Chapter 3 – Horizontal
An hour has passed; the boredom is starting to take over me. I shove my portfolio in to my holdall with frustration, from the waiting and the pain, gnawing inside me. I see Nurse Taggart walk through the doors to see to a woman who is sitting opposite me. She still hasn't cracked a smile yet! I have decided that she isn't really blonde in this light, like at triage desk where the bright light shone over her head. Her color had a tinge of orange like someone who had dye his or her own hair with some cheap peroxide. I can also see dark roots appearing through too. I wonder why she doesn't smile much? Does she a have a problematic personal life? Is she bored with her job? Why the hell is my brain waffling on about her bloody hair! There are more important things to worry about, like getting to my interview on time. Well the boredom has really got to me; I am fed up of waiting now! I am losing my patience…
The pain on my side is getting worst, I am gasping for breath. I am tired of hearing the two vending machines humming, which are situated against the wall between two windows. I decided that I need the toilet, so I get up and walk through the doors again. My eyes raced round the corridor and the ER to find the ladies room. I walked over to the triage desk to let the nurse know where I am going and asked where they were, in case my name is called out for treatment. She nods ok and points out the direction. I carefully walk along the corridor trying to trying to dodge the walking wounded, trying dodge the staff members in scrubs and lab coats, who are rushing by, one almost barged into me, nearly knocked me off my feet.
I study the interior of the emergency room as I walk along the corridor; the walls are painted in two colors that are divided in two sections horizontally, gray on top and blue on the bottom half. Unlike the waiting room which bottle green on the bottom with unsightly yellow patterned curtains hanging open next to the blinded windows. The entire flooring is tiled in black and white like a chessboard. All the doors are wooden, maybe solid oak with stainless steel sheet on the bottom half; they have scuffmarks and little dints from the gurneys crashing into them. Imagine if those protective sheets weren't on those doors, the wood would smash in to little smithereens from the forced impact.
I start to feel weaker as the hour pass by; I feel the weight of the world against my shoulders, the blood, sweat and the tears. I struggle to move my legs, they are heavy like are like lead. I can see the view of the ladies bathroom door, it is only a few steps away, but every step I take it seems longer to get there, like if the distance has multiplied. My view of the corridor starts to tilt side ways, like I'm capsizing. I start to choke for air… I can't breathe! I start to panic with my suffocation so I try to reach out my hand to clutch on to the shelving against the wall.
"Oof!" I groaned, I am on the floor… I must have misjudged my arms length and missed it… My view fades to black…
Am I dreaming? I hear voices, distorted; I hear pattering of footsteps, I'm trying to work out what they were saying and where I was. I feel my body travelling, like weaving in and out; I can feel the air rush by my ears then a sudden stop. I struggle to open my eyes, so I manage to flicker them open but my lids feels heavy like I was sedated. My vision is blurred. I feel hands poking and prodding me. I felt a body press against my left shoulder. I guess this is a female because she lingered with smell of perfume. I felt my blouse being pulled apart then a stethoscope that felt cold touching against my skin on my chest. Oh my god I hope they've left my bra on, I don't want the whole ER to see my bosoms!
I can feel her breathing over my face, her breath smelled minty with a hint of cigarette ash. She is talking about god knows what? There is a male voice present, speaking in a thick European accent muttering words in reply, their conversation sounds gobbledegook, my brain is not functioning very well, everything's a muddle. I felt her thumb pulling up my left eyelid and shone a bright light into it. The brightness of the light blinded me; when she drops my lid back in place I can still see the light there even though my lids are close. The effect is light is like when you have your photo taken and the flash puts spots before your eyes. She again looks into my right eye and I can vaguely see her through the blur and the light.
I open my eyes and try to focus a clear view of everything around me. I can see two people leaning over me. One is an Afro-American female that I presumably that she is a nurse, because is wearing the same multicoloured coat like the Hispanic one, I saw earlier. I now have a clear view of the female doctor who was examining me; she is standing on my left side and leans over me to see if I am alert. She had long silky brown hair; one side is tucked behind her ear and wearing a black v-neck top underneath her lab coat. She tilts her head and raises her eyebrows up from her puppy dog brown eyes, kind of cute but she doesn't smile much.
"Hi, I'm Doctor Lockhart" She introduced herself, smiling wryly at me, "How are you feeling?" She asked checking the IV bags and filling in the chart. I said lousy and I asked her what happened; she says that I collapsed due to hyperventilation from my punctured lung. I let out a sigh, what else could possibly go wrong today? The brunette tells me that they are taking me up to the x-ray department…