Minnie4114, I don't know anything about fanfiction etiquette, I just know I'm grateful for all your reviews! Ethan will feature in this story quite a lot, but he doesn't appear till Chapter 4. Haha I agree Cal spends far too much time with his top on. It might not help with pulse rate and blood pressure but I'm sure it would cheer the patients up no end. Thanks for the review!
Emma was shaking as she lay on the bench in one of the ambulances. She'd been fitted with a collar before she'd been taken out of the car and her wrist was supported with a splint Cal had put on himself. He doubted she was very comfortable, but she insisted she'd prefer the bench as that would enable one of her friends to lie on the stretcher.
Cal wasn't very comfortable either. Now the initial rush of adrenaline was beginning to fade, he realised he hadn't made his descent down the hill unscathed . His ankle was throbbing and it had needed all his concentration not to betray any signs of pain as he'd helped Emma into the ambulance. He'd also had to be very careful when tending Emma's injuries because of cuts to his hands.
But in comparison with Emma and her friends, he had nothing to complain about so he did his best to ignore the pain and get on with his job.
"Okay, I'm going to examine you and take a few readings and then, if you feel able to, you can give me all the details you were telling me about," he said. "That was smart work letting Dixie know Andrea is allergic to ibuprofen: that's a painkiller we use quite a lot." If Andrea needed pain relief, Cal suspected it was more likely to be morphine, but there was no need to go into that. He just wanted to distract Emma from what the paramedics were doing.
He discovered Emma was slightly tachycardic, which was worrying, but perhaps not surprising given the accident and her anxiety about her friends. Cal suspected his own pulse rate was quite high as well, for different reasons, but fortunately no-one was likely to discover that.
Cal finished his examination. "You're showing understandable signs of shock and we'll need to examine you more closely once we reach the hospital, but the signs are good so far."
"What about my friends?"
Cal took a quick glance over his shoulder, but he could see nothing. "How about you give me all the details about your friends now I can write it down?" Luckily there were some forms in the ambulance and he was able to reach them without putting any weight on his ankle. "Okay, what's Georgia's last name?"
Emma reeled off the details quickly and authoritatively, only pausing uncertainly when it came to naming her own next of kin. When pressed, she gave Georgia's name. Cal hesitated and wrote it on the form.
"That's great, Emma. Thanks for your help." Cal decided he'd better take the forms to Dixie, which would usually have been a simple job, but wasn't so easy with an injured ankle. He gritted his teeth against the pain as he stepped down from the ambulance and tried his hardest not to limp as he walked over to Dixie.
Dixie was standing beside Izzy, who was now lying on a stretcher. She looked up at Cal and shook her head.
"What?" Cal realised his voice was too loud and dropped his voice to a whisper. "You don't mean… you can't mean…" He turned sharply as another stretcher went past him. He thought the girl on it was Georgia. "Is she…"
"She's alive. We need to take her in the ambulance now. We'll take Emma too. Do you need a lift, Cal?"
Cal was about to say he had a taxi waiting up the hill, but he realised he wouldn't be able to climb up there and he doubted he could walk round the long way either. "Thanks, that would be good. And I'll keep an eye on Emma for you." He limped back to the ambulance and told Emma that she and Georgia would be off to hospital shortly.
"How is she?" asked Emma anxiously. "How are all of them?"
Cal put his hand on her shoulder and pushed the image of Izzy on the stretcher firmly out of her mind. "They're just getting Andrea out now. Izzy and Georgia are on stretchers ready for hospital. They're in good hands and you will be too."
"Will you stay with me?" said Emma desperately. "I don't know the paramedics and I'm scared, Cal."
"Yes, Dixie's already said I can come in the ambulance." When he got a spare minute, he'd phone the taxi firm and tell them to go to the hospital to collect what he owed, but he had other concerns now.
The journey was long, slow and bumpy. At least that was how it seemed to Cal and it must be much worse for Emma. He had instructed her not to move but she kept on trying to turn her head, though her movement was restricted by the collar. Cal himself sat on the bench, his thigh very close to Emma's head.
Cal could tell the paramedics were worried, but he did his best to keep Emma's attention on him. Keeping a woman's attention wasn't usually something he struggled with, but this time it was different. This wasn't about his own gratification. He just wanted to spare her as much as possible.
Throughout the journey he spoke to her, asking random questions about her and her friends under a pretence that they might be useful to him at the hospital. He was sure Emma knew he was distracting her, but she answered his questions politely, only occasionally breaking out into a panic which he was quick to calm.
"As you were all going out to celebrate your birthday, I'm assuming there's no need to inform your places of work," said Cal. "But we're likely to recommend that you don't go back tomorrow so if you need any help with that…"
Emma shook her head. "That's kind of you, but there's no-one to tell. We're all in business together and it's just the four of us."
"What do you do?" Cal asked, genuinely interested. He often did find out his patients' jobs and although he kept his guesses to himself, he flattered himself he was becoming quite good at it. As Emma was dressed for a day out, it was difficult to tell. Maybe she was a fashion designer or a specialist hairdresser.
"We're party planners," said Emma. "We do all kinds of parties: children's parties, wedding receptions, baby showers. We plan games to suit the occasion and the people involved, but we also provide the entertainment. We all have some training in music, dance and drama. Some assignments are too big for us to take on, in which case we recommend a suitable alternative. If they want a five-piece jazz band, we can't do it, though some people are prepared to accept a four-piece band playing jazz, which we can do. But our prices are competitive and our standards are high so we do pretty well."
Cal felt a flash of pain that didn't come from his ankle. Sooner rather than later, he would have to explain to Emma that none of them were likely to be able to work for a while, but he told himself he couldn't possibly break the news until he had some sort of time frame. It was too soon to be sure of anything, but he knew even Emma, the least seriously hurt of the three, probably wouldn't be dancing or playing an instrument for a few weeks.
"I should probably speak to our clients soon, though," said Emma, her lovely face not exactly marred by a frown. "I'll probably be on my own for the next few days and even after that I might be the only full-time worker. So maybe I should contact our clients and give them the opportunity to find someone else as soon as possible. We'll lose the money of course, but the important thing is that they're able to have their party."
Cal spoke gently. "Maybe you should wait till tomorrow, Emma. You and your friends will have to undergo lots of tests. Until we have the results we can't be sure of anything."
To his relief Emma was nodding. "Yes, you're right. Of course you're right. One more day shouldn't make any difference and it will be much better to give the full details tomorrow than to risk confusing people by telling them what might happen."
"And don't forget you won't have to do everything on your own," said Cal. "The staff at the hospital are here to help as much as we can while we're here and once you're discharged, we'll be able to put you in charge of other organisations that can support you. We might not be able to form a jazz band, but we'll do whatever we can."
"Thank you, Cal," said Emma. "I do appreciate how helpful you're being. I don't suppose there's any way of finding out how Izzy and Andrea are?"
"We're not in contact with them," said Cal. "But we're all going to the same place. So we'll find out soon."
Emma looked at him through tear-filled eyes. "Will you come and tell me how they are?"
Cal felt emotion building up inside him but he controlled it. Dixie's shake of the head, after all, might not mean what he'd assumed. She might have been warning him to keep his distance and not interfere. Or perhaps just saying Izzy wasn't in a good way, which he'd seen for himself. "Of course I will."
"Promise?" Emma said softly as the ambulance drew into the hospital grounds.
Cal put his hand on her arm. "I promise, Emma. I'll come and find you. I don't know how long it will take me: I'll probably be put to work as soon as I arrive and I don't know when I'll get the chance to come and see you, but I will, Emma. I promise you that."
He increased the pressure of his hand on her arm and she looked at him, her eyes full of gratitude.
If Lily was surprised to see Cal arrive in the ED dirty and shirtless, she hid it well. Emma was now lying on a stretcher that had been brought out from the hospital. Cal was helping to push it because someone had to, though he was feeling faint and sick from the pain in his ankle and it was all he could do to walk normally so he wouldn't jolt Emma.
"Lily, this is Emma Silver," said Cal. "She's been in a car accident and she's suffered a suspected distal radius fracture and possible neck trauma."
Lily listened in silence as he gave the details of Emma's vital signs, doing his best to keep his voice even and free of any sign of pain, but he might have known he wasn't likely to fool Lily. Once Emma had been deposited safely on the bed, she turned to him and said: "Thank you, Cal. Now go and clean yourself up and get your hands and your ankle seen to."
"I'm fine," said Cal. "I'll stay and help with Emma."
"No. I don't require your help and in any case, I refuse to work with a doctor who is bleeding and improperly attired," said Lily. "Are you going to leave now or do I have to find a wheelchair and wheel you out myself?"
Cal gave a rueful smile and bent down to pat Emma on the shoulder.
"No, Cal, don't touch her!" said Lily.
Cal touched her with one finger instead. "Emma, I've got to go now, but I'll come back and see you as soon as I know how your friends are, okay? And don't worry. You're in very good hands."
