Author's Note: I have a confession to make. I wrote this the day I
published Chapter 2 but I was waiting for the reviews that said there was
interest in the turn the story was taking. So thanks for the reviews.
Looking For Salvation: 3
The group of teachers entered the doctor's office, each of them thinking that Ronnie was either dying or dead. They all took a seat among the many chairs in the office and watched as the female doctor sit on the edge of the desk as she began to speak.
"As you know Ms. Cook suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen. We've removed the bullet but it was touch and go for quite a while. I'm sorry to have to tell you her condition is critical, the bullet wound had already been infected, and she's lapsed into a coma," the doctor said. She looked around the room and saw that Marilyn and Carmen had closed their eyes in a desperate attempt to hold back tears. "I'm sorry about this but it gets worse. The bullet hit part of her spinal column, if she does regain consciousness she may never walk again."
"Wait," Scott said. "Did you say if?"
"Yes I did?" The doctor said. "There is a chance that this infection will win Ronnie over and she will die." She noticed a salty tear drip down Carmen's face. "I'm not going to give you all the details but the next twenty-four hours are critical. She won't be out of the woods but if she survives the next twenty-four hours she will have a good fighting chance. The following twenty-four hours after will tell us everything. We have her under close observation and if there is any problem we are confident that we can correct it. On top of her coma Ronnie lost a severe amount of blood and she looks very pale right now because the blood loss caused anemia, we are giving her blood transfusions to help replace the blood she lost."
"Can we see her?" Steven asked.
"Only for a short time," the doctor explained. "Hospital policy."
"Thank you," Marilyn said. "Where is she?"
"ICU Room 5" the doctor reported to them.
"Thank you," Harvey said as the group of teachers stood up to leave. *** Sounds of monitors welcomed the ears of The Winslow High teachers. The looked at the door numbers until they found room number five. They peered through the glass to see Ronnie lying on the bed surrounded by machines, which beeped softly letting then know that life was still inside her frail body. IV Trees hung above her head feeding blood into her veins. Her face was pale and she looked dead.
"Should we go in?" Carmen asked solemnly.
"Yeah," Steven said. "Lets go in."
Hesitantly the teachers entered Ronnie's room. Now that they saw the extent of her injuries their nightmare had come true. Marilyn moved her hand up to Ronnie's cheek. It was cold and she pulled back as if she had just touched a burner on a hot stove. Everyone was quiet and the stillness of the air seemed deafening. The only sounds in the room were the monotonous beep of the monitors and the hissing of Ronnie's ventilator. Danny broke the silence.
"I wonder what is going on in her head right now," Danny asked not bothering to take his eyes off Ronnie.
"Who knows," Steven said. "What we should discuss now is how to tell the students."
"We should call an assembly," Carmen said as she wiped a tear from her eye. "My sixth grade science teacher died from a stroke and they announced it over the loudspeaker. I felt so betrayed and out of it. It hadn't been the right thing to do. I think we should tell them in person."
"I have to agree with Carmen," Danny said. "She has personal experience so I think that we should do her way."
"Okay that is settled," Steven said. "Now how do we inform the parents?"
"We can hand out notices," Harvey suggested.
"No," Marilyn protested. "Notices usually end up in the trash." Marilyn drew her sweater tightly around her as she said her next opinion. "I think that Scott should give a cable address. They saw his presentation on THE MORNING AFTER PILL and that reached them so why not now?"
"I can do that," Scott said. "It may be the most effective way for us to inform the parents."
"Great," Steven said. "I need you all at your best tomorrow. If we are going to inform the students we'll have to do it professionally. I'll prepare a speech to address them; all of you should just get some sleep. I don't want worry to get in place of our jobs. I'll leave them my home phone number just in case there are any changes in Ronnie's condition. If there is a change I will Scott, who will call Carmen, who will call Danny, who will call Harvey, who will call Marilyn, who will call me and let me know that the phone chain has gone through all of us. Okay?" Everyone stared at them, their eyes piercing his skin.
"Wait give us that again," Harvey asked him. "Okay," Steven said this time slower. "If there is a change in Ronnie's condition, I will Scott, who will call Carmen, who will call Danny, who will call Harvey, who will call Marilyn, who will call me and let me know that the phone chain has gone through all of us. Any questions?"
'What about Marla?" Marilyn asked. "She's still on suspension remember."
"Right, Marla," Steven said. "Okay here's the revised phone chain. I will call Scott, who will call Marla, who will call Carmen, who will call Danny, who will call Harvey, who will call Marilyn, who will call me. Okay?"
"Okay," the said in unison.
"I'll call Marla when I get home so that she doesn't find out that Ronnie is getting better or worse when she doesn't even know what is going on," Steven said.
"Okay," they said.
"Should we go home?" Danny asked.
"Yes just give me a minute at the nurses' station." Steven responded running into the hall so that he could give the nurse his phone number.
The remainder of the group waited in Ronnie's room while Steven gave the nurse his phone number. When he returned the group each squeezed Ronnie's hand once more and the felt the icy coldness that Marilyn had felt when she touched her cheek, as they each prayed that Ronnie would make it through the night, then they dismissed themselves from the room and returned home preparing for the long day ahead of them *** It was late at night in the graveyard shift at the hospital. The ICU nurses where hard at work monitoring their patients. The patients had been doing fine and most of them were out of the woods except for one. The blond woman that had just came in with the gunshot wound to the abdomen. She was lucky to be alive, a few more minutes and they wouldn't have been able to stop the bleeding. One nurse passed the room and looked at the woman, just as everything seemed peaceful until blonde haired woman went into convulsions.
"Doctor," she yelled down the hall.
The doctor ran into the room and immediately started to restrain the woman. "Call Steven Harper. His number is on my desk I can handle it here"
The nurse ran off in panic to find Steven Harper's number in the directory that the nurses kept. *** Steven Harper was sleeping peacefully with thoughts of Marilyn in his head, only to be shaken awake by the ringing phone. Exhausted he picked it up put the cold receiver to his ear.
"Hello," he said with an exhausted tone. He waited as he heard someone babble on the other line. "What?!"
Author's Note" Reviews please!! I need to see some interest in order to keep this story going.
Looking For Salvation: 3
The group of teachers entered the doctor's office, each of them thinking that Ronnie was either dying or dead. They all took a seat among the many chairs in the office and watched as the female doctor sit on the edge of the desk as she began to speak.
"As you know Ms. Cook suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen. We've removed the bullet but it was touch and go for quite a while. I'm sorry to have to tell you her condition is critical, the bullet wound had already been infected, and she's lapsed into a coma," the doctor said. She looked around the room and saw that Marilyn and Carmen had closed their eyes in a desperate attempt to hold back tears. "I'm sorry about this but it gets worse. The bullet hit part of her spinal column, if she does regain consciousness she may never walk again."
"Wait," Scott said. "Did you say if?"
"Yes I did?" The doctor said. "There is a chance that this infection will win Ronnie over and she will die." She noticed a salty tear drip down Carmen's face. "I'm not going to give you all the details but the next twenty-four hours are critical. She won't be out of the woods but if she survives the next twenty-four hours she will have a good fighting chance. The following twenty-four hours after will tell us everything. We have her under close observation and if there is any problem we are confident that we can correct it. On top of her coma Ronnie lost a severe amount of blood and she looks very pale right now because the blood loss caused anemia, we are giving her blood transfusions to help replace the blood she lost."
"Can we see her?" Steven asked.
"Only for a short time," the doctor explained. "Hospital policy."
"Thank you," Marilyn said. "Where is she?"
"ICU Room 5" the doctor reported to them.
"Thank you," Harvey said as the group of teachers stood up to leave. *** Sounds of monitors welcomed the ears of The Winslow High teachers. The looked at the door numbers until they found room number five. They peered through the glass to see Ronnie lying on the bed surrounded by machines, which beeped softly letting then know that life was still inside her frail body. IV Trees hung above her head feeding blood into her veins. Her face was pale and she looked dead.
"Should we go in?" Carmen asked solemnly.
"Yeah," Steven said. "Lets go in."
Hesitantly the teachers entered Ronnie's room. Now that they saw the extent of her injuries their nightmare had come true. Marilyn moved her hand up to Ronnie's cheek. It was cold and she pulled back as if she had just touched a burner on a hot stove. Everyone was quiet and the stillness of the air seemed deafening. The only sounds in the room were the monotonous beep of the monitors and the hissing of Ronnie's ventilator. Danny broke the silence.
"I wonder what is going on in her head right now," Danny asked not bothering to take his eyes off Ronnie.
"Who knows," Steven said. "What we should discuss now is how to tell the students."
"We should call an assembly," Carmen said as she wiped a tear from her eye. "My sixth grade science teacher died from a stroke and they announced it over the loudspeaker. I felt so betrayed and out of it. It hadn't been the right thing to do. I think we should tell them in person."
"I have to agree with Carmen," Danny said. "She has personal experience so I think that we should do her way."
"Okay that is settled," Steven said. "Now how do we inform the parents?"
"We can hand out notices," Harvey suggested.
"No," Marilyn protested. "Notices usually end up in the trash." Marilyn drew her sweater tightly around her as she said her next opinion. "I think that Scott should give a cable address. They saw his presentation on THE MORNING AFTER PILL and that reached them so why not now?"
"I can do that," Scott said. "It may be the most effective way for us to inform the parents."
"Great," Steven said. "I need you all at your best tomorrow. If we are going to inform the students we'll have to do it professionally. I'll prepare a speech to address them; all of you should just get some sleep. I don't want worry to get in place of our jobs. I'll leave them my home phone number just in case there are any changes in Ronnie's condition. If there is a change I will Scott, who will call Carmen, who will call Danny, who will call Harvey, who will call Marilyn, who will call me and let me know that the phone chain has gone through all of us. Okay?" Everyone stared at them, their eyes piercing his skin.
"Wait give us that again," Harvey asked him. "Okay," Steven said this time slower. "If there is a change in Ronnie's condition, I will Scott, who will call Carmen, who will call Danny, who will call Harvey, who will call Marilyn, who will call me and let me know that the phone chain has gone through all of us. Any questions?"
'What about Marla?" Marilyn asked. "She's still on suspension remember."
"Right, Marla," Steven said. "Okay here's the revised phone chain. I will call Scott, who will call Marla, who will call Carmen, who will call Danny, who will call Harvey, who will call Marilyn, who will call me. Okay?"
"Okay," the said in unison.
"I'll call Marla when I get home so that she doesn't find out that Ronnie is getting better or worse when she doesn't even know what is going on," Steven said.
"Okay," they said.
"Should we go home?" Danny asked.
"Yes just give me a minute at the nurses' station." Steven responded running into the hall so that he could give the nurse his phone number.
The remainder of the group waited in Ronnie's room while Steven gave the nurse his phone number. When he returned the group each squeezed Ronnie's hand once more and the felt the icy coldness that Marilyn had felt when she touched her cheek, as they each prayed that Ronnie would make it through the night, then they dismissed themselves from the room and returned home preparing for the long day ahead of them *** It was late at night in the graveyard shift at the hospital. The ICU nurses where hard at work monitoring their patients. The patients had been doing fine and most of them were out of the woods except for one. The blond woman that had just came in with the gunshot wound to the abdomen. She was lucky to be alive, a few more minutes and they wouldn't have been able to stop the bleeding. One nurse passed the room and looked at the woman, just as everything seemed peaceful until blonde haired woman went into convulsions.
"Doctor," she yelled down the hall.
The doctor ran into the room and immediately started to restrain the woman. "Call Steven Harper. His number is on my desk I can handle it here"
The nurse ran off in panic to find Steven Harper's number in the directory that the nurses kept. *** Steven Harper was sleeping peacefully with thoughts of Marilyn in his head, only to be shaken awake by the ringing phone. Exhausted he picked it up put the cold receiver to his ear.
"Hello," he said with an exhausted tone. He waited as he heard someone babble on the other line. "What?!"
Author's Note" Reviews please!! I need to see some interest in order to keep this story going.
