Chapter 5:
A/N Thanks to all my fantastic readers for all the reviews! I never anticipated this fic would be so popular. It means more than you know. It keeps me interested and motivated to keep writing for you! I'm really getting into a groove her at the moment. I'm loving writing this fic! So here you go! Another chapter. Enjoy and as per usual…remember to REVIEW it!
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Jackson grabbed a nearby resident and pulled him by his sleeve towards him.
"Can you finish cleaning him up?", he indicated to the boy on the bed. "Then get him back up to the ward". The resident nodded grudgingly and went to begin work on the boy. Jackson gently led the nurse back over to the desk and leaned in towards her.
"Who else knows?", Jackson asked her softly, glancing around the room out of the corner of his eye. He didn't want to stir a panic.
"I just got the call Doctor", she answered him slowly, wiping her eyes. "You were the first attending I saw so I thought I better inform you first".
Jackson nodded in agreement. He rationalised with her. "What else did security say?". His mind wandered back to April. If this was true….was she ok? Was she hurt? His stomach dropped dramatically with fear. Was she dead?
"They told me to spread the word to doctors and other nurses on the floor and to begin lockdown procedure calmly", she explained to him.
"Yeah that sounds about right". After the shooting, the hospital had been drilled constantly with lockdown procedures. All staff could pretty much do one in their sleep. Jackson gave another nod to the nurse, squeezing her upper arm reassuringly. The memories of the shootings were still fresh in everyone's mind.
"I lost two friends last time", the nurse whose name tag read Madeleine whimpered gently, her upper lip quivering with the early onset of more tears.
"No one will be lost this time", he told her firmly. "Tell the other nurses to begin lockdown. No one is to leave the ER unless they are literally on deaths door and need surgery. Get security on the phone and tell them to keep us updated. Ask them how many other floors know about it and have begun lockdown. Don't page anyone down here...it's too dangerous for anyone to be moving around. Get Hunt on the phone, inform him of the lockdown and the stabber warning. He'll talk you through the rest" Jackson told her the instructions firmly and slowly. She kept nodding.
"I'll go run up to the supply closet to get some things while we're not completely in lockdown yet", he said to her evenly. "We don't know how long we'll be in here for".
"Alright", she nodded.
"You need to be brave now Madeleine", Jackson told her. "We'll be ok. This is what we've been trained to prepare for. It won't be like last time".
Madeleine nodded again and walked away from Jackson towards a group of nurses. It was evident she was fighting back crying.
….
The elevator remained still, in between floors after the doors once again shut on her. She was really beginning to feel claustrophobic now. She turned her head to look up at the florescent lights above her. She was beginning to get dizzy and faint from the blood loss and it started to feel like the roof was caving in on her. She glanced back down at the front of her body. Her navy blue scrubs felt wet and heavy on her skin from the blood and the majority of her lab coat was now a bright red. Her brand new running shoes. The fancy Nike's her mother had sent for her birthday last year, were now soaked in blood. She hated blood now. She never wanted to look at it again. As a doctor, she knew blood didn't have a scent, but at that moment it smelt worse than the curdled milk Alex usually left in the fridge.
Thinking about Alex and the apartment brought a small sad smile to her dry parched lips. It was probably the blood loss and claustrophobia talking, but in that moment, she wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around the dickhead she called Alex Karev.
Jackson! She wanted to kiss Jackson! To jump on him, wrap her legs around his waist and kiss him like the world was ending.
But her world was ending. Without help soon, she'd be dead. If she didn't bleed, infection might get her. The blade might've been rusty, might've been dirty. She wished she was unconscious. That she didn't feel the agony running through her body or think like the trauma doctor she was. Optimism suddenly flooded through her body. If she was awake, it meant the wound wasn't that bad. That it wasn't bad enough for her to be unconscious.
She rolled her head around and looked up at the elevator buttons above her. The number 4 was only about 15 centimetres above the number 2. She could manage it. It would be fine.
Again she propped herself up on one elbow, ignoring the agonising pain flooding her entire self. She closed her eyes again and reached up, praying she'd hit the jackpot.
…
Jackson walked briskly towards the stairs. He thought it best to avoid the elevator during the lockdown. He wasn't the biggest fan of tight constricted spaces.
"Avery!", Arizona Robbins voice filled the hallway. Jackson stopped in his tracks and looked back at her with raised eyebrows. Right now he really wasn't in the mood for smiles and chit chat. But Robbins didn't look pleased, stalking up to him with a fuming frown.
"What the hell is wrong with April Kepner?", she demanded furiously.
"Excuse me?", the eyebrows rose further.
"She completely bailed on me!", the blonde doctor explained, waving her arms. "She asked to be kept informed on a patient and then when I told her to scrub in, she completely disappeared. I had to get a resident to assist me in surgery. You know how that makes me feel? The resident was hopeless".
"Wait", Jackson held up a palm to stop her. "April didn't show for surgery?".
"No!"
Jackson's eyes opened wide with fear as he ran his hand over his newly shaved head.
"What's going on Avery?", Arizona asked with confusion, glancing around at the anxious nurses nearby.
Jackson sighed. "We're in lockdown again. Apparently there is some maniac with a knife in the hospital. He might've already got someone. Security found a pool of blood in a hallway and a bloody knife nearby".
"Oh my God", Arizona face went ghostly white, her mouth opened gapingly.
"Dr Robbins, April didn't show for the incoming trauma either", Jackson explained anxiously. "I think she might be hurt".
"It's not like Kepner to disappear without a trace", Robbins agreed. "Get upstairs to the lobby and see what you can find out. I'll phone Hunt and the police".
"Ok", Jackson nodded, he made to start walking away when Robbins stopped him.
"Be safe Jackson", she told him quietly. Jackson looked at her understandingly and nodded before walking away. April was the only thing on his mind.
…..
April gave a loud cry of pain as the elevator stopped with a heavy jolt. Being on the floor, she could feel everything magnified. She glanced up and found the number 4 brightly illuminated on the screen above her as the doors opened. She was back on the floor where she'd started. She'd hit that jackpot.
Giving a small sigh of relief, she stuck out her hand in between the doors to keep them from closing. She knew the hand wouldn't be enough to keep the doors open and she only had a small window of time to drag herself out. She had to risk it. She had to get out of here. She couldn't stay in that metal cage any longer. Using the outreached arm, she pulled her body further along the floor. Looking down at herself, her stomach flipped as she caught a quick glimpse of the knife stuck inside her. It had a brown handle. To her it looked like a simple kitchen knife. The kind she used only this morning to cut herself some bread. Pushing that to the back of her mind, she continued to drag her body, carefully trying to avoid leaning on her back. The thought of the knife driving deeper inside sent shivers through her body. She stopped momentarily when her body was about ¾ of the way through. Her legs lying stupidly in between the open doors.
As a kid, she'd always had a fear of elevator doors closing shut on her. She was the first to run out the elevator doors as soon as they'd opened and refused to step inside when they were too packed. Elevator doors were a pet hate for her. She was a farm girl. Spiders, snakes, tractors and guns were everyday things in her childhood. Many people would laugh when she told them her childhood phobia, but to her, it was rationalised. Elevator doors were freaky, ok?
So in that exact moment, the fear came flooding back. She was terrified. Scared that the doors would slam shut and crush her legs. She'd seen doctors get their lab coats caught in the doors when the motion detectors didn't work. So with one last burst of fear fuelled courage, she rolled onto her abdomen and used both arms to pull herself further out of the elevator until her entire body was out.
She'd done it! She remained on her stomach and let out a tearful, joyful excited sob. She was out. She was free. All she had to do now was be found. She couldn't stay like this. The blood loss was getting heavier because of her movement. She felt her brain losing focus and body running out of energy. She glanced behind her to see the large red smear on the vinyl floor. Her thoughts went back to Reed. Finding her lying in a pool of her own blood. Her large, wide eyes staring blankly ahead. The image still haunted her sometimes at night. She lifted her hand to examine it, it was covered in blood. Not just stained, but completely covered. She couldn't see a hint of ivory. She gagged slightly. She was a surgeon. She operated with blood. She worked with it every day. But for some strange, twisted reason, knowing it was her own blood, made her feel revolted. She dropped the arm back to her side and leaned onto the other side. The side without the knife. She was facing an empty hallway, with only a few shelves to look at.
What about the stabber? Where was he? Had he done this to another person too? Had he killed? Why was he doing this? Why hadn't security found him? Stopped him? Hadn't this hospital learnt that lesson already? Her mind began to go blank as the blood loss finally began to take its toll. In fact, she welcomed the unconsciousness. It was welcome break from this continuous monologue running through her brain. These thoughts were too much for her to take. She closed her eyes slowly, taking in the sight of the empty hallway for a final time.
Suddenly a flicker! A shadow! It was the outline of a person. She willed her eyes to open wider.
Yes!
It was a person!
Standing at the end of the hallway, getting something from the shelf. She could tell by the shape of his clothing that it was a doctor. Finally! Help!
"Help me!", she called out. But her voice was husky and broken from the lack of use and the constant crying and whimpering. The person didn't react.
"Help!", she tried once more.
Nothing.
She tried a loud groan.
Nothing.
Helplessness and defeat washed over her as her body caved in to the agony and trauma and her eyes blinked firmly shut.
Underneath her, the pool of rich red blood suddenly began to become larger as the blade inside her lower back shifted.
…..
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