Hey everyone, we're swapping points of view to Jean today for some medical stuff, hope you enjoy :D
"It's an absolute crime you you know," Petra says as she dumps her bag down onto a vacant chair.
"What is?" Jean laughs.
"That you've been in Shinganshina for, how long?"
"About three months now."
"And you're still single?!" Petra asks incredulously.
"Yep," Jean replies, leaning against the wall and folding his arms over his chest.
Petra shakes her head. "Such a crime someone as good looking as you hasn't managed to find someone. I mean you're a paramedic in a relatively successful hospital – you save people's lives on a daily basis for god's sake – and you can't even get someone to go and have coffee with you."
"In all fairness I haven't been looking," Jean says.
"Why not?"
"There's no one that's really caught my eye," he lies. That is a total lie. Someone has caught his eye but that person just so happens to be a stripper with a partner, who won't give him anything other than his stage name and who's life seems to be spiralling out of control with nothing Jean can do to help.
"Dating prospects in Shinganshina," Petra says wistfully.
"Something like that," Jean says.
"People are idiots," Petra says as she re-ties her auburn hair back into a ponytail. "If I was single..."
"How is Thomas by the way?" Jean cuts in.
"He's fine," Petra replies. "As I was saying if I was single I would have tried to snap you up the moment I saw you."
"I can't imagine that would have gone down too well with Shadis," Jean chuckles, wryly, shaking his head. "Two of his paramedics making eyes at each other over the bloody mess of a car wreck patient."
"Oh I love it when you talk dirty," Petra smirks, leaning in close.
"You're twisted."
"I know."
Jean opens his mouth to say something but before either of them can make any other comment the doors to the emergency department bang open, a gurney being wheeled in. Both of them look up to see Ilse at the head of it, her team flanking her. She catches Jean's eyes.
"Jean, Petra scrub up, I need you both," she shouts over the commotion as the gurney is wheeled into a private bay.
"Duty calls," Petra says as she heads towards the bay. Jean follows, stopping to wash his hands in the basin in the corner before pulling on a pair of latex gloves.
"What have we got Ilse?" he asks as he goes to stand at her side.
"Male, late teens to early twenties, with suspected heart failure and respiratory failure, resulting of a drug overdose," Ilse says.
"What's he taken?" Petra asks.
"As far as we can tell cocaine," Ilse replies.
"Anything else?" Jean asks.
"Don't think so," Ilse says. "He doesn't have the hallmarks of a user so, likelihood is this is his first time and he took too much."
"There's a lot of blood round his nose and mouth. Has he haemorrhaged?" Petra asks as she tightens a cuff around the man's arm to insert an IV drip.
"Not sure," Ilse says, hooking up a heart monitor to the man and it instantly begins to beep to life. "He was out-cold when we picked him up and a member of the public called us so god only knows how long he was like this before they found him."
"Does he have any ID on him?" Jean asks. "Or any medical bracelets or..." At that moment Jean finally looks down at the man's face and his heart almost stops. Lying on the table, blood covering his nose and cheeks, is Azure. "Fuck..." he says on an out-breath.
"Jean are you okay?" Petra asks. Clearly it was a noticeable out-breath.
"Do you know this guy?" Ilse asks putting two and two together.
Jean stares for a moment before he shakes himself back to reality. I can't fall to pieces if I want to save him. "Sort of," he say.
"If you don't think you can do this..." Ilse says.
"I'll be fine," Jean says. "I can do this."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Good," Ilse says nodding.
Pushing all thoughts about just who is on the table in front of him out of his mind Jean takes a small torch out of his pocket and clicks it on. He pushes one of Azure's eyelids back and shines the light into his eyes, moving it back and forth in front of them. "Pupils blown and unresponsive," he states.
"Blood pressure's through the roof," Petra says.
A high pitched whine fills the room and all three of them look to the heart monitor. A single, flat green line spans the screen.
"We need resus," Ilse says.
Jean strides to the entrance of the bay. "I need a crash cart in here!" he calls before he rushes back to Azure's side. "Starting CPR." He clasps one hand over the other, places them in the centre of Azure's chest and begins to press down, setting a steady rhythm.
The crash cart arrives swiftly but Jean pays it no mind. All he can think about is Azure. He's so young... I can't let him just die, not like this... He keeps up the rhythm of compressions as Ilse places two pads on Armin's chest.
"Shocking two hundred," Isle says. She places a defibrillator over the pads. "Clear!"
Everyone pulls back and Jean watches Azure's entire body jolt from the electricity. He looks so young and helpless and Jean's chest tightens. I can't lose him... As soon as the shock has passed the monitor is still showing no signs of life. Jean places his hands back in the centre of Azure's chest and starts his compressions again.
"Shocking two hundred again," Ilse says after a few more of Jean's compressions. "Clear!" Everyone pulls back a second time, the defibrillator is applied and another shock jolts Azure's body but there's still nothing.
No...
Jean starts his compressions again, more forcefully, ignoring the sickening crunch of a rib cracking underneath his hands.
This continues for a few minutes. Jean can feel fatigue trying to set in deep in his arms but he refuses to give up. He can save him, he knows he can. He can't just give up without ever finding out Azure's real name. He can't just let him die. Ilse's hand on his shoulder startles him out of himself.
"Jean give it up," she says softly, "it's over."
"No," he says.
"Jean," Petra says gently, "we've had nothing for nearly five minutes, any longer and he'll have permanent brain damage even if we can bring him back. We need to call it."
"One more shock, I'm not losing him!"
Ilse and Petra exchange a look before Ilse pick up the defibrillator again. "Shocking two hundred. Clear!"
She applies the defibrillator and another shock jolts Azure's body again. As soon as it passes there is a beep from the heart monitor, then another and another. Jean look up at the heart monitor and he feels his own skip at the sight.
"Okay we have a rhythm," Petra says.
"Fucking miracle," Ilse mutters she puts the defibrillator pads down before picking up a sterile alcohol wipe and cleaning the blood off Azure's face. "You're fucking crazy, you know that right?"
"What me?" Jean asks, assuming that she's taking to him.
"Yes you," she replies.
"Yeah I know," he mutters. The urge to reach over and brush Azure's fringe from his face is overwhelming so he uses the pretence of checking his pupils again and gives in.
Thank god...