(A/N: Here comes the second chapter. In the classic Kaci style, I'm diving right into the angst.
Thanks to my lovely mother for all the medical details. She's a registered nurse. Most of the medical information used here is pretty accurate. I might've tweaked it a bit, but this story isn't about accuracy; it's about Kenny being pathetic. :D
Without further ado...)
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BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-WOW-WOW-WOW-WOW-JOOWEE-JOOWEE-JOOWEE-JOOWEE-MURR-MURR-MURR-MURR...!
Roy sighed in irritating at hearing that his car alarm was going off. What was it this time? Hoodlums from the next block over, trying to steal his hubcaps? Whatever it was, it was too damned late to be getting him out of bed.
The old man grunted as he got to his feet and shuffled to the door, pulling on his coat and grabbing his keys to shut the alarm off. He was cussing the entire way.
"Damn kids," he muttered as he moseyed out into the hallway and down to the door. "Always at the latest damn hour of the damn night... Can't go one damn week without those damn kids setting off my damn alar-... oh my God."
He'd reached the front door of the building, expecting to see a bunch of kids crowded around his car, as usual. There was a crowd, but they weren't the average teenage ragamuffins. Dozens of people were standing out in the street, pointing towards Roy's car, and the body lying on top of it.
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(Written in Kenny's point of view. From here on, all things in brackets will be Kenny's thoughts.)
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So loud.. What's that noise? Oh... oh yeah... Mr. A's car alarm... Wonder why that's going off... Probably some kids again... Hope they don't go after my car... not much worth stealing anyway...
Oh, hey. I'm awake. I'm not in bed. Where's my cat?
Light... I can see... What's going on? Who are these people? They're all staring at me. Did I do something wrong?
That young woman looks like she's seen a ghost. She's crying. What is this?
Wait... wait... Why can't I move my arms? My legs? My neck...?
I can't feel anything... Isn't it supposed to be cold outside...? But I was inside...
I was on the balcony...
And the railing... oh my God... I'm dead... I fell off the balcony and died...
I fell off the balcony and landed on Mr. A's car...
But if I were dead, I'd be getting judged... I wouldn't be lying here...
Maybe this is hell?
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(Back to narrative.)
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Not long after Roy finally shut the car alarm off, the ambulance arrived, blaring its siren and flashing its lights.
"Boy's gone and killed himself!" Roy declared, crossing his arms over his chest. "Gone and thrown himself onto my Cutlass! Could've at least had the decency to aim for the damn pavement!"
I'm sorry, Mr. Alpine...
Medics jumped out of the back of the ambulance, hurrying over to Kenny and checking him over.
"I've got a pulse, but he's not breathing," one of them said. "Get me an ET and an ambu bag."
I'm not breathing? Of course I'm not breathing, I'm dead. Hold on.. I've got a pulse?
Kenny was lifted, very carefully, off of the top of Mr. Alpine's car and onto a stretcher. Someone tilted his head back, and he could see the young face of a female medic. Her dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Her skin was dark. She looked Arabic.
"Sir, can you hear me?" she asked.
I can hear you. Can you hear me? Hellooo? I'm sorry, the number you have dialed is no longer in service...
Another medic, a young man, pulled Kenny's mouth open and eased a tube down his throat. The end of it stuck out of his mouth, and the Arabic-looking woman attached what looked like a blue balloon to it. He watched her lips as she silently counted to five and pumped it. One, two, three, four, five, pump. One, two, three, four, five, pump.
She's breathing for me. She's keeping me here. Maybe I'm not dead after all.
The young man who had given Kenny his ET started talking to him as they pulled the stretcher into the ambulance. "Mr. Wallace, you've just fallen three stories out of your apartment building and landed on a Cutlass."
I could've told you that.
"My name is Derrick, and the woman breathing for you right now is Acacia. Can you hear us? Can you move at all?" Derrick asked, as he knelt beside Kenny in the ambulance.
Sorry, nope. Can't move a bit. Otherwise I'd be glad to shake your hand and ask where my cat is.
"Is he concious?" asked Acacia between pumps.
"His eyes are open. He's looking at me." Derrick used a penlight to look in Kenny's eyes.
Ow. Derrick, buddy, put that light out.
He set the light in his shirt pocket and said, "He's awake. He's paralyzed."
Paralyzed...?
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(Some quick notes for you all.
ET: endotracheal tube, used to send air to the lungs
ambu-bag: a pump attached to an endotracheal tube to pump so that the patient can breathe)
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"Patient can't move or feel any of his upper or lower extremeties."
"Mind telling me his name?"
"Kennard J. Wallace. Age twenty-four. Fell three stories from his apartment and landed on a car."
"Get Dr. Co-Dr. Cox!"
Dr. Cox came up to the stretcher that was being wheeled through the hallway. He froze at what he saw.
"K-Kenny!"
Hi there, good doctor. How've you been these past two hours? I'm doing just fine. Nope, haven't found a job yet, but I'm sure something will come up.
Kenny looked right at the doctor from his place on the stretcher, which was being wheeled through the hallway at a fast pace. The only thing he seemed to have control of were his eyes, which he was using to their full potential right now.
The doctor pushed himself out of shock enough so that he could hurry after them. "G-get him on oxygen. We need to get an x-ray."
"Yes, sir."
The two people pushing the cart wheeled Kenny into a nearby room. His ambubag was removed, and replaced with an attachment that went to a little machine with wheels on it. Moving quickly, the people pushed Kenny back out of the room and through a series of hallways.
One, Mississippi. Two, Mississippi. Oh, watch out, don't run me into that elevator door.
Before long, Kenny was taken into a dimly lit room and set on a long metal table that reminded him of the sorts of tables they used in morgues. If he could, he would've shuddered.
The people who had wheeled him in there appeared at his side. Acacia and Derrick were gone, and the folks in his current company had name tags that were covered by folded coat lapels. Both were females, though. One was kind of short, with dark red hair. She was a nurse with a girlish face, but looked to be in her mid-30's. (Cameo of my mother.)
The other was a tall woman with light brown hair and a doctor's white coat. Her eyes were shadowed slightly by her glasses as she used a small pair of scissors to cut Kenny's shirt open.
No need for tha-Aww, man, I liked that shirt...
She narrowed her eyes as she spotted the silver cross on his chest; a necklace he'd worn since he got it five years ago from his mother. The woman reached down and undid the clasp, pulling it away.
Take care of that, please.
The woman smiled at seeing that he was watching her. "Don't worry. I just have to take it off so it doesn't interfere with the machine," she said. "I won't lose it." He watched her drop it into her coat pocket. She and the nurse both turned and walked back into a small area in the back of the room. Kenny couldn't see them from there.
Wait! Please don't leave me here alone...
"Mr. Wallace, we're going to be taking x-rays to see what the problem is. Please try not to move," came a voice from a small speaker nearby.
I'll try, but I'm not making any promises.
He watched as the large mechanical paw of a machine settled down over him and slowly scanned over his entire body. He felt like a mouse that was being examined by a ravenous cat; as if the machine were judging whether he was worth x-raying or not.
Finally, the beast gave a series of clicking noises and settled back into its original position near the cieling. Kenny stared up at it, hoping it was through. He was frightened, and wanted to know what was going on.
Paralyzed... I've seen people on TV that were paralyzed... isn't paralysis permanent...?
The nurse and doctor both came out of the back area and carefully placed Kenny back onto the stretcher he'd come in on. He watched them both, wishing they'd talk to him more. He was starting to feel like a piece of furniture they were moving around.
Talk to me. Please. I'm still here. One of you, please, talk to me about something. Anything.
As if she'd heard him, the nurse with the red hair said, "Mr. Wallace, we're going to place you in a room in ICU while we wait for your x-rays. They should be back very soo-oh, thank you!" She grinned brightly as someone ran up to her and handed her an orange envelope. "They're in now, as a matter of fact."
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End Ch. 2
(A/N: An abrupt ending, I know, but it was getting too long and I need to go to sleep. oO;;)