Chapter Text
Will wasn't feeling well. When he woke up that morning he knew something was wrong.
He was uncomfortable, annoyed.
In reality, his body had been trying to send him signals for days, but the doctor was so busy carrying out his duties that he didn't realize it.
Too many things to do, too many thoughts in his head: the rent to pay, the car to fix...
The alarm had been ringing for about half an hour but he was still in bed, and even though he had just woken up, he felt tired, exhausted, dizzy.
But slowly he forced himself and stood up to get ready. He only had an hour to get to the hospital and start his shift. He couldn't afford a day off, he wasn't feeling that bad.
Many people would have needed him, various pathologies that he could have cured by alleviating their suffering.
This was exactly why he became a doctor, to help people who are suffering by doing everything he could to make them feel better.
He had promised himself this when he saw his mother begin the ordeal of the disease. He would help people get better.
He always put others before himself, he gave them more importance while neglecting his own being.
Will had been feeling a slight pain in his stomach for a couple of days. Nothing too severe, a slight discomfort that he thought would go away on its own with time, but things don't always go the way you want or imagine.
He knew he needed rest, but there were too many things on his mind to even consider staying in bed.
He was so tired.. he was dragging his feet around the house and his movements were slower than usual.
Around 7:40 someone rang the intercom.
It was Natalie, she had come to pick up Will because his car was at the mechanic for a change. She and Will had arranged it the day before, but the doctor didn't remember at that moment.
- Good morning, he said, sighing wearily once he reached the car and sat down in the passenger seat.
- Hey good morning - Natalie replied giving him a kiss on the lips - is everything okay?
- It's okay, I didn't sleep very well last night - he replied trying to act as usual so as not to worry his girlfriend. After all, he had nothing. Just a slight stomachache and that wasn't the end of the world.
- Come on, you need to recover a bit though, we have a hard day of work ahead of us. I know what you need! - she said earning a questioning look from him.- of a nice cup of coffee. How about we stop and grab one at the bar? We still have a few minutes to spare.
- No thank you, I got it at home. - Will lied. He really needed a good coffee, but he didn't want to aggravate the discomfort in his stomach.
So the two went straight to work and started their activities.
Will began to visit one patient after another without stopping for a moment. The emergency room was full of people waiting to be seen, and focusing on them helped distract him and take his mind off his discomfort.
Even though he felt tired and just wanted to lie down and sleep, he kept going, trying to resist. He seemed to be on autopilot.
Around 11:30, after almost 4 hours, Will stopped at the nurses' station. He hadn't seen Natalie since and was kind of glad about that.
She sensed that he wasn't in top form and didn't want to have to pretend and lie to her.
Will, however, had not considered Maggie. She too was capable of recognizing the smallest signs of discomfort. She was very attentive, especially with the people she cared about and the doctor was like a brother to her.
The nurse was chatting with Ethan, Connor, Doris, and April. Everyone was laughing and joking, except Will.
Usually he was an active participant in conversations, but on this occasion he remained silent and on the sidelines. That, to Lockwood, was an indication that something was not right with him.
Diverting conversation Maggie approached Dr. Halstead...
- Hey Will! - she called smiling, attracting his attention.
The young man raised his head from the magazine he was pretending to read, unable to concentrate, and after blinking he put on his mask and turned to her with a lopsided smile.
It wasn't difficult to understand, however, that it was a fake, constructed smile, since it didn't light up his eyes.
- How are you? Everything okay? - Maggie asked starting the conversation, wanting to try to find out something.
Looking at him closely he realized how pale his friend was, much more than usual.
- Yes, I'm fine.. - he said trying to be convincing.
At that moment, however, there was a new arrival.
Two paramedics entered the emergency room pushing a stretcher with an elderly lady on it.
Maggie was forced to walk away, but she had promised herself that she would look into the matter further at another time.
Will was relieved not to have to explain himself and slowly returned to work.
He needed to do something to distract himself, the pain in his stomach was gradually getting stronger.
As time passed, the young doctor became more aware that he was not well, and even though he continued to maintain his charade with others, he knew that something was wrong.
He felt cold to the bone and had recently started shivering. He definitely had a high fever, but despite that he took a few deep breaths and tried to compose himself before going into the waiting room to call another patient.
- Doctor Halstead - Doris called him - patient for you, expected 10 minutes.
Hearing this, Will wasted no time, organized everything that could be useful to him and then left the emergency room to wait for the ambulance to arrive.
He sat down on the bench near the door, but when the ambulance arrived the patient was already dead. There was nothing he could do.
Back at the hospital, he headed to the bathroom. His forehead was sweaty, his heart was beating fast and he was struggling to breathe, he was panting.
If it had been anyone else in his place, he would have burst into tears by now, he would have screamed...
From an early age, it had been instilled in him that the Halsteads were strong, tough men who endured the hardest times and never cried.
He had learned over the years to hide his pain, his ailments. He could not let himself be seen as weak.
He was now good at keeping his mask on, he smiled and talked to everyone he met and managed to put his patients at ease despite everything.
As soon as he entered the bathroom, however, a piercing pain hit him.
His stomach was on fire and he managed to get into one of the boxes before sliding against the wall, taking a while to recover and get back on his feet.
It took several minutes and all his willpower but he finally left the stall and went to the sink to rinse his sweaty face.
- Will - Connor called him
Young Halstead was frightened. He had not noticed his presence.
- Are you okay? - he asked him
- Yes, I'm fine, just a little tired - the red-haired doctor replied, trying not to show the pain he was feeling, trying to ignore it and manage it by taking longer breaths.
Even though he tried to lie about his condition, Connor, like Maggie and Natalie, had realized that he was a cheater. Unfortunately, it was a crazy day and without a moment's rest, so he couldn't go into more detail either.
After leaving the bathroom, Dr. Halstead went back to work without stopping, not even for a lunch break.
He felt weak, tired and had no appetite. A slight nausea was creeping into him and so he preferred to continue visiting patients rather than going to the hospital bar.
In a rare moment of respite in the early afternoon, Will headed into one of the spare rooms, a secluded one, and lay down for a bit after taking a stomach calmer and a mild painkiller.
Lying there on the bed made him feel a little better, helped by having taken the medicine even though he was aware that perhaps it would have been better not to take it to avoid the risk of making the situation worse.
>
Having about half an hour to spare, he let himself go and, overcome by exhaustion, slipped into a disturbed sleep until his pager went off and he was forced to force himself to get up and go back to work.
He had to lie still for a few minutes, holding himself up in bed to stop the dizziness, and take deep breaths to control the urge to vomit.
After leaving the room, he headed towards the nurses' station to grab his tablet and get back to work, when a sharp pain in his stomach suddenly hit him, forcing him to stop once again.
The doctor grabbed the edge of the table, squeezing with all his strength and doing the same with his teeth, as hard as he could without crying and screaming even though he wanted to so much.
It was a piercing, unbearable pain.
But no one noticed his suffering even though the mask had collapsed. At that moment, everyone was busy with work or still on break. He seemed to be reading something on the counter.
Will was feeling terrible, the more time passed the worse it got. He had never felt so bad.
In addition to the pain in his stomach, he was having trouble focusing his eyes, had a high fever, and the nausea was increasing by the minute.
Halstead, nonostante tutto, cercò in tutti i modi di resistere, ma iniziava a non farcela più. Voleva urlare, si sentiva svenire ed aveva le vertigini.
Fu allora che tutto crollò.
Moans of pain escaped Will's lips and he suddenly began to slump toward the ground. His eyes were closed, hoping to stop the movement of what was around him, and one hand was clenched into a fist in front of his stomach.
The first to notice the situation was Maggie who immediately approached him to help him and support him before he fell to the ground.
Immediately behind her was a tired, but alarmed Connor who had just emerged from the operating room.
- Hey Will, don't worry, we got you - she comforted him worriedly, helping him sit on the floor.
The doctor was now sitting with his back to the counter, hunched over and consumed by pain. His heart rate was elevated from his state, but also from the fear he felt.
The surgeon looked at him and froze. Crouching down so that he was facing his colleague, he noticed that Will was crying.
Tears were streaming down her eyes as she was breathing heavily.
Halstead opened his eyes suddenly and his colleague and the nurse could see pure terror in them. The younger one was in a panic.
- Maggie get a stretcher - Connor ordered, assuming it could be a heart attack. Will's voice, coming out as if it were a whisper, however, stopped him:
- I... I don't... - the red-haired doctor tried to say, bringing a shaking hand to his mouth - I'm vomiting.. -
Rhodes moved behind Will to support him and rub his back while Maggie positioned the retrieval bowl under his chin just in time for him to start vomiting.
It took a while but Will finally collapsed sideways, without an ounce of energy left, onto Connor.
The surgeon and the nurse looked at each other in terror after seeing the contents of the basin and Will's still dirty mouth. The young man had vomited blood.
TO BE CONTINUED