DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING
A/N: Italics = character's thoughts.
Many thanks to my awesome beta reader! She's awesome!
CHAPTER TWO
"Bird, bridge." Charge's voice boomed through the speakers. Bird was still lying on the cold galley tiles unconscious, she'd hit her head on the bench as she collapsed and a dark brown/purplish lump was slowly starting to make its appearance on the side of her head making a dark brown/purplish bump appear on the side of her forehead. Lying on the cold tiles was bad enough but what made things worse was knowing that none of your crew knew you were lying on the floor knocked out.
"Call her again." The CO's tone irritated, showed his annoyance at being disobeyed. Kate nodded and picked up the radio handset, flipping the switch over to loud speaker.
"Bird, bridge." Kate's voice bellowed across the ships speakers.Mike sighed. "Alright, someone go and round her up."
Kate glanced over at Dutchy. "Dutchy go and see if you can find her." She said, her tone showing that she was not to be argued with. The blonde lieutenant returned her attention to the open ocean when Dutchy nodded and disappeared down the stairs.
"Yes Ma'am." Dutchy nodded before heading off to their location to search for Bird. Chicken legs is always in the galley, she must be in there. Dutchy opened up the galley door to find his favourite junior sailor lying on the cold galley floor. He quickly rushed over to her and crouched down beside her. Starting to desperately feel for a pulse, he sighed in relief when he felt her pulse flutter beneath his finger. He rolled her into the recovery position, that Swain always told them to do, if they found someone unconscious.
"Bird!" Dutchy began shaking her shoulders to try and wake her. "SWAIN!" He added shouting through the galley "SWAIN!" 2DADS was walking by the galley when he heard Dutchy shouting for Swain, he knew that it would have something bad for Dutchy to be shouting with so much panic and fierce. He popped his head around the door when he saw Bird lying on the floor
Dutchy turned seeing 2DADS "Get Swain now!" 2DADS nodded in approval and ran through the corridors and up to the bridge.
Out of breath, 2DADS acknowledged the X and the CO. "X, Boss. Dutchy's found Bird on the floor, she collapsed." Kate looking at Swain worriedly they both ran down the stairs and through the corridors finally arriving at the galley where Dutchy was holding onto Bird's hand as her small figure lay motionless on the ground
"What happened?" Swain asked as he walked into the galley and saw Bird on the floor, he moved closer to the young sailor
"I don't know. I found her on the floor. I think she's hit her head.She has a bump on her head." Dutchy said showing Swain the large mark that blemished Bird's pale coloured skinrubbing her forehead. Swain crouched down beside Bird and placed his two fingers on her wrist to check her pulse, feeling her pulse flutter weakly beneath his fingers made him feel a little less worried made him feel the bit eased, although it was a weak pulse at least it was something.
"I can't really assess her here; we need to get her into the ward room." Swain said worriedly, looking at the junior sailor, as he tried to assess her with bad light and no equipment.
"I'll carry her." Dutchy said picking her up bridal style; he carried her through the galley and the corridors, till he finally arrived at the ward room, the short walk felt like forever. He placed her on the bed smoothly and gracefully. Swain got the BP reader and placed it around her arm, he shinned the small light in her eyes, and checked her breathing.
Swain sighed. "Her BP is low again, but her breathing is fine, her pulse is a bit weak and pupils are equal and reactive to light."
"Is she going to be okay?" Kate's voice worried with concern as she looked at her youngest sailor, whom she treated like a daughter lying on the bed unconscious
"Yeah she should be fine but, I'll know more when she wakes up." Swain rubbed Bird's arm to show she was safe, he was concerned about how bad Bird really was, thoughts running through his mind as to why she had collapsed in the first place as he made his way over to the sink, running cold water over a face washer. Kate walked over to the bed and leant on the bars, covering Bird's hand with her own reassuringlysat on the edge holding onto her hand. "X, would you be able to hold this to her head, just cool her down a bit?" Swain asked as he handed her a damp face cloth.
"Yes. I'll stay with her till she wakes." Kate said as she draped the face cloth across the young sailors head. She sighed, why wouldn't she tell me she was sick? A knock came from the other side of the wardroom door. "Come in." Kate's voice softly spoke; she looked up to see Ryan standing in the doorway.
"Is she okay?" Ryan asked trying to sound more like a concerned colleague then boyfriend
"Yeah, she'll be fine." Kate watched Bird as she spoke "Go to the bridge, they need you up there."
1600 – WARDROOM.
Bird started to fidget, and grasped onto Kate's hand, her eyes slowly opening to see Swain and Kate sitting beside her. Bird let out a small moan when she became aware of where she was. Not again….Please not again.
"How you feeling?" Swain asked, his tone concerned as he pulled out his tiny light from his medical kit and checked her pupils.
"I've got a headache..." Bird replied softly, rubbing her head, and trying to adjust to her surroundings, seeing Kate beside her made her feel safer, she gave a small smile to Kate, who returned the smile.
"That's from the concussion, do you remember what happened before you hit your head?" Swain asked handing her a drink of water in a cup. "Drink this."
Bird took a few sips from the cup and looked up at Swain, her brown eyes fearful as she struggled to describe how she felt. "Everything was still sort of blurry, and spinning. I felt really sick still, everything became blurry and felt like it was spinning, I...I think I'm going to be sick." Bird said clutching her stomach. Kate quickly got a bowl that was sitting right beside her and handed it to Bird to hold in case she did throw up. A few minutes later Bird felt the same feeling but worse, "I'm going to be si-" Bird was saying before throwing up. Kate rubbed her back to try and calm her and make her feel better, she hated seeing her sailors like this. Kate picked up a washer and wet it with cold water again, and walked over to Bird holding it to her head. Swain smiled at Kate and nodded, murmuring a thank you.
"Your vomiting could be due to the concussion, you need to get a CT scan and I want you to get checked out by a doctor, I'll call the Gold Coast Hospital and book an appointment for you to get a blood work up done and the scan. He turned to Kate. "Um…X, can I have a word?" Kate nodded and stepped outside the wardroom. Swain followed her, closing the door behind him.
"What do you think is wrong?" Kate sounding concerned, she leant against the wall and took a deep breath and watched the door
"Not sure." Swain let out a long breath, concern in his eyes. Inside Bird began to lie on her side, hoping that the nausea would pass, she slowly shut her eyes, and fell into a light sleep."I need to go to RO, see if he'll let me use the phone." He added before walking down the corridor.
(...)
Hammersely was gliding through the water on route to the Gold Coast. Bird had been asleep for a few hours and was peaceful; Swain had given her some medication to settle the nausea which also made her fall asleep. He checked on Bird, softly knocking on the door, he heard no response. He carefully opened the door and smiled seeing Bird tucked up on the top rack. He smiled seeing her not being so sick, he quietly closed the door waiting for the click of the lock, he happily walked back to his cabin and went to bed. I hope nothing's wrong. She will be fine…She has to be…
(...)
As the sun rose some of the Hammersely crew were just waking up. Bird was still asleep; Swain came in to check on Bird, he slowly opened the door, to see her starting to wake up. He chuckled and started to check her pulse, all her vitals had returned to normal. She had fallen back asleep again as he checked her BP, he smiled and quietly walked back out. 2DADS and RO were in the galley, they had to make breakfast, Dutchy and Kate walked into the galley and laughed when they saw 2DADS wearing a chef's hat and apron.
"So I suppose we shouldn't be eating breakfast then?" Dutchy joked picking up a plate and placing it in front of 2DADS.
"Oh you think your funny mate?" 2DADS laughed scooping food onto Dutchy's plate
"It looks good, boys." Kate said smiling as she stopped in front of the serving hatch, her eyes drinking in the welcome sight of the freshly cooked food.
"Ah 2DADS had no helping in this." RO just had to clarify that small point.
"2DADS." Kate said, the smile dropping from her face and her voice hardening, adopting an annoyed tone as she gave the cheeky sailor a stern look.
"I did help..." 2DADS laughed and looked away.
"Oh yeah, pulling bread out of the fridge is so much effort." RO said annoyed as he placed food on Kate's plate.
"How's Bird." Dutchy asked taking his food out of 2DAD's hand
"Ah, she's good, getting better." Kate said before walking out with her's and the CO's breakfast.
Dutchy, Swain and Charge sat around in the senior mess when they saw Bird walk by.
"Hey, you're awake again." Swain said smiling, making her come to a stop, and backwards walking to the door, getting up Swain walked over to Bird "How you feeling?"
"The same, a little bit better." Bird said trying to make a smile
"You should go to your cabin and stay in there till we get to the Coast, It's only a few hours" Swain said leading her out of the mess, he made grabbed a cup of water from the galley for Bird to drink. He gently ushered her to her cabin and made her sit in her rack, he gave her a fatherly hug before leaving her.
0900 ON THE BRIDGE
"Ah sir, I have a mayday." RO said, suddenly looking up from his desk in the corner of the bridge, his headphones clamped firmly over his ears.
"Put it on speaker RO." Mike ordered glancing over towards his radio officer
"MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY, this is Soaring Eagle, ALPHA BRAVO 5231, my boat is on fire and is going down fast there is 4 persons on board including a 3 year old." The distressed skipper said.
Kate sat by the radar equipment, waiting for the co-ordinates eagerly. RO handed a piece of paper to Mike as he quickly scanned over the writing he handed it to Kate "Get us the quickest route there X." Kate nodded in acknowledgement and for the next thirty seconds, the bridge was filled with the sound of Kate typing away at the computer
She looked up to Mike, minutes later. "Approximately 20 minutes to the co-ordinates, sir." Kate said as she monitored the screen.
"This is Australian Warship Hammersely, we have you on radar, and we are approx. 20 minutes from you." The CO said.
20 minutes passed and the crew were set to board, they boarded the RHIBS and set off for the victims in the water, they pulled the RHIB in close; there was a 1m piece of the boat that the victims were clinging to, the rough waves pounded against the RHIBS smashing sprays of sea water spraying the sailors.
"Dutchy, Ryan. Pull them out, and place them next to me." Swain ordered as he tried to assess the patients that were clinging strongly to the piece of scrap. Dutchy pulled the little girl out, she was soaking wet, and was crying hysterically. Kate tried to comfort the young girl, wrapping her up in a warm blanket; they had placed in the RHIB. The other victim was the Brother of the Mother, he was conscious, but shaken up. Swain checked them over on the boat, they had cuts and bruises and some smoke inhalation. Swain had made sure an ambulance was ready at port to take them to get further medical treatment. RO made up some soup for the family; they were very grateful for the treatment they were receiving. Swain made sure they were comfortable in the junior sailors mess, and had blankets for the child, Swain entered with some hot milk for the three year old; the family were very shaken up from the experience, and didn't want to talk about it. Not long after Kate walked into the junior sailors mess. "Do you have any proof of identity? Passports? Drivers licenses?" Kate asked gently as she sat down on a chair in front of the family
"No, we lost everything on the boat, where our passports were." The mother said crying, the brother hugged his younger sister as she became more and more worried.
"Okay, well. Will need to get in contact with a family member, and get them to find some proof of identification" Kate spoke to the family with a heart-warming smile
"My.…My sister. She has some of my identification, we always have doubles you know...just in case this stuff happens." The mother spoke as she rested her little child on her lap and rubbed her back to get her to sleep and gave Kate the number to call.
(...)
Swain walked into Birds cabin, seeing her packing her bags, he smiled as he stood in the door way "Ready to go?"
Bird sighed and rolled her eyes "Yes, but seriously I'm fine." her tone was annoyed because she didn't want to go to the hospital.
Swain raised his eyebrows in disbelief, his look clearing saying 'yeah right'. "Yeah, because collapsing is fine." He picked up her bag and carried it over his shoulder while he ushered her out the door. Saluting as they walked across the gang plank, they met Kate who was waiting on the wharf to see them off; she smiled as they hopped into the taxi that was waiting. Ryan watched on the deck worriedly, he waited for fifteen minutes before heading out to the street, to find a taxi.
"I hate hospitals." Bird said looking around the outside of the hospital. Bird was still feeling quite sick but didn't tell Swain how she felt, she started to see everything blurry again, she stopped and Swain turned around to see what was wrong. "What's wrong?" Swain asked concerned as he bent down to her level rubbing her back.
"It's back again." Bird said grabbing a seat and placing her head between her knees. Swain was even more concerned; he looked around and saw a doctor coming towards his direction.
"Help." Swain called out the doctor came running over to Bird.
"What's the problem?" The doctor asked Bird who was breathily heavily with her head buried in her knees
"We had an appointment to get a C.T scan, she collapsed andhit her head the other day and we came to get her checked out because she's been really nauseous lately." Swain said concerned as he sat down beside Bird.
"Okay, we'll take her into the E.D; everything will get done a lot faster." The doctor said crouching beside Bird. "Can you walk?" He asked Bird as she slowly lifted her head up.
She was pale and looked awful "Yeah." She said quietly, getting up with the help of Swain they headed into the E.D. The doctor took her to a bed and a nurse came over within 5 minutes to help Bird get settled in.
"How long have you been sick for?" The doctor asked
"A week or so, it's been on and off." Bird said rubbing her stomach. The doctor was checking her vitals as Bird was explaining what she had been experiencing
"She collapsed a few days ago and hit her head on the way she was unconscious for a few hours." Swain added concerned. Another nurse fiercely opened the curtains up making Bird jump, she saw Ryan standing at the end of her bed.
"Swain, I can make sure Bird gets back to the ship. Youcan go back to the ship." Ryan said moving closer to Bird's bed.
"You sure mate?" Swain questioned the young sailor as he raised his eyebrows.
"Yeah it's fine." Ryan replied looking down at Bird and smiling, and with that Swain walked out and headed to the front of the hospital, catching a taxi back to the ship to get changed out of his overalls. He met the boys back in surfers half an hour later.
"Okay, I'll get the nurse to do a blood work up and get your C.T scan done, we'll wait for the results to come back and follow through from there. Is it possible you could be pregnant?" The doctor said as he felt Bird's stomach and checked her breathing.
"No." Ryan said abruptly, frightening Bird
"I'm not sure, it could be." Bird said looking at Ryan for some help. The nurse walked in a few minutes later carrying a small bowl with needles and tubes in it, she wasn't a very happy nurse.
Bird breathed deeply and watched the nurse take the needle out of the plastic package and put a tight cuff around the top of her arm. "Can you make a fist for me please?" The nurse asked Bird while she got the needle ready.
"Yes." Bird said before clutching her hand into a fist and looking over to Ryan who was just beside her not looking at her. The nurse picked and prodded the middle of Birds arm to find a vein, finally finding one she began to insert the needle, this making Bird feel even more nauseous, she slowly shut her eyes and tilted her head backwards. Finally after a few minutes the nurse had finished taking samples. Ryan's phone began to ring, the nurse told him he wasn't allowed to take it in the hospital, and he ran outside to take the call.
"Hello?" Ryan asked
"Ryan, how's Bird?" Swain asked
"She's had a few tests done, they'll know more in an hour or so." Ryan was saying.
"Okay call us if anything happens" Swain said before hanging up the phone. Ryan walked back into the hospital; Bird was lying quietly on the bed. Ryan walked over and sat beside her on the edge of her bed.
1100 – SURFERS PARADISE.
The boys had arrived at Surfers Paradise and decided to go to the pub for lunch; 2DADS walked in and sighed when he saw no poker games getting underway. They went to a small table at the back of the pub; they slid their chairs out from under the table and grabbed a seat
"I think it's your round RO." Dutchy said, joking around.
RO sighed. "Yeah. Yeah. I'll be back." He said before getting up and walking to the bar to order the boys and his drinks.
"Come on slacker, you never come out." 2DADS said joking around as he laughed. Swain and Dutchy rolled their eyes, before Dutchy turned to face Swain, getting his attention
"Do you reckon Bird will be okay?" A concerned Dutchy asked Swain
"Yeah, she's tough." Swain said to Dutchy to ease his concerns. Dutchy smiled and nodded his head in response. RO returned with the drinks
"2DADS what are you going to do, there's no poker games." Charge chuckled
"I'll find something." 2DADS said
"Ah no. Strict instructions from the X. No poker games for you" Dutchy said
"What am I going to do with these than?" 2DADS said pulling poker chips out of his pocket
"Nothing." Swain said as he stole the chips out of 2DADS hand.
"HEY!" 2DADS shouted trying to get his chips back.
"Uh-uh." Swain said putting them in his pocket
"Thanks guys." 2DADS said sulking into his beer
"You'll be grateful later." Dutchy said before they got up and walked out of the pub onto Cavill Ave
1300 GOLDCOAST HOSPITAL
Bird was lying on the bed with Ryan standing in the corner staring at her; he hadn't said one word, since he discovered she could have been pregnant. The nurse had hooked her up to an IV and put some fluids into her, the doctor was concerned about her dehydration. He walked back In with a piece of paper in his hand; he closed the curtain as he stepped in.
"Jess, your test results have come back, the test results indicate to us that you are pregnant." The doctor said, reading the results. Ryan looked at Bird in anger and disbelief, he ran out of the hospital leaving Bird alone and crying.