A/N back earlier than I expected- still have a few dilemmas to work out but I'll cross those various bridges when I get to them. This entire chapter lasts between 5 and 10 minutes real time so think/read fast. I'm proud to say that I now own the characters of Dr Jenkins and Angela, they are my very own creations. This is quite a 'medical' chapter but unfortunately I am not a doctor so there are bound to be inaccuracies (however if I do ever go to medical school I'll be sure to come back and correct my mistakes).
and finally a quick thank you to numbnuts and jaudreylover24, your reviews made me smile after a particularly boring meeting at work so thanks.
Enjoy!
Chapter Four- You said
'You!' shouted the doctor, pointing at Dr Bradley's assistant, 'Go get me a nurse, now!'
'Dr Jenkins, what's happening to her?' demanded Nadia, losing her cool. Dr Jenkins was listening to Audrey's chest.
'I'm not sure but whatever it is its nothing good' she muttered through gritted teeth. 'Somebody get him out of here!' she gestured to Dr Bradley.
'Dr Bradley I think its best you leave now' said Nadia, showing him to the door. He stopped her.
'With all due respect Miss Yassir that's not your call, Miss Raines is my patient'
'With all due respect doctor' Dr Jenkins cut in, exaggerating his title, 'Miss Raines was your patient. Given that she is no longer physically capable of responding to any questions you may have, I'd like to get on with actually helping the poor woman instead of torturing her. Now, if you wouldn't mind, get out.' She turned back to Audrey as Nadia pushed him out the door.
Two seconds later a nurse ran in, quickly followed by the assistant. 'Angela, give me a hand over here… you, leave.' She glared at the assistant, who promptly backed out the open door.
'Ugh, somebody get these restraints off her' the doctor said, disgusted. Doyle quickly stepped forward and began to undo the cuffs.
'Audrey, sweetie, I'm just going to support your shoulders whilst Angela lowers the headboard okay?' she placed her arms behind Audrey's shoulders and neck and nodded to Angela. 'Okay honey, lie back for me' Audrey whimpered slightly as Dr Jenkins guided her head down onto the bed, 'it's okay, I've got you' she soothed, 'I've got you'
Nadia noted the worry creasing the doctor's face; she was frowning: Audrey's windpipe was shifted to the left slightly, the veins in her neck distended. Jenkins lifted Audrey's shirt up to palpate her chest; it felt slightly larger on the right hand side, the skin a little spongy. She cursed softly.
'Ange, get me a thoracic trauma kit, suspected tension pneumothorax' Angela hurried away. Audrey's breathing was rapid and shallow; her lips were turning slightly blue. Jenkins turned to Doyle, 'is there someone nearby who can calm her down a bit? I'm going to need to insert a chest tube but for now she's too panicked- she's wasting what little oxygen she can get'
'Uh yeah, Jack's in Holding but…' he looked at Nadia, who nodded. Doyle ran out the room.
'Nadia, get over here, I might need you to hold her down while I remove her shirt', Nadia looked confused but didn't say anything as she moved to the doctor's side. Dr Jenkins picked up a pair of scissors and began to cut into Audrey's shirt.
Audrey panicked, struggling violently away from the doctor. 'Hold her!' said the doctor; Nadia quickly placed both hands on Audrey's upper arms.
'No, no please… Please don't' Audrey begged, tears beginning to fall down her face. Nadia looked uncertainly at the doctor, who grimaced but continued to cut at the fabric. She was forced to pause when another gurgle escaped Audrey, who coughed up another throatful of blood. She wretched again. 'Help me turn her onto her side, quickly' exclaimed the doctor. The pair swiftly rolled the woman onto her shoulder; she coughed again, clearing the blood from her mouth.
The tattered shirt had fallen away from Audrey's body as they turned her, Nadia now gasped in shock as the saw the bruises, cuts and burns that littered her back; some of them were clearly infected and healing badly- if at all. Audrey was sobbing softly between ragged breaths, tears soaking into the bed, 'Shhhh Audrey, I need you to calm down for me okay?' Jenkins gently stroked her hair, trying to comfort the broken woman in front of her.
Doyle was running back to Medical with Jack just behind him, 'What do you mean? What happened?'
'I'm sorry Jack, the doctor went ahead with the interrogation, there was nothing I could do… Audrey's in trouble, I don't know exactly what happened but it isn't good'
'I'm going to kill him' Jack seethed, but he was worried; Audrey must have been bad for Nadia to have authorised his release, however temporary.
They burst into Medical, Jack ran straight over to her. 'Jack?' asked Dr Jenkins.
'Yeah that's me' Jack replied, trying to stamp down his rage at seeing Audrey in that state.
'I need you to calm her down for me, at the moment she's shaking too badly for me to put the chest tube in safely'
Jack didn't question her, although there were a hundred questions he wanted to ask, just crouched down in front of Audrey. Audrey recoiled slightly upon seeing him but he stroked her cheek, 'Hey it's just me remember? It's going to be okay' he murmured, inwardly cursing himself; he'd said that not 15 minutes ago and look how that'd turned out.
'Audrey?' she brought her eyes up to meet his, 'there you are' he smiled, 'can you close your eyes for me?' she gave him a long look, trying to work out whether to trust him, but nodded and quickly shut her eyes. 'Remember what you were saying earlier? The mind is its own place, and-'
'-in itself can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven. The mind is its own place, and in itself can…'Audrey continued. Jack smiled briefly, 'don't say it, just mouth it, concentrate on breathing okay?' She nodded, her eyes still shut. Jack kissed her forehead and wiped some of the blood away from her lips with his thumb.
He stood up to face the doctor, 'So what's going on doctor?'
'She's suffered a tension pneumothorax, once I've put the chest tube in we'll get an x-ray done to confirm and hopefully determine a cause' Jenkins paused to take an oxygen cylinder and mask from Angela. She passed them to Jack, 'can you put this on her while I prepare the incision site?'
Jack knelt down before Audrey again and gently lifted her head to put the mask on. Her mantra faltered and she opened her eyes. 'It's okay Audie, close your eyes again, remember: the mind is its own place…' she picked up where he left off whilst he brushed a stray hair off her face. Her eyelids dropped and her breathing relaxed slightly.
'Okay we need to turn her onto her back again, then Jack I want you to hold her right arm above her head' Jenkins instructed, motioning to Angela. The trio then gently rolled Audrey back over. Jenkins stopped for a second, moving away from the bed, 'Jack, a word please?' Jack looked confused but followed.
'This procedure is painful but I can't use any form of anaesthetic until we know exactly which drugs are in her system- given her condition we simply cannot afford any complications. Just please, try to keep her still, try to keep her calm.' She turned back to the bed. Jack's face looked grim as he walked over to Audrey, trying to brace himself.
'Hey Audrey, honey, look at me' Audrey opened her eyes, which then widened in panic as she looked down towards the doctor holding the scalpel. 'No, no, no, Audie look at me, up here' he placed a finger under her chin. 'There we go' he tried to smile, but it was thin; it didn't quite reach his eyes. 'This is going to hurt, but I want you to take my hand' he said, placing his hand in hers, holding her other above her head 'and squeeze as hard as you can okay? Can you do that for me?'
Audrey nodded but whimpered 'you said… no more hurt' her voice was childlike, but scratchy. Tears threatened to overwhelm Jack but he fought them back.
'Oh sweetie I know, but I promise, this is the last bit and then it'll be over okay? Just this last little bit' he managed to choke out. She nodded again and shut her eyes, adjusting her grip on Jack's hand slightly. Jack looked at Dr Jenkins, who stepped forward.
Audrey winced and fought back a moan as Jenkins cut into the skin, but she held on to Jack's hand and squeezed as hard as she could. 'It hurts' she whispered, her voice shaking slightly.
'Shhh, I know, it'll be over soon' he couldn't hold back the few tears that now traced themselves rebelliously down his cheeks. He kissed her hand.
This time Audrey couldn't bite back a muffled scream as the doctor used the forceps to dig through the muscle between her ribs. She pressed her head back against the bed and felt her entire body tense up. 'Please… make it stop, make it stop!' she screamed again, almost hysterical; tears were streaming down her face.
'Audrey I'm almost there okay? Just a few more seconds…' Jenkins said without looking up, concentrating on carefully inserting the tube, 'Okay that's the worst done; I just need to suture it in place.' A small hissing sound could be heard as the air was finally released and a small rivulet of blood dripped on to the floor. Angela quickly attached the free end of the tube to a collection system.
'Ange, let's get a tox screen done on that blood, see what we're up against here…'
Audrey sobbed whilst the doctor worked swiftly to close the wound, Jack stroked her hand. 'You can let her arm down now' said Dr Jenkins as she placed a transparent dressing over the tube. 'We'll keep her on the oxygen for the next couple of hours or so, while her lung re-expands fully. While we're waiting for the tox results to get back we'll get the x-ray…'
Jack just nodded vacantly, not really hearing what the doctor was saying, but he smiled appreciatively at Doyle as he pulled up a chair for Jack to sit on. He gazed down at Audrey, holding her hand tightly, she was still trembling but at least her breathing was slowly getting better. Jack sighed; it was going to be long night.
Hope the pace isn't too slow, but there were certain events during Audrey's first 48 hours back on US soil that I really wanted to see...
