Ch. 8

I walked out of the elevator and paused as I watched the chaos that was the pit. Tons of people sat in the giant room lined with beds and people being checked on by doctors. April stood next to me, "So are you the new doctor everyone is talking about?" she asked me.

I barely took notice to her voice as I saw Doctor Bailey across the room. She was wheeling two patients into trauma rooms along with doctors Hunt and Shephard who were also accompanied by two police officers. "Yeah." I said in almost a trancelike state. I made my way over the trauma room , dodging doctors and families along the way, over to where they had disappeared into and entered, not knowing what to expect.

"Two male patients!" Bailey said in an urgent tone a she walked around and examined them. "Both have overdosed on PCP."

April looked at me, I could feel her stare burning into me. PCP? I had to deal with patients loaded up on angel dust? My eyes drift across the two men, one man was strapped to his gurney, he thrashed around erratically, veins popping out of his neck, he looked as if he should be foaming at the mouth. The other man laid still, eerily still. He stared at the ceiling of the trauma room, with the glazed over expression that I had seen in Mrs. Collins eyes just yesterday, his face was blank and he's was like a living statue.

"Uh, what can I do?" I managed to say.

Bailey looked up from the man that was laying still and her eyes held a sort of relief. "Are you Dr. Kepner?" She ask.

I looked at April, "Um, i'm the new Kepner, yes."

"Well yeah, that's what I meant. Do what you can with this man." she said with authority, pointing to the thrashing man behind her. The two police and Dr. Hunt were trying to hold him down, the straps didn't seem to be working. I stood there for a moment, trying to hold back that fear that was rising up inside of me. A person on PCP could become very dangerous to anyone around them, including them selves. Some one high on angel dust could easily hurt someone because their unbelievable, almost superhuman strength and unstable emotions.

Dr. Shephard looked up for a moment at me his face was stricken with confusion but he quickly pushed it aside and went back to working on the man that laid there unmoving.

"He's catatonic." He said.

"What Are you waiting for!" Dr. Hunt yelled at me. "Get over here!"

I buried the fear that was holding me there deep in the pit of my stomach and stepped forward a foot at a time. I took in more air as I drew nearer to the dangerous man. He grunted and clawed at the leather straps that held him there, his finger nails were bloody, broken and raw, but he didn't feel the pain. I didn't know where to start, this man was huge, he looked like a body builder and like he could easily take on 3 full grown men even without the aid of angel dust.

"April close the door." I said.

"What? Why? What if the guy gets loose!" she said.

"She's right!" Dr. Hunt said as he struggled to keep the guy down, if he let that man sit up the strap would surely snap. "If he gets free, we don't want him to be able to leave! Now close the door!" He ordered.

April quickly turned, almost tripping over her own feet and quickly slammed the door.

I could hear my own heart beating in my ears as I moved closer to him. As I reached out to touch him he thrashed harder, the gurney shook below him and rocked back and forth. "Don't touch me bitch!" he roared. I didn't know what to, if I touched him, he might become more aggressive, If I didn't, he would eventually break his straps. I looked at doctor bailey and the other man, the way he just laid there, not making any eye contact, disturbed me more than the guy that was thrashing around. "Do Something fast!" Hunt yelled, I could tell that the man was wearing him down. One of the cops held the mans left shoulder and Hunt held his right. The third cop held his feet but it looked like he was ready to give up and let go. I stood at his head, I had to do something or we would be in a world of trouble. I took a deep breath and let out, closed my eyes and grabbed the sides of his head firmly. He still flailed, testing the strength of the straps, and as I held on his thrashing continued to get worse.

"I said DON'T TOUCH ME!" he yelled, is voice was very loud and almost high pitched, it rang in my ears. I couldn't tell if he was getting calm or not, but it didn't seem like it.

I looked up at Dr. Hunt with fear, "You better get a tranquilizer for this guy, I don't think I can help him!" My voice broke but and was shaky but no one could tell because my voice was drowned out by his bellowing.

"What?" April asked.

I could feel him get more agitated suddenly with a huge jerk he broke through he grip of the officer that held his shoulder. I instantly backed up against the wall, "I said, TRANQULIZE HIM!" I Screamed as he kicked the officer holding his feet in the chest and sent him crashing against the wall. "Doctor Hunt get away from him!" Dr. Shephard yelled. The other cop ran over to his partner. I could already tell that this was going to end badly. I looked at Doctor Hunt, he was still trying to hold the violent man down. If he was still going to try and hold him, the least I could do was try and take some of the mans agitation and aggression, I should be able to control myself better than him since i'm not doped up on drugs. So I grabbed head in an anything but gentle way and held it down as best I could and concentrated on the emotions that I wanted to take. Instantly I could feel him throw him self around a little bit less and I felt the rage that he was feeling, it was immense and I wondered just how much of the angel dust he ingested. Just then I heard a loud snap and suddenly them man shot up, ripping himself from my grip and grabbed the strap that bound his legs and snapped it like it was a twig. Doctor Hunt jumped back and looked at me.

I felt a bit aggravated that he wouldn't cooperate with us even though I knew he lacked that ability, I also knew that it wasn't actually me that was aggravated but it was his aggravation I was feeling.

The man stood up and stared down the all doctors in the room. He looked at Doctor bailey who stood frozen, Dr. Shephard who stood in front of April And Dr. Hunt who was just to the left of me. As his eye drifted across the room they stopped on me. He looked like he was a lion searching for his prey. My heart stopped as I realized that I was his next kill. The one cop left stood up from his unconscious partner and let his hand rest just above his gun holster. I didn't want it to come down to deadly force, we had to do something before he ended up getting himself shot.

April darted for the door, wrenching it open and running out into the E.R , letting the door close slowly behind her. This didn't break the mans gaze, he stared me down with cold, emotionless eyes. "Where did Dr. Kepner run off too?" I asked in a small voice.

Everyone stood still, no one was breathing, no on even dared to blink, especially me. My eyes were wide with fear.

"I- I don't know." Bailey whispered. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the cop slowly wrapping his fingers around the handle of the gun.

We were like a room of statues, no one moved, no one breathed, no one even so much as blinked. And it all happened in slow motion, and then everything caught up to me in hyper speed, the man darted at me, I didn't even have a chance to move or even realize what was happening before he grabbed my shirt and pulled me into a choke hold. His huge arms crushed me and I felt my airways close and I started to struggle. I tried to speak but all that came out was a squeak and choking sounds. My heart pounded, I could feel the veins pulsing in my throat as the oxygen stopped flowing.

"Let her go!" The cop demanded, his gun now fully drawn and aimed.

He wasn't fazed by this, he still just stood there, like a statue with a me struggling in his arms. I clawed at his them, I could feel his skin rip under my nails and lodge under them.

"Let her go!" He yelled, his voice becoming more alarmed.

I looked out at Bailey and Shephard for some sort of support, but there was nothing they could do. They would be killed if they were me, but It was a different story with me, what ever injuries I sustained would heal with an hour.

"I will shoot!"

"No! With you at such a close range, the bullet could injure her too." Derek said.

I balled my hand into a fist and elbowed him In the kidney over and over as hard as I possibly could but I was like hitting a brick wall, useless. I wanted him off, my lungs were burning for a fresh breath of air. And my vision began to get unfocused. Darkness began to invade the corners of my vision and I stopped struggling all together. I should probably conserve what little oxygen I had left. My arms fell to my side, limp and dangling.

"Dr. Kepner stay awake!" Bailey urged. "Stay awake!"

I heard her voice, it was still stern but there was concern mixed into it. I could feel sleep calling me and oh I wanted to sleep but I would be damned if I was going to let the drugged Hulk take me out. I struggled to keep my eyes open and listen to Bailey's voice and I picked my arm up, it felt like a huge weight but I picked it up above my head and jammed my fingers into his eyes sockets.

He let out a yelp as I hooked onto the inside of his eyes with my nails. Then his yelps turned into full blown screams of agony and he dropped me. My legs were weak and the collapsed under the weight of my limp body and I fell forward. I felt arms grab me, for a second I was scared that it was the man again. The darkness still spreading over my vision and the mans wails of pain were growing more faint.

"She's not breathing!" I heard Owen shout. I was confused, I didn't know what was happening, my eyes where wide open with fear, yet I could barely see Owen who was right next to me, and the air that I was hoping would fill my lungs didn't come, I was terrified.

"Breathe." he said calmly, I looked at him with my failing sight and tried to do as he said but I was too shocked, too scared. I saw the man who was still yelling and I saw his eyes, they were bloody. The blood dripped down his cheeks he looked as if he was crying blood. Then he stopped in an instant as if the pain had suddenly diapered.

"What happened?" I heard Aprils panicked voice, and I quickly realized why he had stopped screaming. It was then that the air rushed into my lungs and I coughed and choked. It was like I couldn't get enough of the oxygen that needed to speak.

"April!" I coughed, "RUN!"

Right as I said that the man ran at her, full speed. Then something happened that scared me more than anything that had just occurred. A very loud pop echoed through out the room and immediately the people just outside in the E.R screamed. That loud pop was then followed by another pop, and another. This sound was very familiar to me. Gun shots.