Fic: Choices, Chapter 2 (Numb3rs, Charlie Eppes / Colby Granger, Don Eppes / Martin)
Title: Choices, Chapter 2
Fandom: Numb3rs
Pair: Charlie Eppes / Colby Granger,
Don Eppes / Martin Fridegord
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, et.
Feedback: Always Welcome
NUMB3RS Main List
Prologue
Chapter 1
Don followed Colby to the coffee machine down the hallway. Charlie was sitting in the waiting area, staring at the wall.
“Granger?”
“Yeah?”
“Did he tell you how it happened?”
“No, I heard it straight from that guy, Mike or whatever he was. I put him on the speaker for Charlie, he was in the middle of his equations.”
“Mike who?”
“I don`t know. He’s a contractor on one of the projects Alan consulted. He said goodbye and left. Ten minutes later the guy saw his car still on the area and went to see what was going on, and…. He was in the car.”
“Did he crash into something?”
“No, he hadn’t even started the car. Paramedics came and Mike called Charlie.”
When Don and Colby returned to the waiting area, Charlie wasn’t alone anymore.
He was talking to a doctor.
“Is he okay? What happened to him?” Don demanded.
“Mr. Eppes had an acute ischemic cerebrovascular syndrome.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“A stroke.” Charlie muttered, more to himself than to Don.
“Exactly.” Doctor agreed. “We don’t know the full extend of the damages yet, but it was massive. Did he complain headaches, nausea, or memory problems?”
“He was out of town a lot.” Don said. “He just got back couple days ago.”
“I see. According to his record he hasn’t been in any medical treatments for years.”
“He`s always healthy as a horse. He….He`s gonna recover, right?”
The doctor let out a long sigh. “The first twenty our hours are critical. And if he survives those, the brain damage will most likely be quite large.”
“You mean….”
“According to the scans, the bleeding inside the scull was severe. He’s never going to recover fully.”
“So, he’s brain-dead.” The words slipped out of Don’s mouth before he could think. Charlie looked like he had gotten an electric shock. He took few steps back and ran out.
“I’ll go.” Colby sprinted after him.
“Sorry.” Don said and focused on the doctor again.
“It’s fine. Brain-dead is not exactly an exact term, but yes. If you want to say it like that, he is brain-dead. He’s on life support and that’s the only thing keeping him from slipping.”
“Can you operate on him?”
“No, the bleeding was on too large of an area. We can just try wait.”
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Charlie sat on the pavement in front of the hospital. Colby approached him carefully and put his hand on his shoulder.
“Babe?”
“It’s just like it was with mom.”
“What do you mean?”
“They are in the hospital and we all know they are not coming back.” Charlie rubbed his eyes with his palms.
“You don’t know that.”
“I know! Didn’t you listen to the doctor? Dad’s not gonna get better.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s about to die.”
“It does. And I ran out again.” Charlie let out a sobbing chuckle. “Good thing the garage is miles away, or I would be there right now.” Charlie was interrupted by his cell phone.
“Hello?”
“Charlie? It’s me.” Megan’s voice announced. “I need a favour. I’m at the hospital.”
“Hospital?” He repeated.
“I had some cramps and my neighbours decided to call an ambulance. I could have driven here myself.”
“I know, what floor?”
“I’m waiting in the cafeteria. I had my phone with me, but I forgot my wallet so I can’t take a cab.”
“Okay, wait a sec, we’ll be there in a minute.” Charlie hung up and got up from the pavement.
“Where are we going?” Colby asked.
“Can you stay here?”
“Why? Where are you going?”
“Megan’s here and she needs a ride home. I need to get away from here for a little while.”
“Is she okay?” Colby handed him the car keys.
“Yeah, I’ll be back when she’s home.”
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“How are you feeling?”
Don lifted his gaze from his shoes. Martin was standing in front of him.
“How did you….?”
“David called me. You left in such a hurry he thought you probably wouldn`t remember to call me.”
“I`m sorry-”
“It`s okay.”
“It`s… I don’t know how long we`ll stay here, you don’t need to-”
“Don.”
Don’s eyes snapped back to Martin’s.
“I’ve known Alan for years, so don’t even try to kick me out. I’m not going anywhere.” Martin crossed his arms against his chest and waited for objections.
A long silence followed. Don took few careful steps and leaned against Martin. He wrapped his arms around Don’s back and pulled him closer.
TBC