So, I'm from Canada and I don't really know how the American health care system works, other than it's not free like it is here. So I say something about a health card in this chapter and in case you don't know what a health card is, it's basically something you show the hospital or doctor's office, to show that you're on the universal healthcare plan, so you don't have to pay, the insurance company will pay everything. So, that's what I did for this story because I don't know how hospital admittance works in the USA.
TEN
I'm lying in bed staring up at the ceiling and I can't stop thinking. What if Patton comes to New York and I end up seeing him every day? I don't think I could handle it. I mean he's coming here because he knows that I'm here. I've been hearing about the great Charlie Patton my entire life and his name and New York City have never been in the same sentence. So, as paranoid as it sounds, he's coming after me. But why now? Why after five years? Unless he found out about Allison. Or my baby, considering I don't even know if Allison is actually mine. Oh god. What if he found out about her? But how? I never told anybody.
I can't just sit here and think anymore. I have to get up and do something else. I move the comforter off of me and walk over to my dresser. I peel my tank top and sweatpants off and grab a pair of socks and a sports bra out of my top drawer. I put them on and grab a pair of shorts and Olivia's police academy workout shirt. I put them on and grab my cell phone and tuck it in the pocket at the back of the shorts.
I look over at the clock on the night stand; 3:30 in the morning. I scribble a note to Liv, in case she wakes up or I'm gone longer than I thought.
I head towards the front door. I lock the doorknob and jog down the stairs. When I get to the first floor, the night door man, Luke, opens the door for me.
I step out into the warm August air and turn right to jog down our street, West 93rd, for about 500 meters until I hit to Central Park West. I turn right and cross the street into Central Park.
I feel my feet hitting the paved path, and I see a man with a shopping cart crossing the arch over the top of the path that I'm on. I hear more cars than I thought I would at three thirty in the morning, and the air smells surprisingly fresh for being in the city. Maybe it's because almost everyone is asleep.
As I start to speed up, so do my thoughts. What if Patton found out about Allison? Even if he did, how did he find out? Nobody know about her. Not even my family. I told Captain Reynolds that he raped me, but I was in New York before I even found out I was pregnant. Nobody knew. Could he have gotten my medical records? No, he would need my permission for that.
A loud crash snaps me out of my thoughts and I have to look around to figure out where I am. By West 81st Street. I already jogged twelve blocks? I look to my right, where the sound came from and see two cars in the middle of the road. The white one is laying on is right side with a large dent in its left. The other car, a black SUV, is still upright, but its front end is completely destroyed.
I sprint out to the road to see what's going on. I pull my phone out of the pocket in my shorts and dial 911.
"911, what is your emergency?" The dispatcher asks in a calm voice.
"This is detective Amanda Rollins, I'm at West 81st Street and Central Park West, there's been a two car collision, I need medical and fire assistance. I'm gonna go see what I can do to help." I say.
I hang up before he has the chance to say anything else.
I run towards the SUV and lean in the broken passenger window. Both the driver's and passenger's airbags have deployed, and the two women, well a woman and a girl who looks to be about 16, are both unconscious. I feel the girls neck for a pulse. It's strong. She should wake up soon. I run to the other side of the car and feel the older woman's pulse. It's weaker, but not dangerously weak. I hear a groan from the other side of the car and I look up. The girl's eyes are open and she's panicking and struggling to breathe.
I run back over to the passenger side and try to open the door. It won't budge, so instead I lean in the window and put my hands on her shoulders in an attempt to calm her.
"You've been in an accident, the airbag hit you in the chest, which is why you can't breathe too well, it just knocked the wind out of you. I'm gonna go check on the people in the other car, I need you to take slow deep breaths and try not to move too much okay?" I say calmly.
She nods and tries to take a deep breath. I smile encouragingly, at least I hope it encouraging.
"Okay, good girl, you keep breathing, I'll be back." I say.
I hop down from the window and run to the other car. I jog around it quickly to make sure that there isn't anything leaking from it that might catch fire. I don't smell gas and there's surprisingly nothing leaking out of that area, just about all the fluids from under the hood are leaking, but nothing too dangerous, which is a minor miracle.
I climb up the underside of the car until I get to the side, which I guess right now is the top? Whatever, it doesn't matter right now. I climb up and settle myself on the dented driver's door and look in the front window. The driver is unconscious and has a cut on her cheek bone but looks fine otherwise, from what I can see at least. The passenger, a teenage boy about 15 has a large gash on his forehead but he's awake and alert.
The boy looks toward the backseat. I shift myself so I can follow his gaze. I look through the back window and curse silently at what I see. On the passenger side in the back seat there's an infant car seat with a sleeping baby in it. At least I hope the baby is asleep, although I'm not really sure how anyone could sleep through this.
I turn back around to the front window and see that its open a crack. Somehow it's not broken. It should be broken. The boy looks up at me.
"Help my sister first." He says.
"What's your name?" I ask.
"Mason." He says.
I smile a little bit.
"Hi Mason, I'm Amanda." I say. "Can you breathe okay Mason?" I ask.
He nods.
"Okay, can you undo your seat belt? I'm gonna need your help." I say.
He fiddles with the buckle for a few seconds before he swears and reaches for the glove box. He flips it open and grabs a rescue blade out of it and cuts the seat belt with ease. He looks back up at me.
"Don't move your back and neck too much. Can you turn your entire body and grab that blanket on the floor?" I ask.
He nods a little bit. "I think so." He says.
He moves so he's crouched on the window instead of sitting and reaches for the blanket in the backseat.
He picks the blanket up and looks back up at me.
"Cover you sister and watch your eyes." I say.
He covers his sister.
"I'm gonna break the window, cover your face." I say.
He nods and hides his face in his arms. I brace myself and slam my foot against the window. It doesn't break. I try it again. Nothing. I try one more time and when nothing happens I let out a frustrated groan.
"I'll be right back Mason. I have to find something to break it with." I say.
I jump down off the car and scan the ground for something heavy enough to break the window. I spot the side mirror from the car and grab it. This'll have to do.
I run back over to the car and climb up it. "Okay, I'm gonna try again, cover your face." I say.
I wait until his face is covered before I slam the broken mirror into the window and it shatters. I try my best to clear the remaining glass away from the sides of the window so I can get into the car.
I toss the mirror back down onto the street.
"Okay, Mason, take the blanket off of your sister, try not to let any of the glass fall on her." I say.
He picks up the blanket carefully and puts it under the glove box.
"Can you see if she's breathing?" I ask. Mason looks at his sister, and nods.
"She's breathing." He says.
I nod. "Okay, I'm gonna come down and check your mom over, then I'll get the baby out." I say.
I slide into the car, feet first, being careful not to step on anything or anyone. I hear glass crunch beneath my feet and I know I'm standing on the window beside the baby.
I feel for a pulse in Mason's mother's neck and feel a slow weak pulse. I try my best to block his view in case I find something that I don't want to. I lift her shirt a little bit and see a large dark purple spot on her abdomen. Shit. She's bleeding internally. That was definitely something I didn't want to find. There's nothing I can do for her right now. She's gonna have to wait for the paramedics. Where the hell are they?
I look down at the baby and take a deep breath. How in hell am I supposed to get her out of that thing? It's got like five straps and a button that probably wouldn't work if I tried it, and even if I did, would the straps just snap back and let her fall? I have no idea; I've never actually touched an infant car seat before. Okay, stop. I'm wasting time, just think for a second.
"Mason I need the rescue blade." I say.
He nods and grabs it. He holds it out to me and I take it. I cut the two straps on the left of the seat before I do the one between her feet. I get them out of the way so I can move her out of the seat without too much jostling.
It's a small car, so I'm able to get back out the way I got in and hold the baby at the same time.
I turn back to look at Mason. "I'm gonna get out with her, you need to stay as still as possible until the paramedics get here." I say.
He nods. "Her name is Sarah." He adds as I start to climb out of the car.
I smile and nod. "Okay." I say as I step on the driver's head rest to boost myself up to the window.
I climb out as carefully as possible with Sarah in my arms. It takes a few minutes, but I finally get out of the car and back down onto the street.
I hear feet hitting the ground behind me and I turn and see Mason walking toward us.
"I thought I told you to stay still." I say.
"I'm fine, and I'm staying with my sister." He says. There isn't much that I can do. It's not like I can force the kid to stay in a flipped car with his possibly dying mother. I probably would've gotten out too.
I nod. "Okay. You don't feel dizzy or anything?" I ask.
He shakes his head.
"Okay, well sit down anyway." I say.
He nods and sits down on the pavement.
I look down at Sarah, who is still unconscious in my arms. She probably has a concussion. I hand her to Mason.
"Don't move her too much, but try to wake her gently." I say.
He nods and looks down at his sister.
I look up and see lights flashing about twenty blocks away and let out a breath that I didn't realize I was holding.
I jog back over to the SUV, and thankfully, both the driver and the passenger are awake.
I lean in the window. "Are you okay?" I ask.
They both nod. "Okay, the ambulance is almost here. Just try to stay calm." I say.
They both look fine, so I get down from the window and jog back over to Mason.
Mason is holding Sarah, and talking to her. Her eyes are open but she's not really responsive. She isn't moving or crying, just lying in Mason's arms.
"How old is she?" I ask.
"Two months. She was kind of a surprise. My mom didn't think she could have any more kids, and then she was pregnant with Sarah. She can't lose her. She was so happy when she found out she was pregnant. She can't lose her." He says.
I nod. "She's not going to Mason. You have to stay positive. I know that isn't really what you want to hear, but it's true." I say.
He nods. "I'm gonna go check on your mom." I say.
Mason looks up at me and his jaw drops. "Amanda, you're bleeding." He says.
I look down at my right side and sure enough there's blood.
"I'm okay." I say, sure it's just a scratch. I can barely even feel it.
I climb back up the car and Mason's mom is still unconscious. I sigh and hop back down to the street again.
As soon as my feet hit the ground, the paramedics pull up. It's about fucking time.
Two female paramedics step out of the first ambulance as a second and third pull up, along with a fire truck.
As the firefighters assess the flipped car, the six paramedics stand, making a plan for a moment before the two women from the first ambulance walk calmly over to the SUV, the two men from the second ambulance and another, the man from the third ambulance walk over to Sarah, Mason, and their mother, and the woman from the third ambulance walks over to me.
"Were you involved in the accident? Is this all your blood?" She asks in a heavy Staten Island accent.
I lift my shirt a little bit and realize that yes, it is all my blood and there's a large cut in my right side. I look back at the paramedic.
"I was just helping out; I don't really even feel it." I say. She nods.
"It's the adrenaline. Once you calm down a little bit, you'll feel it." She says.
I nod. "Okay, let's get you into the ambulance." She says.
I nod dumbly and follow her.
As we walk by. I look at Mason and Sarah, who are both being checked over by paramedics and I smile. They're gonna be okay.
I follow the paramedic into the ambulance and sit down on the bench along the walk.
"NYPD, you a cop?" She asks.
I nod. "I'm an SVU detective." I say.
"Which borough?" She asks as she rubs alcohol over my side.
I wince.
"Manhattan." I say.
She nods. "My brother's over in Staten Island SVU." She says.
"What's his name?" I ask.
"Sonny Carisi." She says.
I nod. I heard he was supposed to be transferring to Manhattan soon. "I've heard his name." I say.
The back doors open and the male paramedic steps into the ambulance with Sarah.
"Her mother and brother are with Marcus and Aiden. I said we'd take her, but you look like you've got your hands full here." He says.
"How are her mother and brother? I ask.
"The mother is still unconscious and the brother is being treated for shock." He says.
"What about her?" I ask nodding toward Sarah.
"She's got a concussion. She'll need an MRI to see if there's a bleed." He says as he puts a tiny oxygen mask over her face, then wraps her in an emergency blanket.
"You got them Gina?" He asks. She nods.
"Yeah, I think we're good Dave." She says.
Dave looks back at me. "We need to get you both to the hospital. Are you okay to hold her so I can drive?" He asks.
I nod and he hands me the baby. "Just don't let her fall asleep." He says.
I nod and he closes the doors and climbs into the front seat.
The ambulance starts to move and Gina puts a long bandage over the cut on my side.
"I'm Amanda by the way." I say.
"I'm Gina." She says.
Gina moves away from me and grabs a portable monitor. She takes my vitals, then grabs a laptop.
"Okay. Tell me what happened." She says.
"I was jogging and I heard a crash. I called 911 and jumped in." I say.
"How'd you get the cut?" She asks.
"I think it was when I climbed into the car to get Sarah out, but I'm not really sure. I didn't even notice." I say.
She nods. "How old are you?" She asks.
"Thirty-four." I say.
"Any medical problems?" She asks.
I shake my head no. "Are you on any medications?" She asks.
"No." I say.
"I have to ask everybody over the age of 14, are you sexually active?" She asks.
I nod. "Yeah, but I haven't had sex in ages." I say laughing lightly.
She laughs with me for a moment. "Are you on any type of birth control?" She asks.
"No." I say.
"Are you pregnant or trying to get pregnant?" She asks.
I shake my head no. "No, I'm gay, and I already had my baby." I say.
I look down at Sarah in my arms. I wish I'd gotten to hold my baby more.
"Are you allergic to any medications?" She asks.
I nod. "I'm allergic to penicillin." I say.
She nods. "On a scale of one to ten, how is your pain right now?" She asks.
I think for a moment.
"Five and a half maybe." I say.
She stops tying and looks up at me. "I have a cop for a brother and every time he gets hurt and I ask him how it is, he lies to me, so are you lying to me right now?" She asks.
I nod. "Absolutely." I say.
She nods. "Do you want something for it?" She asks.
"No. No painkillers." I say.
I look down at Sarah, whose eyes are starting to close. I run my finger down her cheek and her eyes open again, but she doesn't do anything else.
The ambulance stops and Dave opens the back doors and holds out his arms for Sarah. I hand her over to him and try to stand up.
Gina stops me. "No way. You sit, I'll get you a wheelchair." She says.
I nod and she gets out of the ambulance.
She comes back a minute later with a wheelchair and locks the wheels.
"Okay, get up slowly and I'll help you out." She says.
I nod and do what she says and she holds my uninjured side as she guides me out of the ambulance and into the wheelchair.
She wheels me inside and up to the triage desk. "Do you have your health card with you?" The nurse sitting behind the desk asks.
I shake my head no. "I was just out running. I didn't think I'd need it." I say.
She nods. "What's your name?" She asks.
"Amanda Rollins." I say.
She nods and starts typing. "Date of birth?" She asks.
"February 13, 1981." I say.
She nods and starts typing again. "What brings you in tonight?" She asks.
I sigh and lift my shirt up to show her the large bandage on my side. "I was helping out at a car accident. I slid into one of the cars and I guess I cut my side on the glass that was still in the window." I say.
She nods. "I need to take your vitals again." She says.
Gina rolls my wheelchair around the side of the desk and the nurse wraps the blood pressure cuff around my right arm, and clips the oxygen-saturation probe on my finger. She takes my temperature and starts typing again.
She takes everything off me and stands up. "I'll take you back." She says.
Gina moves away from my chair. "Thank you Gina." I say.
"It's my job. I'll see you later, and no more jumping into flipped cars." She says.
I laugh, and it hurts my side. "I'll definitely try." I say.
Gina laughs and walks back down the hall with Dave.
The nurse wheels me into a room and helps me onto the gurney.
"I need to know if the baby I came in with is okay." I say.
"You worry about you, and I'll check on her and her brother okay?" She says. I nod.
"Doctor Green will be in shortly to stitch your side." She says.
She walks out of the room, leaving me alone with a very painful six-inch slice in my right side.
About twenty minutes go by before I hear footsteps outside my door and I open my eyes.
"Amanda Rollins?" The tall, blonde man in scrubs asks.
I nod. "You found me." I say.
He chuckles and walks into the room. "I'm Doctor Green, I'll be stitching you up today." He says.
"How fun for me." I laugh.
"I can't imagine it will be." He says.
"Okay, are you okay with needles? I just need to give you a little bit of a local anesthetic to numb you a little and I'll be back in about ten minutes okay?" He says.
I nod and I barely feel the pinch in my side as the needle pierces my skin.
True to his word, Doctor Green comes back into my tiny room ten minutes later and opens the cupboard marked Suture Kits. His drags a rather uncomfortable looking metal stool and a tray over to my gurney and sits down.
"Okay, I'm gonna need you to either take off your shirt or lift it enough for me to suture. I laugh and peel my shirt off.
He takes one look at my side and nods. "Good plan. I wouldn't be able to get to that with the shirt on." He says.
I nod. "Okay, you shouldn't feel too much pain, just a little pressure." He says.
"And you may wanna look away." He says. I nod and turn my head away from him.
~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~
"Okay, and… I'm done." Doctor Green says as he cuts the suture and puts down his needle and forceps.
"I can look now?" I say.
He laughs a little bit. "Yeah, you can look now." He says.
I turn my head back to him. He stands up and drags the stool and tray away from the side of my gurney.
"Okay, I'm gonna prescribe you some oxycodone for the pain you'll be feeling for the next few days, okay?" He asks.
I shake my head, that's a bad idea. "I'll be fine with some Tylenol." I say.
He looks up at me. "You're going to be in a lot of pain Ms. Rollins." He says warningly.
I shake my head again. "I can't take oxycodone." I say.
He nods. "I can prescribe you something else if you like?" He asks.
I shake my head. "I'll just take some Tylenol." I say.
He nods. "If you're sure." He says.
I nod. "I am." I say.
He nods and hands me his clipboard. "Just sign here and you can go home." He says.
I take his pen and sign the release papers and hand him back his clipboard.
"Have a good day Ms. Rollins." He says as he walks out of my room.
I walk out of my room and over to the nurses station so I can find out where Mason is and then I head down to his room. When I get down to the room, Mason is talking to a young police officer. He looks up when he hears me enter.
The officer turns around and holds up a hand to prevent me from going any further into the room. "Who are you?" He asks.
"Detective Amanda Rollins, Manhattan SVU." I say.
"You got a badge?" He asks.
I look down at myself, in athletic shorts, an academy T-shirt, and covered in blood. "Not right now I don't. I was off duty, just out for a jog." I say.
Mason nods. "It's true officer. She saved my sister." He says.
The officer looks me over suspiciously one more time, which I appreciate for Mason's safety, before he steps aside to let me in.
I walk over to Mason's bed and smile at him. His head has been stitched and he's not as pale as he was when I saw him last.
"How's your mom?" I ask.
"They say she's gonna be okay. She's in surgery now." He says.
"And Sarah?" I ask.
"They said she has a concussion. If she hadn't been moved and waken up when she was she might have died. You saved her life Amanda." He says.
I smile. "I had your help." I say.
"What about you? How's your side." He asks.
I lift up my shirt to show him the long bandage on my side.
"30 stitches." I say.
He winces. "Ouch." He says.
I laugh. "Yeah it wasn't fun." I say.
"Detective Rollins, can I speak to you for a moment about what you saw tonight?" The officer asks.
I nod and follow him out of the room. He leads me down the hall about fifty feet, then turns and leans against the wall. I glance at his nameplate; Officer Parker.
I look back up at his face. "Tell me what happened tonight detective." He says, getting his pen and notebook ready.
"I couldn't sleep, so I decided to go for a run. I was jogging in Central Park when I heard a crash. I ran towards it and saw the SUV and the car. The SUV was more accessible so I went to it first. The two people in the SUV were unconscious, but stable so I went to the other car. I climbed up it to see inside and at first I only saw Mason and his mother, Mason asked me to help his sister first. I told him to get out of his seat belt, but not to move too much in case of a spinal injury. I asked him to cover his sister with a blanket and I tried to kick in the window. It wouldn't break so I climbed off of the car and grabbed a broken mirror off of the street. Uh, after I got the window broken I climbed into the car and checked on Mason's mom. Her pulse was weak, and when I checked for injuries I saw a large bruise on her side, she was bleeding internally. There wasn't anything I could do for her, she was bleeding internally. There wasn't anything I could do for her so I moved on to the baby, Sarah. I got her out of the car seat and climbed out of the car. Then the paramedics were there." I say.
"You were the one who called 911?" He asks.
I totally forgot about that.
"Yes." I say.
He nods. "Okay, if I need anything else, where can I find you?" He asks.
I take his notepad and write down my address and phone numbers. "If I'm not at home, I'm at the 16th precinct." I say.
He nods. "Thank you detective Rollins." He says as he closes his notepad.
"Will that be all officer?" I ask as I stand up straight.
He nods and walks down the hallway towards the elevators.
I sigh and start to walk back towards Mason's room.
"What was that about?" He asks as I enter.
"He just wanted to know what I saw tonight." I say.
He nods. "Oh." He says.
I nod and look at the clock on the wall. It's already seven o'clock in the morning. "I should get going. I'm glad everybody's gonna be okay." I say.
He sits up quickly and wraps his arms around my waist. "Thank you for helping us Amanda." He says.
I smile and rub his back. "It was no problem Mason." I say.
He sits back in his bed. I take a piece of paper and a pen from the table in the corner of the room and write down my cell phone number and hand it to him.
"If you ever need anything, you call me." I say.
He nods. "I will." He says.
I smile. "Goodbye Mason." I say as I walk towards the door.
"Bye Amanda." He says.
I walk up to the lobby and sit down on one of the black leather couches. I pull my phone out of the pocket in my shorts and dial Melinda's cell number.
"Amanda?" She asks when she answers.
"Hey Melinda did I wake you?" I ask gently.
"No, I was already awake. What's up?" She asks.
"Can I possibly bother you for a ride? I don't want to call Liv because she's got Allison and I don't want to call the guys because they'll just worry and I don't know anyone else." I say quickly.
Melinda laughs. "Where are you that you have to call Liv? Are you not at home?" She asks.
"No, I'm at Mercy Hospital." I say.
"Why? Are you okay? Or did you get a case? Is everything alright?" She asks.
"I'll explain it later it's kind of a long story, but Liv doesn't know I'm here." I say.
"Okay, I'll be there in ten minutes." She says.
"Okay, thanks Melinda." I say before I hang up the phone.
I spend the next ten minutes pacing slowly around the lobby while I wait for Melinda. After what seems like an eternity I spot her car outside the window and I head for the door.
I walk over to her car and open the passenger side door. "Oh my God Amanda! What happened to your shirt?" She asks.
I sigh and lift up my shirt to show her the stitches in my side. "What happened?" She asks as I sit down in the passenger seat.
"I was out jogging and I came across a car accident. I went into one of the cars to get a baby and I cut my side." I say.
She nods. "What time did you leave the house? You look exhausted." She says as she puts the car in drive and pulls out of the parking lot.
"Gee thanks buddy." I say laughing lightly.
"I think I left around 3:30." I say.
"In the morning?" She asks.
I nod. "Why?" She asks.
"I couldn't sleep. And running seemed like a better option than blackjack." I say. She nods.
"Yeah, you do have a point there." She says.
I cry out in pain as the car hits a bump in the road and a sharp pain shoots through my sided.
Melinda winces.
"Sorry about that, I didn't see it or I would have tried to avoid it." She says.
I nod. Holy fuck that hurt.
"It's fine Melinda." I say.
"Did the doctor prescribe anything for you?" She asks.
"No, I wouldn't let him." I say.
"Why not?" She asks.
"I had a problem with oxycodone when I was younger." I say blankly.
Melinda nods. "So that's why you gamble?" She asks.
I nod. "Yeah I guess." I say.
Melinda sighs. "I'm sorry Amanda, I don't mean to pry." She says.
I laugh lightly. "It's fine Melinda." I say.
Actually it's kind of nice to talk about it as weird as that sounds. And I would have told Liv, but I don't know how she'd react. The only people that I've told since I came to New York were Huang and Cragen, and now Melinda.
"How are you planning on dealing with the pain?" She asks.
I shake my head. "Tylenol." I say.
Melinda nods. "Hopefully it works." She says.
I nod. Hopefully.
Melinda pulls over behind Olivia's car and puts the car in park. The sun is almost all the way up and Olivia should be up by now, which is just freaking great. I was kind of hoping to change out of these clothes before Olivia saw all of the blood on the shirt, which actually makes it look worse, Somehow the shirt didn't tear though.
I sigh and sit up in my seat. "I should probably go upstairs. Liv's gonna be awake by now." I say.
Melinda nods. "Yeah she will be." She says.
I grab the door handle and push the door open.
"Thanks again Melinda. I'll see you later." I say as I get out of the car.
"It's no problem Amanda. Tell Liv I'll call her later." She says.
I nod and wave as I close the door.
I sigh and look up at the tall apartment building. I walk towards the door pull it open. The building only has a doorman at night for security reasons. I walk down to the end of the hallway to the elevator and hit the call button. I don't like using the elevator, especially this one. It's pretty much just a moving platform surrounded by three concrete walls and a glass door on every floor. It's actually rather terrifying. I step into the elevator and press the up button until I see the door for the second floor, then I press the stop button. I step out of the elevator, shake myself off slightly and walk back down to the other end of the hallway and unlock the apartment door.