AN: I have been working on this story for a bit and decided to bite the bullet and publish some of what I've got written. Let me know what you think.
"What've we got?" Dr. Ethan Willis rounded the corner of the trauma bay taking a final swig from a water bottle before tossing it into the nearest trash bin.
A voice from somewhere in the gaggle of people yelled, "Fire at a dorm at UCLA. Two severe burns in Trauma 1 and five smoke inhalations making their way in."
He turned to attend to the most critical when another voice calling out through the room drew his attention. "No! Stop! Don't touch me!" He moved through the chaos to the doctors fighting with a girl on a gurney.
"Hey, hey," he said, walking up across from where Savetti was trying to attend to her. "Casey?" He looked up at the doctor. "What's going on?" He laid his hand on the girl's forehead in an unsuccessful attempt to settle her.
"You know her?" Mario asked.
"Yeah, she's my sister," he said and turned his attention back to the patient. "Casey, honey, you've got to calm down." She started to settle and Mario wasted no time in beginning his examination.
"Someone get a line in her."
"I want to go home," Casey said, looking at Ethan. "I'm fine. I don't belong here. Please."
"Smoke inhalation. No cutaneous burns. She needs an iv but won't stay still long enough for it. And she keeps pulling the oxygen off," Dr. Savetti said, moving to replace the mask. "Casey, have you been drinking tonight?" He didn't expect an answer and didn't get one.
Ethan turned his attention from the doctor standing across from him to his sister. One hand still on her forehead, he retrieved a penlight from his pocket and trained it towards her eyes. Of course the fact that she could not, or would not, focus didn't help. "Casey," he said loud enough to permeate the fog she was in, "look at me, Casey." She obeyed and he flicked the light back and forth across her eyes. "Pupils are slow to react."
Turning to a nurse, Dr. Savetti said, "CBC, tox screen, and urinalysis with EtG. We're going to need a chest x-ray, too."
"Nooooo!" Casey started screaming and thrashing again, resulting in the ripping out the iv which had finally been placed. All arms reached out to steady her, but she fought them.
"She needs to be restrained," Dr. Savetti said, looking across the patient at his colleague, expecting opposition from him but finding none.
A nurse brought the restraints and, as they were being fastened to Casey's wrists, she broke out of her terror and found her brother's eyes. "Please," she said, "please. Don't let them do this. Please. Don't let them tie me down."
Ethan's heart broke as he pushed her hair back with one hand and wiped at her stream of tears with the other. "It's ok, Casey. They're trying to help you. I'm right here. You're going to be fine."
A shot of halcion was administered into her newly established iv and he continued a steady outpouring of comforting words as she drifted off to sleep.
CBCBCBCBCB
She found him sitting on a step in the back hallway, elbows on knees, stethoscope dangling between his legs. He looked up as she approached, offered a wry smile, and scooched over a bit for her to join him. They sat in silence until she broke it by saying, "So, a sister?"
"Yep. Half-sister. My dad died when I was little. My mom was great. Never even dated anyone until I left for the service. She met and married Casey's father. I don't think she thought she could get pregnant. Anyway, I never really went back home after that. A holiday here and there, but that's it. Casey's childhood was pretty rough. Her dad was a jerk. He's currently serving a life sentence for killing some guy during a drug deal. Casey was with him."
"Jeez," Leanne said under her breath. "How's your mom?"
"She died a few years ago. Breast cancer."
"I'm sorry."
"Thanks," he said. "So it was kind of a blessing that I got sent here. Casey's a sophomore at UCLA. We see each other about once a month."
"And now you're feeling. . . what? Guilty?"
"I figured she was handling everything just fine, but she's just a kid. Who was I kidding? Well, it's pretty clear now that she needs more support than I've been providing."
"It's a long road to overcome childhood trauma. And now she's going through another. Are you up for providing her with more support?"
Ethan didn't think the question required an answer. "She looks so much like my mom."
"From what I saw she trusts you. And she listens to you."
"I don't know how to help her," he said. Vulnerability went against everything he believed in, but he felt comfortable opening up to Leanne. She placed her hand on his knee and he regretted nothing.
"You'll figure it out. I'll help you," she said.
Dr. Savetti approached the pair on the back steps and Leanne dropped her hand. "Here you are," he said. "I've been looking for you."
Ethan stood, "How is she?" He swung the stethoscope around his neck and placed his hands on his hips, ready for what the intern had to announce.
"She's stable. For now," Savetti said. His prospect of reporting out to a family member who also happened to be one of his teachers was daunting, but he plowed ahead. "She's still under sedations. Still on oxygen. Chest x-ray was clear. The tox screen came back negative for drugs. Alcohol level .12. Probably typical for a dorm party. So, you know the drill. Normally I'd say keep her here for up to forty-eight hours to watch for delayed pulmonary edema, but if you want to take her home and watch her yourself, I'll of course release her."
"OK," Ethan said. He knew the risks, had administered to them numerous times, but it was different hearing them about his sister. "Let's keep her here. I'm here more than I'm home anyway. I'll be better able to monitor her."
"OK," Savetti was relieved that his approach to her care was well received. "We'll get her into a room as soon as possible. Hopefully soon. What about the restraints? I know she's sedated for now, but I kept them on because I didn't know if she'd try to bolt when she woke. Do you want them off?"
Ethan took in and let out a deep breathe while he considered. "Leave them on," he said. "I have a couple of more patients, then I'll go sit with her and take them off."
Savetti nodded to Ethan, looked to Leanne who smiled and nodded at him, and he left.
CBCBCBCBCB
Shift over, Ethan made his way to the fourth floor where his young charge had settled. He peered into her private room and found her barely awake. Entering, he smiled and said, "Hey, there."
Casey's relief at his arrival showed in her eyes, behind the weary effects of the sedative. She lowered them to her hands, still fastened into restraints.
"Want those off?" he asked.
"Yes," she said, her voice hoarse.
"Ok." He unbuckled the strap from her right hand, then sat on the bed and leaned across to the other. As he worked at it he said, "You're going to behave yourself now, right?"
'Yes," she said. As soon as her hands were free she lifted them towards the tubes coming out of her nose.
His gentle hands reached up to meet her. "That's giving you extra oxygen and you still need it."
Lowering her hands, Casey curled her body and shifted to her side, away from him. She was so tired. Her brother's voice floated above her, telling her he would stay. His kiss landed on her temple, and she slept.