Disclaimer: same as chap one!
As promised, Ms. Bursen led Gil to a stool she positioned near the top of the stretcher. Sara was surrounded by nurses connecting her to various monitors, IV pumps, oxygen hoses, and Lord only knows what else. Grissom could stroke her forehead, but still found it difficult to speak over the bells and whistles, not to mention the lack of privacy. "Sara?"
She turned to look at him just as the doctor breezed in, "What have we got?" She was a 30-something, no-nonsense woman, straight out of a Grey's Anatomy episode.
The EMT started in, "35 y.o., previously healthy woman, found in the desert unresponsive and pulseless, but with a good response to fluid resuscitation….currently 90/60, heart rate 120's, Awake and alert, O2 saturation, 100, temp 38.5."
"OK, sounds like we're still catching up, keep the fluids open, let's put in a bladder catheter, keep cooling, and start some blood work; let's see what else is going on. Ms. Sidle? Is that how you say your name?" Dr. Rigby politely asked while Ms. Bursen was busy cutting off her jeans. Grissom meanwhile was fascinated by the scissors that went through denim like butter, "We could use some of those," he muttered, bringing a grin to Sara's face.
"Yes," she whispered to both, surprised at how weak her voice was.
"Let's get this mask off your face, it looks like you don't need extra oxygen now, and it will let me hear you better. So tell me what happened."
"I'm a bit interested to hear this, too, I only know part of the story," Grissom chimed in.
"You'll never believe it all, really, so much happened to me, it was a nightmare," her voice a bit shaky.
"Try me," the doctor smiled, "I've seen quite a lot working this ER."
"Well, let's see…First I was tasered, bound, and stuffed in a trunk; I used the taser barb to free the ties and crawled out into the car, scuffled with my abductor, jumped out of a moving car…. really bad idea by the way…. knocked myself unconscious and got most of these abrasions doing that,"
So Warrick was right about her getting out of the trunk.
"Is that when you broke your arm?"
"No, that comes later... I woke up bound again on the floor in the back seat, awakened by my abductor pouring water down my throat, the water was tainted because next thing I know I'm drugged and passed out."
"Add a tox screen, head CT," interrupted the doctor, "I'm sorry, please continue." She said shaking her head.
"OK, I awakened again with a wrecked car being lowered onto me with some sort of hydraulic jack thing, and then I was left alone, pinned under the car when the rain started."
By now, even the seasoned staff had stopped what they were doing to listen to her unbelievable story. It was truly hard to imagine. Ms. Bursen glanced at Grissom, starting to understand his passion to be at her side following this horrific ordeal.
"Wait a minute, the car had already wrecked, you weren't in a wreck?"
"Yes, exactly, crazy, huh?" She looked off as if deep in thought, then finally continued, her voice lower, "The water rose, and it became harder and harder to keep my head above it."
That's when Grissom felt the first lurch from his stomach. Just about the time Ms. Bursen was cutting off Sara's shirt, revealing more bruises and abrasions across her abdomen and torso. Dr. Rigby had been examining Sara while listening. She was clearly taken aback by the trauma. "How did you get this?" Before she could answer, Grissom's body was revolting with the image of Sara writhing under the car, struggling for air, for freedom, all the while being smashed to within an inch of her life. The bruises, the deformity of the arm, and the image caused his stomach to purge itself in the most primitive way, he rubbed his temples, and fought with all his might to quell the impulse. Ms. Bursen recognized the look, grabbed the first available container, and thrust it under his face just in time to catch him heaving into it.
"Omigosh, I'm so sorry!" He mumbled as he wiped his face with the wet cloth he was handed.
"Griss, what in the world just happened?" Sara could only stare in utter disbelief, helpless to understand or help him.
"I'm really disappointed in you. I thought you'd at least make it until we actually started working on her," the savvy nurse whispered in his ear, but he couldn't bring himself to make eye contact with anyone. "Dinner, humph, I shoulda held out for more," she mumbled.
"Who let him back here anyway?" the nice doctor was beginning to lose her patience as she was unaccustomed to working in front of family, for this very reason.
"I did, doc, I'll handle him, Please continue Ms. Sidle," trying to keep the damage to a minimum.
"Well, ah, let's see…" Sara was clearly shaken by the sight, but nevertheless continued with the story, "Where was I…oh, yea, the water was rising, and that actually began to shift the car, which is how I freed up everything except that left arm, ultimately the car settled on that arm and a rock pretty hard. That's when it broke. God, did that ever hurt," she winced at the memory, "but I managed to get out shortly after that, so ultimately it was a good thing, because I would have surely drowned there. The rest I think you know. I thought I needed to get to a road to get rescued, next thing I know, I'm on a helicopter."
"OK, wow, that is quite a story," which was about all the bedside manner Dr. Rigby possessed. "Let's get a chest X-Ray, with that arm film. Anything else feeling like it could be broken."
Sara laughed, "It might be easier to point out what doesn't."
"Right," Dr. Rigby nodded and winced in understanding, while she scribbled some orders for more tests and X-rays.. "OK, here's what's gonna happen. We're going to start giving you some Morphine, so we can…"
"No!" Sara interrupted with the most forceful word she'd uttered thus far, "I'm fine; I don't want to be drugged again, please."
"Ms. Sidle," she paused, "Sara… you won't feel that way once Ms. Bursen starts in on your abrasions to clean them out. Besides that arm has to be hurting already and we need to manipulate it to reduce the fracture and splint it. Trust me, take the morphine."
She looked at Grissom for direction, "Let them medicate you, I'll be right here."
She nodded, "OK," but was visibly shaken by the fear of losing consciousness against her will, again.
"As I was saying, we need to set this fracture, splint it, and clean these abrasions, and then we will be able to determine if any need stitches. The labs will be coming in so we can adjust your fluids. Once all that is done, as long as all your vitals are stable, you'll be sent to X-Ray for multiple tests. That's when I suggest your friend should leave to get your things and get clean. Radiology is a black hole where patients disappear for hours. Once all that gets done you'll be moved to a private room. I'll transfer your care to a surgeon."
"Do I need surgery?" trying to sound calm.
"Well, it's likely you'll need surgery by an orthopedist to definitively fix that fracture, but in the meantime it's common practice for a general surgeon to manage our trauma patients after admission to the hospital. Unless you have your own physician, we'll just consult the next surgeon on the call schedule."
"So I can't stay with you?" Sara said smiling.
"No, but I'll be following up. I've worked a lot of wild accidents, but your story is right up there. Take care of yourself, I'll be back when the morphine's taken effect" she admonished as she whisked out of the room as fast as she breezed in earlier. Sara and Gil were left with Ms. Bursen who was preparing the morphine shot.
"Ma'am, can that wait just a few minutes, I'd really like to be alone with this man. We haven't….."
"Hey," she interrupted, "No problem at all, I think this is a perfect time to give you a break. You two visit, and I'll be back in a few." She left the room with a knowing smile, and a good feeling about letting him stay at her side.
TBC...
A/N: Grissom lost the bet. Goes to show you, love makes everything totally unpredictable.
A/N 2: Sorry for the medical geek stuff, but it seemed essential to the full story. Promise, only one more chapter in the ER, and more fluff in it.