Lullabies and Nightmares
Part Two
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I have hours, only lonely
My love is vengeance
That's never free"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He couldn't believe it when Helah had told him.
"Carter you'd better get out here." She'd looked at him seriously.
"Just a minute..." He'd replied. He was just finished treating an infected cut on a young boy's leg.
"No, now." She demanded. When he looked up he saw a look of determination in her eyes. He excused himself from the patient and follow Helah out into the hallway.
"What is it Helah? I was almost finished..."
"We have a critical OD." She interrupted. He removed his gloves and followed her towards Trauma One.
"Isn't Susan around?" He asked.
"She's working on the patient." She paused. "Its Rachel Greene."
His mind had frozen in place. Rachel Greene. Mark's eldest daughter. The little girl who'd always come into the ER when he was a student and played in the lounge while her father saved lives. That Rachel Greene. It couldn't be.
But it was. When he entered the room he saw her. Her hair was shorter then it had been at the funeral. It was also dirty, and she was very thin.
He hurried towards the table and met Susan's eyes. "What is it?" He asked.
"The girl who dropped her off said there was cocaine on the table next to where she found her. We did a tox screen to make sure."
"Dropped her off?" Carter asked. Susan seemed on the verge of tears.
"The girl said she couldn't stay. That she had to leave before the cops came."
He put on his gloves and proceeded to check for any signs of life. He lifted her eyes and peered into motionless eyes.
"Rachel its Carter can you hear me? Rachel?" He asked, but there was no response.
He began to check her reflexes as Susan treated her with the proper drugs. Deb came rushing in moments later.
"Tox screen's back. Looks like cocaine and alcohol."
"OK lets pump her stomach." Carter ordered, and looked up to catch eyes with Abby Lockhart. "Find some tubing."
They hurriedly worked to revive the girl that had once been a part of their tight knit family.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But my dreams
They aren't as empty
As my conscience seems to be
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rachel awoke to the sounds of machines beeping and people talking nearby. She struggled to open her eyes, but felt so tired. She pushed her mind to remember anything about where she was and why she was there.
Finally, she was able to open her eyes to the blurry images of a hospital. Not just a hospital. It was her father's hospital. County General Hospital.
She hadn't been here since before he'd died.
But she wasn't just visiting this time. She was in a bed wearing nothing but a hospital gown covered with a thin sheet. There were tubes sticking out of her arms and machines pumping some mysterious liquid into her veins.
She was reminded of the needles and drugs. Her best friends. But she doubted the liquid in the IV bags would make her feel like the drugs could. Nothing could make her feel that good ever again.
Suddenly a panic hit her. She couldn't get drugs here, and she needed them. She needed them now. She had to get out of here somehow.
She sat up quickly and felt the room spinning around her. She pushed through it however and gave herself a minute to distinguish between the ceiling and floor. She reached to her arm and pulled the IV's out. The machine made a last beeping sound and then stopped. She sat on the edge of the bed and examined her gown. It was covered in some black substance.
She flashed back to a time in her past. She had been young, four or five. She'd watched through a window in the swinging doors as her father worked on a patient. She remembered how she'd thought he was such a hero back then. There was nobody more courageous then her daddy. The patient had been a woman, young but still very old by Rachel's standards. She'd watched as her father had put something down her throat, and remembered the gagging feeling she'd experienced when the black liquid had come back out of her mouth. Daddy had told her later that the woman had made herself sick by taking too much candy, and they'd had to get the candy out of her stomach.
So she'd made herself sick by taking too much "candy". She thought of the numerous bottles of liquor she'd drunk before snorting the coke. She must have been lucky to make it to AJ at all. No wonder she'd woken up late.
A thought occurred to her suddenly. What did they do with the coke? What if they threw it away when they came and got her? She didn't have any more money, and she certainly couldn't get any from her mom in St. Louis. Elizabeth wouldn't give her money. She'd have to find something to sell, but she'd sold almost everything just to pay the small fee for the motel room that she now called home.
She found her clothes under the bed in a bag and quickly changed into them. She was just about to leave when she ran straight into a doctor from her past.
"Rachel? Where are you going?"
TBC
Part Two
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I have hours, only lonely
My love is vengeance
That's never free"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He couldn't believe it when Helah had told him.
"Carter you'd better get out here." She'd looked at him seriously.
"Just a minute..." He'd replied. He was just finished treating an infected cut on a young boy's leg.
"No, now." She demanded. When he looked up he saw a look of determination in her eyes. He excused himself from the patient and follow Helah out into the hallway.
"What is it Helah? I was almost finished..."
"We have a critical OD." She interrupted. He removed his gloves and followed her towards Trauma One.
"Isn't Susan around?" He asked.
"She's working on the patient." She paused. "Its Rachel Greene."
His mind had frozen in place. Rachel Greene. Mark's eldest daughter. The little girl who'd always come into the ER when he was a student and played in the lounge while her father saved lives. That Rachel Greene. It couldn't be.
But it was. When he entered the room he saw her. Her hair was shorter then it had been at the funeral. It was also dirty, and she was very thin.
He hurried towards the table and met Susan's eyes. "What is it?" He asked.
"The girl who dropped her off said there was cocaine on the table next to where she found her. We did a tox screen to make sure."
"Dropped her off?" Carter asked. Susan seemed on the verge of tears.
"The girl said she couldn't stay. That she had to leave before the cops came."
He put on his gloves and proceeded to check for any signs of life. He lifted her eyes and peered into motionless eyes.
"Rachel its Carter can you hear me? Rachel?" He asked, but there was no response.
He began to check her reflexes as Susan treated her with the proper drugs. Deb came rushing in moments later.
"Tox screen's back. Looks like cocaine and alcohol."
"OK lets pump her stomach." Carter ordered, and looked up to catch eyes with Abby Lockhart. "Find some tubing."
They hurriedly worked to revive the girl that had once been a part of their tight knit family.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But my dreams
They aren't as empty
As my conscience seems to be
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rachel awoke to the sounds of machines beeping and people talking nearby. She struggled to open her eyes, but felt so tired. She pushed her mind to remember anything about where she was and why she was there.
Finally, she was able to open her eyes to the blurry images of a hospital. Not just a hospital. It was her father's hospital. County General Hospital.
She hadn't been here since before he'd died.
But she wasn't just visiting this time. She was in a bed wearing nothing but a hospital gown covered with a thin sheet. There were tubes sticking out of her arms and machines pumping some mysterious liquid into her veins.
She was reminded of the needles and drugs. Her best friends. But she doubted the liquid in the IV bags would make her feel like the drugs could. Nothing could make her feel that good ever again.
Suddenly a panic hit her. She couldn't get drugs here, and she needed them. She needed them now. She had to get out of here somehow.
She sat up quickly and felt the room spinning around her. She pushed through it however and gave herself a minute to distinguish between the ceiling and floor. She reached to her arm and pulled the IV's out. The machine made a last beeping sound and then stopped. She sat on the edge of the bed and examined her gown. It was covered in some black substance.
She flashed back to a time in her past. She had been young, four or five. She'd watched through a window in the swinging doors as her father worked on a patient. She remembered how she'd thought he was such a hero back then. There was nobody more courageous then her daddy. The patient had been a woman, young but still very old by Rachel's standards. She'd watched as her father had put something down her throat, and remembered the gagging feeling she'd experienced when the black liquid had come back out of her mouth. Daddy had told her later that the woman had made herself sick by taking too much candy, and they'd had to get the candy out of her stomach.
So she'd made herself sick by taking too much "candy". She thought of the numerous bottles of liquor she'd drunk before snorting the coke. She must have been lucky to make it to AJ at all. No wonder she'd woken up late.
A thought occurred to her suddenly. What did they do with the coke? What if they threw it away when they came and got her? She didn't have any more money, and she certainly couldn't get any from her mom in St. Louis. Elizabeth wouldn't give her money. She'd have to find something to sell, but she'd sold almost everything just to pay the small fee for the motel room that she now called home.
She found her clothes under the bed in a bag and quickly changed into them. She was just about to leave when she ran straight into a doctor from her past.
"Rachel? Where are you going?"
TBC