Chapter 2:
Leaving the staff room Ethan took a deep breath before starting his busy shift in the ED. He made his way over to reception where Noel and Louise were and picked up the next card with the details of the next patient on.
"Morning Ethan!" Noel said cheerily as he pottered about behind the desk sorting files out into the relevant piles that had been dumped on the desk by doctors in a hurry.
"Morning Noel. Has it been like this all night?" Ethan questioned as he looked around the crowded waiting room. Most of the seats had been taken by people waiting to be seen, the tray with the patient cards in was almost overflowing and doctors and nurses where rushing around all over the place.
"Yep. St James had a major incident last night so all their minor injuries were told to come here." Noel explained as he too looked at the amount of people still waiting to be seen.
"This is going to be a long shift." Ethan sighed before turning around to call out his patients name. He watched as a young boy and his mother stood up and made their way towards Ethan who led them through to a cubical. He invited the boy to sit down on the bed as Ethan pulled the curtain around them to give them some privacy.
"So, you must be Liam?" Ethan said gently as he looked at the boy on the bed. He had dark hair and dark eyes with fair skin and a few freckles scattered across each cheek. Ethan reckoned he was about 5 years old. He watched as the young boy nodded his head.
"I'm Ethan. Can you tell me how this happened?" Ethan asked as he picked up his right wrist to examine it. It was bruised and swollen and Liam winced as Dr Hardy turned it over to look for any other signs of injury.
"I fell downstairs." Liam said quietly to Ethan as he continued to look at the wrist. "I woke up and I was thirsty so I went to get a drink and I forgot I had put my shoes at the top of the stairs and fell over them and I woke Mummy up." Liam explained before looking at his Mum who so far hadn't said a word.
"Is this true?" Ethan asked as he turned to look at Liam's Mum. She nodded so Ethan turned his attention back to Liam.
"Does it hurt anywhere else?" Ethan asked as he gently placed Liam's wrist back down, resting it on a pillow that he had taken off the bed to make it more comfortable.
"No." Liam said and Ethan smiled at the young boy. He explained how he was going to book him in for an x-ray and that a nurse would be along shortly to give him something for the pain and to try and reduce the swelling in his wrist before leaving the cubicle.
As Ethan rang up x-ray to book a scan for Liam, Ethan saw the red phone that hung up on the wall in the centre of the ED start ringing and Charlie rushing to answer it. He watched as Charlie nodded his head, the expression on his face changing as he received more information before placing it back down on the holder.
"Ok everyone, there has been an accident on the Holby ring road involving several cars and they are requesting a rapid response team." Charlie explained as doctors and nurses emerged from nearby cubicles to hear what was going on and whether or not they were needed including Connie.
"Right, Ethan it's your turn to go out and take Zoe and Rita with you." Connie stated as she grabbed Ethan's file of him so that she could continue treating her patient.
"Are you sure? I...er...I thought it was Cal's turn?" Ethan asked. He knew fine well it was his turn but it would mean having to get into a car and he didn't think he was ready.
"No. He went last time now go and get a move on please." Connie ordered as she watched Rita, Zoe and Ethan hurry to the staff room to get changed and to get the equipment that they would need.
"The rest of you we need all hands on deck. Finish with the patients you already have and clear cubicles as fast as you can. It sounds like we'll be getting a lot of patients from the crash so keep things moving. Any problems come and find me." Connie explained before walking off to go and make sure that Resus was prepped and ready to go.
Thank you so much for all your lovely reviews for chapter 1! It means a lot to know that people are backing this story. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and remember to review what you think, suggestions and any questions you may have! Thanks again!
