Elmer stopped tugging at the debris for a moment, reaching down and
feeling carefully of the pulse in Lona's wrist once more. Still there, it
was still there. That had been his greatest fear each time that he
checked, that he would feel and that weak pulse would be gone.
"Lona?" He called her name as he turned back to pulling the debris away from her. He had managed to clear away enough of it that he could see her anyway, but still not enough to free her or really get a good idea of how badly she might be injured. "Lona?" He bit back fear that increased with each moment that passed without a response from her to his calling her name. Why wasn't she responding to him, waking up? How badly had she been hit when that pipe and the ceiling had fallen in on her. Granted, a lot of the broken ceiling debris wasn't impossibly heavy but if it should have hit her in the right spot, he knew that it could do serious damage regardless of its actual weight.
"Lona, I'm going to have you out of there in just a few minutes,
alright?" He called to her, reaching out and gently touching the bit of her face that he could get to. Her face was okay, anyway, not even a scratch marring her beauty. That was a bit of comfort and yet at the same time, it reminded him eerily of his brother's death. Somehow, after jumping from the hospital roof, the only part of his brother's body to escape injury had been his face.
Elmer closed his eyes for a moment, firmly forcing away those memories of his brother. Now wasn't the time to think about that because he knew that if he allowed those memories to surface even once he would never make them go away again. There was no way that he would allow himself to do that, not while Lona needed him to look after her. He reached out, tugging more of the debris off of her. There wasn't much blood as far as he could tell, not on the debris anyway. Wasn't that possibly a good sign?
"Lona?" He called her name once more as he got the last of the debris off, gripping the pipe and dragging it clear of her body. As he moved the pipe, he noted with a puzzled from that a couple of old magazines with nurses on the cover fell out along with a pile of cupcake wrappers.
Now how in the world did stuff like that get inside the hospital ductwork?
"I think Johnny B. Goode's skipping on maintence again," Elmer said with a shake of his head as he knelt down at Lona's side, reaching out to check her pulse again with one hand as he placed the other hand on her chest feeling her breathing.
"You're going to be okay," He murmured, hoping that Lona couldn't hear the fear slipping into his voice as he checked her. Her pulse was fast and weak, barely able to be found in her wrist now and he ended up having to feel of the pulse in her neck to get an accurate reading. He could feel her chest moving in a slightly off way as she breathed as well.
She had to have at least cracked some ribs. His hands slowly ran down her body, hoping she would wake up now and yell at him for touching her. He could feel bleeding from minor cuts and scrapes but nothing serious that he could tell. Lona was so pale though, deathly pale, and as he looked closer, there was a faint bluish tinge to her lips and fingernail beds.
"Lona?" He called her name once more. She was loosing blood, she had to be loosing blood from somewhere but if it wasn't external then she had to be bleeding somewhere inside. As he realized this, fear washed over him. If Lona was bleeding internally....
No, he forced himself to grab control again, to force the panic down once more. Lona needed him and he couldn't let the fear run away with him, not when he was the only person who could take care of her. They were in a hospital. He had no reason to panic even if she did have some internal bleeding going on. They would just get her upstairs and do what they had to to fix it and she would be fine, no problem.
"Lona, I'm going to take care of you, okay? You're going to be fine. Just if you can hear me, try to stay still for a little bit, okay?"
That was what he was supposed to do in a situation like this, wasn't it?
Keep her still and comfortable until they could get her upstairs?
Comfortable. He paused for a moment before standing and heading into the lab area, coming back a moment latter with several blankets that he carefully tucked around her. "Okay, that should make you feel better." he said softly as he felt of her pulse once more, turning towards the door and calling as he checked her. "Hey! Is anyone out there? We need some help in here!" Surely someone was out there, would be able to get down here and rescue them soon!
"It's okay, Lona," He whispered again as he took her hand in his.
"You're going to be just fine."
"Lona?" He called her name as he turned back to pulling the debris away from her. He had managed to clear away enough of it that he could see her anyway, but still not enough to free her or really get a good idea of how badly she might be injured. "Lona?" He bit back fear that increased with each moment that passed without a response from her to his calling her name. Why wasn't she responding to him, waking up? How badly had she been hit when that pipe and the ceiling had fallen in on her. Granted, a lot of the broken ceiling debris wasn't impossibly heavy but if it should have hit her in the right spot, he knew that it could do serious damage regardless of its actual weight.
"Lona, I'm going to have you out of there in just a few minutes,
alright?" He called to her, reaching out and gently touching the bit of her face that he could get to. Her face was okay, anyway, not even a scratch marring her beauty. That was a bit of comfort and yet at the same time, it reminded him eerily of his brother's death. Somehow, after jumping from the hospital roof, the only part of his brother's body to escape injury had been his face.
Elmer closed his eyes for a moment, firmly forcing away those memories of his brother. Now wasn't the time to think about that because he knew that if he allowed those memories to surface even once he would never make them go away again. There was no way that he would allow himself to do that, not while Lona needed him to look after her. He reached out, tugging more of the debris off of her. There wasn't much blood as far as he could tell, not on the debris anyway. Wasn't that possibly a good sign?
"Lona?" He called her name once more as he got the last of the debris off, gripping the pipe and dragging it clear of her body. As he moved the pipe, he noted with a puzzled from that a couple of old magazines with nurses on the cover fell out along with a pile of cupcake wrappers.
Now how in the world did stuff like that get inside the hospital ductwork?
"I think Johnny B. Goode's skipping on maintence again," Elmer said with a shake of his head as he knelt down at Lona's side, reaching out to check her pulse again with one hand as he placed the other hand on her chest feeling her breathing.
"You're going to be okay," He murmured, hoping that Lona couldn't hear the fear slipping into his voice as he checked her. Her pulse was fast and weak, barely able to be found in her wrist now and he ended up having to feel of the pulse in her neck to get an accurate reading. He could feel her chest moving in a slightly off way as she breathed as well.
She had to have at least cracked some ribs. His hands slowly ran down her body, hoping she would wake up now and yell at him for touching her. He could feel bleeding from minor cuts and scrapes but nothing serious that he could tell. Lona was so pale though, deathly pale, and as he looked closer, there was a faint bluish tinge to her lips and fingernail beds.
"Lona?" He called her name once more. She was loosing blood, she had to be loosing blood from somewhere but if it wasn't external then she had to be bleeding somewhere inside. As he realized this, fear washed over him. If Lona was bleeding internally....
No, he forced himself to grab control again, to force the panic down once more. Lona needed him and he couldn't let the fear run away with him, not when he was the only person who could take care of her. They were in a hospital. He had no reason to panic even if she did have some internal bleeding going on. They would just get her upstairs and do what they had to to fix it and she would be fine, no problem.
"Lona, I'm going to take care of you, okay? You're going to be fine. Just if you can hear me, try to stay still for a little bit, okay?"
That was what he was supposed to do in a situation like this, wasn't it?
Keep her still and comfortable until they could get her upstairs?
Comfortable. He paused for a moment before standing and heading into the lab area, coming back a moment latter with several blankets that he carefully tucked around her. "Okay, that should make you feel better." he said softly as he felt of her pulse once more, turning towards the door and calling as he checked her. "Hey! Is anyone out there? We need some help in here!" Surely someone was out there, would be able to get down here and rescue them soon!
"It's okay, Lona," He whispered again as he took her hand in his.
"You're going to be just fine."