You Promised | Mark Sloan ✓

57┃let me go

"H-How long..."

"Three m-minutes ago," Kirian informed numbly.

Three minutes.

She made a choice. To save her brother. She made a choice. To prioritise family before them.

She made the fucking choice.

"Kirian..." she quickly crouched down and handed the blood bags to Nina to help set up for transfusion.

"He's dead..." he spoke up shakily, "Jace is... H-He died."

"I-I'm sorry."

She was, truly.

Kirian's lips quivered as he swallowed back his tears. "He, uh... w-wanted to say t-thank you for trying to s-save his life," he choked out a sob, "And... t-that... And he..."

"And that he was grateful that you pushed him to speak up and built up his self-esteem," Nina finished his sentence quietly.

"My brilliant intern, I would hug you right now, but you already look bloody uncomfortable."

"I am... yeah, thank you, Dr Lawrence."

Norah felt her heart tearing into two-no, scratch that-she could feel the numbness that can only be described as her heart tearing into two.

"I don't... Don't want it," Kirian spoke up suddenly as he lifted his arm weakly to Nina.

"No, Kirian-listen to me. You made a promise to Jace, remember?" she tried but he shook his head weakly, "Kirian..."

"I don't... I can't. I don't want the blood, I want-"

"You cannot give up on yourself right now, Rook!" Norah bellowed at him, turning his face to her harshly. "You are gonna live, you hear me? You are gonna live. You are a hell of a fighter, right?" she reminded their conversation in the stairwell, "You've beaten the odds of ten percent, and this? You can fight this. You will live a brilliant life, Kirian, I am promising you that."

Truth be told, she still saw them as her interns, and will always be her interns. She had already lost two of them to utter misfortunes. She could not handle losing another one. It was just too much.

Everything was too much.

The door to the supply closet swung open again and they jumped in shock and fear, letting out loud gasps. Fortunately, it was the SWAT members who entered. "This floor is clear. We're going to evacuate you now."

❦ ❦ ❦

NORAH HAD NEVER MISSED the outside of the hospital this much.

The blaring sun and the cloudless sky. The streets were packed with teams from the police departments, a tent set up by the side to coordinate with the SWAT team they had sent to clear the insides.

Kirian was stabilising, that was a good thing. But Jace being zipped inside a body bag was not.

The SWAT team had suggested that they left the body in the supply closet and return afterwards, but Norah had yelled choruses of scolding at them until they caved.

The gurney was being wheeled towards an ambulance, Nina caught up to the paramedics and updated them about Kirian's status and condition. Norah searched her gaze at the other ambulances lining up where patients are being transferred to Seattle Presbyterian Hospital. The one person... Where is he?

Her eyes met the blue ones across the street who was standing by an ambulance where the gurney had just been carried onto.

Mark frowned at her red-stained scrubs, but exhaled in relief, feeling the large worry in his chest was finally able to be let go. He gave her a sharp nod and she caught her breath for the first time in hours.