Page 34 of Be With Me
Oooh, beach. They could go to the Outer Banks. Little history there, not too touristy. Rent a house. Debbie put that at the top of her mental search list just as the pager on her hip went off. When doing her emergency rotation, she’d done it at a trauma center so she was qualified to run a critical incident. Well, shit. Tonight was getting better and better—not. Debbie gave a quick flick of her hands and ran for the bathroom door.
When she got to the bay, the ambulance was parking and one of the other nurses threw her a gown and mask. Pulling them on, she reached for the gloves being held out. Doctor Ambrums skidded to a halt next to her as the EMT pulled the gurney out of the back.
“Report!” Ambrums barked as he reached for the side of the cot.
“Seventeen-year-old, male, multiple self-inflicted wounds to extremities. Several empty prescription bottles found around the patient. Barely able to stabilize him prior to transport. IV started. Vitals, bp sixty over forty, heart rate twenty-five, respiration ten,” the EMT finished as they got to the trauma suite.
“Okay, team, transfer on my count,” the physician’s assistant, Mark, called out. “Three, two, move.”
Once the patient was on the bed, the EMT pulled the gurney back. The patient’s arm dropped off the bed and the pressure on his arm released spraying blood all over Debbie’s front. Debbie had instinctively closed her eyes. She could feel the blood on her forehead and around her eyes. She thought that the gown and mask caught the rest, but she couldn’t positively tell.
“Debbie, don’t move. Keep your eyes closed,” Mark, said close to her then she felt his hand on her arm.
“Clean her up, Mark,” Ambrums directed. “We’ve got this covered.”
Mark guided Debbie out of the cubicle like they were playing pin the tail on the donkey. Debbie trying not to freak out without being able to see where she was going. It didn’t take long for Mark to get Debbie to the staff room, well, at least that’s where she thought he brought her.
“Stand right there. Don’t move.” Mark let go of her arm and Debbie tried to figure out what he was doing by the sounds he was making. “Okay, there’s a chair right behind you. Sit down and then I’m going to start at your forehead and scrub the blood off you. Doesn’t look like it got in your hair, but I’ll check after I get the rest off you. We don’t want to miss any.”
Debbie sat down and let Mark clean her up.Lord, did she tell Luny about this?Probably not. Didn’t want to give him anything to stress over. He needed to focus on his safety and not worry about her here at home. It didn’t take Mark long before he pulled off her mask.
“Looks like the gear did its job. I don’t see that there’s blood in your hair. Doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t scrub it good when you get off shift with a strong antibacterial. You okay from all this?” he asked as Debbie opened her eyes. She could see the concern in his eyes.
“I’m fine, Mark. Took me by surprise but nothing got in my eyes. I’ll be okay.” Debbie stood and pulled off the soiled gown and crumpled it up. “We’re needed out there with a good portion of the staff running that trauma.”
Mark nodded and swooped out his arm. “After you.” She just chuckled and shook her head before walking out of the staff room into the controlled chaos and was waved over to the nurses station.Go her on getting that right.
“Debbie, there’s an ambulance about to arrive with a ninety-two-year-old male in destress. Doctor Collins will be running the case. Can you assist with the family?” Tracy, the nurse sitting at the desk, requested. Dr. Collins wasn’t Debbie’s favorite to work with. He gave her the creeps for some reason. She wasn’t sure what it was but… yeah.
“Family accompanying the patient?” Ignoring that Dr. Collins was running the case, Debbie tried to figure out how she was going to separate them from the patient.
“Alpha nine four reports that the family is following,” Tracy answered before holding up a finger. “Pulling in now. Dr. Collins to bay two,” she said into the intercom.
“On it.” Debbie headed to the bay doors to look out. She saw Alpha nine four’s driver wave his hand at a Dodge Caravan, directing the car to the parking area. She kept out of the way as they unloaded the patient. Looking down at the gurney as it passed had Debbie gasping. The patient was Mr. Scott.Shit.
Movement at the corner of her view had her turning and dropping to one knee. She caught a little girl about eight with both arms. She was in princess pajamas with bunny slippers on her feet. “Whoa there little one. You can’t just run back there.”
“That’s my pappy. I’ve got to go with him so he’s not scared,” she practically yelled.
“I bet you’re Lilly.” Debbie knew she had a fifty-fifty chance of getting the name right if her memory served her. The use of the little girl’s name quieted her. Lilly pulled back from Debbie with a frown on her face.
“How do you know my name?” she asked suspiciously.
“Lilly! You can’t just run off like that,” a harried man almost shouted as he approached. “Thank you for stopping her.”
“She’s okay. Just worried about her pappy. And you are…?” Debbie stood and the little girl moved over to her father’s side.
“James Scott. Well, I go by Jamie. You?” Jamie asked. He had on some sweats and slides. Got them out of bed.
“My name is Debbie Luna. I had the privilege of being one of your grandfather’s nurses a few months ago. Please have a seat in the waiting room and we’ll update you as soon as the doctor has assessed what is going on. Do you need to contact someone? I know that your grandfather has a health care proxy for family to make decisions and a DNR but that’s all I remember. Except his stories of his Lilly Bug and Anna Ant.” Debbie bopped her finger on Lilly’s nose as she gently guided them out of the back area.
“That’s me! Anna’s not here. Is my pappy going to be okay?” the little girl asked as she followed Debbie and her dad.
“We’ll have to wait and see, lovey.” Debbie wasn’t going to lie to this precious girl if she didn’t have to. She looked at Jamie and could tell that he appreciated her honesty.
“Can you check on Gramps? He was staying with me and Lilly for the weekend. I was doing a nightly check of the house before going to bed and when I knocked on his door… I couldn’t hear anything, so I pushed it open and said his name quietly and he didn’t answer so I turned on the lights and… his lips were blue. I tried to wake him, but he wouldn’t wake up, so I called the ambulance and… I’ll call Mom and Dad.” He rambled, clearly worried but trying not to upset his daughter. He pulled out a cell phone. “Dad and I are both on his health proxy, but I don’t want to make any decisions without Dad.”
“I understand. Let me go give that information to the doctor and check while you make that call.” Debbie started to walk away. She looked back and saw the little girl crawl into her father’s lap, crying.What a fucking night.
