I know it has been a while since I have posted anything and I am so sorry for that. School has been getting rather busy but don't worry I have been working hard and this is probably the longest fan fiction I will/have ever written. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. :)
She stumbled into the ED. Her head was all over the place. She couldn't concentrate on anything as she made her way towards the reception desk in front of her. Suddenly she realised that she wasn't moving anywhere and the ground was a lot closer than she remembered. It seemed to be coming up to embrace her. She closed her eyes bracing herself for the impact when she felt an arm under hers holding her off of the floor. 'It's okay I've got you' the voice whispered. She smiled at its owner before darkness swallowed her up.
Ethan had been busy all morning dealing with a series of uninteresting patients. None of them were in need of any emergency treatment and should have really gone to see their GP. He was walking towards reception to offload some files before taking his break. His attention was snapped up by a beautiful young woman who came stumbling into the ED she was wearing a camouflaged uniform with the sleeves rolled up. Her hair was tied into a tight bun, off of her face. She was really unsteady on her feet as she approached. Ethan dropped the files on the desk before wandering over to make sure she was alright. As he got closer to her he realised that she was on the verge of collapsing. He reached an arm out to grab her just in time before she hit the ground. 'It's okay, I've got you' he whispered, she smiled at him gratefully before falling unconscious.
Cal was stood at reception writing up some notes when he saw his brother disappear. He thought nothing of it until he heard his brother shouting. 'Can I get some help over here please?' He shouted. Cal ran over.
'Ethan, talk to me, what's going on?' He ordered.
'This young lady came in here, she was unsteady on her feet and collapsed. We need to get her to resus.' Ethan explained. Cal grabbed a nearby trolley and helped Ethan carry her onto it. They pushed her into resus and set to work hooking her up to all sorts of monitors. Cal was checking her airway using his stethoscope when she suddenly came round. 'Hi I'm Doctor Knight, this is Doctor Hardy. Can you tell me where you are?' He asked placing the stethoscope back around his neck.
'Umm, I'm guessing based on the way you are dressed that I'm in hospital?' She muttered.
'That's a good start' Cal smiled.
She tried to sit up but winced in pain before clutching the side of her head. 'Ouch' she cried.
'Ouch indeed, Cal she has a deep laceration on the back of her head.' Ethan stated.
'Right, I'm going to need you to answer a few questions so we can determine how serious this is' Cal explained.
'Captain Kate Robinson, identification number 25438322. Today's date is the 23 April 2016 and it is St. George's day.' She stated nonchalantly.
Cal and Ethan looked at her puzzled. 'Oh right, um see this, I'm a medical officer in the British Army, I am a qualified doctor' she told the pointing to the flash on her left sleeve. 'Oh and I just literally returned from Afghanistan about 2 hours ago' she told them.
'Right, do you feel light headed, dizzy or confused?' Cal asked.
'Yeah, all of the above' Kate whispered.
'Right let's get you sat on the edge of the bed so we can have a look at this head of yours shall we?' Cal asked with a smile. Cal sat on the bed beside Kate. Ethan stood in front of her keeping a watchful eye on her. Cal brushed her hair out of the wound and gently looked to see how deep it was.
'So how did you hurt your head, I mean I thought I had caught you before you hit the ground?' Ethan inquired.
'You did, I fell down the stairs when I got home and after assessing to make sure there were no spinal or neck injuries I decided to bring myself here' she explained.
She winced as Cal accidentally touched her head. 'Sorry, it looks pretty deep so I'd like to get it stitched up as soon as possible, then we'll get a head CT.' Cal explained. Lofty handed him a tray of equipment.
'I'm going to give you some pain relief then we can set about stitching your head back together' Cal explained.
'Okay, umm it's just I am kind of afraid of needles.' Kate muttered.
'Don't worry about that now, first we need you to undo your hair so we can access the cut better.' Ethan told her.
She carefully pulled the pins out of her hair. The hair band she had in was wrapped around her wrist as she shook her hair loose. Her dark brown curls cascaded over her shoulders, framing her face. It matched her dark brown gaze.
'Okay I'll get some numbing cream to help with the procedure' Cal said as he ran out of the room. He returned seconds later with a small tube of cream. He applied some to her arm and tied a tourniquet around her upper arm.
Ethan helped her sit comfortably whilst Cal prepared his equipment. Ethan sat beside the bed and held her hand tightly. 'You just keep looking at me whilst he does this, ignore everything he is doing' Ethan told her.
Kate did as he said and focused her gaze on him. He kept her talking as Cal cleaned her head. Lofty quickly injected some morphine into her arm. She yelped as the needle touched her skin. Cal drew up some anaesthetic in a syringe before nodding to his brother.
Ethan tightened his grip on Kate's hand. 'Close your eyes and take a nice deep breath' he instructed. She closed her eyes gently and drew in a breath. As she took the breath Cal pushed the needle into her scalp.
'Ouch, it really hurts' Kate cried.
'I know just hold on for a minute longer' Cal murmured. Ethan wrapped an arm around her.
'Right that's done, we'll give it a minute for the anaesthetic to work' Cal explained.
Ethan helped Kate sit more comfortably. He wrapped a blanket around her shoulders to keep her warm. 'You did really well. Just keep calm and this won't hurt. If it does just let me know so we can give you some more anaesthetic' Ethan told her.
Cal approached the bed with a new tray of equipment. He placed it on the bed beside where Kate was sat. Kate's gaze began to fall towards the tray. Cal placed a hand under her chin and drew her face towards his. 'Don't look at it, keep looking at Ethan alright' he whispered. She nodded her head gently. Ethan took her hands as Cal went behind where Kate sat and began stitching the wound.
'Alright, I'm just going to get a nurse to come and dress this' Cal said before leaving resus. Ethan sat with Kate for a moment. Suddenly she started to feel nauseous.
'Umm Doctor Hardy, I think I'm going to be sick' Kate muttered. Ethan grabbed a bowl and held it for her. She retched momentarily before throwing up into the bowl. Ethan rubbed her back in gentle circles as she threw up. 'It's alright sweetheart. It's going to be alright' he soothed.
Cal returned to the room. 'What's wrong?' he asked his brother.
'She's been vomiting for a while now. I don't know if it is the head injury or not?' Ethan explained. He helped Kate swing her legs round so she was laying on the bed.
Cal approached and began taking her obs. He removed the stethoscope from around his neck and listened to her chest. He checked her eyes with his pen torch. He put the stethoscope back around his neck. 'She's severely dehydrated. I wouldn't discount that as the reason why she collapsed. I'll give her some fluids to help her' Cal told his brother.
He trudged over to the cupboards and retrieved the medication. He pulled out a tray with some equipment. He cleaned her arm and began to rub some numbing cream into it. 'Alright Kate, listen to me. I'm going to give you some saline to help with the dehydration. I need you to stay still and keep as calm as you can. If you think that you are going to throw up again please squeeze Ethan's hand so we know and can stop' Cal instructed. Kate nodded her head. She leant forward quickly and threw up in the bowl. Ethan held her hair out of her face and Cal gently stroked her arm to comfort her. She sat back on the pillows and wiped her face with a tissue which Cal handed her.
'Okay, let's do this' Kate muttered. She held Ethan's hand tightly as Cal pushed the needle into her arm. She flinched slightly as it pierced the skin. She started to feel dizzy as the panic set in. She gasped for air. 'H-Help M-me!' she breathed.
'Caleb. She's having a panic attack' Ethan said raising his voice over the noise that had consumed the busy resus.
'Alright darling. Can you try and take a nice deep breath for me. Ethan here is going to put some oxygen on you and I need you to try and breathe as much of it in as possible' Cal murmured.
Ethan stroked her hair gently. He smiled at her. 'You can do this. Just take a nice deep breath and forget about everything going on around you' He whispered.
She struggled for a moment before trying to take a deep breath. 'My chest hurts I think I might have broken some ribs when I fell' she wheezed.
'It's okay once we have sorted your breathing out we can take an x-ray' Ethan stated.
'I'll take a quick look at it just to make sure, if that's okay with you. All you need to do it keep still and try to breathe' Cal said taking charge of the situation.
He rolled up her shirt. Her chest was littered with bruises, he gently examined her ribs and noted that several of her ribs were broken. She had reduced breath sounds on one side. All of these symptoms pointed to a tension pneumothorax.
Lofty was stood in the doorway. 'Do you need any help in here?' he asked.
'Um actually yeah we could. I need a chest drain kit and some assistance' Cal instructed.
Lofty fetched the equipment from the store room and rushed back to the room. Ethan had helped Kate remove her top and cleaned the site.
'Alright Kate. This is going to feel a bit uncomfortable, try and keep still and don't panic.' Ethan explained. Cal quickly donned a gown, some gloves and a mask.
Ethan took Kate's hand on the side of the pneumothorax and pulled it above her head. He squeezed it reassuringly. 'Just keep looking at me, don't look anywhere else. I know it's uncomfortable but keep calm and stay as still as you can be' he whispered.
She smiled at him. 'Right, let's start' Cal announced. He picked up the scalpel, the blade shining in the light. He placed a hand on the side of her chest and began the procedure.
Kate could feel some pressure on her side as the blade sliced through the skin. It hurt a lot but she tried to refrain from crying. She screwed her face up and squeezed her eyes shut tightly. 'Ow! It hurts' She gasped.
'I know sweetheart but just keep still, you are doing really well' Ethan assured her. He held her small delicate hand in his and gently stroked it with his thumb.
'Alright Kate, this is going to be more uncomfortable but please keep as still as you can. If at any time the pain gets too much just let me know' Cal exclaimed.
Kate took a deep breath as best as she could with the limited breath she could take. Ethan smiled at her encouragingly. Cal pushed his fingers into the wound to open it. Kate gasped as the pain slowly became more and more unbearable. 'You're doing brilliantly. I'm just going to insert the drain now. This won't be as uncomfortable but tell me if you want to pause the procedure' Cal whispered.
'Can you hand me the clamp please?' He ordered Lofty. He took the clamp and threaded the tube into Kate's chest. He got half way when she yelped in pain. 'Do you want me to stop for a moment?' he asked. Kate nodded her head. She ran her spare hand up her face to wipe her tears away. The pain intensified through this movement. Ethan grabbed a tissue and wiped her tears for her. 'Thank you!' she whispered.
'Right, let's get this over with' she muttered trying to put her tough army persona back in place.
Cal continued the procedure as quickly as he could so he could minimise the pain she was in. He injected her with some morphine to help ease the pain. She fell asleep only a few moments after the morphine began to take effect.