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After dealing with the quirky Kramer couple, Adam jumped into a few more emergency cases. Night had fallen, and he was just about to head out to New Jersey to spend a happy East-meets-West Christmas Eve with Peggy when the ambulance sirens blared again. With Lexie and the crew in tow, he rushed to meet it.
"What's the situation?" he asked.
"Mike Colson, 35, multiple gunshot wounds," the paramedic said quickly as they unloaded the patient. "Systolic pressure's at 88. We've given him two rounds of lactated Ringer's. He's got gunshot wounds to the chest, abdomen, back, legs, shoulders… basically everywhere."
"Good Lord," Lexie gasped, wide-eyed.
"Did he run into the cops or something?" Carter quipped. "Did they empty a whole clip into him?"
"Nope," the paramedic shook his head. "He's still alive."
"…" Carter went quiet, then nodded with a tight-lipped smirk.
"She didn't mean it! It was an accident—she feels awful!" A blonde middle-aged woman with a bandaged arm came running over from another ambulance, clutching a little girl. "Mandy, tell them you're sorry!"
"She's the one who shot him?" Everyone froze, jaws dropping.
Adam, mid-rescue, turned to look. The blonde woman was frantic, while the little girl in her arms—face scratched with a bloody cut—stayed eerily calm.
"Grey, call the director," Adam ordered. "Carter, get Dr. Montgomery to check them out and treat her face. Melendez, O'Malley, with me."
Inside the ER, Adam worked fast. "Melendez, how many wounds?"
"Three to the chest and abdomen, seven in the legs, one on each side of the waist—might've gone straight through," the short guy reported, checking quickly. "More on the back. Total of 25 wounds, nine through-and-through. Looks like five bullets still inside."
"Anything else?" Adam asked.
"Blood in the urine—kidneys might be damaged," George added.
"Get an X-ray," Adam directed. "Book an OR, and find out what the hell happened."
Meanwhile, the director rushed over after Lexie's call. "The police are here. They want to know how Mandy got the gun," he said, eyeing the odd pair—a panicked mom and a calm kid. "We've called social services too."
"Mandy, do these cuts hurt?" Dr. Montgomery asked gently, examining her with Carter's help.
Mandy shook her head.
"Can you tell me how you got this scratch on your face?" Dr. Montgomery pressed softly.
"She was terrified," her mom jumped in, hugging her tight. "She's scared you'll take her away from me for doing something bad. The gun recoiled and hit her face—that's how she got hurt."
"That doesn't look like…" Dr. Montgomery started, eyeing the obvious knife cut.
"That's exactly how it happened!" the mom snapped. "Her dad was target shooting in the backyard and put the gun down for a sec—what an idiot, so stupid! She never meant to hurt him!"
"We believe you," Dr. Montgomery said, giving her a long look. "But your arm—did the gun 'recoil' and smash that too?"
"I fell," the mom mumbled, looking down.
"He's been abusing you, hasn't he?" Dr. Montgomery said with pity. "You can tell us. There's help for you."
"No!" the mom shouted. "There's no abuse! Nothing like that!"
"Okay, you'll be fine," the director cut in, shooting Dr. Montgomery a "cool it" glance to calm things down.
"Will my daddy die?" Mandy asked suddenly, still eerily calm.
"Dr. Duncan's working on him now—he's an amazing doctor," Dr. Montgomery reassured her.
"How could he?" Mandy murmured.
"How could he what?" Dr. Montgomery blinked.
"How could he not die?" Mandy said, puzzled. "I shot him so many times. How's he still alive?"
"…" Dr. Montgomery stared, stunned, then turned to the mom, whose eyes flickered. "See this? Look what you've done!"
"She didn't mean to kill him!" the mom sobbed. "She doesn't understand! She just wanted to stop him. He loves us—he just loses it sometimes. Mandy, Daddy loves us. He tries so hard to hold back!"
"She's just a kid!" Dr. Montgomery snapped. "You should've protected her with everything you've got, not let her take extreme measures to save you on what should've been a joyful Christmas Eve!"
Adam walked over then. "Adam, how's it going?" the director asked, stepping up.
"Bullets in the abdomen, five still inside, 25 wounds, blood in the urine, vital areas unstable," Adam explained briefly before turning to the mom. "Ma'am, he's got issues with nearly every organ. We need to get him into surgery now."
"Wait!" the mom cried. "Before he goes in, Mandy wants to apologize." She called over to Mandy, who was getting stitches from Dr. Montgomery. "Mandy, go say sorry to Daddy! Surgery's risky—you don't want him to die before you get the chance, right?"
Mandy glanced at her mom, a flicker of exasperation in her eyes. She dodged Dr. Montgomery's needle, hopped off the bed, and walked over calmly. Grabbing her mom's hand, she looked at Adam. "Where's my daddy? I need to apologize."
"…" The room went silent. The weird vibe made it hard to tell who was the 30-something mom and who was the 5- or 6-year-old daughter.
Operating Room.
The man, shot 17 times by his own daughter, was in critical condition—but Adam's skilled hands pulled him through.
"Unbelievable. He actually survived that," George marveled.
Adam just shook his head, staying quiet.
George and the short guy exchanged a look, catching on. Saving a violent dad who'd cut his 5-year-old daughter's face, forcing her to fire 17 shots to protect her abused, fractured mom? Not exactly a Christmas Eve win. 😔
"How'd it go?" Carter asked as Adam stepped out and approached the ward, where the mom was sobbing into her hands and Mandy sat calmly beside a social worker.
"The social worker's convincing her to take Mandy and leave," Carter said. "Records show this isn't her first fracture."
"Domestic violence is never just once—it's zero or countless," Adam sighed.
Late that night, as Adam changed to leave, he passed the abuser's room. The mom, tears wiped away, stood with Mandy in front of the now-awake but immobile man.
"We're done. We're leaving," she said. "I know you're weak right now and can't come after us anytime soon—or ever. So we're here to say goodbye. Mandy, tell Daddy bye. This is the last time you'll see him."
Mandy didn't speak right away. She just stared at her dad. After a long pause, as his panicked eyes met hers, she waved calmly and sweetly. "Bye, Daddy. Take care."
(End of Chapter)