Amethyst jumped out of the back of the ambulance. Her boots splashing in the puddle of rain that had gathered in the last ten mins they had been on scene. The female had waited until the last minute to call and now required a CPAP or continous positve airway pressure mask to maintin the desired nintey five percent of oxygen. Current triage was red or critical.
The rain that had been drenching them while extricating the patient from her home began to lighten up. At this point Luna had managed to reach the door to the ambulance.
"Excuse Me!"
Amythest turned to the voice thinking it was family inquiring about where the transport destination was.
"Medic 22 start for a Priority 1 Assa-"
Instinctively Amethyst covered her radio with her hand to muffle dispatch putting a nearby unit in route. Dispatch as of late had been more talkative on the radios due to the influx of emergency calls. Amethyst didn't mind though she was glad to have something to keep her busy. It kept her distracted from thoughts of Lance. He worked at the same emergency medical service as her District Chief in other words supervisor. In even further broken down terms, a relationship that could never happen. So Amethyst did her best to stay away from Lance.
"I just had a question." The man said once Amethyst had turned completely toward him. It wasn't uncommon for family members of the Patient to be asking why it was taking so long for them to start transport. Family members tended to be more anxious than the Patient's themselves and sometimes the call warranted it.
"How can I help you?" Amethyst asked with a smile.
Lance gripped the steering wheel with one hand and pressed a hand to his temple with the other. Dispatch had been non stop on the radio sending one call out after the other. An ambulance would clear the hospital and then immediately be put on another call. He himself was up to his knees in tasks. Several ambulances needed narcotics replaced to be used on other patients. He didn't even want to think about the mound of paperwork and emails waiting for him back at the office.
Traffic on the highway finally spread out some and he set his cruise to sixty miles per hour. His vehicle, a Ford Pickup with a cover over the truck bed, was his ride for the day. Decals on the side showed the ambulance service and designated him as one of the district chiefs. A role that was demanding, and required a lot of focus. He managed to travel a couple miles before traffic slowed down again and he was forced to step on the brake.
By some miracle dispatch finally quieted on the radio and Lance could already feel his headache lifting. Reaching for his drink he took a sip of the iced coffee he picked up this morning. An iced latte with Carmel drizzle on top. As he set the cup down he eyed the cars in his side mirror. They were way to close for his liking.
"Medic 27 can you repeat?"
Lance pulled his attention from the cars to the radio turning the volume up. Medic 27 was Amethyst's truck. She had always seemed like a sweet girl. He had never had any problems with her and her work ethic. Always showed up on time, was courteous to coworkers. Running calls with her always went smoothly. The more he thought about her the more he was finding things he liked about her that weren't related to work. Her eyes were a bright green and always shown brightly from what he witnessed and oh my word that smile of her's was contagious.
Lance coughed. Cleared his throat then was reaching for his coffee again. He was her supervisor, this so called crush that he had somehow developed could never happen. And he meant never. Besides it always seemed to go out of her way to keep a professional relationship with all of her coworkers.
"Medic 27...I need to call a code red trauma alert and I need a second transporting unit, a district chief, and the Police Department all to my location emergent traffic."
"Medic 27 go ahead with your trauma alert" Dispatch replied.
There was a pause. A pause that Lance noted was too long for someone calling a trauma alert. Lance listened silently as he grabbed the radio. He would let them call the alert before putting himself in route to their location.
Amethyst was calm as she keyed up over the radio again. "Medic 27 I am calling a code red trauma alert on a twenty-one year old female. That's two-one year old female. Going to the nearest trauma center for a penetrating injury to the abdomen. Glascow Coma Scale of fifteen. Estimated time of arrival will be...1300."
Lance put the radio close to his mouth as dispatch repeated the alert back to Medic 27 and received confirmation.
"Medic 1 show me in route to Medic 27 emergent traffic."
"Medic 1 enroute"
Lance pulled onto the left shoulder turning on his lights and sirens. Some cars took a few minutes to respond but he made steadily faster progress through traffic as more cars recognized his presence.
Eight minutes later Lance pulled into the neighborhood. He kept his emergency lights on but turned off the sirens. The neighborhood was in poorer part of town. The houses were run down but many people called this place home. A few houses he drove by had the brightly colored paper marking the house as condemned. He took the road slow due to the cracks and potholes littering the roadway. The house that Medic 27 had been dispatched to should be around the next corner at the end of the caul-de-sac.
Turning the corner he saw the ambulance parked, facing him as he approached. The emergency lights were flashing and headlights were shinning bright. As he parked he could not find a single person around the ambulance. He walked towards the ambulance glancing around the nearby scene. He adjusted his radio strap has he approached. He grabbed the handle of the side door and tugged it open. Amethyst's partner, Allura, turned and looked at him.
"Where's Amethyst?" Lance asked.
Allura shrugged her eyes glancing towards the monitor. "I'm not sure. She closed the backdoors several minutes ago and never went up front to start driving." Her eyes flicked to the monitor. "We need to leave soon though, we're on the main oxygen tank but the patient needs the hospital."
Lance nodded. "I know. Amethyst requested a second ambulance here."
"She did?" Allura glanced up to the truck radio. "I guess I missed it the truck radio is on the hospital's channel and my portable is turned down."
"Hang tight for the second ambulance." Lance shut the door and continued around the back of the ambulance. He had to find amethyst. Approaching the driver's side of the ambulance his attention was drawn to the driver's door. There was Amethyst sitting on the running board of the ambulance. She had her arms pressed against her abdomen and she was leaning forward her head almost touching her knees. Lance's gaze flicked behind her to the driver's door. There was a smear of what he could only identify as blood. Lance stepped forward and as he moved Amethyst looked up. Relief filled her features and she went to stand up. She used the door to pull herself up to her feet. It wasn't missed by Lance that her hand was coated red.
"Amethyst, what happened?" Lance asked. He moved towards her hands outstretched. She only managed to take a couple of steps before her legs gave out. She gasped as she began to collapsed. Lance was instantly by her side, he wrapped his arms around her waist and helped hold her up. Her head lolled against his shoulder a shuddering breath escaping her lips. As slowly and gently as he could he lowered Amethyst to the ground and laid her flat on her back. He didn't need to ask who the trauma alert was anymore. It was amethyst, she had called the alert on herself. The thought churned his stomach and he worked to keep himself from panicking. Why would anyone do this?
"Red hoodie...blue jeans...white sneakers...took off north bound..." Amethyst spoke repeatedly the description and direction of travel of the assailant. Lance drew her attention brushing a few stray hairs out of her face.
"Amethyst, what happened?" Lance asked. He patted down his pockets for gauze or the quick-clotting powder that was most commonly used for gunshot victims. In the distance and rapidly approaching was the second ambulance, and Lance could only hope that amethyst would hold on that long.
"It was a-" she coughed her face tight with pain, "a knife". She looked at him her eyes glassy with tears and the light in them was starting to dim. Her voice quivered, "I thought it was a family member who had a question." She drew the hand that was free from stemming the bleeding and placed it against her face, sobs broke free and tears drained from the corners of her eyes towards her ears.
"I need to take a look" Lance said. Amethyst nodded her understanding. She knew the drill. Cut and expose the injured area, control the bleeding. Lance pulled his trauma shears from his tactical pants. He cut through her black quarter zip and through her uniform shirt. Amethyst moved to remove her radio strap and Lance glanced up at the movement. The hand that had been placed against her face had left it tainted red. Turning back to the injury he found a stab wound approximately seven millimeters in length just above Amethyst's waistband of her pants. He applied pressure with his gloved hand and looked up just as the second ambulance rounded the corner.
Pidge and Keith jumped out of the ambulance and ran around the back to grab the stretcher and other equipment. A few moments later they were by Lance working to help stabilize Amethyst.
He pointed to Pidge, "Pidge, jump in the ambulance and get Allura and her patient to the hospital." Pidge nodded and was in the driver's seat and a few seconds later pulling away.
On scene still, Keith hooked up a non-rebreather mask and placed it over Amethyst's face coaching her to breathe deeply as it delievered fifteen liters per minute of oxygen to her. More tears drained from her eyes as she looked straight up into the cloudy sky. It was as if Lance's own heart had been stabbed instead of Amethyst's abdomen. Working quickly he pulled a trauma dressing and the quick-clotting powder. He dressed her wound and secured it with tape.
"We need to get her loaded and get going" Keith said as he cut through the rest of Amethysts quater zip. He left her bra alone not only out of respect but becuase they had no reason to cut it off out in the field.
Once Lance was sure that the dressing was secured he grabbed beneath Amethyst's legs well keith threaded his arms underneath her armpits and grabbed her arms. Keith counted them down and on three they lifted and placed her on the cot securing the seatbelts.
In the back of the ambulance Keith worked to place her on the cardiac monitor and get vitals like a Blood pressure and oxygen level.
"I'm gonna start an IV," Lance stated grabbing Amethyst's left arm. He placed a thin blue tourniquet around her arm used in order to constrict blood in order to make the veins pop.
Amethyst nodded lazily. Hed eyes fluttered close and she took a deep shuddring breath. When she opened her eyes a few moments later she placed her gaze on the celling of the ambulance as fresh tears trailed from her eyes to her ears.
He was securing the IV when Keith reported his vitals. Heartrate is sinus tachycardia at one hundred and thirty beats a min. Blood pressure is seventy-nine over thrity and oxygen level is ninety-five percent on the fifteen liters per minute of oxygen.
Lance nodded and reached for a drawer containt IV fluids and drop sets. His head was swirling with thoughts of treatments plans, but mostly he was fighting with himself he was torn between treating Amethyst as any other patient. The problem was she wasn't just any other patient.
He connected the IV fluids and opened the clamp all the way. He needed to get her Blood pressure up to a normal range. Securing the monitor to the CPR seat in the ambulance he told Keith to start driving emergent traffic to the trauma center and to update their estimated time of arrival with dispatch. Meanwhile Lance called his radio traffic to the hospital given them a run down of what he knew and the latest set of vitals. Amethyst's blood pressure had come up but not by much, she was going to need more fluids.
After he secured the radio back to it's mount he looked at the monitor and made sure her vital signs were not getting worse then they already were. He turned to grab another bag of fluids for when Amethyst finished the first one. He placed his hand on the rail of the stretcher and leaned to grab the bag. He had no more than already had his hand on the bag when he felt Amethyst grab his hand. He turned to look at her his gaze searching her features.
She blinked away newly developed tears, and with her free hand she pulled the non-rebreather from her face. She swallowed, and gripped his gloved hand tighter.
"Please don't leave me."
Her voice was a whisper and he barely registered the words. He had almost asked her to repeat them, but then he fully processed what she said. The knife in his gut twisted deeper and he almost lost it then and there. He refrained however and held it together for Amethyst's sake. She continued to hold his gaze trying to convey something that she could not speak within that moment. It appeared as if she was trying to muster the strength but was unable to. All he wanted was to go back and kill the son of a bitch that did this. He would take her pain and make it so that she never had to endure this at all. But he couldn't, just because he was in. EMS doesn't mean that he was a god. He didn't get to decide who lived or died, but he would be damned if Amethyst died in the back of his ambulance.
Lance was captivated by her gaze the bright green eyes that he had come to know over the years. The thought was flitting through his mind, but it was there all the more, dare he say he came to love them over the years? He watched as they fluttered close and he was captivated by her all too peaceful face.
Then reality hit all too quickly when the carbon dioxide monitor started beeping at him indicating that no breath was present. Lance turned his gaze back to Amethyst and went to feel the carotid pulse in her neck. He noted the cyanosis around her lips indicating hypoxia. He calmed slightly when he felt a pulse, placing his stethoscope against her chest he heard the faint movement of air throughout her lungs. He needed to move quickly if he was going to reverse this.
Jumping up from his seat he flew to the airway cabinet and grabbed a bag-valve mask. It was a mask with a football shaped bag that a person squeezed in order to ventilate a patient. Right now Amethyst's respirations were too slow and way too shallow for his liken and he needed to coach them to a normal range. Placing a hand on her forehead and another on her chin, Lance performed the Head-tilt-chin-lift maneuver in order to open her airway. After that he placed the mask over her mouth and nose, he made sure that a good seal was present and then proceeded to squeeze the bag every five to six seconds.
"Five minutes out!" Keith yelled from the front. Lance could barely hear him over the sirens and airhorn.
They were almost there. "Hang on Amethyst, almost there." He said staring at her closed eyes. He was kicking himself internally for being in denial for so long about the girl laying before him practically at death's door. He should have said something to her protocol and rules and regulations be damned. The administration could fire him if it only meant that he could say what he wanted to say to her regardless if she felt the same. You can recover from embarrassment but you can't from death.
At the hospital it was a blur of unloading and getting to the trauma bay. He barely remembered giving the trauma team report before Amethyst was whisked away to emergency surgery. He followed as far as he could up until a nurse stopped him with a firm head shake and the dark colored doors were shut in his face. He watched as the took her bed around the corner through the window. He stared a few minutes even after he could no longer see her his brain processing every emotion at once.
His radio crackling to life pulled him to the present and his back found a wall. His legs recognizing they could rest lowered Lance to the ground and there he sat. He barely registered the tears that finally broke free and trailed down his face. His gaze was focused on his bloodied gloves, he stared as they went in and out of focus. He had seen blood on his gloves before, in fact in such a big city blood on his gloves was a normalcy. So why was this different? He knew it was a stupid question as soon as he asked it. Of course this was different. This was HER blood. Amethyst's Blood. The one person's blood that he had been in such denial about. He slammed his head against the wall groaning with frustration. He should have mentioned something sooner life can be cruel.
Hours later after Lance had shed the gloves and found a loner coffee machine by a vending machine with a severe need of being refilled. He looked between the tortilla chips and the granola bars. He selected one and watched as the granola bar fell with a thud. As he pulled it out his stomach churned with nausea and he almost tossed it in the nearby trash. He couldn't bring himself to eat much less drink the coffee he made via the machine. It was though, a distraction to hold the warm mug in his hand and place the granola bar in his pocket.
He had no more than found a chair when the doctor found him and called him over. He hadn't been expecting hearing back from Amethyst's surgery so soon much less directly from the doctor. He figured that her family would have been contacted her parents should have been here by now.
"Mr. McClain-" The doctor started.
Lance cut him off, "Have you contacted her family?"
The doctor shook his head, "She has no family," The doctor extended his hand towards Lance. Lance noted it was holding a penlight. "She specifically requested you have the first update."
Lance was a taken aback."So she has no family?"
The doctor was clearly getting annoyed. "Mr. McClain, most of the Patient's family has died or is not even on speaking terms with her." The doctor poked the penlight into his pectoral. "YOU are the only person she has."
The doctor's words echoed through his mind as he listened to the update. Amethyst had undergone a major surgery in order to repair the damages caused by the blade that had been inflicted upon her. The doctor reported only needing to give her one blood transfusion, but for the most part Amethyst had pulled through. Lance nodded here and there throughout the conversation to show that he was listening. His mind was still reeling from the fact that he was Amethyst's emergency contact, in simplified terms. Sure they had worked a lot together throughout the years, and they had both attended get togethers with coworker's as just a hangout time that wasn't on duty. It was a chance for team building and bonding that was better than a meeting with pizza. A memory flitted across Lance's mind at one of these gatherings.
The group had been sitting around talking and hanging out. Amethyst being the person she was noticed that the chips were empty and hopped up to fix the predicament. Lance had recalled watching as she grabbed the bowels and practically glided into the kitchen. She had been wearing a grey sweater dress with black leggings and white socks. Her hair had been twisted up and secured to the back of her head Lance only recalled because he had been trying not to look at her hair the entire time. It had been a few minutes past then what it should have taken for Amethyst to be back with the chips, so he went looking for her. He had found her standing in the kitchen hands on her hips and head tilted slightly upward. He followed her gaze and noted a bag of chips on the top shelf. He stood there a moment taking her and all her beauty in. He watched as she pulled back her sleeves and pulled herself up onto the counter. She wobbled for just a moment and then she was standing on the granite counter a hand gently but firmly placed on the shelf of a lower cabinet. Lance smiled at her small celebratory hop on the counter as she grabbed the chips. It was a hop that was short lived however when she landed and the fuzzy socks didn't have enough traction causing her to slip and fall. Lance's smile turned to panic as he set his drink down and rushed forward. His timing was impeccable as he caught Amethyst in his arms. Her arms had instinctively wrapped around his neck and her gaze locked with his an expression of surprise on her features. Wisps of hair had floated in front of her face, and Lance? He was so far gone.
Lance smiled at the memory, one that he could never forget. The ding of the elevator pulled him back to the present and he stepped off. Looking down at the piece of paper the doctor had given him, he read over Amethyst's room number again. It was as if the doctor knew he wasn't completely paying attention.
He followed the signs that lef him to the room numer four-eight-one-eight. The door was open on his arrival and he peeked cautiously in. Laying in the bed her face turned away from him was amethyst. The blanket was draped over the bed covering her from the waist down, there was not a wrinkle in sight the only bumps were her feet towards the end of the bed. Her arms lay limp at her sides an IV in her left forearm connected to a bag of normal saline hanging above the bed. Her right arm had a blood pressure cuff and SpO2 monitor. Her face he couldn't see from where he stood but her hair splayed out in a way that questioned if he was in a fairytale. He was questioning if someone had come in and arranged Amethyst's hair and opened the blinds just so that cast the perfect glow.
Pausing there for a moment he took in Amethyst and her still form. He watched the drops of the fluid as they dripped into the tubing and flowed into the IV port. The monitor was beeping softly indicating a steady heat beat. Lance glanced over her vitals noting them to be within normal limits. Taking a deep breath he moved further into the room and over to the bench seat attached to the window. He took a seat and leaned forward his arms resting on his knees. It was at this point that he realized he was still carrying the coffee cup from earlier. He ran his fingers over the side noting that the warmth from earlier was gone and now the coffee was more than likely cold. He set the cup on a nearby table and turned his attention back to Amethyst.
Her features were peaceful. Her color was pinker and the blood that had covered her face was gone. There was no sign of the pale colored features or wide panicked stricken eyes. A nasal cannula was in her nose providing Amethyst with oxygen. Her chest rose and fall softly a sight that Lance took comfort in. He leaned back and pinched the bridge of his nose willing himself not to cry again. He took a shuddering breath and stood. He needed to do something to get his emotions under control.
"I hate allergies this time of year." A nurse spoke suddenly from the doorway.
Lance jumped and crossed his arms in response, "Yeah-yeah they suck."
The nurse shared a knowing smile before walking further into the room. She pulled with her a computer on a stand with a couple vials of medications and various needles, syringes, and flushes. She scanned Amethyst's bracelet and then worked on drawing up the medications.
"It's time for her pain medications." The nurse said by way of explanation.
Lance nodded, "How long will she be sleeping for?"
"The Anesthesia should wear off in another hour or two." The nurse having drawn up the medications pushed the med into the IV site watching the monitor for any changes in Amethyst's vitals.
After flushing the IV site and noting the level of the fluid bag the nurse turned to Lance. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
Lance shook his head his gaze focused again on Amethyst. He was zoning out way more often than he normally would. He was aware of this fact but he couldn't change the fact that he was doing it.
"You love her." The nurse spoke her hands clasped in front of her. She was an older lady with blonde hair that was slowly fading to gray. Glasses rested upon her face framing bright blue eyes. Her stethoscope rested around her neck decorating her light blue scrubs.
"I-ah-No-It's not like that." Lance stammered for an explanation that the nurse saw right through all with an amused expression on her face. Lance sighed and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "Is is that obvious?"
The nurse shrugged and smiled at him. "Not to the inexperienced eye, but I can see that you care for her." She tilted her head at him so she was looking at him over her glasses, "My advice, make your move when you can. You never know when something could happen."
After that the nurse was gone and Lance was left alone with his thoughts. The nurse was right, he needed to say something. His thoughts had enough time to brew and he knew now more than ever that he cared for Amethyst and that he wanted to protect her with every fiber of his being. He enjoyed her smile and he wanted nothing more than to see it everyday. He enjoyed more than anything their conversations together and goddamn it the nurse was right he did love her. Warmth surged through his chest as he turned back to Amethyst. He was gonna tell her as soon as she woke up he was gonna tell her how much he loved her.
Amethyst was still asleep when Lance left to grab food from the cafeteria. He had assessed her vitals and brushed the hair from her eyes. He squeezed her hand gently and then he was off to grab some nutrition.
He was only gone for fifteen minutes and when he returned his brisk walk turned into a run. In front of Amethyst's room was a flashing blue light above the door and his heart sank. The blue light indicated a patient was in cardiac arrest, but surely it couldn't be Amethyst he still had so much he needed to tell her. He set the tray down on a nearby cart and braced himself for what he might find inside.
He only made it so far before a nurse stopped him and guided him back out of the room. He had made it far enough to see a group of nurses in Amethyst's room. One was at the head of the bed ventilating her and two nurses on either side of the bed were alternating compressions on Amethyst. He heard the doctor ordered another dose of Epinephrine and after that Lance heard nothing else.
His gaze was focused on Amethyst's hand. It was hanging over the edge of the bed bouncing with each compression. It was lifeless and pale in color. It was the same hand that Lance had squeezed moment's before, just fifteen minutes ago it had been warm and pink. It was a hand he was gonna hold for a lifetime. The dream of that shattered thought and he was slapped in the face with reality as he watched the scene before him. The nurse tried to push him further out of the room and he fought back.
"No! I can't leave her! I promised I wouldn't!" Lance yelled as he pushed against the nurse.
"Get Security in here!" Another nurse yelled.
"Please! Let me in!" Lance cried his voice cracking. He could hear the tears in his voice just as much as he could feel them building in his eyes. She couldn't be in cardiac arrest right now, they couldn't be running her as a code.
At that moment security showed up and hauled Lance out of the room and into the hallway he watched as the door shut with a loud click cutting off any sight of Amethyst. He collapsed to his knees and security released him as he fell back against the fall. The tears streamed freely and his chest felt tight. He placed a hand over his chest and leaned his head back. He was lightheaded and his vision blurred with tears or panic he couldn't tell. Security had stepped back to give him space but stayed nearby in case he attempted for the room again.
The cool floor of the hallway some what grounded him, but he couldn't pull himself completely out of his panic. She couldn't leave him, not yet. Not when he had yet to tell her how he felt about her. He didn't get a chance to tell her how much he loved her. Damn that nurse for being right, life was just too fucking unpredictable.
What felt like hours later the door to room four-eight-one-eight opened and the nurses and doctor filed out solemn looks on all her faces. A nurse approached Lance and he stood to his feet not of his own power. He stared past the nurse and into the room where he could see only the foot of the bed.
"I'm so sorry-" The nurse started but Lance brushed past her and into the room. His entire body was numb and he felt as if he was in another person's life. This couldn't be his life, could it?
In the room, Lance, found Amethyst laying on her back. the blankets were pulled tight covering her from the waist down not a wrinkle in sight. Amethyst's hands were placed one on top of the other and resting on her abdomen. Her gown was placed back over her chest and fastened together by the buttons on the shoulder's. Her features were peaceful and pale. Her hair was spread out and a few strands rested on her face. Instinctively Lance brushed them from her face and tucked them behind her ear.
Seeing Amethyst laying there without a hope of stirring filled him with an emotion he could only describe as grief. He let the darkness pull him to his knees by Amethysts bedside. He had his head bowed barely touching the bed his hand rested atop hers, and he cried. The tears flowed out of him as if he himself was made of water. For a long time he cried as his guilt and regret ate at him. He had years to tell her how he felt and now she was dead. A bright sun filled girl with eyes as bright as emeralds and now they barely shined brighter than a dark room. He didn't moved for a long time even when his knees began to ache and his arms fell asleep. He refused to move, he had been too late and now he felt as if there was nothing else for him now. The same thought repeated over and over in his head and each time it brought fresh tears to his eyes.
I was too late to love her.