Flash
Int. County General Hospital Trauma 1.
The ringing of the Heart Monitor pierced throughhis ears, the stationary sound no relative wants to hear. The sound the staff dreaded. But this time, they dreaded it even more. Because they knew who it belonged to. They knew that saving this persons life was more important than any patients they had seen that day. They all cared about this person, they all valued their abilities, their charisma, their personality, their flare for life. They weren't about to just let that flare go out, let it die. They were all willing to do anything and everything in their power to save this person. All their attention was focused on this one job, not on how long ago their shift was over, what they're doing that night, it was on the bed right in front of them, the machines around it. And the Heart Monitor that read Asistole.
"Come on! Charge to 360." Chuny grabbed the crash cart and punched in the value of charge. She handed them to Abby, who was mind-set on saving this one persons life.
"Clear." Everyone stepped away. Their faces all the same. Still, no movement, just the constant eye focus on the bed in front of them, the eye focus that was getting blurrier by the second as their tears clouded their thoughts, their judgement, their disbelief. Abby shocks the patient.
"No change." Ray mumbled through the cloudiness. His eyes were bloodshot, mirroring every other persons in the room. Neela, Chuny...Luka. The only person with a clear sky was DuBenko, not a single tear in his view. But his face didn't have any less sadness in it, any less concern for their patient. It was just as troubled as the rest of them.
"Again at 360." Abby requested. Chuny charged the value and mumbled 'charged'.
"Clear!" She shocks the patient, who responds. The heart monitor regulates as they come back to a normal heartbeat. The sound of relief to everyone's ears.
"Sinus, her Sat's are rising." Chuny barely whispered. She stepped away and stared at the blood stained floor.
"Ok, I need to get in there." DuBenko stepped up, sensing the urgency in the atmosphere.
"You gonna do it down here?" Abby questioned.
"I don't think I have a choice." He looked at Abby, who fully understood his meaning.
"Luka are you ok?" Abby asked quietly turning around to see him.
His eyes are red, and bloodshot and has clearly been crying. He looks at Abby. "Yeah." Came the tone of wanting to believe, the tone of reassurance.
"Come on; let's go outside get some air." She pulled off her blood covered gloves and threw them down along with her apron, also a violent shade of scarlet. She touched his arm. He looked up at her, and nodded.
"Ok."
She walked out of the room, everyone's gaze on them. All feeling the sadness of the events that previously occurred. As the door swung shut, their positions remained. All not wanting to re-fix their eyes on the patient in front of them. All pleading with themselves not to take in the person that lay in front them. All of them finally braving their sense of sight, returned to the patient. Ray looked up at DuBenko who was preparing for a procedure, looked at Chuny, tears streaming down her face, her hand up to her lips covering the sound that could creep out, then Neela, she was just the same as Chuny, tears rolling down her cheeks, the sight burning her emotion. Lastly, he looked at their patient. The innocent, pure person who didn't do anything to harm anyone, except those few that rattled her; treacherous ex-boyfriends of hers or her patients to name a few, the one person who brought a smile to their face whenever she smiled. He took in the dismay of the vision in front of him and stepped forward, getting ready to help DuBenko stitch up the ruptured artery in her body. Neela followed, as did Chuny, all subconsciously knowing that their lives may never be as they were before, all knowing the danger that their job could now hold, the danger that infected this pure person lying in their view, the danger that murdered the twinkling in her eye. Chuny stroked her soft hair, the golden shining curls that lay beside her soft pale face, now blood stricken from the danger that would haunt her forever, a tear whirled down Chuny's face and landed on the hair she was embracing. She let go and turned to look at the monitor, observing the patients vitals, the patients heart beat. But most of all observing the patients flare for life that was hanging on by a thread.
The patient they were observing so carefully was Sam.
Flash
Int. County General Hospital Admit.
"Frank, have you seen Sam around? We're meant to be going." Luka asked looking around. He stood at the desk in his long black coat, his collar pulled up covering the scarf around his neck.
"Oh for your romantic dinner for two?" Frank joked.
"Yes." Luka smiled.
"I think she's in Exam 3 dealing with that Psych patient, but that was over an hour ago." Frank looked at some charts confirming what he just said.
"And no-one's seen her since?" the air of concern rising in Luka's dulcet accent.
"Not that I know of." Frank looked up at him.
"Ok." Replied Luka, looking worried. He started toward Exam 3; he walked down the hall and got to the door. Just as his hand rested on the window pane Abby came out of Trauma 2 and saw him.
"Luka! Cupid girl's gone into VF!"
Taking his hand off the door Luka ran up to Abby.
"What happened?" his voice pulsing with urgency.
"I don't know, she was stable, her SAT's were dropping and she had a good pulse." Abby replied confused.
"She could be bleeding internally. Fetch DuBenko on this one." Luka rushed around the side of the patient and felt her abdomen.
"Ok." She goes over to the phone. "What are you still doing here anyway? I thought you'd left about an hour ago." She turned to face him.
"No, I was seeing to a patient. And I was just looking for Sam. Have you seen her?" he looks up from checking the girl's vitals.
"Last I saw of her she was looking for you." She looked at him with her eyebrows raised.
"When?" looking up at Abby.
"Bout and hour ago, that's why I thought you'd left." She turns back around to speak on the phone.
"Oh hi, can I have Dr DuBenko down to the ER in Trauma 2, we have an internal bleed. Thanks." She hangs up, and returns to Luka's side.
"SAT's keep dropping." Chuny informed them.
"Ok. Where the heck is DuBenko?" She listens to Cupid Girl's heart and lungs.
"BP's low." Chuny noted.
"Ok, push another IV." Abby instructed. Turning to look at Luka "So you haven't seen her?"
"No." shaking his head.
"That's odd, last time I saw her she was looking for you." She replied looking confused.
"And no-one's seen her?" he asked nervously.
"Not that I know of." She replied.
Luka looks worried which Abby notices.
"Hey, she'll be fine. She's probably just seeing to a patient somewhere." She said reassuringly. DuBenko enters the trauma room and moves around the side of the bed.
"Internal Bleed?" he enquired.
"Yeah, I think it's in the abdomen, it feels hard."
"Ok, let me see." He starts to feel the girl's abdomen.
"Yeah, it's definitely in there. Ok I'll take her straight up to the OR." He pulls up the sides of the bed and starts to push her out.
"Ok." She takes off her gloves and throws them on the floor as DuBenko wheels out the girl. "I'll go look for Sam, you go get cleaned up ok?" she told Luka.
"Ok." They both walk out of the room, Abby walks up to Admit as Luka heads off to the Lounge.
"Hey have you seen the Fed Ex Psych guy around? Someone's here to take him up." Ray asks Abby as she gets to Admit.
"Ah, last I knew he was in Exam 3. I'll just go and check." She walks down the corridor to Exam 3. As she opens the door, and there is no patient on the bed. She looks to her left then to her right. She doesn't see the blood on the floor on the right. She walks round to the left side of the bed and lifts up the sheets and looks under, at this point slow piano music starts playing it's 'Angel' by Sarah McLachlan. She sees a huge pool of blood under the bed; she traces where the blood is coming from and sees Sam lying at the other side of the bed unconscious. Abby's eyes widen, she gets up and runs round to Sam. She checks her pulse frantically.
"Sam! Sam can you hear me? Oh god." Her heart beat races as she realises what must have happened.