Forms, Short-Handed, Scholarship & Kiss

Hospital – ER Entrance

Spike helped the orderly lift Sam out of the sno-cat and put him on the gurney. Then he stood in the swirling snow that limited visibility to only a little more than two feet and watched until Sam was blocked from his view by the snow. A sense of relief washed through him. Spike startled when a hand landed on his shoulder. Scott was standing next to him supported by Ron.

Scott said "They will take care of Sam now. You did good Spike. You kept him alive."

Spike turned and put Scott's other arm over his shoulder and said "You did good too Scott. Because of you he is where he will get the help he needs. But it is time to get you looked at too."

Scott nodded knowing that he needed help inside. He was not going to make it under his own power. Ron and Spike bore ninety percent of Scott's weight as they helped him into the ER. When they were inside they helped Scott onto a gurney and the same orderly showed up and took him back to the ER area.

Ron turned to Spike and asked "Is there anything you need?"

Spike shook his head as he collapsed into one of the chairs in the dimly lit waiting room. The worry and stress had taken a toll and Spike was wiped out. It was hard to think at the moment as he body recognized that it did not have to be on anymore. Sam and Scott were now both in the hands of the doctors.

Ron sat next to him and asked "What would you like me to do with your gear?"

Spike didn't know.

Minna Lundgren, the petite nurse watched the two men as she came forward with the paperwork. She knew Ron so the dark haired one was the friend of the others. He looked so wiped out. She overheard Ron's questions and answered "Ron we have that little storage room where the paramedics store things in from time to time. That might be a good place depending on how much they have."

Ron looked up and smiled at the pretty brown haired nurse "Thanks Minna. That would be perfect. Only a couple of duffle bags and such."

Spike started to get up to help get the stuff when Minna said "I need you here please. I need you to fill out the forms and paperwork for your friends. I've noted down thigh on one form and shin on the other form so we can tell the twins apart. Please make sure to put their correct names on the proper forms."

Ron and Spike both chuckled. Spike took the paperwork as Ron said "I'll leave the explanation to you. This is Minna Lundgren, the nicest nurse in the whole world. I'll just go get your stuff Spike." Then he headed back out.

Looking at the cute nurse Spike gave her a small smile "Actually they are cousins not twins. Thigh is Scott Braddock. He is older. Shin is Sam Braddock he is my teammate and friend."

Minna grinned "Wow they sure looked like twins."

"They get that a lot" Spike shared.

Minna sat down next to Spike "And who might you be?"

"Spike."

"Just Spike?" Minna asked.

"Sorry, nickname. Mike Scarlatti" Spike offered.

Minna nodded "Okay. Would you prefer Spike or Mike?"

"Spike is fine" Spike said tiredly as his eyes wanted to close.

Seeing that Spike was exhausted Minna said "I can see you are worn out. If you can just fill out the basic information for them I would appreciate it. Do you know if either have any allergies to medications?"

Spike's eyes widened at that "Yeah. I mean I'm not sure it is an allergy but Sam doesn't do well on morphine. Oh and he is ex-Special Forces. Be careful not to crowd him or startle him awake, he can be dangerous in that state. And for god's sakes do not let him see any needles. You need someone to call Dr. Fraser or his friend Jim Shea who was his JTF2 medic for special needs. Sam doesn't react like the rest of us do to certain meds."

Minna's soft brown eyes widened at the information that rapidly came forth. She said "Wow. We certainly don't want to cause him any more problems."

"Can I go back there with him? So if he wakes he sees a friendly face. He's been hallucinating with the fever so high" Spike said standing up.

Standing Minna said "It is normally against procedure but I'll allow it this time. Given what you've told me the doctor may want to talk to you anyways. Is there anything I need to know about Scott?"

As they walked to the ER area Spike answered "I don't know. Probably best to contact his wife Laura if he can't tell you."

"Well it's a good thing Scott is awake and talking so I'm sure he will be able to give us that information" Minna responded.

Hospital – ER Treatment Area

Spike noticed as Minna took him back to the ER area it had six beds separated by curtains. He thought this is sure a small town hospital and resembled more of an urgent care facility to him than an ER. But better than nothing and nothing is what they had at the cabin. At least here there was a doctor and medicine to help Sam and Scott.

He saw that the only two in the ER area were Sam and Scott and they were across from each other. The doctor was currently talking to Scott. Spike heard Scott telling the doctor the same things he just finished telling Minna. Good he didn't need to repeat it. He rubbed his eyes feeling very tired.

Arriving at Sam's bed Spike looked at Sam and saw they had already started an IV. There were several bags besides the saline solution hanging and already dripping steadily into Sam via the IV line.

Turning to the doctor standing with Scott, Spike observed she was very young looking. For some reason it disconcerted him. Maybe he had been expecting an older doctor; someone like Dr. Fraser who exuded confidence. Spike asked "What are you giving him?"

Dr. Chardin smiled prettily at the other man and said "You must be Spike. Scott said you are Sam's friend and teammate. I'm Dr. Vanessa Chardin. But please call me Vanessa."

Spike nodded wondering at the somewhat nervous tone of the young doctor. He waited for an answer.

Dr. Chardin explained "We have started him on MRSA protocols based on what Scott said a doctor told him regarding Sam's symptoms. We don't have lab technician here right now to do the cultures to determine if it is in fact MRSA but it is better safe than sorry to start him on them. With the storm there is no way for Paula or Felix to get here."

Vanessa began to list things off in textbook style a little stilted as she tried to sound authoritative "However, don't be worried. It will do him no harm if it is not MRSA and if it is we are ahead of the game. It is also the part of the same protocol we would take for sepsis. I have also started him on a vasopressor because his blood pressure is too low as well as a low dose of corticosteroids and an antipyretic to reduce his fever. We will be monitoring his blood sugar levels and giving him insulin if necessary as sepsis can affect blood sugars too."

Spike was worried hearing they had no lab technician at the hospital. He heard a note of self-doubt or insecurity in her voice too. She looked so young. The doctor must be rather new. His tone was full of concern when he stated "You need to contact Dr. Fraser. Sam reacts differently to certain medications."

Dr. Vanessa Chardin frowned and said "I'm sorry I cannot contact him. I'm afraid our phone lines are down."

"Don't you have any sort of backup?" Spike asked shocked that the hospital would not have a work around to the phones.

She sighed and said "We got caught short handed here by the flu decimating the staff the past two weeks and with the storm. I'm the only doctor here and most the staff is stuck in their homes with no way to get here. That includes our only technical support guy. There may be some way to make a call but no one here knows what to do. I'm sorry but we will do our best for Sam."

Spike looked around and just realized that there was only one doctor, one nurse and an orderly in the hospital ER. The lights were also dim like they were running off a backup generator. Crap. He asked "Where is your IT or technical department?"

"Why?" Vanessa asked.

"Maybe I can find something. A CB, a radio, a satellite phone or something" Spike said not willing to just sit back and wait. Sam needed proper care and that included knowing his medical history and possibly a more experienced doctor.

Vanessa was hopeful when she asked "You would know what to do if you found something like that?"

From his bed Scott had been listening. He piped in "Yeah. Spike is the whiz bang techie for Toronto's SRU Team One."

Relief flooded Vanessa "Oh thank goodness. We've been managing the best we can but if we can find something to get an emergency message out I have a patient that needs more care than I can provide him. I'm new here and just started my residency. I'm not licensed to perform surgery without an attending physician. I was here when Dr. Howard left just before the storm hit. He came down with the flu like so many of the staff and had to leave."

"I was going to call our other doctor to come in but we got a rash of simple emergencies just before the storm hit. We were so short staffed due to the flu that ran rampant through our staff that by the time anyone could call the phones were down. Dr. Lennex will not know that Dr. Howard is not here."

"But even if I could get a message to Dr. Lennex he will not be able to help because he the hospital psychiatrist not the surgeon. I really need a surgeon. A little boy needs an appendectomy soon and I've never even observed one of those. The parents are hesitant for me to do it. I've been reading up on it in my textbooks and I will do it I have too but I really would prefer an experienced surgeon."

Scott said "Perhaps Ron can be sent for the surgeon?"

"I wish. Dr. Mauja is visiting his family in the Northwest Territories right now. We are just a small hospital. Usually we only get a few emergencies and that is usually broken bones from skiing accidents. Most real emergencies end up going to the larger hospital that has a full trauma center and multiple doctors. I need to find a surgeon or get the boy to the larger hospital" Vanessa said.

"How far is that hospital?" Scott asked.

"Twenty three miles but in this weather it might as well be two hundred. That boy can only be moved by ambulance in case the appendix bursts in route. But there is no way that the ambulance we have can get there in this weather" Vanessa stated in a disheartened voice.

Scott suggested "What about Dr. Landry Craig?"

"Doc Landry? I don't know. I heard Dr. Howard talk about him, never met him. I suppose he would have done many of that type of surgery but he is so old. Besides how would I get him here?" Vanessa said.

"Same way we got here, the sno-cat. I'm sure Ron would be willing to go get him" Scott said.

Spike said "Show me to the IT room. I'll see what I can do but I think we should send Ron for Landry too."

Vanessa said "Okay, follow me." Then as she left Vanessa called over her shoulder "Minna can you ask Ron about getting Doc Landry for me after you check over Sam's vitals once again. After I show Spike to the IT department I'm going to check on little Ethan."

Minna smiled "Sure thing."

Hospital – IT Department

Spike sighed looking at the closet sized room smaller than his little room in SRU. He looked at Vanessa and said "This is it?"

Giving Spike a shrug of her shoulders Vanessa said "Yeah, not quite the big city here. It was a shock to me too when I arrived a month ago."

Looking around the room Spike said "If I get through I'll let you know."

As she turned to leave Vanessa said "I'll take good care of your friend. I know I'm new and all but I did graduate in the top ten of my class."

"How'd you end up in a small town hospital then?" Spike asked and the realized how rude that was and quickly said "Sorry no offence meant. Where you choose to do your residency is none of my business."

Smiling Vanessa said "None taken. I'm here because I was a foster kid. I dearly wanted to be a doctor but couldn't afford it. I applied for scholarship after scholarship and lost out each time. That is until I applied for the MBH Scholarship. It was set up to help foster kids and rural communities that needed doctors. It paid for a full ride so long as I agreed to do a residency in a small town and then commit to practice in a small town for five years once licensed."

She leaned on the door jamb and sighed as she watched Spike rummage in the box. "You know I wouldn't have been able to go after my dream without that scholarship. And actually I'm finding I like it here. People here care about one another and watch out for each other. It's a nice change from an impersonal city. I think I found a place I can finally call home and make a difference too."

"I'm glad you got the opportunity. It's wonderful that you have found someplace to belong" Spike said as he rummage through one of the boxes on the back shelf.

Spike grinned as he pulled out a CB radio and said "With any luck I can get through with this. The range is short but I might be able to get people to leap frog the message."

Vanessa nodded and said "I'll leave you too it then. I need to check on the other patients then back to Scott and Sam."

Spike nodded already clearing a spot on a table to set up the radio.

Hospital – ER Treatment Area

Minna and Scott spoke to Ron about going to get Landry. He was happy to do so and headed right out.

Scott leaned back finally feeling relief as the medication took the pain away. He glanced at Sam as Minna was checking his vitals again. "How is Sam doing?"

Minna walked over to Scott and said "Fever is still at 103 but that is down from 103.5 when he came in. His blood pressure is still too low for my liking but it is rising a bit. His blood sugars are still okay too. So I think Sam is headed in the right direction."

Just then Sam started thrashing about. Minna rushed over to him as Scott yelled "Careful. Go slow and don't startle him."

Minna stopped just by the edge of the bed as Spike's warnings reentered her head at Scott's yelled warnings. Minna called out "Sam. It's okay Sam. You are in a safe place."

The thrashing slowed and Minna saw emotion filled blue eyes as they opened and looked at her. They were glazed with fever and something else. She saw the hand reach out towards her slowly. She gazed at those striking blue eyes trying to read what she saw. They were a window to this man's soul and she saw a longing of sorts.

She stepped closer and took the searching hand in hers. She had learned that when patients woke disoriented it was good to reassure them they were safe and not alone. So Minna said softly "You are safe here. I will take care of you Sam."

Sam couldn't believe what he was seeing and hearing. She was here and holding his hand. His other hand reached out and touched her face and she smiled at him. "Jules. Don't leave me. Please don't leave me."

Minna realized Sam was hallucinating. He was seeing someone else. Someone he cared about by the look on his face. She touched his face lightly. "Not leaving you. You will be okay. Just rest now. I will be here" Minna said softly.

Sam smiled. Jules was not leaving him. She came back. She wanted him. His hand snaked behind her neck and pulled her to him. Sam held Jules close to him as he kissed her passionately pouring every ounce of his love for Jules into the kiss.

He only released her when she started to struggle against his hold. Sam was confused.

Jules never reacted that way to his kisses. She never pulled away or struggled. He stared at Jules as she backed away from him.

Sam's voice was pleading and cracking with emotion "Jules don't go. Please don't leave me again. I love you Jules. I can't live without you. Choose me this time. Please choose me." Tears began to fall as Jules backed further away from him.

Minna glanced back as Scott. The words were heartbreaking. She asked Scott "What do I do?"

Scott grabbed the cane and made his way to Sam as quickly as he could. Coming alongside the other side of the bed Scott said "Sam? Sam look at me."

Sam's head turned to look at Scott. Scott was blurry through his welled tears. Sam wrenched out in a gravelly uneven tone "Jules is leaving me again. She said she loved me but she is leaving me again. She is choosing the team over me again. Why won't Jules choose me? Isn't my love good enough?"

Scott choked on the lump in his throat. He knew Sam and Jules were dating even though it was against policy. Sam had shared his secret with him. He had never seen Sam so happy. But now it sounded like Jules broke it off. Why? When?

Gently putting his hand on Sam's shoulder Scott said "Your love is more than good enough. I don't know what happened but you will be okay. Why don't you rest and we can talk later."

Sam nodded and his teary, glazed, confused eyes slipped closed.

Minna went around the other side and helped hold up Scott as he started to fall. "Let's get you back in bed."

With some difficultly Minna helped Scott into bed. She stood next to Scott's bed looking at Sam with her fingers playing lightly over her lips. Her voice disheartened "That was so sad. I'm sorry he thought I was her."

Scott saw a strange look on Minna's face. He reached out his hand and caught her arm "Minna?"

Minna turned to Scott as her fingers continued to brush lightly across her kiss swollen lips.

Scott asked "Are you okay? Sam didn't hurt you did he?"

Her lips curved into a demure smile "No not at all. I don't know who that Jules is but she is crazy. Geez I've never been kissed quite like that. He's an amazing kisser."

Scott chuckled "I wouldn't know. I'll take your word for it."

Minna blushed, smiled broadly and her eyes twinkled "Wouldn't mind being kissed by Sam like that again."