Work Text:
Robby’s POV:
“Will you stop touching me?!” our next patient whined as the paramedics wheeled him in.
“Chris,” the paramedic stated calmly, “Just let them check you over.”
“No!” he shouted as he crossed his arms.
They explained that the young man, who is clearly under the influence of something, has cuts and bruises all across his body. Apparently, he and his football buddies were celebrating a victory. They just won yet another game. Our linebacker here delivered essential tackles to score some much-needed touchdowns. He was also dared to jump off the roof and did just that.
“Okay, okay, just settle down,” I said, holding my hands up. “We are only here to help you.”
“I don’t need anybody’s help. I am just fine,” he scoffed as he swung his legs over and stood up, unsteady on his feet.
We all kept our distance and kept our hands up. He was pacing around the same couple of feet near the counter where Dana is. She kept her guard up, ready in case this man came for her. She had the younger, more inexperienced staff, like Mel and Whitaker, get behind her.
Javadi came out of the room next to him, unbeknownst to her, the situation we were dealing with. She was wheeling out a tray full of instruments just used to clean out a nasty burn wound that had gone neglected.
Startled, Chris looked at Javadi and what she had. He grabbed the scalpel and held it up.
“No one come near me!” he ordered as he grabbed Javadi’s arm and pulled her close, “Or I will cut her!”
“Whoa! Everybody, calm down!” I started as I stepped closer, but stopped moving once he brought the scalpel closer to her throat.
It was a tense few seconds before Jack stepped in and began running his mouth.
“Chris, man, you don’t want to do this. Look, if you want a hostage, take me,” Jack started as he continued to walk closer to the drugged man.
“You? Why would I take you?” he sneered as he looked Jack up and down.
“I’m one of the senior residents here. She is new, she’s an intern for god’s sake,” Jack exaggerated, “I’m more valuable. If you let her trade spots with me, I will even give you a bigger scalpel.”
“Jack!” Dana exclaimed.
“What the fuck, Jack?” I asked my partner about the stupidity of this very dangerous situation.
“Look, we’ve already alerted both security and police. They are on their way,” Mel added.
“No! No!” Chris yelled as he shook his head, “You weren’t supposed to call anybody!”
“Look,” Jack started again as he stepped closer, “You have about 5 seconds to decide to trade her for me. You can do more with me. Then you have about 5 minutes before they come running in here. They are less likely to shoot you if you have a valuable hostage. Hell, even use me as a shield, I don’t care.”
“Stop giving him ideas, Jack,” Dana demanded as she glanced at me, clearly worried for Jack’s mental state since he is offering himself up this easily.
“Okay. Yeah, I want you,” Chris said.
Fuck me. I don’t want him to have either of them. What the fuck is Jack thinking? Just giving himself up like this. He is not as expendable as he thinks.
Jack instructed Chris to hold onto Javadi’s hand and let her reach out to Jack with the other. Once Jack had a hold of her, he pulled her swiftly behind him. Chris reached out to Jack with his free hand, leaving his hand holding the scalpel open and away from his body.
Jack grabbed his wrist, still holding the scalpel, and pressed the pressure point. He used his other hand to quickly smack the top of his hand, promptly disarming him. Then he essentially bear hugged him from behind. His left arm was holding Chris’s left wrist as he kept his arm securely on his throat. His right arm is holding down his right arm. Jack then kicked the back of Chris’s legs to unbalance him enough to send the two of them to the floor. Jack’s legs were wrapped around the man's lower body as much as he could.
“Don’t struggle, Chris!” Jack shouted, “Calm down!”
“Let go of me!” he yelled as he continued to struggle against Jack.
He headbutted Jack, who smacked the back of his head on the floor, hard. This caused Jack to loosen his grip slightly, and Chris yanked his right arm free and kept elbowing Jack in the side as fast and as hard as he could.
“Stop that man!” Frank shouted as he got down next to the two and held Chris’s arm so he would stop harming Jack.
The police arrived and cuffed Chris. They took him away to be treated by anyone who didn’t see the attack. We all swarmed Jack, who was still lying on the floor. We all threw every question we had at him.
“Guys, one at a time,” Dana shouted before turning her attention back to Jack, “Where does it hurt, hon?”
“Head and side,” he answered with a grunt, “Leg hurts pretty bad, too. I might have twisted the prosthetic when I took him down.”
“Okay, babe, just stay still,” I told him before rolling up his pant leg enough to unlock the leg and take it off. You could see the tension leave his body as the strain was gone.
Frank determined that he did have a concussion and some pretty nasty bruising on his side. With some protests and a stern look from me, he agreed to be admitted for an overnight observation. I couldn’t wait for my shift to be over to be with him; the minutes felt like eternity.
“Oh, sorry,” Javadi said once she saw me stroking his hair as he was dozing off.
“No, come in,” I told her as I saw her turn to exit.
“Uh, I brought you an extra blanket. I know how cold it can get,” she said as she set the blanket down on the edge of the bed. “Thank you, by the way, for saving me.”
“It was nothing,” Jack said with a shrug. “Are you okay?”
“Am I okay?” she asked, shocked that he would ask that when he was clearly the one injured. “I’m okay. Are you?”
“I will be,” he answered, “Thanks for the blanket.”
“No problem. See you tomorrow,” she said before exiting.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked him as I resumed stroking his hair.
“I’m fine, Robby,” he answered as he closed his eyes once more and allowed himself to drift.