Ch 3 Epinephrine
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John
It wasn't long before John was confronted by another sign:
A field pack, tipped over and flattened, it's contents strewn around and discarded.
He was standing in an area of clear ground between two buildings, one of which was still standing, although it's windows were out. The other, however, was damaged and had lost part of one wall. He could hear water running inside the building and smoke curled slowly from a hole in the floor. He could see two bearers with an occupied stretcher, moving away towards red-painted vehicles, some distance away.
He crouched and sifted through the odd collection... he snorted when he spied one particular item.
Damn toothpicks, he chuckled.
Keeping his eyes and ears open, he hastily re-stuffed the pack, and swung it over one shoulder to rest next to his own.
As he did so, he caught sight of something familiar, and his heart did a nervous flip-flop...
Surely not... no lemons here...
An empty epi pen holder, with it's bright yellow cap, lay in a corner near the broken down wall.
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4 Rodney
The contents of his pack seemed to explode forth in a rush, a huge selection of items both military and otherwise now lay on the wet ground. Say what you like, but Rodney McKay was a good boy scout; he was always prepared.
He fumbled his hands desperately through the pile.
There! There it was..
Snatching up the yellow capped tube and unscrewing it quickly, he grabbed the young woman's shoulder.
"Do you have this? Is this what you need? Epinephrine... adrenaline...? Stimulates the heart, helps you breathe...?"
He was shaking her shoulder violently trying to get her to focus on him, on the vital question he was asking. They were human... Carson had said so... hadn't he? He really should start paying attention in briefings.
But she just made ever more strangled wheezing sounds, her face and lips changing from pasty white to blue.
He had staggered around jagged debris and broken glass, trying to find the source of the shrill calls for help.
She was sitting upright but tipped forward, gasping out, "Help... help..." as her outstretched hands seemed to desperately search for something. Both legs were covered in blood and the right one looked twisted; probably broken. She was picking through rubble and dirt, whispering, "Where is it? Where..?", hearing her scratchy, laboured breathing, he thought he knew what she was looking for.
But he found nothing nearby.. no purse, no bag... no jacket pocket, or desk drawer.
He had to do it, there was no other choice - stick her with this or watch her asphyxiate.
There was a pop and then a click as he snapped off the top and jammed it, hard, into her bloody thigh. Breaking the silence between them, he counted out loud to ten and then threw the injector aside.
Oh, God, I hope I did the right thing...
Relaxing the hold he still had on her shoulder he let her slump back, against a broken tiled wall, thinking she should probably be upright.
Maybe twenty seconds had passed since he had given the epinephrine, and Rodney now watched anxiously for signs of recovery. He laid his fingers on her neck, moving minutely until he found the pulse point. It told him nothing of course, he wasn't a medic and only knew how to administer the epi pen, not what happened after. At least she was still alive, the pulse knocking against his fingers.
Suddenly... sounds of scrambling behind him, voices raised, but this time cool, efficient voices, snapping orders, asking for equipment.
Medics and emergency teams crawled like ants through the devastation.
One man dressed in a gray uniform and carrying a heavy holdall, was closely followed by another bearing a stretcher. They approached McKay, who was still kneeling beside the injured woman.
Rodney quickly cast around for the discarded injector. Spying it behind him he lunged for it.
"Do not be alarmed. We are here to help..." said the one with the holdall. "Can you tell...?"
But McKay cut him off, "Wait!"
He opened his palm and showed the epi pen to the medic.
"I think she was having an asthma attack... I mean, trouble breathing, turning blue, wheezing, you know? I - I- gave her this... it's epi... adrenaline... a hormone... makes your heart race, increases breathing effort - I think..."
Exasperated by his own lack of knowledge and inability to explain, he sputtered to a halt, and could only look desperately at the woman's face. He almost did a double-take when he saw that her lips were no longer blue and that, although obviously unconscious, her breathing was quieter.
Stretcher man had laid down his burden and must have been assessing the woman as Rodney was speaking. Now he turned to his partner.
"Her lungs were closing..." and now he pointed to Rodney's hand. "I think this man gave her a stimulant, probably Malvon."
He looked at Rodney and smiled, "It has helped, Sir."
Sighing his relief, Rodney let the injector roll from his hand and he sat back on his heels with a jerk
Stretcher man looked at him with concern.
"Are you injured?" he asked, placing a hand gently on McKay's arm.
Rodney blinked and just shook his head. He suddenly wanted to get away from this place. He lurched abruptly to his feet.
"I - I need to go... back. Just take care of her.." and he gave a final look to the woman, who was now on the stretcher attached to what Rodney thought was some kind of alien oxygen machine.
"Will she be alright?"
"I can't be sure, but she is stable now and we'll look after her. You probably saved her life..." said the man, glancing at his patient.
"Now, you need to come...", but when he looked back to where the woman's saviour had been standing, McKay was already gone.
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TBC and thanks for reading...