Crash Chapter 20

"Almost Falling Off the Roof"

Randy's POV

'What are those people doing going around to the other side of the plane?' I ask to no one in particular.

'I don't know' dad answers.

I fight the urge to join them. When I see a stretcher go flying past, I can't resist the temptation any longer and make a break for it, or at least as best of a break for it as I can under the circumstances. I don't get half way there before a fire fighter stops me.

'You can't go over there. How did you get down here anyways?' he says.

'My girlfriend was on that plane, and I-' I start to explain, but the fire fighter motions me to be silent when an announcement comes over his walkie talkie.

"We have one survivor still. Says her name is Lauren Johnson" the person on the other end of the walkie talkie says.

'That's her!' I shout as I run around the astonished fireman. As I run around the plane, I see Lauren lying there on the ground. How did she get out of the plane?

'Lauren! I'm here, Lauren!' I yell as I get closer. When I come to a stop, I notice that the fireman followed me over.

'This guy says he's her boyfriend' he explains to the people treating Lauren.

'Fiancée, actually' Lauren says. For a split second, I forget all this is happening and smile. For one split second, it's just Lauren and me out there in this big meadow/field. I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn around to see that dad has followed me over now too.

'And who are you?' one of the medics asks dad as he pulls the gurney closer.

'Tim Taylor, I'm this young man's father' he introduces himself.

'Do you all know what's going on with her? Why she was outside of the plane?' I ask, hoping I'm not interrupting their work.

'She has a couple of moderate sized cuts on her stomach, a broken leg, and a mild concussion. Other than that, she's fine' the woman, who I'm assuming is the head EMT says.

'She doesn't have any burns from the fire?' I ask in disbelief.

'None that we can see' another medic explains.

I start to say something more, but stop when I hear what sounds like a helicopter overhead. I look up for affirmation of my theory.

'You all need to stand back while the chopper lands' the fireman I ran into before says to me and dad.

'Are either of you going to ride with the lady to the hospital?' the female EMT shouts over the roar of the helicopter.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see dad looking at me. I don't return the look. 'I will' I answer instead.

'Okay, I'll call your mom again and let her know what's going on. We'll try to get there as fast as we can' dad says. As I board the chopper, I see dad pulling out his cell phone.

'Is this your first time on a medivack flight?' one of the medics asks me after a couple minutes of flight.

'No, I was on one a couple months ago when I was hurt' I say back.

'Oh yeah, you're that kid that was pronounced dead but wasn't. I read about you in the paper, and saw you on TV' she says. I try not to, but I blush anyways. Nothing like being a local celebrity for EMTs.

The rest of the ride to Detroit Memorial Hospital goes without dialogue.

We land on the rooftop helipad, and then the paramedics get out with Lauren. After that, I get out which proves to be a tad harder than getting in was.

I stop for a couple seconds to get my land legs back, then I remember what happened to Rocket Romano on ER and back away a few feet.

I walk over closer to the edge of the rooftop to look at the view. The helicopter takes off again, no doubt rushing off to some other emergency. I stand back and watch it fade into the distance.

When I turn around, I see the door of the elevator that contains Lauren and her team of medics closing. I immediately go running to the door that leads to the stairwell which is right next to the elevator. I run down the stairs, ignoring the ever increasing pain in my abdomen.

When I reach the first floor finally, I see Lauren being wheeled into a trauma room to be more thoroughly checked over. I run down the hall after them, and let my mind stray from the situation just long enough to pretend I'm John Carter running after a patient in County General's ER.

I enter the trauma room and stand off to the side while the doctors work.

'Is this the plane crash survivor?' a voice calls from the door. I glance over in the general direction and can tell he must be the head attending by the length of his white lab coat.

'Yes. We're checking for internal bleeding right now' a woman in aqua blue scrubs answers.

'What about burns?' the attending asks.

'She doesn't have any' a man in green scrubs answers.

'What do you mean she doesn't have any? That plane was a raging inferno. How can she not have any?' the attending demands.

'It's a mystery to me' the woman who spoke earlier says.

'And who's this here?' he asks motioning to me.

'I'm Randy Taylor, her fiancé' I answer.

'Randy Taylor' he mumbles. 'Are you the guy who-' he starts to ask.

'Yes, yes, I'm the guy who was pronounced dead but actually wasn't. I'm sure you saw me in the papers and on TV' I say.

'Well, yes, but I'm also the attending that signed off on that death certificate. Uh, it looks like your girlfriend, excuse me, fiancée, is in good shape here. Could you come with me for a little bit?' he asks.

'I suppose so' I agree. I leave my post and follow him. He seems to notice this and slackens his pace. I increase mine until we're walking side by side.

'I'm Dr. Mark Greene' he introduces himself.

'And of course you know who I am' I smile.

'About that, I'm sorry. Let's go this way' Dr. Greene says, leading me to the right. 'I wasn't actually in the trauma room; therefore I wasn't the one who pronounced you dead. I just simply signed off on the death certificate. Not that it's any less my fault for what happened. I should've been more careful about it.'

'It's water under the bridge. What matters is that I'm here and doing well today' I say. We're now in the doctor's lounge.

'Can I get you something to drink or eat? There's some sodas in the fridge' he offers. I nod my head. He gets out two root beers.

I try to sit back and relax, but keep worrying about Lauren. Then I remember a question that I've always wanted to ask an ER doctor.

'Can I ask you a question that's going to sound kind of stupid?' I ask.

'Randy, I've been a doctor for twenty years. I've heard every question in the book, and not many have been stupid. But, yes, go ahead' Dr. Greene smiles.

'When you're here at work, do you ever sometimes feel like you're on ER?' I ask. He throws his head back and laughs.

'Oh God, that's one of the ones I've heard many times over the last 12 years. To answer your question, honestly, no. Most of the time, we're so busy I don't have time to feel anything but fatigue' he says.

'Dr. Greene, we found something interesting in Lauren Johnson's exam. We're not sure what to make of it' a male doctor with an accent (Russian perhaps, maybe Croatian?) says from the door.

'Let me take a look at it, Dr. Kovač' Dr. Greene says, getting up from the couch. I follow the two doctors to the nearest x-ray board. I look at it and pretend to know what the hell it means. Meanwhile, Dr. Kovač points to a certain spot on the x-ray film and Dr. Greene exams it more closely.

'Randy, this is very personal, but very important. Have you and Lauren had sexual intercourse yet?' Dr. Greene asks.

A/N: I'll just leave it there for now.

A couple of notes on this chapter:

The x-ray "board" that I referenced probably isn't called an x-ray board, but that's what I'm going to call it since I don't know the real term.

Most of the doctors mentioned in this chapter, Dr. John Carter, Dr. Robert "Rocket Romano, Dr. Mark Greene, and Dr. Luka Kovač are all the property of John Wells, Michael Crichton, and all the other people who work on the greatest TV medical drama ever, ER. I can't, don't, and won't take credit for any of them.

Please R&R. It isn't necessary but is appreciated.

Thanks for reading.

-Yours truly, Randy Taylor