Next week is season finale, so I though I would drabble in some stories until the next season. Here's a preview. I hope you like it.
"Incoming!" Maggie shouted just before the doors swooshed open.
"Status?" Dr. Halstead asked and as the paramedics from 51 wheeled in the gurney he followed by the side
"25-year-old male, fell of a two-story ladder, cracked skull, possibly a number of fractured bones, unresponsive, HR and BP are steady," Sylvie Brett replied loudly.
"Trauma Two," Maggie cut in, and the people around the gurney directed the course. Dr. Choi and April joined the team as they lined up the gurney to the bed in the bay.
"Move on my count," Halstead ordered and gave them all a second to get ready. "One, two, three," he continued and in one fluent movement the patient had been transferred and the paramedics moved out of the way with the gurney. Sylvie and Jimmy stopped at the counter, to have a brief chat with Maggie when the doors slid open again.
"I need some help over here," Officer Roman yelled from the outside. A mix of red and blue lights flickered outside the glass.
"Reese, you're with me," Dr. Rhodes bellowed when he came out of nowhere, sprinting towards the door, Sarah quickly left what she was doing and ran after him. Brett and Borelli followed with the gurney, knowing that Rhodes would call for one in a second or two.
"We don't know what happened," a younger, unknown, officer cried out when they arrived at the cruiser that had been carelessly parked in a crazy angle to the hospitals doors. The rear door in the passenger side was open and Rhodes, spotting the patient, climbed in to get a better look. The patient was a big man, wearing an orange jumpsuit and his wrists and ankles had been chained together. All of his body was jerking and thrashing around in the back of the car, as much as the restraints let him.
"What do we know?" Rhodes asked as he checked over the man, trying to avoid the flailing elbows.
"Rob Caine, 29, two counts of armed robbery and grand theft. We're transporting him to lockup," Sean Roman responded from behind.
"Any medical history?" Sarah asked Roman who denied it with a simple movement.
"Nothing in his file," he said, explanatory. "One minute he was fine, the next his eyes rolled up and he started trashing around. We were only half a block away, so it seemed like the smart move." After the preliminary examination Rhodes cast a glance to the sidewalk.
"Roman, Borelli, I need you to pull him out by his feet. We need to get him inside," he said and looked around in the confined area before he heaved the inmate's legs up on the seat, available for the two men he had just addressed. Shortly after the man way lying on the gurney and they hastily rolled him inside through the doors. Maggie had kept an eye on them and made sure the door was open.
"Treatment Three," she yelled and they turned the gurney.
"On my count… one, two, three," Rhodes ordered and in one fluent motion the patient was transferred. Sylvie and Jimmy cleared the area to give the people some room. Half a dozen people in scrubs were surrounding him now, Roman and the new officer was standing nearby. "Roman, I need to get these chains off," Rhodes stated a second before the body went totally limp. "I need a crash cart in here," he yelled when he checked for a pulse and pushed the blue button on the wall. Roman had moved closer to take the chains off, but it was clearly evident in his eyes, that he didn't like it. Sarah moved efficiently to place the pads while Rhodes grabbed the paddles. "Charge to one fifty," he barked and the machine beeped. "Clear," he announced and they all lifted their hands. The body flinched upwards and came back down to relax.
"Rhythm is back, BP still a little bit high," a nurse mentioned. Rhodes breathed out, Roman rubbed his face and the newbie in the corner looked horrified. Rhodes ordered the following treatment and could finally take a break. This morning had been terribly busy and he imagined all of his colleagues being just as tired as him.
The new officer, Geoffrey Montoya, was only four months out of the academy and now he had been posted in the corner of the room, keeping an eye on the prisoner. Not that it was a hard job, considering he had been stabilized and unconscious all the time, but none the less his eyes hadn't moved from the motionless body before him. That was until the man's finger twitched. The curtain and the glass door had been pulled shut, as to not disturb the passing people. Seeing a man in a hospital bed, cuffed and with a police officer standing in the corner was quite unnerving for some of the other people seeking treatment. So, when Rob Caine moved his mouth, the younger officer of course moved closer. He was to the point of leaning across the bed when the convict's eyes opened quickly and he's free hand moved to the officer's exposed neck. The officer was caught completely off guard and his body went limp in a matter of seconds, sprawled across the bed and Caine's legs. He had pinched of the arteries in the officer's neck and blocked the blood from flowing to his brain. Surprisingly effective, the convict had learned through his career as a regular bad-ass. He dug out the key to the handcuffs and shook them of a second later. He jumped of the bed and thought of his next move. His eyes came to rest on the unconscious officer in front of him, or rather the gun mounted at his hip.
Reese had been buried knee deep in paperwork the entire afternoon and was now headed to the main desk, so Maggie could approve it. She was just about to pass the door to the room with the prisoner in, when she saw it open and an officer walk out. She did a double take when she noticed the uniform was either too small or the officer had inexplicably grown.
"Hey!" someone yelled from across the room. Then Sarah saw his face and he was staring right at her. All of a sudden he pulled the gun form the holster and pointed it straight at her chest. Sarah froze instantly, paralyzed with fear, like a deer caught in the headlights. "Drop the gun, Caine!" the voice shouted, now sounding like Roman. For a second it seemed like time stood still. Then people started screaming all around her, patients and family started running out the doors. Medical personal glued to their spots. April was talking with Maggie and Natalie behind the counter. Choi and Halstead came out of the break room, shoulders tense and closed fists. Sarah hugged the stack of papers and folders close to her chest. Caine covered the distance of six feet in two strides and grabbed her arm above the elbow before he yanked her towards him. All the papers fell to the floor and drifted. He walked back, closer to the wall, limiting his exposure, using her body as a shield and jammed the gun in her ribs.
"Nobody move!" Caine shouted when Roman advanced to get closer. Sarah flinched when the gun was jammed even harder into her ribs. Caine had a tight grip on her shoulders and Sarah was trying to pull the strong arm down and away from her, her pulse high. "You, lock the doors. Nobody's coming in, nobody's leaving!" he shouted to a nurse close to the door. She ran across the room and locked the other doors as well. Sirens grew louder and Caine angled himself to the door, keeping Sarah between him and the rest. She wanted to cry and curl up into a ball, but no tears came out. "Officer, please throw your weapon over here or this pretty, little doll will know what a bullet in the brain feels like," he said calmly. Roman didn't move at first, but when the gun was raised and jammed into Reese's ear he held his hands up in defeat.
"Okay, okay, okay… take it easy, don't hurt her, she's innocent," Roman replied. Blue, flashing lights came across the room, when a fleet of patrol cars came to a halt outside the main entrance. Roman slid his weapon across the floor and raised his hands in the air.
"Get over to the door and face the window with your hands in the air," Caine ordered Roman when he collected the weapon and stuffed it in the holster. He looked over to the two doctors. "You too, pretty boy…" he commandeered when he looked at Halstead. Slowly the two of them moved towards the glass door and took up stance, looking out on the chaos in front of them. They blocked the line of sight effectively with their big frames. "Everybody else will calmly walk over there," he said, looking at the rest of the scared personal and pointing to the middle of the floor. "… and lie down nicely on your stomachs. If I see any of you using a phone, I will put a bullet in her," he said, surprisingly calm, Sarah flinched again when the gun was jabbed in her side again. "If any of you make any kind of noise, I will put a bullet in her," he continued. "If you as much as look at each other, I will put a bullet in her," he emphasized and looked around. "MOVE!" he shouted and Sarah shied away from the loud yell. She was concentrating on her breathing, as she did not want to panic, but she couldn't quite keep it down. The people in front of her moved to the appointed area and Caine followed the crowd, making sure that Sarah stayed between him and them. Choi, Maggie, Natalie and April lay down on the floor, silent but close to each other. All of them looked at Sarah through the corner of their eyes. The ED fell completely silent and only the sirens outside were hearable. Roman's radio crackled from the door and Caine's eyes grew wide. "Pretty boy, get the radio off him," Caine ordered. Halstead glanced over his shoulders, quickly looked straight ahead again and then reached over to unclip the radio from the shoulder and then from the belt. No one talked, no one dared. "Throw it over here," Caine demanded.
Dr. Rhodes had been watching the scene unfold in front of him. Thankfully, Caine didn't know he was in there with them. In fact he had been hiding the whole time in the next room over. Now, he was silently advancing, getting closer to the convict. He saw Halstead catch a glimpse of him before he worked the radio off of Roman. From his angle he could see him mouthing something to Roman and he saw them both tense up. Choi and Maggie had a clear view of him advancing from behind Caine and Maggie could practically feel the doctor's muscles tense up next to her. All kinds of sceneries ran through her mind. Once again time stood still. Halstead threw the radio so it landed on the floor right in front of Sarah and when Caine bended awkwardly down to grab it, Rhodes charged from behind. He ripped the man's arm away, backwards, so the gun pointed at the floor. The surprise caused Caine to let go of Sarah and she was propelled into the open floor, stumbling over the flailed out bodies on the ground. With the gun still pointing down Rhodes blocked an incoming fist with his shoulder, while struggling to keep the muzzle of the gun away from the people. Choi jumped to his feet, Halstead and Roman spun around, all of them aiming to take down the convict. A shot was fired. The gun barked angrily once and all of them came to a halt.
Please let me know how I did. I might not be the best to the medical talk, but that is like - really hard! I hope you'll return for the next chapter. /K.