Work Text:
Ten Seconds
by Carina Scott
He had often heard that your life could change in the blink of an eye. He knew, on a intellectual level at least, that it was true. But he'd never really taken the time to consider how that fact could affect him.
And when the time came, it wasn't in the blink of an eye, but rather in the eerily silent, gut-wrenching, standstill of ten seconds as every ear in the break room turned toward him, as Grissom gave him the life changing news.
Jim had been shot.
After Jim was shot the first time, Warrick didn't think he could ever be so scared again. He'd witnessed the immediate aftermath of Cutler's brutal disregard for life. Applied the necessary pressure to stem the too fast flow of Jim's blood out of the wound. Yelled for help and pleaded with Jim to hold on just a little longer. Not to give up.
Warrick didn't think there was a description for the amount of fear he'd felt at that moment. Nor could he put into words the all encompassing relief he'd felt when Jim had opened his eyes, letting them know he would be okay.
Racing to the hospital after Grissom's news, Warrick wasn't certain how he managed to get there without harming himself or others. But somehow he had managed.
He was frantic as he tried to explain to the nurses that his lover had been shot. That Jim had been brought in for emergency surgery.
The nurses had immediately recognized Warrick's name as well as that of his partner, having often worked with the police captain.
Leading him to the Intensive Care Wing, Warrick had been instructed to wait. A doctor with more information on Jim's condition would be out soon.
So he waited. And prayed. And waited some more.
But, in the end it wasn't ten seconds that changed his life. "I'm sorry Mr. Brown. Captain Bass didn't make it through the surgery."
No, eight words were all it took to destroy his life. Jim was gone. And no amount of time, healing, or anything could change that.
Jim was dead, and for all that was left of Warrick, he may as well have been too.
End