Jodee

Chapter 53 - Coding

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JODEE POV

"Ace!" I yelled, bounding into the hospital room with Caleb hot on my tail.

It was about dinner time and Caleb said that we had to leave the hospital and go get some food. I, of course, argued and tried to appeal to my brother that I needed to stay with him, but Ace sided with his friend and so we left.

I did manage to bargain that we would go get something and then come back so Ace could have it too instead of eating at home or eating at a restaurant.

There wasn't much debate of where we were going to eat because I don't think anyone is really up for arguing about something as trivial as that so I got to choose a place. Just a simple one that serves burgers and grill type things — I got chicken tenders. 

Caleb tried to talk to me in the car and start a conversation about when I was going to go back to school and how I was feeling but I wasn't really in the mood to talk. Of course, I'm really happy that Ace is finally awake and is okay, but at the same time he still is in the trauma ward of the hospital and is closely monitored so I knew we weren't quite out of the woods yet.  

So I relayed to Caleb that I was happy that my brother was awake and I was looking forward to him coming home and things getting back to normal. Because I knew Caleb was going to tell my big brother whatever I said, so I want Ace to know that I'm okay — so he doesn't have to worry about me — but to also not make him suspicious that I'm lying so I had to say I was sad we were still at the hospital and wanted things to go back to normal. 

I think that satisfied my brothers best friend because he didn't press me for more answers and he didn't give me the whole speech of "its okay to not be okay and to cry and to feel whatever emotions; angry, sadness, hurt" — I've had that lecture many times from both of my brothers now and before whenever something happened in my life.  

I stood at the edge of my brother hospital door, and shook the bag so he could see that he successfully picked up our food. 

"H—" Ace turned to Caleb and I, but his words got stuck in his throat.

His eyes went wide, and his hand flew up to his chest. Clutching it softly as feeling his heart beating, causing his hand to lift up and down. Once again trying to respond to my eager greeting, but unable too. Instead, a sort of harsh breathing sound came out. Like he couldn't quite get the air in. 

"Ace?" I whimpered silently, is he okay?

"Ace? What's going on?" Caleb strode in front of me, throwing the take out bag to the side as he walked over to his best friend, placing a hand on his chest as Ace struggled to breath.

"W—what's wrong? Ace talk to us!" I cried out, rushing to my brother's side as well. 

I didn't attempt to touch my brother or mess up any of the cords that were around him for fear that I would make it worse. Instead I stood and clutched the side of his bed so tightly in my hands it hurt and made my knuckles turn white. 

Ace's panicked expression looked from me to Caleb and over again, his eyes going rampant as his chest heaved up and down but nothing came out.

Then his chest stopped falling.

He stopped struggling.

"Doctor! I need a fucking doctor in here!" Caleb yelled towards the door, pressing some random button right next to my brother's bed. A help button. 

Help!  We needed help! 

"Ace? Caleb! Caleb! What's going on? What's going on?" I full on screamed now, tears running down my cheeks.

Caleb ignored me at first his eyes trained on the door as we watched two nurses rush into the room, pushing Caleb and I over so they were next to my big brother. Caleb finally turned towards me, his eyes wide with sadness and panic displayed in them.

"Sir? Sir? Can you hear us?" One of the nurses brought her stethoscope to Ace's chest, listening to his heart sounds but also trying to get him to understand what he is trying to say. 

"Shit! His lungs are collapsing." The other one responded, holding my brother's shoulders down.

"Sir we're going to need to get out of here, now." The first nurse said, looking up at Caleb and reaching down at the same time to lay Ace's bed fully down to the lowest position.

"O–o-okay." Caleb stuttered, peeling his eyes away from his best friend as he stepped out of the way of the nurses.

Suddenly the monitor went off, the machine starting to scream loudly.

What does that mean? 

BEEP. The buzzer was dragged and didn't catch another signal. It means his heart stopped breathing, there was no more heart palpitations.  

"He's crashing! Get a crash cart in here!" The second nurse screamed, looking up at the monitor.

"Jodee!" Caleb's hands grabbed at my shoulders, but I pushed him away. "Jodee! We have to go!"

"No!"

"Charge to 200!"

"Jodee! Now!"

"Clear!"

"That's it!"

Before the paddles could touch my brother's skin I was lifted up into the air. Caleb grabbed me by the waist, spinning me around so I was trapped against his body, my head shoved into his chest so I couldn't see.

"Stop! No! Stop!" I started screaming, and kicking, trying anything to get back to my brother. My dying brother. "Ace! I wanna see my brother! Let me go! Stop!"

"Jodee. C'mon, kid, I'm gonna need you to calm down. Please calm down, JD." Suddenly, Caleb stopped walking and I felt us lower to the ground, but he still kept his grip tight on me, not willing to let me go anytime soon. 

"Stop! Let me go!" I continued to scream, my voice raw now from all of the screaming.

My body started to sag, my punches stopped landing on Caleb's chest, and the tears started to flow more rapidly.

"Stop. I wanna see my brother." I tried to yell, but my voice wouldn't carry the sound, my words rather coming out in a whisper.

"I know, Joes. I know." Caleb clutched my head closer to his chest, and kissed the side of my head.

Ace calls me Joes. 

A/N - Ace's condition has turned for the worse. How are Jodee and Caleb going to take this? Will Ace be able to recover again? Will he be in a coma again or will he need another surgery? Looks like we finally know how he got shot. It wasn't Tobias like lots of people were guessing. But what is Ace going to do about this new gang? Will him and Soltani have to team up?