Coma
A/N: I had this idea when I was watching Holby City for some reason... hope you like it! Oneshot. Flames will be redirected to the fireplace. Only rated M because of the injuries suffered.
DISCLAIMER: Do you really think I own this series of shows? I wasn't even born when it started!
Woody and Luke sat in the ambulance, watching the world go by. They had been stationed near the entrance to the busiest motorway in the area, where the most winter accidents happened, but all of a sudden, the radio fizzled, and the usual slightly tinny voice spoke.
"Calling unit 3310, unit 3310 please respond." They immediately snapped to attention, and Woody picked up the reciever.
"Unit 3310 here."
"There's been a gas explosion on Park Avenue, block of flats. At least two people still trapped."
"Ok, We're there." Woody replaced the reciever in its holder as Luke drove off.
"Sounds quite bad for us to be called in," Luke said. "That block of flats is 15 minutes from here."
"Distance doesn't matter, gas explosions are always bad."
"Yeah, but still..."
They drove the rest of the journey in silence. Both of them had seen gas explosions before, but this was a whole new level. There was rubble lying everywhere, and there were hundreds of rescue workers, with more arriving every minute. There was also the usual sleazy bunch of reporters who didn't care about the accident; to them, it was just their next paycheck. Luke and Woody pushed their way through the growing crowd, steeling themselves for the task ahead.
Once inside, Woody looked at Luke, and shouted over above the noise of falling masonery, "I'll check over here, you do over there." Luke nodded, and they both set off.
The first thing that hit Woody was the omnious creaking. He knew that he only had so much time until the building collapsed, and redoubled his concentration. He strained to hear any sign of life at all, and was soon rewarded with a quiet wimpering. He set off in the direction it was coming from, shouting, "Hello? Is anyone there? Hello?"
A hoarse voice started calling back. Woody turned a corner, and saw that he was in the main kitchen of one of the ground floor flats.
"Hello? Can anyone hear me?" he shouted.
"Under the table - I'm trapped!" came the answer. Woody looked around, and saw a table in the corner of the room .He ran over to it, and peered under, to see a pair of frightened eyes staring back.
"Ok, my name's Woody, and I'm going to try to get you out as fast as I can."
"My name's Jessica, but my leg's stuck! And it hurts!" Jessica was only about 10 years old, and she looked terrified.
"Right, let's have a look... Sorry if this hurts..." Woody looked under the table, and saw that her leg had been crushed by the rubble. He winced, before pulling off the rubble as gently as he could. The girl crawled out from under the table, and clung to Woody's legs.
"Can you walk?" Jessica cautiously stood up, but cried out in pain when she tried transfering her weight onto her injured leg.
"Ok... I'm going to strap that leg up for you, then we'll get out of here." Woody was glad he had thought to bring a couple of leg splints with him. He quickly strapped up Jessica's leg, and helped her back onto her feet. As he did so, he couldn't help but notice that there was a web of cracks running up the wall. He shuddered, then jumped when all of a sudden he heard part of the building collapse. He knew their time was nearly up.
"Lean on me, I'll help you to get out of here." Jessica gratefully took Woody's proffered arm, and started hopping back towards the entrance of the building. As they turned the corner, Woody stopped, and stared in horror at the now blocked exit. At least now he knew which part of the building had collapsed. As he stared in horror, however, he saw a tiny chink of light escape through the rubble pile.
Helping Jessica over to the wall, where she sat down on a pile of rubble, Woody set to work trying to shift the barrier between them and safety. After a couple of minutes, he had a small hole, which quickly grew into a hole big enough for them to squeeze through.
Woody ran over to where Jessica sat, massaging her leg, and helped her crawl through the hole, But, just as she disappeared out the other side, the creaking became paramount. Woody knew instantly that his time was up. He tried to run out of danger's way - but then all went black.
Luke was just helping another injured resident into the back of the ambulance when he saw the exit collapse. He froze, knowing that Woody was still in there, but was reasurred when a hole appeared in the pile. He ran over, just in time to help a small girl out of the hole.He peered through the hole to see the green of a paramedic's uniform, just as the rest of the front of the building collapsed.
The girl screamed.
"Woody's still in there!"
Luke just stared, as Comfort and Nina came running over. Comfort gasped, but Nina immediately took over the situation.
"Ok, Comfort, you go help that girl. Luke, you see if you can get to Woody. I'll try and get some help."
As Luke ran over to the rubble, and Comfort to the open ambulance, Nina ran over to a fire engine that had just arrived.
"Help! One of our paramedics is stuck in there!" She shouted as she ran. The fire engine drew to a stop, and the crew ran over to her.
"Where?"
"Over here!" Nina ran back over to Luke, and the firemen stared shifting the rubble.
"Luke, how close was Woody to the hole?"
"He was right next to it; I doubt he escaped."
"Ok, let's get the recuss things, just in case."
They ran over to where Comfort was helping the girl, and picked up the recuss bag and spinal board, before returning to help with clearing the rubble.
Ten gruelling minutes later, the rubble had been sufficiently cleared for them to get through. Comfort had come over after about 5 minutes of dealing with the other two casualties, and all three of the paramedics, exhausted as they were, clambered through the rubble to where their friend and colleague lay.
Woody was covered in dust and rubble, which mingled with the blood. Luke sighed inwardly with relief - Woody was unconscious but alive. While he went over to help Comfort bring over the spinal board, Nina checked for a pulse. Her heart skipped a beat when she found it - it was regular, but sluggish. Nina knew that Woody was in critical condtion.
"He's critical. We need to get him in, now. Bring over the spinal board. And a leg splint." As they strapped Woody onto the board, Nina muttered under her breath,
"Hang in there, Woody..."
The ride back to the hospital was uneventful, but it had unnerved all three paramedics to see Woody as he was. Luke had agreed to stay with the other two rescued people, until someone came to do the job that Woody should have been doing.
The ambulance pulled up to the ambulance entrance, and rushed into Resussitation, where Harry was waiting.
"Alright, what do we have here?"
"Woody." Harry did a double take.
"What?"
"Him and Luke were searching the gas explosion flats for survivors. Luke got out before the building collapsed, but Woody didn't. He's got low BP, we gave him some oxygen on the way in."
"Ok, we can take over from here."
Slowly and reluctantly, Woody woke up. The first thing he was aware of was the beeping. That's odd, he thought. It sounds just like a... heart moniter machine. With a jolt, he realised where he was. But how had he got there? He remembered getting the order about the gas explosion flats, remembered getting there... then what? He thought harder.Oh, yes, there was the girl with the broken leg... Wonder how she's getting on? He had strapped up her leg... then part of the building collapsed. He had... Oh yes, he had helped the girl to the exit, cleared a path... but for the life of him, he couldn't work out what had put him in here.
He tried opening his eyes - but he couldn't. The first tendrils of panic began to creep in. He tried wiggling his toes, his fingers... nothing. By now, he was panicking a bit more... Oh, but he was tired. He drifted off into a dreamless sleep...
By now, the rest of the staff knew about Woody's accident. He had already had quite a few visitors, most just peering in the window - he had been given a separate room - to see if the rumors were true.
Woody had been occupying Nina's thoughts all day, so when her shift was over, she went to visit him. After learning from reception that he was still in the ICU - intensive care - she had gone to see how he was. On the way up, she had passed Harry, and quickly enquired on Woody's condition.
"It's not good. Broken leg, cracked ribs, several deep cuts... and he's in a coma." Nina had gasped. It was awful to hear that her friend was in such a bad condition. She had walked on in numb silence, Harry's words ringing in her ears. On her way there, she bumped into Luke and Comfort, also just coming off their shift. She quietly told them what Harry had told her, and they walked up to Woody's room together.
Woody drifted back into consciousness, just in time to hear the door open, and some people walk in. He wasn't sure who they were. His thoughts turned back to why he was there, just as the answer was formed. Oh, no... I'm in a coma... He heard the heart moniter beeps quicken as he began to panic again.
Sitting on one of the chairs supplied for visitors, Nina looked up at the heart moniter as the beeps came more frequently, and knew that he was awake.
"Woody, can you hear me?"
Woody immediately recognised the voice, and began to wonder why Nina was there - him and Luke were the only people there, after all.
"Woody," Comfort began. "Part of the building collapsed on you. We got there just as it happened..."
Suddenly, Woody remembered. He remembered the creaking reach an all time high... and he remembered trying, too late, to escape. But what about Jessica?
The conversation had petered out by this point. No one said anything. Woody wanted to open his eyes, sit up, tell them he was ok... but he couldn't. He was trapped in the prison his body had become.
Just over a fortnight later, Woody finally heard what he wanted to hear.
Woody was lying, quite conscious, on the hospital bed. He heard the door open, and wondered who was visiting him this time. Over the last 14 days, he had been visited a lot by everyone, especially Nina, Comfort, and Luke.
He felt his hand being taken by a smaller one - a little girl's hand. Immediately he knew who it was. A small, familiar voice said,
"Thank you for rescuing me. I broke my leg, but the doctor said the cast can come off in a couple of weeks."
Woody was overjoyed - he may have failed himself, but Jessica was alive and well. Woody remembered her face. He wanted to see it again...
He opened his eyes.
A/N: I know it's weird, but it's one of my longest ones yet. R&R plz