BROKEN HEARTS, AGAIN

By: Vered Gilad Friedman

Summary: Alex is kicked by a patient and refuses treatment…

Author's note: I'm totally in love with this series. I only discovered it recently and had to watch everything. Now I can't get it out of my head. Especially can't get Michael Shanks out of my head *gulp*.

It's been five years since my last fanfic. I'm rusty, so please forgive me. Also, am not from an English speaking country.

I'm a sucker for suffering characters and this story is no exception. It was inspired by season two's finale' "Broken Hearts" but takes place at early season four.

All medical stuff is based on some googling and my basic understanding - my apologies for any inaccuracies, and possible impossible medicine that I may have invented.

Disclaimer: I do not own "Saving Hope" or its characters, but I do enjoy them so much, that had to give them some additional plot.

Thank you for reading and all reviews are welcome.

PART 1

The fourteen year old was thrashing uncontrollably. Legs kicking in the air, arms flailing, foam frothing from his mouth, his neck distended backwards; his entire body contorting as the seizure took over.

"C'mon!" Alex Reid yelled. "Where's the Lorazepam?!" She was trying to grab the boy's legs. It was turning out to be an impossible task. "Jackson!" she shouted at the top of her voice. "Why the hell isn't he back with the medication?!" she blurted under her breath, barely catching it.

She had sent the nurse over a minute ago to get the anti-seizure drug. It was taking him forever. Usually they had it stocked in the trauma cart, but it had been a crazy day. A bunch of kids came in with a bad reaction to a chemical spill at a building site by their school. Most of them ended up with severe seizures. The place was a mess. There were social workers and psychologists trying to help the families, while various chemical experts were working on identifying the element that was affecting the children. They had to work fast and get their condition under control and the carts were half empty.

It was definitely an irregular situation. Nurse Jackson left her on her own with the patient and went to get the seizure drug and hopefully some help. Alex felt drained and the only thing that somehow kept her going was the fact that in two hours her shift would be over and she would be back home with her kiddo and her man.

She took a deep breath and leaped on top the boy's legs, pinning them to the gurney. She heard Jackson's voice. He was approaching the trauma room she was in. She sighed inwardly 'finally'.

The Trauma doors burst open and she peeped behind her— WHACK! She felt a hard kick against her chest and the air was sucked out of her lungs. She gulped and felt herself losing her grip as she came down hard, her chest crashed against the gurney and then she just rolled to the floor.

She felt disoriented and breathless.

"Alex!" she heard Charlie's agitated voice.

"I—I'm—f—fine." She managed to say through gasps and pants. "Take c—care o—of the b—boy…" She trailed off, gasping for air. She was never punched or kicked in her life, Alex realized. This is what it meant getting the wind blown out of you.

She could hear Charlie taking over her trauma; administering the medication, shouting out a bunch of orders for Jackson, trying to get the agitated boy to calm down.

All the while she was slowly getting her breathing to calm down. Eventually she felt she was able to get up from the floor.

Charlie was right by her side, lending a helping hand, and directing her to the nearby bed.

"Charlie, what are you doing?"

"Lie down. I want Dawn to give you a quick checkup."

She was annoyed. "I fell, Charlie. It's nothing, really."

"C'mon, Alex, I saw your fall. He kicked you right in the chest and it took you too long to recover. You had heart surgery for God sake!"

As he said this he grabbed her arm and was feeling for her pulse, but she pulled it away and got up. Her movement was too abrupt, though, and she swayed and grabbed the bed for support.

"See?!" Charlie admonished her. "I'm paging Dawn."

Alex let out a defeated sigh and sat back on the bed. She hated being hovered upon. Charlie was so protective and although she loved him for it, she also felt that feminist tendency and she hated all that chivalry and damsel in distress thingy. Why won't he let her be?

"Charlie?" She gave him what she hoped was a convincing smile. "If I'll be a good girl and just rest on this bed for now, will you spare me the checkup?"

He gave her a worried look. "Alex…"

"C'mon, Charlie," She pleaded. "It's almost the end of the shift. I'll just lie down here and you can take me home when your shift is over, deal?"

"First let me take your pulse and then, if I'm satisfied with my findings, we might have a deal."

"You drive a hard bargain, Charlie Harris." Alex smiled and offered her wrist to her man.

He grabbed her hand almost a little too eagerly, then felt her pulse. It seemed to take him forever. He then put his stethoscope on and proceeded to listen to her chest but Alex pushed him away.

"You said you will tell me after my pulse check." She retorted.

"Alex!"

"Don't Alex me, Charlie Harris. You made a promise!"

"I'm not happy with just a pulse reading. Alex, I'm just being thorough 'cause I care about you. Why don't you indulge me, just this once?" He was on the verge of begging.

Reid was just about to give in. He gave her the puppy dog stare and she was a sucker for his big blues, but then hell blew over.

She could hear the sirens piling up as they approached the ER entrance. This was going to be a major event, an 'all hands on deck' kind. She knew Charlie realized this as well as he got up to face the ER doors.

With a loud bang the doors burst open and in came the first gurney, a medic was sitting on top of it, doing CPR on whomever was lying down and being rolled in. Reid got up as Charlie began moving, but he caught her movement and turned around.

"You're sitting this one out, Reid!" He shouted as he rushed to help the injured party.

She lay back with an angry huff.