name I can't tell you if your friend is here or not."

"I understand, but I'm begging you.  Please!  It could mean a matter of life or death....PLEASE!"

As Trace rested his elbows on the ledge in front of him, the look of helpless the comsumed his features must have played heavily on the woman's heart, because in a matter of seconds she was back to typing information in to the computer.

"Within the last five hours we actually took in two patients with the first name Michelle.  How do you spell her name?  With one 'L' or two?"

"I think it's two, but I can't say for sure.  She a petite little brunette, about 5' 6, twenty-one years old."

"Well, I don't know how she's built.."  the lady said, clicking through a few more screens  "...but one of them is twenty-one."

"Look, if you can just tell me her last name, I'll know if it's her or not."  Trace begged, glancing back over his shoulder one last time for any sign of the guy who he heard on the phone.  "I mean, I know you're not supposed to do this and I'll respect your decision if you decide not to tell me, but please understand that I wouldn't ask unless it was important."

After letting out a heavy sigh, the lady kept her gaze focused on the screen and hesitantly offered him two last names.

"Evans and Boswell."

Knowing that neither name sounded familir, Trace let his head fall forward and exhaled deeply as he felt the small ray of hope that he had found Michelle slip away.

"It's not either one of those names, but thanks for your help.  I really appreciate it." he said and began heading back over to his seat.

"Gianetti?"

Hearing the name, Trace instantly turned back around.

"What did you say?"  he asked, quickly walking back over to desk.

"Is it Gianetti.  Michelle Gianetti?"

"That's it!  That's her!" he said, staring at her with a puzzled look on his face.  "But I thought you said there were only two."

"There are.  Michele Evans and Michelle Gianetti."  she said, closing the screen.  "Boswell is my name."  she continued, pointing at the name tag that was clipped to her shirt.  "I just had to make sure."

Resting his head in his hands for a second, Trace fought to catch his breath.  He just couldn't believe that fate would produce such an ironic outcome.  Especially after only minutes ago he had mentioned to Justin about calling the local emergency rooms as he searched for her.

"Can I see her?"

"Well, I can't let you go back there unannounced, but if she says it's alright I can take you back."

"Thank you.  Seriously."

"Your welcome."  she replied and stood up from desk to go back to find Michelle.

Chapter 157

After the nurse checked the charts over at the registration desk, she found out what room they had put Michelle and headed down the hall.  Once she reached her room, she knocked gently on the door and waited for an answer.

"Michelle?"

"Yes."

"I don't mean to bother you, but there is a gentleman out in the waiting room asking about you.  He wants to know if he can come back."

Knowing that avoiding Tanner wasn't really an option at this point, even though she wanted to more than anything, she proceeded to tell her he could come back.

After a few minutes, Michelle heard yet another knock on the door and let out a heavy sigh.

"Come in."

After taking a deep breath, Trace pulled the curtain to the side and saw Michelle laying on the bed in a hospital gown, small streaks of blood visable on both her hands and face.

"Trace?!"

"Jesus Christ.  What the hell happened?!"  he gasped, quickly pulling the curtian closed behind him as he headed over to her.

"Trace what are you doing here?!"

"I brought a friend of mine in to get stitches and heard some guy talking about you in the waiting room."  he said, grabbing a chair from the wall behind him so that he could take it over to her side of the bed.  "Now, what the hell happened?!  IS THIS WADE'S HANDY WORK?!" 

"No.  I mean...he isn't the reason for my trip the ER, but...."

"But something happened tonight.  Something involving Wade."

Clutching the thin sheet to her chest, Michelle fought back the tears the threatened to pour from her eyes as she looked up at him, but she just couldn't hold it in any longer. Too many thoughts were flooding her mind.

"Trace I don't think he is going to make it!  I mean, I tried to stop him. I really did, but he just kept hitting Wade over and over again and it's my fault!  This whole nightmare is my fault.  If I would have just left in the beginning none of this would have happened!"

"Whoa, hold on.  Who was hitting Wade?"

Biting her bottom lip, Michelle just shook her head that she couldn't answer him.  Just the mere mention of Chris' name along side Wade's after tonight would certainly spell disaster for everyone involved.  She had to keep her mouth shut.

"Michelle, you can trust me."

"I'm sorry Trace, but I just can't.  I can't keep putting people in danger."

Hearing the sound of foosteps approaching them, Michelle instantly became quiet.

"Alright, we'll just get you all taped up and then get you on your way."  the doctor said, unaware that she now had company with her as he walked back in to the room. 

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Michelle nodded at the doctor and watched as he surveyed the scene in front of him.

"Is everything alright?" 

"Yeah, everything is fine."  she replied, watching him scribble a few more things down on her chart. "Will I be able to leave after this?"

"Well after we get you taped up, I'll have one of the nurses come back in and go over your discharge instructions and give you your prescriptions and then you're ready to go.  Is this your ride?"  he asked, motioning towards Trace with his pen.

Without even thinking, Michelle glanced up at Trace and shook her head 'yes'.

"Alright, well this should only take a few more minutes.  If you want to go back in the waiting room, I'll have someone come out and  let you know when she is ready to go."

"Can we just have a few minutes first.  Please."  Trace asked, studying the panicked look on her face.

"Yeah, I'll go get her discharge paperwork started and I'll be right back."

Once the doctor walked back through the curtain, Trace followed behind him and went to close the door.

"Trace can you please drive me home.  I can't let him take me back there.  He was going to kill me.  I know he was.  I saw the look on his eyes when he had that gun on me."

"What?!  Who had a gun on you?!"

"Look, we dont have a lot of time until the doctor comes back, so can you?  Please?"

"Yeah, I'll take you wherever you want to go."

"Thank you."

After watching a look of relief spread across her face, Trace pulled his cell phone back out of his pocket and flipped it open to see if Justin had called him back. 

"Damn it."  Trace mumbled, flipping his phone shut once again.  "Alight, I have to go check on my friend but as soon as I'm done I'll be right back.  Just stay put."

"Trust me, with two bruised ribs, I'm not going anywhere."

Feeling his heart break over her revelation, he knew there were so many more questions that needed answered.  Unfortunately he  also knew that now was not the time or place to be having that conversation and quickly headed over to the door.

"I'll be right back.  I promise."

"I know."

Once Trace opened the door back up, he spotted the doctor headed back towards the room and waited for him.

"I'm just going to check on another friend of mine and then I'll be right back."

"That's fine.  You'll have to sign her release papers before we discharge her anyway."

"Alright. Well, I'll be right back." 

After nodding his head, the doctor headed back in to her room and Trace headed down the hall in search of Tony.  He wasn't quite sure what the situation was with the guy out in the waiting room, but he knew that he wanted to get Michelle out of there as quickly as possible before he found out first hand.

As he headed down the hall to continue his search, he spotted a nurse walking down the hall a few feet ahead of him and quickly closed the distance between them. 

"Excuse me, I'm trying to find a buddy of mine that came in for stitches.  Can you tell me where I can find him."

"You can check back at the nurse's station.  They should be able to tell you what room your friend is in."

"Traceeeey, is that you?"

Walking across to the other side of the hall, Trace peeked in the room he thought he heard the voice come from and saw his friend sitting on the edge of the bed, a fresh set of stitches stretching across his forehead.

"Never mind.  I found him."  he said, letting out a slight chuckle.

After offering Trace a simple smile,  the nurse continued on her way and Trace headed in to Tony's room.

"Dude, where the fuck are my cheetos?!  You ate them didn't you?"

"No I didn't eat your damn cheetos, but can you please just forget about them for a minute.  Seriously."

Throwing his hands off to the side, Tony knew that he really didn't have a choice and sat there starring at his friend.

"You are never going to guess who the hell I just found?"

"The person who ate my cheetos?"  he asked, leaning in closer to Trace.

"God damn it Tony, this isn't funny."

Letting out a slight laugh, Tony cleared his throat and tried to keep his focus on what his best friend was trying to tell him.

"I'm sorry man.  What?"

"You know the chick Justin was looking for?"

"The little dancing girl?"

"Yeah, the little dancing girl."  Trace replied as he rolled his eyes.  "She's here.  In the ER.  Something happened to her, I don't know what, but we have to take her with us."

"Did you tell J you found her?"

"I tried to call his cell, but he didn't pickup.  You probably pissed him off dude."

"Hey, I was just speaking my mind."

"No, you were just being a wise ass, as always."  he said, glancing down at his watch.  "Are you done?  I mean, did you get your discharge papers and everything?"

"She should be back here with them any second.  She just wanted to make sure I wasn't driving myself home in my 'condition' if you know what I mean"  he said making fake quotation marks with his fingers.  "Actually, she is probably out in the waiting room looking for you right now."

"No, actually she is right here."  the nurse chimed in from behind Trace.  "Alright Mr. Cervone, if you can just sign here I can get you back on your way."

"Sure you won't reconsider.  There's plenty of room?"

Looking over at his friend and then back to the nurse, Trace couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.

"Please tell me he didn't?"

Ripping a copy of his discharge papers from her clipboard, the nurse handed them over to Tony and simply smiled.

"I'm afraid he did.  I politely declined though.  I may have considered the food part, but to be honest, I'm not really in to the bitches thing."

"I'm sorry.  I don't know what the hell has gotten in to him tonight."  Trace said, trying his best to keep a straight face.

"Oh I got a pretty good idea.  He's going to be feeling that hangover tomorrow."

"Tell me about it."

"Alright, we'll you're ready to go.  Just try to make sure he keeps that dry, you know, don't let his head fall in the toilet or anything when Jack Daniels calls him back."

Laughing, Trace grabbed Tony by his arm and helped guide him out the door.

"I'll do my best."

As they headed back down the hall, Trace spotted a chair a few feet away from Michelle's room against the wall and walked Tony over to it.

"Here, sit down for a minute and try to keep yourself out of trouble.  I have to go get Michelle and then we're out of here."

"Can't I just go back to the waiting room and get my cheetos?"

"No god damn it."  Trace said, full on laughing.  "Just sit there!"

"Whatever you say...BOSS."  Tony growled, placing his hand to his forehead to feel his stitches.

After giving his friend one last glance, Trace headed the last few feet to Michelle's room and knocked on the door.

"It's Trace, can I come in?"

"Yeah, come on."

Once Trace walked in to the room, he saw a nurse helping her slip her shoes back on as she rested against the edge of the bed and felt his heart break.  The sight of her blood stained legs and dress only further feeding his desire to want to know every detail about what happened tonight.

"Ok, here is the perscription for her pain medication.  She just had a dose about five minutes ago so it should kick in pretty soon.  Best thing to do is just let her rest.  Keep her comfortable."

"What's the treatment for something like this?  I mean, is there anything I need to know?"

"Generally we tell the patients to get plenty of rest.  Also placing an ice pack over the injured area for twenty to thirty minutes every three to four hours, should help.  You can do that for a few days or until the pain goes away.  The doctor doesn't feel she needs any kind of support, but if she becomes uncomfortable you can call her primary care physcian and they can fit her with one and go over the breathing excercises so she won't have any lung complications."

"Are you sure she doesn't need one?"  Trace asked, taking the papers from the nurse.

"Yeah.  Normally we'll suggest them to patients who have more than a few bruised ribs or to those who may have an acostochondral separation, which is basically when the cartiledge tears away from the breastbone, because that can be very painful.  But if the patient is comfortable without it, than that's fine and perfectly safe as well."

"Oh, ok.  Any idea how long until she's healed?"

"Normal healing time ranges from about three to four weeks.  Again, times vary and each individual is different.  Our main concern is that she doesn't rush in to any thing that could set her back before she's medically able to return to her normal activities.  Given the fact that she is a dancer, her primary doctor will probably order a chest x-ray to check her out before she is cleared to go back to work."  she said, offering Michelle a sympathetic smile.  "I'll just go get you a wheelchair and then we'll get you home." 

As Michelle watched the nurse walk out of the room, she caught Trace starring at her dress and felt a wave of embarassment wash over her.  She knew what he was thinking, she could see it on his face.

"It's not mine Trace."

"Is it Wade's?"

Feeling the tears well up in her eyes once again, Michelle looked down at the dark crimson streaks across her hands and nodded her head.

"I just want to get this off of me."  she said, slowly trying to make her way over to the small sink by the door.

"Stay there.  I'll get something."

Grabbing a few paper towels from the dispenser above him, Trace turned the faucet on and placed the towels directly under the stream of water.  After squeezing out any excess, Trace walked back over to where she was standing.

"Give me you hands." 

After placing her arms out in front of her, Trace proceeded to wipe away whatever traces of Wade's blood that he could and hope that it would at least provide her some comfort until she could get in the shower.

"Alright, here we go."  the nurse said, rolling the wheelchair into the room. "Do you want me to help you in?"

"No, I'll be fine. Thank you."

"Well then, you're all set.  If you have any concerns or questions, the number is on the bottom of her discharge papers.  Just give us a call."

"I will, thanks."  he replied, watching the nurse head back out the door.  "Alright, you ready to go?"

"Yeah, I just want to get out of here."

"Yeah umm...I don't think it's such a good idea for me to just drop you off at your place.  Do you want to just come home with me?  Well, not to my place, but to Justin's?"

"Now's not really the time to be cracking jokes Trace."

"No, I'm serious.  I mean, first and foremost, I don't think you should be left alone like this.  Second, I don't know who that guy is in the waiting room or what interest he has in you, but I'm not about to find out either.  I think you should just come back with me."

Knowing he had a point, Michelle just let out a heavy sigh.  She knew that if Tanner didn't take her back to Chris' place that he would come looking for her and there wouldn't be anything she could do to stop him.  At least at Justin's she would be safe.

"Alright."  she replied softly. "And Trace......thank you."

"No problem. Now come on.  Let's get you out of here."

Chapter 158

As they rode toward the hospital in the speeding ambulance, time seemed to be running in slow motion. Every second that passed by feeling like an eternity.  Grabbing hold of Wade’s bloodied, lifeless hand, Cameron placed a kiss on the back of it giving him a soft squeeze.

“I’m so sorry Wade.” she spoke softly with a tremble in her voice. “I never meant for any of this to happen.” 

Unfortunately, the second the words fell from her lips the haunting sound of a long flat beep began to echo throughout the vehicle.  With her eyes widened in horror, Cameran watched as the neon green light fell flat across the bottom of the EKG screen once again.

"No!  Not again!"  Cameran yelled, quickly trying to get out of the way of the paramedic as he reached above her. 

In that moment, the atmosphere inside the ambulance seem to speed back into real time as the EMT’s scrambled to bring Wade back into the land of the living. Within seconds, the long beep was replaced by the weak sound of a broken beep, that immolated Wade’s weakened pulse. 

Shortly after they had gotten Wade as stable as they possible could, they were pulling into the trauma unit of UCLA medical center. Once the ambulance came to a stop, they wasted no time rushing Wade into the waiting triage room. 

“What do we got here?” The attending physician asked rushing over to where they were pushing Wade in. 

“Caucasian male, 22 years of age, severe trauma to the head and torso. He’s got several deep lacerations to his face, several broken bones……he flat lined twice on the way here.” the EMT replied, his voice tapering off at the end of his comment as he handed the chart to the doctor. 

After quickly reading over the last reading on his vitals and checking the name on the chart, the doctor hooked the clipboard on the side of the bed.

“Wade? Wade can you hear me?”  the doctor asked, lifting each of Wade’s eye lids as he flashed a small light into them.

To Wade, everything seemed to be moving in fast forward. He could hear their voices, but nothing they said made any sense. He needed to see what was going on. To see where was he and find out how he got there. Gathering all the strength his battered body could muster, he forced his eyelids open as far as they would go and everything flashed bright white. 

“We need to get this man in to surgery IMMEDIATELY. He’s lost a significant amount of blood and...” 

Then before the doctor could even finish his comment, Wade’s body began to shake violently, causing even more damage to his already battered frame. 

“What’s going on?! WHAT’S WRONG WITH HIM?!” Cameran screamed, trying to push her way passed the nurses as two other doctors stuggled to keep him from throwing himself of the gurney.  "Please, someone tell me what is going on!"  she continued, watching them quickly rush Wade into one of the emergency trauma rooms. 

“Ma’am, MA’AM! You are going to have to calm down. If you want to help your friend right now, you can speak with one of the triage nurses and give them as much information as you can.” one of the nurses interjected, trying to calm down a very distraught Cameran. 

Wade could hear the commotion between Cameran and the nurse, but it seemed so distant. He could hear their frantic voices and feel their bodies moving quickly around the room, but still none of it made any sense. His brain screamed out for someone to tell him what was going on, but once it reached his lips it came out as nothing more than a gurgle. 

Hearing the sound of his own incoherent voice and the taste of blood fill his mouth, reality quickly came flooding back to him.  Breakers. The fight with Chris...with Michelle.  Michelle.....what had happened to her?  Where had Chris taken her?

‘I have to get out of here! I have to find her!’ he screamed out as loud as he could, but still no one acknowledged him. 

Why wasn’t anyone answering him? There were at least five people hovering over him, all of them acting as if he hadn’t said a damn thing. 

Feeling a sense of panic wash over him, Wade's eyes raced around the room as much as they could, trying to find a familiar face. Someone, anyone to tell him what the hell was going on.  Finding it difficult to bring anything or anyone in to focus, Wade blinked several times, trying desperately to make the fog hovering over his eyes fade away. 

‘Damnit listen to me!’ he screamed again to no avail. 

“Doctor Mercer, we’re losing him again!”  Wade heard the muffled sound of a young woman’s voice say and a harsh beep that seemed to signify some sort of emergency began to go off near his head.  Instantly he felt his heart beat quicken and the pounding in his head increased ten fold.  Then, before he could even process what was happening, everything went black. 

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Growing increasingly frustrated with the entire registration process, Cameran began tapping her nails off the desk of the second nurse asking her all the same questions she already answered. 

“Look lady, I already told this shit to the first person you sent me to see!  Now is somebody gonna tell me what’s going on with him or not?!” Cameron snapped, raking her fingers roughly through her hair. 

“Ma’am, I understand this is all very frustrating, but if you can just bear with me I promise I will try to find something out for you. Ok?” the nurse bargained, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. 

After receiving a weak nod, the nurse clicked the mouse a few more times and continued on with her line of questioning. 

"Name?"

"Wade Robson."

"Is there a middle initial?"

"J"

“Date of birth?” she asked 

“September 17 1982.” she replied dejectedly, letting out a heavy breath.

"Any known allergies to medication?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Any sensitivity to latex?"

Shaking her head with disbelief, Cameran continued to ramble off answers to the same set of questions the last nurse had asked before they escorted her down the hall. 

Then, somewhere around the seventh question, both women’s heads shot up at the sound of a soft siren coming from the direction of Wade’s room. Feeling her heart drop, Cameran quickly jumped from her chair and ran down the hall. The closer she got to the room where Wade was being worked on, the louder the sounds got. 

Unfortunately before she reached the door, two more doctors brushed by her and ran into the room. Balancing herself on the tips of her toes, Cameran stretched her neck to look through the window to see what was going on with Wade. 

In horror she watched the doctors made quick work of cutting off the blood stained shirt that clung to Wade’s body. She strained her ears to try to hear the commotion inside the room, but once one of the nurses produced the largest needle she had ever seen in her life, her entire body threatened to give out on her. 

“Oh my God.” she whispered to herself, clasping her hands over her mouth. 

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Hearing the sounds of the commotion going on around him, Wade struggled to understand what was going on.  He could hear two people arguing over whether or not to use a defibrillator or a shot of adrenaline and he tried to open his eyes, but nothing. Only blackness surrounded him as the pain that his body had been in only moments ago, suddenly feeling almost nonexistent. 

Realizing the voices of the men and women in the room were growing increasingly soft, Wade screamed out for them not to leave him like this.  For them not to leave him alone in the dark, broken......afraid.  Unfortunately his pleas continued to go unnoticed.  Why couldn’t they hear him? 

Then all of a sudden he realized they weren’t the ones getting further away. It was him. 

Realizing what was going on, Wade made once last attempt to plead with them, to beg them for help.  But it was useless. No one could hear him and he knew his only choice was to stop fighting and just let go. 

As the decision to give up took over, Wade felt a surge of hot and cold shoot through his body and his eyes flew open.  Instantly, all the voices in the room around him blared in his ears as if they were in surround sound. 

Wade attempted to take a large breath in, but quickly thought better of it when he felt a surge of blood shoot down his throat. Letting out a treacherous cough, the contents of his stomach came spilling out of his mouth and everything hurt. 

Then just as quickly as it came, the rush faded. Once again the voices of the other people in the room sounded like they were in a tunnel. Not as much as before, but still far away. 

Letting his eyes shutter closed once again, he released the fist that he hadn’t realized was clenched and let it fall limply to the side of the bed. The one thought that had truly been on his mind finally vocalizing as it escaped his lips. 

“Michelle.” 

“Alright we’ve got a stable pulse on him,” one of the doctors in the room quickly announced as he began to secure Wade to the bed. “But we need to get up to radiology for an MRI and a CAT scan before we can get him into surgery.” 

Quickly moving around, one of the triage nurses unhooked Wade’s IV and the rest of the machinery he was hooked up to, so that he could be moved around more easily. As the nurse was finished detaching the various wires, she heard what sounded like a muffled whimper escape Wade’s lips. 

Turning around to face him, she heard it again. Only this time she realized that it wasn’t a whimper at all. His eyes were slightly open and she could tell that he was trying to say something to her. 

“Don’t try to talk sir, you’re going to be ok.” 

“...Michelle.” 

Seeing his condition and knowing that he must have been desperate to say her name for it to even come out in his condition tore at her heart strings. 

“You save your energy.” she whispered to him “You’ve still got a big fight ahead of you. We’ll make sure this Michelle of yours get to you ok.” 

Hearing her words, words that seemed so far away, Wade finally closed his eyes and let the fatigue take over. His body was beyond tired, beyond beaten and drained, but it wasn’t going to rest until he knew that she would be beside him again. 

Chapter 159

Cameran sat in the waiting room of the radiology center for what seemed like an eternity. All she knew so far was that he still had to have all types of different x-rays and blood work done before he could be sent into surgery. 

There was one other family in the waiting room with her. A young mother and her two daughters. They had come up shortly after she did from the other side of the emergency room. Apparently they had been in some kind of car accident in which the father was hurt pretty badly, so here they sat with Cameran in the drab waiting room, watching hospital cable, and eating their weight in vending machine food. Making small talk with the mother was all she could do not to worry about Wade. 

“So this friend of yours, he’s going to be ok?” the young woman asked. 

“He has to be. He just…….he has to be.” 

“You love him don’t you?” 

Before Cameran could answer the woman the sound of an unfamiliar voice calling out another name interrupted their conversation. 

“Michelle?” there was a pause before she asked again. “Is there a Michelle in here?” 

Hearing the name alone made Cameran’s skin crawl. UGH! If she ever came face to face with that girl, it would take everything in her power not to rip out every stitch of hair on her perfect little head. 

“Is there a...” 

“We're the only ones in here and obviously there’s no one by that name in here, ok?” Cameron quickly cut her off growing increasingly annoyed. 

With a confused look on her face the nurse began to flip through a few pages of notes on her chart before glancing back up at Cameran. 

"Is anyone here family or friends of Mr. Robson?"

Hearing Wade’s name Cameron immediately perked up. 

“Wade?! Is he awake?! Can I see him?!” she asked, her eyes widening with hope. 

“Are you here with Mr. Robson?” the nurse asked before continuing on. “Maybe it was you that he was asking for. What’s your name dear?” 

“Cameran.” she replied dryly. 

“No, it definitively didn’t sound like that.” she said with a shrug. "Are you aware of anyone by that name that he would be asking for?"

Letting out a slight laugh, Cameran just shook her head.

"Yeah, she's the reason he is in there and I have no clue where she is."  she said, the tone of her voice suddenly sounding more hurt than angry. “So can I see him?"

"Mr. Robson still has a few scans to do and then they will take him immediately up to the OR. Once I find out what post-op room he will be in, you can wait for him there.” 

Turning briskly on her heal, she made her way back to one of the uncomfortable chairs and plopped back down. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After almost an hour of various scanning procedures, they had discovered that Wade had suffered a ruptured spleen, three broken ribs, a broken arm,  fractured jaw, a concussion and a ruptured vertebra in his lower back. All of which were accompanied by a laundry list of fairly minor injuries in comparison. 

Once they had assessed all the injuries and come up with a best course of action for surgery, they began to prep Wade. The preparation for the various surgeries alone taking another twenty minutes. 

“Alright Wade, I’m going to put this mask over your mouth and nose” he heard and unfamiliar voice say. “When I do this, I want you to start counting backward from one hundred and breath as steadily as you can.” 

“I cant.” 

“Yes you can Wade. Its OK. You’re just going to feel a little sleepy, don’t fight it ok. Just relax...and count. Relax and count.”  the anesthesiologist continued to coax as he brought the mask over Wade’s face. 

Wade attempted to turn his head away from the mask, but it was almost in vain. For the large amount of effort he felt he gave in the endeavor, his head barely made a nod. As the plastic of the mask engulfed the front of his face, he could hear the man begin to count. 

“100, 99, 98.…..your doing good Wade…94” 

By the time he reached 93, he was out cold. 

“What do you love most about me?” he asked a smug grin on his face 

“Mmmm, I dunno. You go first. What do you love the most about me?” Michelle asked back, a shy smile on her own face.

“You don’t judge me. I know you love me with all your heart and that you would never hurt me. With you I feel like I can be me. I never want to be something I'm not. I’ve never had that with another girl before and I love you for it.” he confessed whole heartedly. 

There was a sincerity in his eyes that she had never seen before. It brought a warmth to her heart that she had never felt before. 

Wade watched her big brown eyes well with tears at what he had just said. It made him smile that his words touched her. He meant them too.  Every last syllable was from his heart. 

“I don’t ever want to lose you. You’re my world.” he continued, brushing a stray tear form her cheek…...

“His vitals are good, pulse is normal. He seems to be responding just fine to the anesthesia.” the OR nurse reported to one of the surgeons as she adjusted his medication. 

Wade’s eyelids twitched rapidly in his deep sleep, as he continued to have dreams of his time with Michelle. His brain just wouldn’t seem to allow him to stop thinking of her. It was as if she was his lifeline. 

She tried to back away from him, but quickly found herself with her back to the wall.  There was no place left for her to go and he couldn't help but shake his head at her desperate attempt to escape. 

"Your fuckin pathetic!" 

Immeadiately, she dropped her head to avoid eye contact. 

"You know why I'm here, don't you?" he asked, as he watched her start to tremble before him. 

"Wade, please don't do this." she begged, as tears started to form in her eyes. 

"Did you think I was kidding when I said this wasn't over!?!" 

"No, but......." 

"But nothing. This shit is going to stop.....and it's gonna stop tonight!" he yelled, as he threw the tequila bottle, breaking it on the wall behind her. 

Screaming, she covered her head as pieces of glass flew everywhere. 

"Shut the fuck up! Hasn't your mouth got you in enought trouble already!?!" he asked, as he shoved her into her dresser. 

"Why don't you believe me!?! I told you I didn't say anything!?!" 

"Oh...I'm sure you said something, but don't worry. I'm gonna make sure you never open your mouth again." 

In one fluid motion, he pulled her away from the dresser and shoved her to the floor. 

Panic set in, as she watched him untuck his shirt and remove his belt. Bending the belt in half, he walked over and stood above her. 

"Oh my god......Wade, please don't." she pleaded, as she quickly scooted backwards. 

"Sorry, but your fate is already sealed." he said, as he raised the belt above his head and brought it down forcefully across her. 

Screams of pain filled the air, as she tried to shield herself from the punishing blows. 

"You will never cross me again! I promise you that!" he yelled, as he continued his assault on her helpless body…….. 

"Wade..........please.... stop" she struggled to say, as tears streamed down her face. 

"Stop!?! I haven't even begun yet!" he screamed, throwing her across the room into the dresser. 

Michelle cried out in pain, as her body came crashing down onto the remains of Wade's broken tequila bottle……… 

"You little bitch!" he said, as pushed her back to the ground and jumped on top of her. 

"Don't you ever tell me what to do!" he yelled, as he grabbed her by her hair and banged her head off the floor. 

She desperately struggled to get free, but it was no use.  Wade had pinned her arms under his knees and she couldn't move. 
In a last ditch effort, she tilted her head to the side and bit his wrist as hard as she could. 

"Oww! Let go right now!" he demanded, as he moved his other hand to grasp the top of her head. "Now!!" he yelled, as he watched the color start to change on his arm. 

When she failed to do as told, Wade did the unthinkable.  Removing his free hand from her hair, he pulled back his fist and punched her in the face.  Almost instantaneously, her grip on his arm released…….. 

Wade's eyes begin to race around in his head with a fury. His eyelids twitching faster and harder than before. 

“Somebody tell me what’s going on with my patient.” The surgeon asked, realizing that something was not right with Wade. 

Taking a look at the various screens in front of him that held Wade’s stats and vitals, he realized that they were all rising. His temperature had gone up more than a degree and a half and he could feel Wade's body begin to gently quake beneath his hands. 

“Hey, HEY! I need some help, he’s seizing again!” 

Wade’s eyes continued to twitch and roll at a feverish pace. A small trail of blood making its way from his nose. 

"Look, I'm sorry ok?" 

"Are you Wade? Are you really?" she asked, as she sat the water down on the nightstand. 

"What's that susposed to mean? I said I was, didn't I?" 

"Whatever." she mumbled, as she laid her head back down on her knees. 

"You know what......fuck you then!" 

Throwing the bottle of aspirin at her, he walked out of the bedroom…… 

The visions played over in his head like a movie. He watched them like old family home videos in his minds eye. Some parts out of focus, others clear as day. Sadly for every moment that he treated her with love and affection, there were at least two in which he treated her with cold distain. His heart was literally breaking. 

“His heart rate is off the charts. We need to get this man stabilized or we're going to lose him!” 

Injecting his IV with another local anesthetic, they held Wade’s body down and waited for his condition to stabalize. Once his heart rate, oxygen and other vitals began to make their way back to normal, they made the decision to continue on with the surgery. Making sure that Wade would still be under for a good while, the immediately picked up where they left of in the procedure. 

"Well... are you going to join me or do I have to come and get you? Wade playfully asked.  "I won't bite you know." 

"I know." 

"Well, then why are you so far away?" 

She could feel the heat radiating from every part of her. 

"I don't know." she laughed. 

"Well...you promised me a dance and I can't dance with you all the way over there." 

Wade walked over and placed an arm around her waist and pulled her toward him. 

"See. Isn't this better?" he asked. 

"Much better." she said softly…….. 

"God your beautiful." he said, as he reached up to softly stroke her cheek. 

Michelle stood there biting her lip unsure of what was happening. 

He slowly slid his hand under her jaw and proceeded to trace her bottom lip with his thumb. 

His brain however wouldn’t let him forget that he loved her, he loved her forever. From the moment he laid his eyes on her he loved her and every ounce of him fought for her.

Wade’s surgeries had taken much longer than any of the surgical team had expected. They had just finished working on his spleen and were now moving on to do simultaneous surgeries on his arm and jaw. Doing both surgeries at the same time was fairly risky, but at the rate he was going they needed to get as much as they could done in as short a time as possible.

“His heart rate is still a little high, but stable. Blood pressure is stable, 116 over 80. Oxygen, stable. He still appears to be in a very deep REM sleep.”

Switching out his IV for a fresh one and checking his blood pressure again, they finally began the simultaneous procedures. Wade’s eyelids softly batting as they began to work on him.

Promise me that no matter what, you'll never forget that I love you." he said, as he pulled the sheet up over them.

"I promise." she said, as she laid her head on his shoulder and started to fall asleep.

He lovingly gazed down at her, as he trailed his finger down her arm as it laid across him.

He didn’t know what the future would bring for them, but he was certain of one thing.

He would never allow them to be separated………

He could remember the exact scent of her skin. She smelled like the air after it rained in the spring. Her smile, that smile that could illuminate an entire city had belonged to him. The curve of her lips, the feel of her skin beneath his finger tips, they were all engraved on his brain.

The way her body moved......God the way her body moved. The way she danced had to have been the absolute sexiest thing about her. Watching her in her element as he did so many times, her body moved like a leaf floating on a gentle breeze. Even if she was doing a hardcore hip hop routine, there was such a gentleness in the way she moved……

“No Michelle you gotta move your hips like this.” 

Demonstrating the dance move once again, he took a step back and waited for her to copy it. Watching as she redid the exact movement he had just done, Wade burst out laughing.

“What the hell was that?”

“What do you mean?” she asked taking her hair down and redoing her bun. “I did what you showed me.”

“No no no. I showed you this,” he repeated the step. “I don’t know what the hell that was.”

“Oh so now your insulting me, huh?” she joked back, giving him a light kick in the butt.

“No, Im not insulting you. Just your dancing.” he gave her a sly smile.

“Oh no, you DID NOT just insult my dancing.”

Doing a little head roll and a snap at her. Wade gave her a look as if to say ‘oh yes I did’ and that’s all it took. Before he knew it, Michelle was charging after him and he took off running, dodging her advances as he tried not to get tackled.

Finally catching him, they both went crashing to the hardwood floor of the studio. Pushing him over she stradled him and began punching him playfully in the arm.

"Take it back!" she yelled laughing, as she continued her assult on him.

"Okay okay. I'll take it back if you do that move I showed you right now."

Swivelling her hips, Michelle recreated the dance move as she sat on top of Wade. Bursting into a fit of laughter, Wade grabbed her by the hips and lifted her off of him.

"Too bad we can't coregraph the entire show on the floor." he laughed out, brushing himself off as he stood up. "Now if only you could do it that way standing.......we'd be golden!" 

Chapter 160

With Wade’s brain now allowing him a small measure of stability, the surgeons carefully resumed their work to repair the damage to  both his arm and jaw.  Making sure that they carried out their procedures with not only precision, but extreme care due to his fragile condition was proving to be more than nerve racking and everyone in the room felt the stress. 

“Alright people, we’re almost there, we just need to get a few stitches in this young man and get him up to recovery.” one of the surgeons announced.  “How are his vitals?” 

“His heart rate is still slightly elevated, but other than that he’s stable.”  the nurse replied, pressing a few buttons on one of the monitors. 

With the effects of the anesthesia still altering his unconscious mind, Wade's brain continued to seek out memories of her. They all seemed to vary from time to time, but most of them were still mainly focused on her dancing. With another memory suddenly coming in to focus, Wade's eyes once again picked up the pace of their rapid movie.

"Perfect timing." he said, grabbing a quick drink of water before heading over to her. 

"For what?" she asked, nervously stepping backwards to look at him. 

"I wanted to work on the piece for 'Take me now'. I obviously can't do the choreography myself." 

Letting out a heavy sigh, Michelle looked up at him. 

"I just really didn't feel up to working right now." she said, knowing all too well that the problem wasn't the work in general. It was the piece he wanted to work on. Being that close to him was the last place she wanted or needed to be. 

"Well, I can't work on it myself so I guess you don't have a choice." 

Grabbing her hand, Wade pulled her to the center of the studio and went to start the music. 

"Wade, I really don't think this is a good idea." 

"Why?" 

"I don't know. I just still feel a little lightheaded." she said, hoping that if there was anything behind Wade's change of behavior that he would let her off the hook. 

"Well, we'll see how much we can get through." 

Knowing that he may get upset if she hesitated any more, Michelle nodded her head and prepared for what she was certain to be the most awkward choreography she had ever worked on. 

Once the song had started, Wade walked back to the center of the studio and stood behind her. Knowing that he could see every expression on her face in the mirror, Michelle tried her hardest to keep herself pulled together. She didn't want him having the power of knowing how uncomfortable she was. 

Sliding his hand up the side of her thigh, Wade reached across her stomach and turned her around. With her now facing him, he placed his left hand on her back and right hand on the nape of her neck. After looking directly in to her eyes, he dipped her backwards and then brought her back up to him closer than he should have. As Wade went to step toward her, she didn't move, almost as if she was frozen. For a second she was lost in the moment of being that close to him and she hated herself for it. 
Noticing the state she was in, Wade let go of her and she snapped right back. 

"I'm sorry, I forgot the choreography for a second. I just, umm....I just haven't rehearsed this piece in a few weeks. I'm sorry." 

"Alright, I'm finished.  You can start to turn off the Sevoflurane and Fentanyl,  just make sure you monitor his ECG as you do.  We don't need any more complications with this one.

"You want me to run his anticholinesterase drugs through his IV yet?"

"No, I want to make sure we can get him off of everything without any more complications before we have him trying to breath on his own.  The last thing we want to worry about is doing another intubation on him if we run in to any trouble."

Nodding her head, the nurse continued to decrease the medications that were being pumped through his IV to keep him sedated.

"Wade, so nice of you to join us." 

"Where is she?" Wade asked, cautiously holding his position as he looked down the barrel of Chris's gun. 

"She's right here." Chris replied, slowly stepping to the side so that he could see a barely dressed Michelle sitting on the floor behind him. "Don't worry though. I've been taking good care of her. Real good care of her." he said, grabbing his crotch in a manner that clearly meant to show Wade that he had done more than just babysit her. 

After quickly glancing down at Michelle and the condition she was in, Wade realized that Chris had crossed the line in more ways than one with her and balled his fists up. 

"You mother fucker! You're fuckin dead! YOU KNOW THAT, RIGHT?!" Wade yelled, his eyes locked on Chris as he took a step forward. 

"Uh uh uh. Back it up." Chris firmly said, as he waved the gun at him. "You don't want to do that. Trust me." 

Knowing that Chris wouldn't hesitate to use the weapon, Wade stopped dead in his tracks and gave Chris a quick once over before turning his attention back to Michelle. 

"Michelle? Are you alright? Look at me." Wade said softly, his voice slightly cracking from the despair he now felt inside. "Please look at me." 

When Michelle ignored his heartbreaking pleas, Chris just stood there and laughed. He knew that she wasn't going to answer to anyone but him and that was how he liked it. 

"Michelle? PLEASE!" 

Feeling her heart break over the fact that she couldn't scream out to him for help, Michelle wiped the tears away that ran down her cheek and continued to do as she was told. 

"You no longer call the shots with her Wade. She now belongs to me now." Chris said, walking over to her. "Isn't that right baby?" he asked, forcefully grabbing her by her hair to force her to look at him. 

Seeing him grab her like that, ripped his heart apart. He wanted to just run over there and beat the shit out of him for putting his hands on her, but the fear that consumed her, held him in place. He certainly didn't want to jump the gun and put her at more risk than she already was. 

"I said, isn't that right?" 

After momentarily squeezing her eyes shut, she slowly opened them back up and looked at Chris. 

"Yeah." she said, her voice so soft that it was barely audible. 

"Good girl. Now come here."

Still trapped in his own mind, Wade's thoughts continued to focus on her time with Chris.  It was almost as if he was being punished....forced to witness the severity of the danger he had put her in...danger that she was still in.  It was almost more than he could endure.

As Wade headed back towards the bathroom of the establishment, an all too familar voice echoed from the VIP area off to his right and he froze dead in his tracks. After slowly turning towards the sound of the voice, Wade eyes widened and he felt his heart drop to the pit of his stomach. It was Michelle.

He wanted to go to her, to take her in his arms and tell her how much he loved her, but he couldn’t. His feet wouldn’t move. 
Unfortunately as he stood there staring at her, waiting to get up enough courage to approach her, something else caught his eye. She wasn’t alone. Sitting next to her was Chris, with his arm draped lazily over her shoulder. 

Then all of a sudden...it hit him.  Everything he had desperately done to hold on to her, in reality, only pushed her further away.  He never really took the time to stop and enjoy her or the relationship they had built.  He simply chose to focus his attention on his own fears and insecurities. 

Ultimately deciding that she wouldn't be any different than the others who had hurt him, he blew every opportunity she gave him to make things right between them and now it was too late.  All he had done was drive her to the only person who could hurt her more than he could.  His heart was literally breaking.

"Doctor!  His heart rate is spiking again!"  the nurse shouted, quickly checking the scan on the ECG machine as another doctor scanned over several other monitors.  " Blood pressure is climbing to 150/99.  His heart rate is all over the place!" 

"Bring it down!  Bring it down now!"  the doctor shouted, quickly hitting a few buttons on an overhead monitor.  "What's his oxygen level?"

"It's at 97 percent and holding but his heart rate is erratic."

"Come on people!  If it keeps climbing, we're going to lose him!  Let's go!"

As a few other doctor's joined in the battle to control Wade's quickly deteriorating condition, alarms started going off at an frightening rate and the entire staff in the operating room began to rush frantically to his aid.

Throwing his arm over Michelle’s shoulder, Chris gave Wade a cocky grin. The look on Chris’ face only seemed to fuel Wade’s anger, an anger which had now been directed at Michelle. 

“Michelle get that stupid fucking look off your face and get up NOW!” Wade screamed reaching out to grab her wrist once again. 

Seeing Wade make a move for Michelle, Chris quickly intercepted his hand holding it as tight as he could. Causing Wade’s face to distort slightly from the unexpected pain. 

“You don’t wanna do that.” Chris said still holding onto Wade, his voice and his face both taking a serious turn. 

Michelle’s eyes raced back and forth between the two men. The tension that was now filling the small space was making it hard for her to breathe. She wasn’t the only one to feel the tension either, looking over at Jackson, she saw that he was fully aware of the drama that was unfolding. 

“I think its time for you to go Wade.” Chris said tossing his hand away. 

“I’m not leaving here without Michelle.” Wade spat back paying no attention to his throbbing wrist. 

Standing up, Chris stepped directly in front of Wade so that they were now nose to nose. Seeing his friend and business partner getting ready for what looked like a fight, Jackson and Tanner stood up just a few feet behind Chris. They may have had their differences, but they always had his back. 

“I got this” Chris said over his shoulder, knowing that they were behind him ready to pounce. 

“You sure?” Jackson asked hesitantly. 

“Positive.” Chris replied before turning his attention back to Wade. “Now, you ARE going to leave here without her. Whether or not you walk out or roll out is all up to you.” Chris said in a matter of fact tone. “It doesn’t make much difference to me either way.” 

"He's going in to cardiac arrest!  Grab the crash cart!"  the doctor yelled, quickly moving the surgical equipment out of the way.  "Hit him with 20 cc's of epinephrine"

Quickly grabbing a needle from the tray, the nurse inverted a small glass bottle and proceeded to fill up the syringe.  After giving it a few taps to clear any air bubbles, she injected in to his IV.

"Come on Wade."  she whispered, praying that she would see any indication on the monitor that the drug was working.

"Anything?"

"No pulse.  He's in v-fib."  she replied, staring at the solid green line displayed across the ECG.

Letting out an audible groan, the doctor quickly grabbed the defibrillator and placed two saline defib pads on Wade's body.

"Alright, charge to 200."  he called out, placing the two paddles just above Wade's chest and glancing up at the ECG.  "Clear?"

"We're clear."  the room called out, taking a step back so that they could set off the charge.

After Wade's body absorbed the shock, his body collapsed back down on to the gurney in a lifeless heap.

"Any change in rhythm?"

"Nothing.  Still in v-fib."

"Charge to 300."

After adjusting the dial on the defibrillation machine, they nurse took a step back and joined the others as the doctor prepared to once again try to get Wade's heart to start beating.

"Clear?"

"Clear."

Setting off another charge, Wade's body lifted off the gurney once again before limply falling back down.

"Anything?"

"Still nothing!"

"Charge to 360."  he said, rubbing the paddles together as he stared up at Wade's continuing flatline.  "Clear?"

"Clear."

Setting off yet another charge, the entire operating room held it's breath that they would finally get a normal sinus rhythm.  Unfortunately after the effect of the defibrillation wore off, he flatlined once again.

"God damn it.  Alright, start CPR and bag him."  the doctor ordered, quickly pulling another IV cart over to the bed.  "Someone get me a normal saline drip running." he continued, switching over one of the tubes attatched to Wade's IV.  "Then run 1mg of Epinephrine IV push followed by 20 cc's of normal saline...and get that arm elevated!"

After a few minutes, the doctor leaned back to look at the monitors.  Seeing a normal rhythm on the screen with CPR, he grabbed a hold of Wade's wrist and felt for a radial pulse. 

"Alright, hold CPR."  he instructed, taking another step back to watch the monitors.

Unfortunately once compressions were stopped, Wade's heart rate flatlined once again.

“Michelle this is insane!” Wade said his voice getting a little louder, as he began to get increasingly annoyed. “You don’t even know this guy or what he's capable of."

Wiping her tears away Michelle looked back up at the man she once loved and then at the man who she barely knew. 

“You're right Wade. I don’t know him…..but I do know you. And I cant…..I wont do this anymore. I don’t want to be with you.” She said coldly. 

As the words came out of her mouth, a sly smile spread across Chris’ face. The words seemed to hang in the air, echoing over and over in Wade’s ears. Getting louder and louder as they did. 

Searching her eyes for any sign that she hadn’t meant what she said, Wade stood up straight and looked down at her.

"You don't mean that.  You love me.  I know you do.  Don't turn your back on me now."  he said, his voice so soft it was barely audible.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Michelle turned away from Wade in an attempt to drive home the fact that she meant every word. Granted she wasn't sure how she truly felt about him anymore, but she did know that at this point in time, she wanted nothing to do with him.

"Michelle?"

As Wade watched her slip away in front of his very eyes, his sadness quickly turned in to rage and he balled up his fist.

"I told you not to turn your back on me!"

Before anyone could even realize what was about to happen, Wade drew his fist back and swung at Michelle as hard as he could. The force from his blow connecting with her jaw and knocking her down to the seat that she was sitting in. 

"Charge to 360."

Grabbing the paddles once again, the doctor placed them against the small saline pads on Wade's chest and pressed the buttons.  As it did before, Wade's body raised slightly and then came crashing back down on to the table.

"Still nothing."  the nurse called out, glancing up at the ECG.  "No pulse either."

"Resume CPR and give me 150mg of Lidocaine IV push followed by 20cc's normal saline."

After glancing up at the monitor while a fellow doctor continued to administer CPR, the doctor grabbed a hold of Wade's wrist and once again felt for a pulse. 

"Hold CPR."

Praying that he would feel a pulse, the doctor once again grabbed his wrist.  Realizing he still had nothing, he grabbed the paddles once again. 

"Alright, charge to 360."

"Charged at 360."  the nurse called out, letting out a heavy sigh.

"Clear?"

"Clear."

Placing the paddles one more time against Wade's chest, the doctor discharged the shock and watched the monitor.

"Nothing."

"Alright, resume CPR and give me another 1mg of Epinephrine followed by 20 more cc's of normal saline."

After grabbing the syringe to inject yet another does in to Wade's IV, the nurse glanced down and let out a soft groan.

"His IV is infillitrated.  I have to start another one on the other side."

"We don't have time for that." he said, glancing up at the clock to see how long they had been working.  "Alright hold CPR and give me 2mg of Epinephrine down his ET tube.  Hyperventilate him a few times."  he continued, addressing the respiratory therapist in control of his breathing.

Nodding her head, she quickly squeezed the bag attatched to Wade's trach tube and watched the monitor along with everyone else.

"Give me an assessment."

"Still no pulse."