Chapter Six- World of Unknown

Jess sighed sadly as she propped the pillows up behind her patient. Her name was Lucy Peters, and she was only 36- she lay breathing, but motionless, in front of Jess. Apparently she was in a state of shock. The tests were yet to come through and no diagnosis as yet- though things looked dim for her. It was so terrible, as she had so much to live for- a great career, it sounded, and she was so beautiful- her long blonde hair fell past her shoulders and she had big blue eyes the colour of the ocean. There had been another involved; apparently, a workmate- Jess was distracted as her patient suddenly opened her eyes.

She made a feeble attempt to lift her hand. "Where…how…is David all right?" she croaked.

"There, there," said Jess, brushing her hair out of her face. "It's all right. You've been in an accident, and you're in All Saints Hospital now. The doctors are just checking to see what your injuries are, though now you've woken up is a very good sign. Would you like me get the doctor? I can get them to give you something for the pain."

"No…" the woman stuttered. "David… is he all right… that's what's important…" She looked at Jess as though she'd only just noticed she was there. "He saved me, you know. He saved my life."

"Come on," Jess soothed. "Save your breath for now, you're very weak, there's plenty of time for thanking people later, but first you've got to concentrate on getting yourself better."

Muttering undistinguishably, Lucy fell back onto the pillows, once again sleeping soundly. With one last look at her, Jess headed to the desk, where she saw Charlotte.

"Hey, have you heard what the deal is with Lucy Peters yet?"

Charlotte shook her head. "Nope, Pathology are being pains in the butt at the moment- and we can't skip the queue. All we can do is wait. She's stable for now?"

Jess nodded. "Yeah, and she spoke to me briefly, just now in fact, which has to be good, right?"

Charlotte took in Jess's hopeful look. "It might be a good sign, Jess, but it's too early to tell at the moment. She might have an injury that won't take affect for quite some time. We just can't tell."

Curiosity got the better of Jess, as she asked: "You don't have any idea what happened to the man in the accident? David, was it? Lucy seemed convinced he'd saved her."

Charlotte shook her head. "I don't really know, Jess. Jack's looking after him at the moment- it's a pretty good outlook I think, pretty lucky, he might just scrape through with a broken leg. I think Dan's nursing him- why don't you ask him?"

Jess froze for a moment, and she wondered if her feelings were distinguishable from the look on her face. Trying desperately to keep it straight and as if that name hadn't meant anything more to her than just any another colleague, she muttered something about getting back to work and headed into the storage room, leaving a very curious Charlotte in her wake.

Dan looked through his David's file while Jack was examining him. He had no real medical problems; it seemed… no allergies, disorders or family history of illness. Well, at least that was a relief. Dan only half heard what Jack was saying.

"Well David, it looks like just a broken leg like the ambos said, but we'll have to take some x-rays to make sure and then we'll have to get a cast on. All going well, you might be discharged in a few days. We'll just have to monitor you for a while. Considering the circumstances, I'd say you're damn lucky to just scrape through with a broken leg."

David wasn't too responsive to his words, and Jack looked impatiently in the direction David was looking, where Lucy lay. "What is the deal with those two?" he muttered at Dan. Dan shrugged.

"Beats me. He said she's not his girlfriend, but it seems a heck of a lot like it."

"Yeah, well I sort of need my patients to listen to what I'm saying," said Jack, clearly annoyed. "Can't you do something to let him forget her for just a minute?"

Dan wasn't sure if it would work, but it was worth a try. He cleared his throat. "Listen mate, I'll go now and see how Lucy's going, okay? I'll check for you and make sure she's fine, which I'm sure she is anyway- but you need to listen to Dr Quade, all right? It's really important."

Looking slightly happier, David nodded and turned in the direction of Jack, while Dan, true to his word, headed off to the front desk. He read the whiteboard and wondered if he'd have to break his promise- Jess was nursing him, and talking to her about something, anything, at the moment would be almost impossible. But he also read that Charlotte was Lucy's doctor, and she just happened to be on the phone to Pathology that very moment.

"Look, I don't care what your excuse is, but I have a very sick patient down here who is in urgent need of medical attention, and without the results of her tests, she isn't getting any help and is slowly deteriorating. She might die if we don't find out what's wrong with her soon!"

There was a pause as the person on the other end tried to calm what seemed a very fiery Charlotte. Dan wasn't sure he wanted to speak to her after all. He prayed that the woman Charlotte had been hurrying up the results on hadn't been Lucy- it would only make David more agitated if she was in a semi critical condition. As Charlotte slammed down the phone, she turned to Dan, looking surprised and slightly annoyed he was there.

"What do you want, Goldman?" she asked shortly.

"Since when have you called me Goldman?" asked Dan, amazed.

"Since right now, and you're really getting to me as I'm really busy and have lots of work to do."

"Then I'll get it over with quickly then." Dan said coolly. "I was just wondering if you knew what was up with the patient in Cubicle 6, as one of mine is the man who was also involved in the accident and he appears very anxious as to her condition."

"Is he family?" Charlotte asked suspiciously.

"Um… no," said Dan, who hadn't actually considered this possibility, but already ticked it off as impossible.

"Then we can't tell him anything. You know that." She turned to leave.

"No, wait!" said Dan, alarmed at her shortness. "You don't have to give me details, Charlotte, I just want to know if she's going to be okay. He seems to really care about her."

Charlotte seemed to soften slightly. "Well Dan, you heard me just then on the phone to Pathology. We don't really know yet, but it's not looking good for her."

Dan nodded, wondering how on earth he was going to tell that to David.