A/N: Yay, finally part two of the St Stevens trip! Sorry it took so long to update – had some mad writers block. To the Guest who asked 'where is Connie sitting?' it's the backseat of the van, behind Ash and beside Tess. (if this makes it any easier to visualize, Tess is in the middle seat with Lily on the right and Connie on the left side of her. Hope that clears any confusion up.) Anyway! You'll be glad to know this is my longest chapter yet – nearly 2,000 words! Please leave a review and if you want, some requests for future chapters/oneshots. –LittleBooLost/Ciara xx
'Our doctors and Tess have been in a crash. I don't know any details yet, but Jeff, Dixie and Zoe are already en route to the collision. I need you guys to be prepared to treat your friends – this is going to be a difficult shift, but I know we can do it.'
As Charlie finished speaking, the group of doctors and nurses began to disband, all preoccupied with clearing cubicles and prepping resus. That was true for everybody except Cal and Rita. The two of them rushed after Charlie as he walked from the nurses station, their guts churning and their brains formulating the worst outcomes imaginable.
Cal was the first to catch up. 'Charlie!' He waited for the senior nurse to turn around. 'What do you really know? Ethan – how is he? You've got to tell me!' His face was screwed up in anguish, one hand rubbing his buzz cut.
'Cal, I would if I could. I'm so sorry, you've just got to wait this one out with everyone else. Zoë's keeping me updated,' he waved his ancient Nokia 'and I'll let you know if anything changes. Okay?'
It wasn't what Cal wanted to hear. He narrowed his eyes, throwing the patient files he was holding to the floor. Papers fluttered slowly to the ground as he seethed. 'Thanks for nothing!' He spat, turning on his heel and storming off.
Rita knelt down beside Charlie, helping him to collect up the notes. 'What did he react like that for? For all we know, Ethan might just have a black eye. I thought they hated each other anyway.'
'Well, they're brothers. His reaction is understandable – for all their fighting, they do love each other.' Charlie took the sheaf of papers Rita was holding out to him with a sad smile. 'Thank you, sweetheart. Believe me, if my little brother was in Ethan's place and nobody would tell me what was happening, I'm sure I'd have done much the same.'
Rita attempted to smile back, but try as she might, it refused to reach her eyes. 'Oh.' She stood up, brushing the light layer of dust that had collected on her scrubs away.
'Rita, are you okay? You've been in a funny mood all morning.'
'Yeah, I um-' she rubbed her forehead, praying that the painkillers would kick in soon and cure her hangover. 'Yeah. Just a headache.'
'Okay….' Charlie nodded sombrely, and then a grin grew on his face. 'And really?' He nudged her gently, coaxing a tiny smile onto her lips.
"It's a headache…but I guess am a little worried about Connie and the others too. Would you keep me updated as well? Please?' Rita chose her words carefully, trying to gain information without revealing the relationship she had with Connie, and gave a sigh of relief when Charlie nodded, rubbing her arm in a way that was both comforting and affectionate.
Charlie had seen right through her cover-up, but had also noticed over the weeks that a tentative relationship between Rita and Connie was developing. It was subtle, and well hidden, but he'd worked it out pretty quickly. Perhaps it was his age or his wisdom that had allowed him to realise these little things, but there was no telling. Charlie just happened to be the only one that noticed Rita and Connie always arrived within a few minutes of each other, the only one that noticed the secretive smiles they shot at each other from across the department, the only one that noticed when they passed files to each other, their hands always brushed.
CRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCR
'Is that Ash and Lily?'
Dixie squinted, stamping on the brake as the ambulance squealed to a stop. 'I think so, Jeffrey.' She snatched her kit up, and turned to the back of the ambulance where Zoë was sitting. 'You ready, Zo?' Without waiting for an answer, she slammed the door open and jumped out.
Jeff was the first to reach Ash and Lily. Lily was pale and shaking severely, tears rolling slowly down her cheeks. Jeff shrugged out of his luminous jacket and helped her into it.
'She had a panic attack,' Ash mumbled as a means of explanation, and Dixie and Zoë reached the group. Jeff glanced up at him, internally wincing at the multiple shards of glass Ash had embedded in his shoulder. 'Right, okay. Anything else?'
'No.' Lily shook her head. 'I'm fine.'
'You're not. You're in shock – both of you. In a few minutes Tamzin and Iain will be here. I'm going to send the two of you back with them.' Dixie interrupted. Ash started to argue and she shot him a deplorable look. 'No arguments. There's not much you'll be able to do with that mashed-up shoulder.' She adjusted the strap of her kit, kneeling by the smashed windscreen of the van, and peering in at Ethan. 'How's everyone else?'
'Tess is fine, she's keeping an eye on Connie and Ethan-' Dixie moved round to the side of the van to find a way in and Zoë and Ash followed. 'Ethan's unconscious, he's trapped, his pulse and resp rate are slowing. Connie's elbow has broken badly, she's slipping in and out of consciousness, and there's glass embedded in her scalp.'
'Great, Jeff, you take-' Dixie turned to the other paramedic, only to find that he had wriggled into the front seat of the van, and was tending to Ethan. He waved out at her, grinning mischievously, and Dixie scowled. She turned her back on him pointedly and looked at Zoë. 'Seems like you're with Connie, then.'
Zoë slipped into the back of the van, joining Connie and Tess. As she disappeared from view, Tamzin and Iain arrived, the sirens on their ambulance blaring.
CRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCR
'Right, as you know this is Ethan Hardy, thirty-two. He's been unconscious for the best part of an hour, not responding to verbal or painful stimuli. He has a collapsed lung and crushed ribs on the right side. GCS is seven and OBS are twelve.' Tamzin explained, worry etched across her face. She shot a glance at Iain, who looked equally anxious.
'Let's have him in Resus, please.' Charlie indicated, as Cal and Lofty rushed over, quickly followed by Lily who was pursued by Ash. He grasped her by the arm and tried to pull her away, but she latched onto Lofty.
'Lofty, don't let him die. Please! Don't let him die!' She begged, tears filling her eyes as Ash steered her towards Iain with a meaningful glance. Cal glared furiously at her retreating back, and then he gazed down at his little brother. Ethan was completely still, a gas mask fixed over his face and his skin completely ashen.
Ash took control, taking his stethoscope from around his neck. 'Let's get some fluids in first, please.'
CRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCR
'Sorry, Tess can I just get past? I'll take over now,' Zoë dictated as she edged towards Connie. Connie's eyes were tightly closed, and her mouth was twisted in a grimace. Her skin had turned a pale, sickly shade of green, a stark contrast to the blood that had dried on her face.
Tess moved over silently, before carefully exiting the vehicle with Dixie's help. She could hear Zoë talking reassuringly to Connie.
'Okay, Connie it's me, it's Zoë. Can you hear me?'
There was no reply. Connie only shifted slightly, coming close to jostling her broken arm and doing more damage. Zoë winced, placing one hand on Connie's shoulder and one on her wrist to immobilse it. It was one of the nastiest breaks she'd ever seen – it was making even her stomach turn. Connie's arm was stretched out an unnatural angle, and her elbow had torn through the flesh. Her arm had twisted the wrong way so that her palm faced upwards, and there was a deep gash on the upper arm. Zoë turned to the broken door she'd gained access through, and called for assistance.
'Can somebody get me an arm brace, please?!'
No less than thirty seconds later Dixie was reaching through the smashed window, passing an arm brace through. Zoë grabbed it eagerly and carefully secured it around Connie's arm, praying that it would be enough protection. She'd barely fixed the last strap tight before Connie started to come round, her skin paling yet another shade.
'Connie!' Zoë leaned over the injured woman slightly, grasping her good hand and pushing strands of dark hair away from her clammy forehead. 'That's right, good girl….keep your eyes open.'
'Wha-what's happened?' Connie's voice was creaky. 'Why are you here?' She was reclining sideways in an uncomfortable position against the passenger door, and she attempted to push herself upright.
'No no no, don't move.' Zoë grasped Connie's shoulders and held her still for a minute, until she was sure she wasn't going to start moving again. 'You've been in a car accident. Don't worry – everyone's fine. We're going to get you out in a second.'
'No, not if I can just get this door open…' Connie wrenched herself upwards, trying to grab the door handle. In the process, she knocked her shoulder against Zoë's and jarred her arm. A strangled yell of anguish escaped her lips and she fell back against the fabricated seat, sobs racking her frail body.
Zoë sprang into action, comforting her shaken colleague the best she could. Enveloped tightly in her arms, Connie was shuddering uncontrollably and her skin was grey. Zoe shot a quick glance over at the door, meaning to call for Dixie, only to see that the paramedic was already climbing in.
'Right, what's happened?'
'She tried to get up and jarred her arm. We need to get her out now if we want to eliminate any chance of nerve damage.'
'Nerve damage?' Connie whimpered anxiously, grabbing a handful of Zoë's sleeve.
'Hey-' Dixie looked up from inserting a cannula so that Connie could see her face. 'I'm going to have you out of here in ten minutes tops. The chances of nerve damage are as close to zero as you can get, okay? Zoë's just being a worrypot. Don't tell her I said this'- Dixie lowered her voice to a fake whisper-, 'but I think she might be scared that with this smashed-up arm, you won't be able to do all the complex procedures at work for her!'
To the surprise of both Dixie and Zoë, Connie relaxed slightly, and actually giggled. She smirked at Zoë and murmured 'I knew there was something you weren't telling me!'
CRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCRCR