Sam had taken in every detail of his face. From the thick black eyebrows to the piercing grey eyes and high cheekbones, she was sure it was him. It had to be. This was the man she was chasing in the flashback.
She quickly replayed the incident in her mind, the man wearing the exact same pale blue scrubs and lab coat this man was wearing was running away from her, and when he ran into the ED she must have seen something because next second she was turning tail and running full pelt in the opposite direction. Was this man the reason the ED had exploded?
Whatever he was doing here, he seemed to recognise Sam.
"Dr… Nicholls?" He slurred, his eyes not level.
He took another few steps forward before collapsing. Tom and the porters rushed over to him, Tom checking his pulse with his good arm while the porters stood a couple of paces away, unsure of what to do. Sam stayed exactly where she was, as though rooted to the spot.
"Sam?" Tom shouted, "I need some help over here!"
The sound of Tom's voice quickly snapped Sam out of her momentary stupor, and she ran over to help Tom lift the man onto one of the trolleys with all its wheels. It took several attempts, but Sam finally managed to heave him onto the trolley. Just as they did, an ID card fell out of the pocket of his lab coat onto the floor, making a clattering sound that only Sam noticed.
While Tom and the porter rushed towards AAU with the man Sam stooped to pick it up and read the name that was imprinted next to his photo. Mark James, Lab Technician.
The name stirred something in the depths of Sam's memory. She could feel an image forming, but she couldn't quite reach it, it was as though it was just out of her grasp. There was only one thing she was certain of: she knew this man somehow, and not just from chasing him through the ED.
Try as she might, Sam couldn't hold onto the tiny threads of the memory. She tried her utmost, squeezing her eyes shut and taking in every detail of the flashback, but nothing came. She had lost the only lead she had to finding out who that man was. But had she?
A new idea quickly took shape in her mind, though she knew what everyone was going to hate it. Especially Tom and Dr Hanna. She didn't care.
Sam quickly hurried back up to the ward she was staying on, taking the stairs two at a time, and reaching the reception desk in a matter of minutes despite the ED being over the other side of the hospital.
Aside from the patients however, the ward was curiously empty. Not a nurse in site. Even Charlie appeared to be missing.
Sam sighed and walked over to her bed. She figured she might as well sit down for a while as there was no telling how long Charlie was going to be. Unfortunately she'd forgotten about her rowdy neighbour. As soon as the bald haired man lying in the bed next to her woke up from what Sam assumed was a very long sleep, he immediately locked eyes on her.
"Get me a glass o' water will ya?" He demanded, pointing at the jug on his bedside table.
"Get it yourself. I'm not a nurse." Sam replied coldly, turning away from him.
"Oi! Girl! I said get me a flamin' drink o' water!" He yelled as he sat up in bed.
Sam frowned. She could have sworn he wasn't talking like that the last time she'd yelled at him.
"For a start," Sam quipped as she stood up and faced him, "I am not a girl I am a grown ass woman. For another thing your manners need some work, and lastly that 'drink o' water' you want is about half a foot away from your right hand. Though it looks as though you haven't exactly been to a gym in about 400 years, or got up off of your lazy ass in all that time, I think you're more than capable of getting a drink yourself. If not I could treat like you a toddler and get it for you, but that wouldn't exactly be the best use of my time and quite frankly the best use of my ear space either for I have no doubt you wouldn't keep your damn mouth shut."
Sam felt as though she was watching someone else speak through her lips all through that monologue, but enjoyed it all the same. She watched intently as the man made a song and dance about how much his poor aching back hurt as he leant around half an inch forwards and grabbed the jug and a glass, pouring himself a drink and then replacing it agonizingly slowly.
"I could have had a bloody 'eart attack just then lady!" He moaned after throwing back his head and gulping down the water like there was no tomorrow.
"Judging by the fact that your heart rate monitor says otherwise I'd say… most likely not." Sam said in an amused tone.
"What're you then? A doctor?" He said in a mocking tone.
"Actually, yes." Sam replied, enjoying the way that his mouth hung open.
"What'ya doin' dressed like a patient with a turban round yer 'ead then?" He asked, staring at her bandage.
"Because I am a patient." Sam replied after a long sigh.
"You just said yer a doctor." He said, waggling one of his chubby fingers.
Sam gritted her teeth to stop herself from shouting.
"I am a doctor at a different hospital. I was involved in an accident so now I'm here."
"I'm bettin' it was a car accident. Crazy woman drivers these days…" He grumbled.
"If you must know there was an explosion at my hospital. I was knocked out." Sam replied after a long sigh.
"What's wrong with ya then?" He asked, leaning forwards and peering into her eyes.
Sam sighed. "The blow to the head made me lose some of my memory."
"Hey! Same 'ere!" He said with a chubby grin.
Sam frowned. Why was he happy about that?
"How did you lose your memory?" She asked, narrowing her eyes.
"I, er, well I was in-"
"Sam?" Charlie shouted from over at the reception desk. "Are you alright?"
"Charlie! Where were you all?" Sam hollered back before getting up and beginning to walk over to him.
"Me and the other nurses were all watching the news. Looks like it was a bomb of some kind which caused the explosion." Charlie said as more nurses filed out of the staff room behind him.
"Do they know how it got there yet?" Sam asked, leaning up against the reception desk.
"No idea. Did you want to see me?" He asked with a smile.
"Actually yeah. I want to discharge myself."
…
I know it's been a couple of weeks so if you're wondering about the flashback I mentioned then it was at the bottom of chapter ten.
As far as my exams went… I'll have to wait and see but thanks for asking.