Chapter 22: This is NOT my Job
Caitlin hurries through S.T.A.R. Labs with a scowl, but underneath there was a current of worry. Cisco could've at least told her what she was walking into. What kind of help is a text stating, "Come to Star Labs right now"?
She had just arrived in the Cortex as Barry came in with a crackling burst of electricity.
Hurrying into the med bay, she found Juliet lying on the table and Barry standing next to it.
"What happened?" She quickly questioned, washing her hands and grabbing a pair of gloves.
"She was shot."
"I can see that! Anything else?" Caitlin exclaimed, checking for a pulse and making sure Juliet was breathing. Both were irregular, but present, thankfully. Normally, Caitlin was calm and collected in situations like this. "You can't help anyone if you panic" was the constant mantra, but seeing Juliet, who was only sixteen, with a gunshot wound made her blood burn cold in her veins. If she didn't know better, she'd think that Killer Frost was trying to take control. You wish, she thought to herself, now focus!
"Not that I know of." Barry replied, staying out of the way.
"Is this…?" She frowned at the washing line wrapped around the girl's leg, "How long has this been on?" She asked, but he was already gone.
He should've taken her to a hospital – they have better equipment for this sort of thing. But it's too late now; she needs immediate treatment. I- her racing thoughts were interrupted by Juliet herself.
"Not long," she said quietly, biting her lip, no doubt to distract her from the greater pain in her leg. Her eyes were having trouble focussing on Caitlin.
Still awake, poor thing, though I'd be more worried if she had blacked out. Haemorrhage is likely for a severe wound to the thigh if the bullet hit the femoral artery.
Caitlin began to attach an IV line to Juliet's arm, which was covered in blood, which made it hard to know where to insert the line, but she did her best.
"Do you know what type of bullet…?" Caitlin tried, though she was doubtful the girl knew; it was really just to keep her talking. Working while she spoke, she had grabbed an actual tourniquet, and had begun the process of cutting the washing line and the surrounding bloody denim off.
"I hate bullets." She muttered, feeling sick inside. Even though she'd never worked in a hospital, she'd known people who had. And the stories they told about bullets were sickening. Caitlin herself hadn't actually had to deal with many, because Barry was too fast to be hit, Ralph was made of rubber, and the rest of the team could usually avoid them. There was that time with the shrapnel, but somehow, this was different. Juliet was a kid.
"It was a small handgun, so maybe a 9mm short? But that's just a guess. It could've been anything for all I know. I don't know much about guns, but my Mum got me to take a lesson once just in case." Juliet mumbled, obviously desperate to be distracted.
"I'm going to need to do a scan, to see if the bullet actually needs to come out," Caitlin said, half to herself, half to Juliet, "then we'll see about cleaning and stitching and bandaging it." Suddenly pausing, she added, "Are there any other injuries I can't see? Broken bones, sprained limbs, anything?"
"Not that I know of." Juliet murmured, her eyes beginning to drift closed.
Still feeling sick, Caitlin did what she had been trained to do (not really - but she was the only one at the labs with any experience in the right field), and by the time she was bandaging, the feeling still hadn't abated.
Joe West was not a patrol cop.
He was a detective, and a pretty good one, if you could get him to admit it. Patrol cops made small time arrests, answered 911 calls, and generally took on small cases. Joe, on the other hand, had made several high-profile arrests, had investigated many tricky cases, and used the gun he carried more often than he'd like to think about.
No, Joe West was no patrol cop, but Captain Singh had been short on manpower tonight, so, as a favour, he'd been asked to take a few shifts.
Sighing in resignation, Joe sipped at his coffee and stared out into the empty street from the passenger seat of a patrol car; it was going to be a long night.
"Patrols near 9th and Leafton, please respond. Patrols near 9th and Leafton."
Reaching for the radio, his partner for tonight, Keating responded, "Patrol car 133 reporting, we are on 9th. Over."
"We have a 211 at the Klark's Basic's on 9th and Leafton. One gunman and estimated ten civilians. Over."
211, that's a robbery, Joe thought, immediately alert and taking the last swig of his coffee before placing the empty cup into his footwell. He gave a nod to his partner who returned it grimly before replying in confirmation.
"On our way. Over."
Arriving at the scene, Joe couldn't see a robbery in progress. He could see that there had clearly been a robbery – the abandoned gun and bloodstained floor attested to it – but the only person still at the scene was a seventeen-year-old girl named Cara Wheeler.
At least now Joe could do something that was actually in his job description.
"Cara, do you know where the robber went?" He asked her gently, seeing the tear-tracks and the blood smears swiped across the girl's face.
"No, he must've run out when I was helping my sister, who he shot." The girl's face may have sold her differently, but her tone was defiant and angry. "I can tell you that I managed to land a solid right hook to his jaw before he ran though."
"Fair enough," Joe considered, nodding to his partner, who was putting up police tape to avoid anyone disturbing the scene. Then he turned back to Cara, "Can you describe him other than that?"
"He was wearing a black ski mask, with a dark coloured hoodie and khaki pants." She rattled off confidently, but added with less certainty, "He seemed pretty young, but I didn't get to see much of him before I ran to call 911. Juliet might know more, but the Flash picked her up and must've run her to the hospital." For the first time, Cara seemed to grow worried. "I hope she's okay."
"If the Flash has got her, she'll be fine." Joe reassured her, before proceeding to ask more clarifying questions about the girl's story. Something in the name Juliet seemed familiar, but Joe dismissed it as a mystery he could solve another day.
I hope Barry got the girl help in time.
Finally, everything had been asked and clarified and red taped and explained to curious bystanders. The CCTV had been examined and the owner had been notified. So when another squad car pulled up, Joe volunteered to take Cara home to her family.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Knocking on the thick wooden door produced the immediate effect of two young voices shouting that "they would get it!" and Joe almost cracked a smile, remembering all those times he'd had two willing volunteers also.
The door was hastily flung open and the two boys gaped at the sight of a uniformed officer standing next to their bloodstained and serious-faced foster sister.
"Aunty! You might want to come quick!" One of them yelled, eyes never leaving the strange pair.
A set of hasty footsteps echoed on the wooden floorboards of the hallway before a middle-aged woman in an apron appeared with intuitive hazel eyes already assessing the situation.
"What's going on? Where's Juliet?" Were the first of a rapid-fire series of questions she sent at Joe and Cara. "Why are you covered in- wait. Is that blood?!"
Author's Note:
Hey everyone! You might've noticed that it's not Saturday - you'd be right :) I recently finished writing out this whole story! YAY! Such a good feeling. Anyway, this means I can possibly post more often and start to work on other fics that I want to write.
Anyway, I really like this chapter because it's got two perspectives that I don't usually write - Joe and Caitlin. You'll have to tell me if you think I did a good job of portraying their characters. I feel that Joe is pretty laid back in almost all situations and is often the rock steady voice of reason in the show. Caitlin is often really calm too, but tends to get worked up when the situation effects someone she cares about. At the same time, her skill set often means she remains calm under pressure when needed.
Also, I'm not sure if I got all the medical stuff right as I'm not a doctor and would have no clue what to do if someone is shot. I tried to do some research, but feedback would be much appreciated :)
Anyway, until next time!
Trix