Chris's whole world seemed to stop. Coming to a sudden halt in the middle of the sidewalk, his mind blanked of anything else he had to do.

"Jimmy's... back... your not joking with me because if so then I'll..."

"No I'm not joking, he's in an ambulance with me-"

"AMBULANCE? What happened to him is he going to be ok?"

"I don't know, he's suffering from multiple bullet wounds right now."

"BULLET WOUNDS?" Chris took a few breaths, he needed to ask the important questions and make critical decisions. "Where are you heading now?"

"Anaheim Global Medical Center. Do you think you can get to California?"

"Ya, I'll get plane tickets for me, his mom, and his brother as soon as I get home. How did he get bullet wounds though?"

"That's a long story, I'll tell you when you come ok?"

"Alright, I'll be there later this evening." Hanging up, waves of emotion hit him rapidly. Jimmy's alive. After all his hard work funding a charity to find him, hours upon hours of restless nights, just praying somehow he was ok, he was.

But not for long.

Speeding up down the streets, he decided to abandon the other things he had to do today and just pick up Tucker from daycare before buying plane tickets and packing. Keeping a fast pace he decided the next best course of action would be to call Cj and have him call his mom to see if they'd be able to come. Trying to keep his eyes also on the streets ahead of him, Chris dialed his number. It only rang twice before Cj picked up.

"Yo."

"Hey Cj, got some news for you."

"Mhm, what's up?"

"..." Chris tried to find the words to make it a little less of a slap to the face, but he couldn't figure anything out so he went with just being blunt. "...We found Jimmy." The line went silent, Cj most likely processing it.

"You did? ...Where is he?"

"In California. I'm buying plane tickets now so we can be there by early tomorrow. Will you be able to come?"

"Of course, I wouldn't miss this for anything. Is he ok?"

"...Not quite, he's being rushed to the hospital now as far as I know."

"Hospital? How severe is it?"

"Got a ton of bullet wounds I think. None of my workers found him but rather an old friend of him. That Quackity guy."

"Oh god ok ok this is fine we can work with this. Get my ticket ok? I'll text you if my mom can come, but I'm assuming she can. This is her son we're talking about."

"Right, talk to you later." Hanging up again, Chris realized he was already back at the daycare. Pushing the door open, the receptionist was surprised to see him. 

"Back here so soon?"

"Ya, gotta pick up Tucker like right now."

***

"Chandler wake up!" The pushing at his side brought consciousness to the darkness dripping over his sleeping mind. Blinking his eyes open, he had to close them as the room was too bright. The overhead lights were already on. When he realized who was by his side, hovering over his bed, Chandler was surprised. He typically woke up to an alarm or Vik, the only one of the Sidemen was always nice to him and on his side. Well JJ was pretty chill most of the time. But JJ only woke him up if something was wrong. The one time he did it, several months back, he had a look of anger on his face but this time it was concern and unease. Sitting up, Chandler rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"Ya, what is it?"

"You might want to see this." Handing him his phone, he saw the first frame of a Twitter video- and was that Jimmy? Confused, he pressed play. There was plenty of talking over whatever was going on in the circle. Chandler's eyes widened at the guns surrounding his friend. He would've known if something like that had happened before so does that mean... When the video ended, he just dropped the phone back to the bed and took a few breaths.

Jimmy just stabbed a man.

"...Are you ok-"

"Where is he?"

"I heard some hospital in Anaheim but-"

"I'm going there."

"We don't-"

"I don't care."

"WE DON'T KNOW WHERE HE IS EXACTLY COME ON LOGIC CHAN!" JJ's voice overpowered Chandler's constant cutting off and he sighed. "Go call Chris or something, he should know what's going on."

"Right..."

"I'll go look for cheapest flight deals and we'll get ready." Chandler has been keeping his mouth shut through the past few months. Other than Vik and JJ, he couldn't stand the others. Too loud, uncaring, they saw Chandler as an asset to their business. And they weren't wrong, ever since he began popping up in videos, The Sidemen's view count plummeted. Anything for just a taste of the hero they lost the fans would say. But with a mix of all the stress now getting to Chandler's head, he snapped.

"Whoever said we?"

"Um... oh, I assumed we'd-"

"Be smarter than that J, don't assume."

"Well, I guess I'll get one ticket, coming back next week right?"

"What's next week?"

"We're filming a video."

"Then no." JJ stopped in his tracks and Chandler moved to his feet, his bones cracking at the sudden movement.

"No?"

"Ya no, I'm gonna stay as long as I need to sort this out. Then who knows from there. I'll just do what I feel like. And NO... I don't care if your view count takes a hit because of it." Chandler's cold gaze pierced through JJ, it was stronger than any punch he could throw to Logan Paul's stupid face.

"Chandler I-"

"Just go. I need to call him." Defeated, JJ left the room, gently closing the door behind him leaving nothing but a shakey silence in his wake...

***

Once Alex left the police investigation room, relief washed over him. The entire situation made him feel really stressed out. Thankfully he was given permission to see Jimmy after surgery. Making his way down the bustling halls, tight corridors, and down an elevator, he managed to find the waiting room. After asking a girl at the desk, he found out he was still in the procedure. How many times did he actually get shot? Feeling a buzz against his leg, he pulled out his phone. It was from Chris. Alex answered.

"Hey."

"Hey, why didn't you answer? I called you like 8 times!"

"Sorry sorry, I was in police questioning. Where you at?"

"We're heading on a plane now. It's around 7-ish where we are. What time is it up in Cali?"

"4 pm, Jimmy's still in surgery."

"Jesus, how many times did he get shot?"

"Look I know barely more than you do. I'll call you when he gets out ok. Just try to relax."

"Right, I should be there like 11-ish your time."

"That works... oh and uh this might be weird to ask but can I stay with you and your group for a few days. I mean I can afford a hotel for a few extra days but-"

"No don't worry about it! We got a big room since Chandler is also gonna be with us. We can fit you in." Before he could speak again, Alex felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning over, he saw a doctor holding a clipboard.

"Chris, gonna have to call you back."

"Ok then, um cya." He got off the call and the doctor began.

"Your Alexis right, with Jimmy Donaldson?"

"Yes."

"He's out of surgery now. We will be taking him to recovery room 513. The anesthesia should wear off within the hour. I'll take you to the room now so I can explain how it went." Nodding, Alex followed her, weaving through crowds. Once in the room, Jimmy wasn't there.

"Where is he?"

"They are in the process of transferring him. It takes a bit on the stretcher and stuff."

"Right." The doctor began reading things off the clipboard.

"Ok, so he had 13 bullets in him. One was close to fatal but just missed his stomach. Two bullets broke bones which we put back together. He's gonna be very weak for a while but by sometime early to mid-January, he'll be back and moving around just fine again." He's gonna have to use crutches or a wheelchair since it hit his right leg. His left arm was also hit."

"Hm... Oh! The police told me to ask if I can about Dawood's status."

"That's where I was going next... We just got notified he died on his way here. A mix of heart failure and blood loss. I'd say sorry for your loss but I'm assuming you are not on good terms with him."

"...You'd be right there..." Leaning back in the chair, Alex couldn't help but fall quiet. Jimmy actually managed to KILL Dawood... not just attack him. This whole thing could spiral into a murder case, not just a major assault case. 

"Before I forget, there was one more thing." The doctor took a deep breath and Alex nodded, his tenseness hinting at bad news. "Jimmy was legally dead for five minutes." The other's breath hitched for a moment, questions swirled in his mind but what even to ask first?

"How... when!"

"On the way to the emergency room. We managed to revive him quickly enough and when he was stable we did the surgery. While it isn't fully clear since the event was so clear, we suspect exsanguination led to cardiac arrest, the cause of temporary death. But the blood loss from just the bullet wounds though deadly untreated wouldn't lead to cardiac arrest that fast. Do you know if Jimmy had anemia?"

"Not that I know of, but he has been homeless for like the past 5 or 6 months. I've seen plenty of scars, probably naturally healed. If he bled enough because of the wounds maybe his body couldn't produce enough blood to be fully normal if that makes sense. Does stress and cardiac arrest have any correlation?"

"Yes actually, enough stress hormones can increase the likelihood."

"...He's gonna be ok though right?"

"If your worried about him going into cardiac arrest again he shouldn't. We'll be watching his blood pressure and heart rate to make sure of course." Alex couldn't help but jokingly wonder who 'we' in this case was, but he didn't dare say it aloud. 

"He's not gonna die right?"

"No, as of now he's in a non-fatal state." Just as the thoughts processed, the door opened as two more doctors rushed him in. Alex moved out of there way and finally caught a glimpse at Jimmy, his chest rising and falling being the only sign of life he gave off upon first glance. The doctors called a nurse up to stay and monitor. When said doctors left, he had a few moments alone. Sitting down in one of the chairs close to the hospital bed, he got a better look at him. Jimmy's skin was paler than before, most likely from blood loss. A few of the stitches were visible as well as older scars. Alex's eyes were drawn to the one across his face. Maybe when he wakes up he can ask him about that one. 

Opening up his phone again, he decided to check Twitter. He's sure it's gone to hell by now and when he logged in he was right. His dm's were flooded with messages from fans and other influencers alike. A few were death threats and KYS messages from people complaining that he was 'an accessory to murder' but he brushed them off as per-usual and marked everything read before focusing on his friend's message. He took a few minutes to send out replies before moving his phone away. A nurse came in finally to check his vitals.

"How much longer until he wakes up now?"

"Soon, half an hour at most. You can try waking him up yourself. Sometimes that works." Deciding to take her advice, Alex lightly shook at Jimmy.

"Hey wakie wakie." A few more nudges and he gave up. About to get comfortable in the chair, he heard a bit of noise. Jimmy's eyes blinked open but closed again. "Too bright?" He did his best to form what appeared to be a nod and the nurse dimmed the lights in the room. Now with low lighting, Jimmy rubbed his eyes weakly. With conscious movements, Alex couldn't help but feel overly happy. He actually survived...

"Why the smile...?"

"Just thought of something nice, I guess."

~~~

Original Publication Date: April 12th, 2020

Major Edit: April 16th, 2020 - Cardiac Arrest Plot Point