Another new one! An idea came to me earlier that wouldn't leave me alone, so thought I may as well write it up and see what people think of it. There will be more Zax later on in the story but I wanted to try something a bit different for this chapter. Enjoy and please read and review! Xx
Zoe woke up to a pounding headache, similar to the ones she had on a regular basis when she had drank too much. But this was different, not like a hangover type of headache. As she attempted to open her eyes she realised that she could taste blood in her mouth and feel the same sticky liquid trickling down her face and neck.
She tried again to open her eyes, this time succeeding, but after she saw the amount of blood that she was lying in she wished that she hadn't. The pain was unreal, like nothing she had ever experienced before. Aside from her head and neck, the main source of her pain seemed to be coming from her stomach. Raising her head ever so slightly she could see a deep slit across her lower abdomen that was bleeding profusely and showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
Looking around her for her bag, she noted that it had been taken. Brilliant. That was all she needed. She had no way of contacting anyone and she had no idea where she was as it was pitch black in the small alleyway. There was a streetlight, but it looked as though it hadn't worked or been used in years as there was no glass or bulb in it. All she could do was hope that someone would find her, and sooner rather than later.
Connie picked up her jogging pace as the rain became heavier and heavier until it became torrential. She stopped when she heard a coughing sound, instinctively looking behind her and shrugging when she couldn't immediately see anything. When she heard it again, louder this time, she followed her instincts and followed the source of the sound, into the alleyway.
"Hello?" Connie's voice was cautious, and she took her torch out of her pocket as she scanned the narrow area. She stopped dead when the yellow light illuminated a figure lying on the floor, blood all around her.
"H-he-help" Zoe's voice was quiet and shaky, the complete opposite to her usual strong and professional tone. Connie barely recognised her, this was nothing like the woman that she worked with, and her heart went out to her. For all their arguments and disagreements before Zoe had resigned as clinical lead, she knew that she couldn't just leave her there. The poor woman was shaking violently from the cold wind and the torrential rain that had soaked through what remained of her clothing.
Reaching into her bag she pulled out a jacket which she wrapped as best she could around her colleague's shoulders without causing her any further pain before moving and kneeling down in front of her.
"Hello" she said softly, watching as Zoe's eyes opened and looked at her, suddenly realising who had found her "Its okay, I'm going to help you Zoe. I need to call an ambulance…" her voice tailed off as she took out her phone and dialled 999.
Once she knew that the ambulance was on its way, Connie took the opportunity to look over the woman's injuries more thoroughly. She pressed down harder on the spare top in an attempt to slow down the rapid flow of blood; noticing that the blood was beginning to thicken and clot, she glanced at Zoe, making eye contact with her and giving her a small smile in an attempt to reassure her.
It shocked her to see tear marks down her colleague's cheeks, her make up smudged and more fresh tears pouring down her face. She didn't know why it shocked her so much, given her injuries she must have been in agony and terrified; but she had never seen her like this before and it was hard to take in.
"I-I'm…" Zoe's voice made Connie jump "s-sorry" she just about managed to say the second word before she started coughing violently.
Realising that she was struggling to breathe, Connie removed the jacket that was around her shoulders and placed it underneath her head which seemed to help somewhat "What for?" she said, smiling genuinely at her "It's in the past, Zoe. Let's leave it there, yeah? Right now, let's concentrate on getting you into hospital so you can get better"
The blaring sirens of the ambulance interrupted their short conversation as Dixie jumped out; looking around her "Hello, ambulance service?" she called out.
"Down here!" Connie shouted, getting up and jogging over to her to fill her in as she waved Jeff over "Its Zoe" she said quietly, registering the look of shock on their faces.
"What, our Zoe?" Jeff asked, struggling to believe what he had just been told "What happened?"
"I don't know. I was out running and I found her" Connie said quietly, glancing back down the alley. Zoe whimpered as another wave of pain washed over her "Okay Zoe, the paramedics are here now, they're going to get you to hospital"
"Okay…listen, Connie, why don't you wait in the ambulance love? You've done a brilliant job, but you must be frozen and the last thing we need is for you to get ill as well" Dixie said gently, ushering her towards the ambulance and gesturing for Polly to look after her whilst she saw to her own patient "Hiya Zo" she said, kneeling down in front of her and inserting an IV line so that she could get some fluids into her; it was a good thing that Connie had found her and managed to slow the bleeding down, otherwise her veins would have shut down completely "Its Dixie, Jeff's gone to get the kit so that we can get you into hospital"
…
"Right, this is Zoe Hanna, 39 years old, found in an alleyway with multiple injuries…" Jeff announced as they entered the ED with Connie not far behind them.
As they went through into resus, Max came over to Connie "What happened? Is she going to be okay?" his voice was thick with emotion and his eyes were cloudy with tears.
"I hope so. Max, you should really stay here. You're too close. So am I apparently, and I'm clinical lead here!" Connie said gently "They'll do their best to help her"