"Hey! Help! I need some help here!"
Our faces flew apart. I jumped, startled, and at the same time Dr. Green's arms wrapped around my shoulders and squeezed me tight into him, turning me protectively away from the voice. When the words the voice hollered at us processed, we looked to the source to see a tall male stumbling through the rain, completely drenched to show his muscular frame under Dickies and a flannel button up. On his shoulders in a fireman's carry was another figure, limp, unconscious, and equally wet.
"Sang. Go get a wheelchair just inside the door and a neck brace from the welcome desk," Dr. Green ordered before rushing back into the rain to meet the man and the person he rescued.
In a split second, the most efficient plan for my task was derived and put into action. My wet tennis shoes squeaked and squelched on the linoleum floor as I nearly crashed into the rounded counter of the welcome desk and scared the lady behind it. "Neck brace!" I shouted.
A white, plastic collar I recognized from television dramas when someone got carted away in an ambulance was placed in my outstretched hand. Reception must have stocked them with quick and ready access for emergencies like this one. With a hasty "Thank you!" I turned and ran back to the door, grabbing a wheelchair on the way after I tossed the brace into the seat. After my hand wrapped around the handles and pushed, I groaned in frustration when the large wheels did not turn. Precious moments were wasting away as I was forced to circle around the chair and release the locks.
Dr. Green and the stranger had the unconscious person laying in the middle of the drive. Now they were on their back, I could clearly make out the person was a woman. She wore black slacks and a printed blouse that prevented us from seeing too many details of her undergarments with it being drenched. Sean crouched directly above her head, his hands clamped around her ears to keep her neck in a stable and neutral position. The lady's lips were blue.
The man who brought her to us kneeled at her side. His fingers were pressed to the side of her grey pallor neck. "I ain't no expert," he said with a heavy South Carolinian accent, "but I can feel a pulse. I reckon it's weak, though."
Dr. Green look up at me. "Did you happen to grab a resuscitation mask too?" he asked quickly. I frantically shook my head no. Panic tried to overtake me; my lack of forethought was going to cost this woman her life! Even though I had an idea as to what he referred to, I was not sure what a resuscitation mask was. That was the bulbous bag thingy paramedics squeezed over someone's face, right? It didn't matter. I didn't have one.
"I'll do the honors," the stranger said before lowering his face and sealing his lips over her blue ones in a kiss.
No. That wasn't a kiss. His hand held her nose closed as he breathed on her behalf, blowing air from his own lungs into hers. I was mesmerized by her chest that rose in conjunction with his exhales.
"Miss Sang?" Dr. Green called with his eyes adamantly observing his patient and the color slowly returning to her complexion.
I snapped out of my stupor. "Yes, Dr. Green?"
"Put the collar on her." It was a command with no room to question.
I applied the brakes to the wheels of the chair, lest it roll away into the storm, and took up the collar from the seat. My jeans protected my knees from the bite of the asphalt when I knelt by her head on the other side of the woman from where the man bent over her.
Sean kept a firm hold of her head as he instructed me to slip the back flap under her neck and secure the Velcro to the rigid front half until her chin could not move about. I wanted to bask in a sense of accomplishment for half a moment, but I was denied the opportunity when the lady suddenly started thrashing her arms and legs around, startling me so I fell back onto my butt.
Her throat sounded hoarse as she gasped and gulped for air in between bouts of coughing. My eyes met the man's dark blue ones over the lady's flailing arms; he was thrown back onto his rear just I had when she returned to consciousness.
"Whoa there, ma'am. You're okay now. Can you hear me?" Dr. Green said in an attempt to calm her down and continue his assessment.
She screeched like a banshee, her hands clawing at the brace around her neck. Full blown panic overtook her. Dr. Green grabbed one hand to keep it from removing the collar. I held onto her other arm, and the man lunged to lie over her legs before she managed to hurt herself even more than she already was from her original accident.
"Ma'am!" Sean barked loudly. "You're at a hospital!" he managed to interject in between her wails. "I'm a doctor trying to help you!"
Some of the key words must have broken through to her because I could feel the muscles in her arm I was practically sitting on relax. After a few moments of the four of us catching our breaths, she managed to speak. "Okay. I'm done." Her voice was scratchy. "You can let me go now."
The gentleman and I released her, backing up to give her space and let her rearrange her limbs until she was a little more comfortable. Dr. Green let go of her other hand last after he measured her pulse against the second hand of his watch. "Welcome back, Ms…?"
"Brown," she croaked. "Jacqueline Brown."
"Lovely to meet you, Jacqueline." He peered into her eyes while shining a button light on his key ring into her pupils. "How about we get you up off this dirty driveway and into your chariot?" Dr. Green asked and beckoned to the wheel chair behind me.
Jaqueline's head twitched; she must have tried to nod, but the collar prevented her from moving too far. She huffed in exasperation before squirming to get her legs under her.
The other man ceased her struggles by picking her up under her knees and shoulders, lifting and depositing her weight easily into the seat. I stood myself and took my position behind the chair after she was settled.
After asking if she was in any pain or had any immediate concerns, he asked if she remembered how she became injured.
She answered as I started wheeling her into the hospital wing, Dr. Green walking beside Ms. Brown, and the gentleman stranger on her other side. "I'm not sure. I was walking to the bus stop, and my feet got swept out from under me. I must have been knocked out when I fell."
I looked to the man who carried her to us in the rain, realizing he could probably fill in the gaps. "I'm sorry I haven't asked earlier, but what's your name?"
"Johnny Galloway," he answered. "A water main broke nearby just before the rain started. The surge from the ruptured pipe is what knocked you over, ma'am. I was stopped at a light when it happened and fished you out. Looks like you drowned."
What color that had returned to her fled again as she turned white at his explanation, "Th… thank you," she shakily stuttered.
Sean stopped in his tracks and reached over Ms. Brown to grab Mr. Galloway by the shoulder. "Was anyone else hurt?"
He shook his head. "Not when I was there. I can't rightly account for anymore since then. Though, the entire area is flooded. No one around here is going anywhere for a while."
As we passed the welcome desk, the woman behind it eyed Jaqueline with concern. "Shall I page the ER for you?" she asked Dr. Green.
"No need, Susan," he replied. "That's on the other side of campus. We can take care of Ms. Brown just find here in our wing."
Susan tapped away at her computer and picked up a corded phone receiver. "Very well, Doctor," she answered professionally. "I'll let them know you're on your way."
"Thanks, Susan." Dr. Green flashed her an award-winning smile that shined through his limp, wet hair and dripping clothes.
The four of us trekked down a hallway with my sneakers still squeaking with every step. We went through a few sets of swinging doors and a pair of motion-triggered automatics until we came into a large room where one long wall was lined with numerous glass-fronted cubicles. Each cubicle had a hospital bed and various medical machines ready to be utilized. A scrub-clad nurse bustled about within the island of counters in the middle of the room, organizing papers and tapping on various computer keyboards.
Sean took us to the first glass room, and I wheeled Jaqueline right in. Johnny stood just outside the sliding glass door, rubbing the back of his neck like he didn't know where he belonged.
"Do you think you can hop up onto the bed for me?" Dr. Green asked while offering her his hand for support after locking the wheels on the chair. She tried to lean forward to comply, but whether it was her injuries, the collar around her neck throwing her off balance, or a combination of the two, she couldn't quite make it. Johnny pushed past me and slipped his arms under her armpits before anyone could object, easily lifting her once more and settling her onto the bed.
Dr. Green set upon adjusting it so she could sit upright. "Nurse Sang? Grab that cart around the corner so we can take Jacqueline's vitals, please."
I nodded and pulled the wheelchair out of the little room to make more room inside and quickly found the small wheeled cart full of various instruments, including a blood pressure cuff and a hospital grade thermometer. The cart was pushed in, and Sean immediately grabbed for the cuff. Johnny sat on the armchair on the far side of the bed, watching Jaqueline intently.
"Thank you, Nurse Sang. Now, can you go get a clipboard from Nurse Cindy out there so we can start the red tape?" Sean politely instructed as he secured the blue Velcro around Ms. Brown's arm.
"Yes, Doctor!" I chirped. I was elated I was being useful. I was serving a purpose and helping someone at the same time. Maybe I could consider nursing for a day job, especially if I got to work alongside Sean every day.
Cindy already had the appropriate paperwork clipped to a board with a pen ready for me for new patient registration. She handed the bundle to me with an encouraging smile before returning to her own work behind the counter.
"Jesus. Please. Call me Jackie," Ms. Brown moaned after the blood pressure cuff released its squeeze on her arm and before Dr. Green popped the stick of the thermometer under her tongue. He called out a pair of numbers to me, and I found a spot in the middle of the page on the clipboard for me to record them. I filled in her first and last name on the top of the sheet before Sean followed up with her temperature for me to write down. I thought it was nice for the paperwork to include a spot for preferred nickname, to which I neatly wrote in 'Jackie.'
Dr. Green continued to measure her vitals and stated the results to me to write down. He was slipping the O2 clip over her fingertip when she asked, "Where am I?"
Johnny's brows knit in worry. Sean smiled warmly at her. "You're in a hospital. You're not in any danger," he cooed comfortingly. "Let me finish up here, and we can get you out of those wet clothes."
Her eyes rolled in annoyance. "I know that much, Doctor. Which hospital?"
"Don't worry about insurance, Jackie. We'll take care of all that headache for you."
Her scratchy voice nearly growled. "Answer the damned question. Which hospital am I at?"
Sean blinked repeatedly, surprised. "Cooper Memorial Medical Center," he said matter-of-factly.
Her eyes transformed from lucid and alert to glassy and empty as panic swept over her once more. "No no no no…" she started chanting, her shoulders rocking back and forth as her legs writhed, undoing the sheets from the corners of the bed. Her hands clenched into fists at the side rails so tight her knuckles were turning white. "No no no!" With each reiteration of the single syllable, the intensity and volume increased until she was yelling, screaming, screeching the word. Her limbs followed and started thrashing and flailing, knocking over the cart so the disposable covers for the thermometer and packets of alcohol wipes spilled all over the floor.
I pressed myself against the counter with the hand washing sink with the clipboard pressed to my chest protectively. My entire body shook in nerves and fear. What had made Jackie fall back into a violent panic attack? The name of the hospital? What about this hospital sparked such a reaction in her? I couldn't even begin to guess.
Nurse Cindy was rushing around the counter at the commotion. Dr. Green hurriedly opened up a drawer by my hip and pulled out a syringe. "Get one of those and open it!" he barked at me while pointing to the spilled squares of alcohol swabs on the floor. I quickly complied, ripping a corner and ignoring the pungent odor of the disinfectant wafting straight into my nose.
Mr. Galloway's tall frame was practically laying on top of Jackie to restrain her and keep her from falling off the bed. He had her arms pinned to her side as he bear hugged her around her middle. "There!" Sean pointed at an exposed spot on her arm, and I lunged forward to wipe the little, moist napkin on her skin before leaping back out of the way. Dr. Green pulled off the cover to the syringe with his teeth before plunging the sharp end into the patch of clean flesh and pressed the plunger, emptying the liquid into arm.
A few seconds later, Jackie's fighting gradually slowed down and lost the strength behind it. Her wails became little whimpers until her eyes drifted closed and she succumbed to a sedated sleep.
Johnny, Sean, and I were all panting for breath again, trying to calm our own heart rates down.
"Don't ever tell me my job isn't thrilling," Dr. Sean quipped with his eyes sparkling at my own.
A/N: I don't have any education in medicine, so I apologize if Jackie's symptoms don't mesh up with real life. I did get to ask some chin-strokingly interesting questions to fellow birds with this chapter, though, like how the Academy hospital is situated (as its own wing within a larger hospital complex was the conclusion), to what boys in Team Blackbourne wear a watch. Did you know the canon has Mr. Blackbourne wearing a silver watch? It's amazing how many little details I just skim right over when reading CL's books.
I like stars and comments. They make me smile and excited to work on the next chapter. ^.^