Disclaimer: I own nothing, only the thoughts and dreams that run through my mind :) I don't own Casualty or P!nk's Just Like A Pill.
A/N: This is definitely an AU as this is a little twist on the staircase scene between Kirsty and Warren in A Lion Roars. This time, Kirsty falls down the stairs... how will everyone react?
This is gonna be really long…It's quite angsty as well, oh – one more thing – the team (apart from Adam), don't know about the abuse that Kirsty suffers…
The bit in italics at the bottom is Kirsty's 'dream-state' and there are a few of her thoughts in there too, so it could be a little confusing...
That's everything for now… I think… Speak soon,
DennisDaMenace x
I'm lyin' here on the floor where you left me I can't stay on your life support, there's a shortage in the switch
I think, I took too much
I'm cryin' here, what have you done?
I thought it would be fun
I can't stay on your morphine, 'cuz its makin' me itch
I said, I tried to call the nurse again but she's being a little bitch
I think I'll get outta here, where I can
Run just as fast as I can
To the middle of nowhere
To the middle of my frustrated fears
And I swear you're just like a pill
Instead of makin' me better, you keep makin' me ill
You keep makin' me ill
He slammed her back against the door and cupped her chin in his hand. He pressed his forehead against hers and he was shaking with anger.
"Go on, do it... do it!" she urged, looking him in the eye. Warren tightened his grip around Kirsty's throat. "I'm not scared of you!"
He clenched his jaw, and Kirsty could see the veins showing on his temple. On the outside she looked confident, but on the inside, she was truly terrified of the monster that stood before her.
Warren punched her in the stomach once more, and threw her down the stairs leading to the basement.
After several thumps, crashes and bangs, there were footsteps running down the staircase. The teen took one look down the staircase leading to the basement and she stood before him with tears running down her face.
"How could you, dad?" Nita screamed, grabbing Warren's arm, but her father shook her off. "How could you?"
There was someone at the door, banging their fist against the thin sheet of wood. "Kirsty? Are you okay? Kirsty?" it was Adam, but he was too late now... He forced the door open with his shoulder, sending the hinges flying.
"Shut up!" Warren roared, turning on his daughter. He hit Nita for the first time, and immediately backed up against the wall, horrified at what he'd done. Nita was gasping for air, the impact winding her.
"Warren!" Adam ran to the man, and punched him straight across the face, knocking him out. Adam then noticed Nita, who was keeled over in pain.
"Adam- he pushed her..." she cried, "He pushed mum!"
"What?" Adam said, getting up and charging down the stairs. There she was – Kirsty, and almost dead. He gasped at the sight of blood running down the side of her face. Adam reached for her wrist; it was cold. She seemed to have broken or fractured bones everywhere – she needed help – now.
I haven't moved from the spot where you left me
This must be a bad trip
All of the other pills, they were different
Maybe I should get some help
I can't stay on your life support, there's a shortage in the switch
I can't stay on your morphine, 'cuz its makin' me itch
I said, I tried to call the nurse again but she's being a little bitch
I think I'll get outta here, where I can
Adam reached inside his coat pocket for his mobile and dialed the ED's number that he'd committed to memory.
"Hello, Holby City ED," said Noel in his usual working tone.
"Noel, its Adam. Tell Dixie and Jeff to get to Kirsty's house – she's fallen down the stairs and she's unconscious – send them now!" he shouted, and Noel obeyed. Adam flipped the lid on his mobile, shoving it back into his pocket.
He then felt Kirsty's neck for a pulse – there wasn't one.
He looked down to see if her chest was moving to indicate that she was breathing – again, no. Adam took one look at Kirsty's face, she had a split lip, and bruises were quickly starting to form across her left cheek.
He started chest compressions, trying to get her heart to start working again, and after 15 chest compressions, he'd give her two rescue breaths. He stopped to check her pulse every three minutes, but there was no sign of improvement.
While he was working, Adam noticed that Nita had walked down the stairs, still clutching her stomach; Warren had probably broken her rib – the bastard, Adam thought.
"Nita, I need you to be brave – can you do that for me?" Adam asked her between breaths. The distressed teen nodded and crouched down beside her mother and held her hand. "Nita, I need you to go outside, and wait for the ambulance – tell them what happened and show them where she fell. Once you've done that, tell them to check you over," he told Nita, and she nodded, wincing slightly as she stood up.
Every time Adam looked at either Kirsty or Nita, he felt the hatred for Warren rise up further and further inside of him; when this was over, Adam wasn't going to let him off this easily.
Adam gave Kirsty another rescue breath, and checked for a pulse again. He roughly wiped his hand across his face to rid it of sweat and tears, and continued working.
"They're down there," he heard Nita say, and Jeff emerged carrying a med-i-pack.
"Down here!" Adam shouted up to them, and Jeff ran down the stairs, taking two at a time.
"Oh my God," Jeff said, kneeling beside Kirsty and opening the bag. He took out an oxygen canister and placed the mask gently over Kirsty's bruised face. "I need to get the defribulator, I'll be back in a minute," Jeff said, getting up and racing back up the stairs.
"Kirsty, come on, don't leave me," Adam whispered in her ear. "I'll help you through this," he said, going back to the compressions and raising his voice slightly. "You know, I'll never leave you, I will help you, and you will get better," Adam said.
Jeff breathlessly ran back down the stairs, carrying a box which Adam knew was the defrib. "We should be able to get a pulse off this," Jeff said as he plugged the box into the wall. Adam reached over toward the machine and pulled away the BPM and clipped it to Kirsty's finger.
The monitor bleeped into life, but there was one continuous bleep. "Charge the paddles, we need to shock her," Adam told Jeff, who was doing as he was told.
"Charging 360. O2 away," Jeff said as Adam placed the two gel pads to Kirsty's chest. Adam removed the oxygen mask and Jeff placed the paddles down onto her chest. "Shocking."
Kirsty's body shook as the charge ran to her heart, trying to re-start it again. "No, try again!" Adam demanded, as he started compressions again. "Charging, O2 away, shocking," Jeff said and he placed the paddles back onto Kirsty's chest. Again; her body shook in time with the machine, but this time it worked.
"There's a pulse," Adam sighed, and he laughed at the thought.
"We need to get her to Holby, now," Jeff told Adam. "If we don't she could arrest again."
"Okay, help me get her up the stairs," Adam said, and Jeff nodded, and spoke to Dixie through his walkie-talkie.
"Dixie, are you there?" Jeff asked his partner.
"Yep, Nita needs to go in as well; her rib's fractured, and she's got bruising across her lower abdomen. What do you need?" she asked.
"Can you bring me down a stretcher? Kirsty needs to get to hospital now, and we can't send another ambulance 'cause it'd be too late," Jeff told her, and Adam winced at the thought of loosing Kirsty again.
"Okay, be down in a tick," and thirty seconds after, Dixie charged down the stairs.
"Good God!" she hissed, and handed Jeff the stretcher.
"Okay, gently roll her over, mind." Jeff said sliding the stretcher under Kirsty's back. "Steady, and; lift," he instructed.
Run just as fast as I can Run just as fast as I can
To the middle of nowhere
To the middle of my frustrated fears
And I swear you're just like a pill
Instead of makin' me better, you keep makin' me ill
You keep makin' me ill
To the middle of nowhere
To the middle of my frustrated fears
And I swear you're just like a pill
Instead of makin' me better, you keep makin' me ill
You keep makin' me ill
Adam and Dixie were supporting the back and Jeff was holding the front, guiding them. The trio managed to get Kirsty up the stairs avoiding further damage.
"Who's that guy?" Jeff asked as they passed Warren's slumped figure.
"The bastard who's responsible for this," Adam told them plainly, looking at the unconscious man again, but swearing under his breath as he turned away.
"That's Warren?" Jeff asked Dixie, who nodded. "Why is he unconscious?" Jeff asked.
"I knocked him out when I saw him punch Nita," Adam bluntly said, feeling bile rising up his throat as he re-lived the moment.
"Watch the door," Dixie warned.
"Mum!" Nita cried as the three emerged through the door. Adam let the teen hold her mother's lifeless hand as they climbed into the back of the ambulance.
"Nita, when we get to the hospital, you can stay with your mum if you let one of the doctors check you over, okay?" Adam asked her.
"Sure, I just want mum to be alright," she told him, clinging onto Kirsty's hand as she tried to stay calm. "What's gonna happen to dad?" she asked.
"I really don't know, Nita. But he'll probably go to jail for attempted murder or something close. You could appeal for a restraining order, which should be the best option," Adam told her.
"Can you pass me a saline drip, Jeff?" he asked, and started attaching it to Kirsty's forearm.
"Nita, when we get to the hospital, if you stay with your mum 'til she's stable; will you get your ribs seen to?"Adam asked Nita, who was holding her mother's hand and trying to stay calm,
"Alright, I just want mum to be okay," she told him.
"You're doing really well, you've been very brave," he said, rubbing her back gently. The ambulance's sirens were still blaring once Jeff, Nita and Adam climbed out of the back of the vehicle, and when they did get through the ED doors pushing Kirsty along, everyone gaped in disbelief.
"We've got Kirsty Clements; she's been assaulted and pushed down a flight of stairs. CPR was performed at the scene, but she's just unconscious now. All the bones in her left arm and leg are shattered, there's a deep laceration to the back of her head and possible brain damage." Jeff told all the doctors and nurses who had followed them.
Wheeling Kirsty around the corner and into RESUS, Adam, Jeff and Nita were followed by; Nick, Zoe, Jay and Tess. Adam directed them to the bed and helped them lift Kirsty across.
"Okay, ABCs, LFTs, U & E, we need a CT scan and book x-rays someone, and we need two frac- immobilizers now," Nick commanded all the staff who were eagerly awaiting his instructions, to try and save Kirsty from any further damage.
"Kirsty, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand or try to open your eyes for me," Zoe asked her injured colleague.
Kirsty was lying on her back, people hovering around the room. She tried opening her eyes, but they felt almost glued together. She heard a hazy voice, and quickly placed who it belonged to.
"Kirsty, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand or try to open your eyes for me,"
'Zoe, why can't I open my eyes?' She tried to talk, but the words floated away from her.
She felt a warm hand slip into her's and comfort her lifeless form. "Kirsty, please,"
Adam; he must've found her. 'Oh my God, where's Warren?' she thought.
"Please wake up, mum," she heard her daughter ask. 'What had Warren done? Why was Nita here too?' Kirsty asked herself.
She couldn't feel her left arm and leg, and someone was tightening something around each of her numb limbs.
"Adam, do you know who did this?" she heard Zoe ask the doctor who had been holding Kirsty's hand throughout the time in RESUS.
'No! Don't tell, Adam! You mustn't tell her!' Kirsty tried to scream back, but no sound immersed from her lips.
"Her husband did this, Zoe. He's been abusing her for almost fifteen years," Adam told her, and Kirsty mentally burst into tears. She could have sworn she heard Nita flinch away and sob.
"Oh my God," she heard Zoe gasp. Kirsty wanted to wake up and cry, 'It's not what you think, Zoe!'
But who was she kidding? Everyone would be asking, 'Why didn't you tell us before?' and, 'We could have helped you through this.'
Kirsty never wanted help, she was too noble for all that crap. She thought that it would be selfish of her, that she'd just be saving herself and Warren would be sent down. No, she loved him too much to ever leave; she blamed herself for the beatings Warren gave her, thought that she was a bad wife.
The truth being totally opposite – she wasn't the trigger to Warren's bad ways, he was his own; always paranoid and suspicious. Kirsty never thought that Warren had loved her, maybe using her for popularity or just pleasure.
Kirsty had admitted to Adam that she was scared of Warren and whenever anyone mentioned 'home' or 'husband,' it would send shivers down her spine. She made Adam swear that he wouldn't tell anyone else of the ED team, or the police, because she thought that they would tale Nita away and put her in care, or take the whole case to court, she wouldn't want to put her daughter through any of that.
She tried her hardest to wake up, but her body was just not cooperating, and Kirsty thought that she might actually be dead... but that wasn't possible, all her senses were working, but she was just immobile, paralysed.
What? Kirsty, no, no, no! WAKE UP! Come on! Come ON! You can't give up this easily; think of Nita, Adam, Warren, your family, your friends at the ED; Jay, Zoe, Noel...
You can't let him take everything away from you... Adam was right, you should have run... Ran while you could, gotten away, escaped... You could have been free, and you could have had what – no – who you wanted, Adam.
Kirsty's mind was divided. She was pleading with herself, and yet, insulting herself... She should have run... But run where? How? When?
Run just as fast as I can Run just as fast as I can
To the middle of nowhere
To the middle of my frustrated fears
And I swear you're just like a pill
Instead of makin' me better, you keep makin' me ill
Oh you keep makin' me ill
You keep makin' me ill
To the middle of nowhere
To the middle of my frustrated fears
A/N: So, maybe a little longer than I planned, but the ending just flowed… Okay, every chapter of this fic is gonna be a song-fic… and the next one is I Need A Doctor – Eminem/Dr. Dre/Skylar Grey.
Please review? And if you have any ideas or comments, you could leave them in a review or PM me… If you want a few little snippets or sneak peeks, then you can add me on Twitter, KDennisDaMenace/Ultraviolet Spectrum…
DDM x