Post by Eden Morgan on Sept 22, 2009 23:58:47 GMT -5
Not long after the horrifying rescue…
A colorful flurry of uniforms flock around a bed, the faces of the health care professionals concerned with the rapid deterioration of their charge.
“Atropine, 1 mg, we have to get her heart rate up!”
“Get them out of here now!”
“Get a crash cart in here!”
Nurses rush around carrying out orders from the hustling attendants, one fetching the desired med, one running for the crash cart, and the other ushering an ashen-faced Jet Somers and a struggling Salem out of the busy area.
“Please, gentlemen, we need all the room we can get. She’s in good hands,” the patient nurse tries to assure them as she herds them to the waiting area where KvK and Nathan Korpi pace. Before the two can get up much of a protest she has hurried off to do something else. KvK turns to Jet, seeing Salem is in no condition to offer much of an explanation.
“What the hell is going on?”
Jet swallows hard before speaking.
“I don’t know. She was still unconscious, but everything was fine, they were checking her out, and then these alarms started going off and they started yelling and running around.”
Back behind the double doors leading the emergency room, the situation is nothing short of controlled and orderly chaos. The crash cart is set up at bedside, hopefully not to be used, but there just in case. The nurse returns with the atropine and, receiving confirmation from one of the attending, quickly administers it into a port, praying as she does that the drug does as it should and Miss Saint’s heart rate picks up. She glances at the young woman lying on the bed, unbelievably pale, her skin clammy with an almost translucent quality to it. Dark circles smudge her undereye area and blood, dried for who knows how long, spatters parts of her body, decorating it along with the various vicious looking bruises. They hadn’t even had the time to get her cleaned up. It is several tense moments as everyone surrounding the bed stares at the monitor, praying that this young woman’s heart rate picks up. When it continues to drop and her respiratory rate drops with it, the doctor shakes his head.
“More atropine, stat! Start her on 2 L oxygen, nasal!”
The nurse rushes off to get more of the drug, knowing that timing is critical now. The woman has been through enough, is this really necessary? Who is she asking? Who is there to hear her? She stops her mental wanderings and focuses on the job at hand. As she returns from the medicine room, atropine in hand, shouts from the room cause her heart to race.
“She’s seizing!”
“Find out if she has a history of seizures! Move!”
One of the nurses runs from the room, hitting the double doors with force. The four men in the waiting area stop pacing, the strain showing on their faces. She looks to the one she knows is the brother.
“Your sister, does she have a history of seizures?”
Jet’s face goes even whiter if that’s possible. His answer is shaky.
“Not that I know of, why? What’s happening?”
The nurse just shakes her head.
“I don’t have time right now but as soon as I know something I will let you know.”
She runs off again, the double doors closing with a finality behind her, or at least that’s what it seemed like to the men waiting.
“No history of seizures, doctor.”
The nurse looks down at the woman on the bed, her limbs jerking and eyes rolling and fluttering in her skull. The other nurses around her are trying to prevent her from injuring herself by telling out her iv or banging her poor, abused body up even further. Her nasal cannula has come dislodged and the nurse quickly adjusts it. The doctor stares at the seizing woman for a moment, his facile mind analyzing what he knows so far and coming to a quick decision.
“Lorazepam 2mg and I want someone monitoring those oxygen saturation levels at all times! Don’t take your eyes off that screen!”
One of the nurses rushes off and quickly returns, requesting confirmation from the doctor before administering the dose to the still jerking woman through her IV line. Several tense minutes later, Jezebel’s movements slow and then stop, her eyelids fluttering closed, her lashes resting on her cheeks. The health care professionals make a quick scan of the monitor.
“O2 sats at 98%, heart rate 73, blood pressure 108/63, normal sinus rhythm. I think it’s safe to say she’s out of the woods, folks. Now let’s get her patched up and on the road to recovery. Someone go and assure the family.”
The nurse who had previously promised to return when she knew something quietly left, her trip out the double doors much less frantic than her previous one. One of the doors almost hits Salem as she walks out.
“Sir you shouldn’t stand so close to the doors.”
“I’m coming in,” his harsh voice utters, brooking no argument from her, but the nurse has seen anguish before.
“Wait, sir, I have news.”
The others gather around her to listen.
“The seizures have stopped and her vital signs have normalized. She’s stable and we’re patching her up now.” She offers a reassuring smile to the men before turning to leave.
Jet grips Salem’s shoulder, suddenly feeling a little lightheaded from the abrupt scare and then the good news. Salem’s body seems to sag about from the tension leaving it and he swallows hard. His body lurches forward when he’s slapped on the back by Nate.
“Did you hear that man? She’s going to be okay!” the exuberant Nate, face wreathed in smiles, looks from one to the other. His mentor just shakes his head at what he considers his premature celebration.
“It’s great that she’s pulled out of this, but she isn’t awake yet. What’s going to happen then?”
The men share another look, realizing the road ahead will not be an easy one. For any of them.
Several hours later…
Worn out from the events of the past 24 hours and assured they would be apprised of any new developments, Nate and KvK have left the hospital, Jet and Salem staying to see what they can find out. About an hour after their cohorts had left, a doctor comes out to speak with them.
“Mr. Somers, Mr…. umm.. Salem… I’m Dr. Gates, Miss Saint’s doctor. Everything is fine, no need to panic, she did give us quite a scare earlier, but all is fine now. I expect her to make a full recovery.”
Jet asks the first question.
“She looked pretty banged up, Doctor, so what can we expect?”
“She’s a tough woman and in peak physical condition. I think that’s why she wasn’t damaged anymore than she is, at least physically. She had some deep gashes and lacerations that we stitched up and that rather elementary job at a PICC line doesn’t seem to have caused any permanent damage. The dialysis didn’t do her any favors, but so far it doesn’t seem to have caused any damage that I can see. She has several contusions, both of her shoulders were dislocated and her left hip was dislocated also. Her left knee isn’t in good shape, but it isn’t fractured. I know you had feared that. As far as I can tell she has no fractures and no spinal abnormalities, so she’s lucky there. I suspect she has a concussion as there is a large bruise and some swelling on one side of her head. She also has numerous burns and I can only hope that whatever “shock therapy” she was put through has no lasting damage. As it is, she’s lucky she doesn’t have an infection and I’m shocked that pneumonia hasn’t set in. We’re going to have to monitor her close to ensure that doesn’t happen during her stay here. She’s very dehydrated so we have her on some IV fluids as well as something for pain and something to calm her when she does awaken.”
“She hasn’t woken up yet?” Salem interrupts the doctor, who smiles reassuringly at him.
“Not yet, but it shouldn’t be long. I can only vouch for her physical state, but her emotional and mental one… that will be touch and go. You said you found ketamine there? Dangerous business, that. And with what she’s been through… but she has a supportive base and like I said before, she’s a strong woman. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll see about getting her a room and we can get her settled in.” Before he can walk off, Salem stops him again.
“I can stay with her, right?” he asks. Jet clears his throat and steps up beside him.
“We can stay with her, right?”
“Of course you can, provided when she does come to you don’t tire her out or distress her. My patient’s wellbeing comes first, you understand.” Not waiting for an answer, he strolls off.
A few hours later
Cold. That’s the first thing she felt, cold. Then the thin material lying on top of her body. Jezebel stirs, not wanting to wake from the dream she had of being rescued. Jet. Salem. Klaus. Nate. They were all there. She starts to cry as she moves fitfully, the tears slipping silently down her cheeks from her closed eyelids.
Please don’t let it be a dream.
Her eyes fly open and she is in darkness save for a faint light that barely lends a glow to the room, but is enough to cause Jezebel’s eyes to squint, struggling to adjust, but losing focus as she becomes lightheaded. She moves her right arm experimentally, pain knifing through her and then receding. Her breathing speeds up and she panics as she feels tubing running from her arm.
It was a dream, I’m still here, it was all a dream, he’s come up with something new, he’s going to kill me this time, what about my baby, he said he’s going to take Havyn, oh God somebody please why haven’t they come for me?!
In her panicked state she doesn’t notice the beeping from the machine next to her as her heart races and her blood pressure shoots up. Ignoring the pain, she jerks up screaming, a wild, frenzied, hopeless sound from her hoarse throat as she struggles to rip the wires and various tubings from her body. Her plaintive screams and sudden movements awaken Salem and Jet who, hidden in the shadows, were slumbering on a couch and in a chair, respectively. They both jerk awake and lurch toward her bedside, calling her name. Seeing the dark, obviously male shapes move toward her, Jezebel screams more trying to fight them off before falling back onto the bed coughing and wheezing and struggling to breathe through a panic attack. A nurse rushes in, urging the men to back up, and turning the light on.
“Miss Saint, Miss Saint, please calm down! Can one of you get a towel? She’s made a mess of her IV. I’m going to have to reconnect all this stuff.”
As Jezebel’s eyes get used to the light, she can make out the dark blue scrubs of a nurse. Turning her head she sees Salem kneeling down beside her, his face anxious and worried. She can just make out a blurry shape moving to what she assumes is the bathroom and hearing his voice she realizes it’s Jet.
It wasn’t a dream. It’s real.
Her breathing slowly starts to return to normal and her vision clears little by little so that she is able to make out more and more things. She’s in a hospital bed and her arm is bleeding from where she ripped out her IV. The pain sets back in and she lets out a moan. The nurse places a cool, damp rag on her forehead, brushing her hair back soothingly.
“It’s okay, hun, you’re safe here. I’ll be right back, I need to get some equipment to restick you and I’ll get something for you for your pain and something to calm you down.”
So saying the nurse bustled out, leaving the finally awake Jezebel with her brother and her lover. For several long moments no one speaks and then finally she finds her voice.
“I thought it was a dream. I thought I was still there, with him.”
Salem reaches out to take her right hand, Jet taking her left gently. Salem kisses the tips of her fingers, the stitches rough under his lips.
“You’re safe now and he won’t ever touch you again. That I promise you.”
Her eyes lose their focus as she remembers all that happened to her while in Dragon’s care. Seeing that they are losing her, Jet squeezes her hand sharply, bringing her back to reality.
“Stay with us, Jez. Don’t give him that victory of constantly living what he did to you. When you’re a little better, we’ll talk about it, but for right now, try to forget.”
During his speech, Jez had simply stared at Salem intently, as if trying to memorize every detail of his face. It was a very creepy sensation and Salem felt a chill run down his spine when she finally turned her gaze to Jet, her eyes haunted and almost unseeing.
“Don’t make me forget the only thing that feels real right now. I’ve had this dream before. When I wake up, this will only have been that, another dream. You’ll both be gone and I’ll be still in that room, with him. And his machines. I don’t want to go back there, but I will. Knowing that I will helps me hold on to what little sanity I have left, so please don’t ask me to forget when that’s all I can remember.”
During her speech, the tears slip from her eyes down her face, her eyes pleading. The nurse returns with the promised medications. The men look to each other worriedly as the nurse sets about her business of instilling another IV into Jez’s arm. Jez simply stares straight ahead, allowing the nurse to go about her business without a fight.
“Alright, my dear, I gave you something for your pain and something to settle you and help you have a more restful sleep. If you need anything, call me.” The nurse starts gathering up her supplies to leave, but is stopped at Jezebel’s words.
“If I sleep I’ll wake up. I don’t want to wake up. I like this dream, even if it isn’t real.”
“Honey, this is real. You’re safe now.” She gives a confused glance to Salem and Jet who return it with a worried stare. Jezebel looks at her blankly.
“That’s what you say every time.”
A colorful flurry of uniforms flock around a bed, the faces of the health care professionals concerned with the rapid deterioration of their charge.
“Atropine, 1 mg, we have to get her heart rate up!”
“Get them out of here now!”
“Get a crash cart in here!”
Nurses rush around carrying out orders from the hustling attendants, one fetching the desired med, one running for the crash cart, and the other ushering an ashen-faced Jet Somers and a struggling Salem out of the busy area.
“Please, gentlemen, we need all the room we can get. She’s in good hands,” the patient nurse tries to assure them as she herds them to the waiting area where KvK and Nathan Korpi pace. Before the two can get up much of a protest she has hurried off to do something else. KvK turns to Jet, seeing Salem is in no condition to offer much of an explanation.
“What the hell is going on?”
Jet swallows hard before speaking.
“I don’t know. She was still unconscious, but everything was fine, they were checking her out, and then these alarms started going off and they started yelling and running around.”
Back behind the double doors leading the emergency room, the situation is nothing short of controlled and orderly chaos. The crash cart is set up at bedside, hopefully not to be used, but there just in case. The nurse returns with the atropine and, receiving confirmation from one of the attending, quickly administers it into a port, praying as she does that the drug does as it should and Miss Saint’s heart rate picks up. She glances at the young woman lying on the bed, unbelievably pale, her skin clammy with an almost translucent quality to it. Dark circles smudge her undereye area and blood, dried for who knows how long, spatters parts of her body, decorating it along with the various vicious looking bruises. They hadn’t even had the time to get her cleaned up. It is several tense moments as everyone surrounding the bed stares at the monitor, praying that this young woman’s heart rate picks up. When it continues to drop and her respiratory rate drops with it, the doctor shakes his head.
“More atropine, stat! Start her on 2 L oxygen, nasal!”
The nurse rushes off to get more of the drug, knowing that timing is critical now. The woman has been through enough, is this really necessary? Who is she asking? Who is there to hear her? She stops her mental wanderings and focuses on the job at hand. As she returns from the medicine room, atropine in hand, shouts from the room cause her heart to race.
“She’s seizing!”
“Find out if she has a history of seizures! Move!”
One of the nurses runs from the room, hitting the double doors with force. The four men in the waiting area stop pacing, the strain showing on their faces. She looks to the one she knows is the brother.
“Your sister, does she have a history of seizures?”
Jet’s face goes even whiter if that’s possible. His answer is shaky.
“Not that I know of, why? What’s happening?”
The nurse just shakes her head.
“I don’t have time right now but as soon as I know something I will let you know.”
She runs off again, the double doors closing with a finality behind her, or at least that’s what it seemed like to the men waiting.
“No history of seizures, doctor.”
The nurse looks down at the woman on the bed, her limbs jerking and eyes rolling and fluttering in her skull. The other nurses around her are trying to prevent her from injuring herself by telling out her iv or banging her poor, abused body up even further. Her nasal cannula has come dislodged and the nurse quickly adjusts it. The doctor stares at the seizing woman for a moment, his facile mind analyzing what he knows so far and coming to a quick decision.
“Lorazepam 2mg and I want someone monitoring those oxygen saturation levels at all times! Don’t take your eyes off that screen!”
One of the nurses rushes off and quickly returns, requesting confirmation from the doctor before administering the dose to the still jerking woman through her IV line. Several tense minutes later, Jezebel’s movements slow and then stop, her eyelids fluttering closed, her lashes resting on her cheeks. The health care professionals make a quick scan of the monitor.
“O2 sats at 98%, heart rate 73, blood pressure 108/63, normal sinus rhythm. I think it’s safe to say she’s out of the woods, folks. Now let’s get her patched up and on the road to recovery. Someone go and assure the family.”
The nurse who had previously promised to return when she knew something quietly left, her trip out the double doors much less frantic than her previous one. One of the doors almost hits Salem as she walks out.
“Sir you shouldn’t stand so close to the doors.”
“I’m coming in,” his harsh voice utters, brooking no argument from her, but the nurse has seen anguish before.
“Wait, sir, I have news.”
The others gather around her to listen.
“The seizures have stopped and her vital signs have normalized. She’s stable and we’re patching her up now.” She offers a reassuring smile to the men before turning to leave.
Jet grips Salem’s shoulder, suddenly feeling a little lightheaded from the abrupt scare and then the good news. Salem’s body seems to sag about from the tension leaving it and he swallows hard. His body lurches forward when he’s slapped on the back by Nate.
“Did you hear that man? She’s going to be okay!” the exuberant Nate, face wreathed in smiles, looks from one to the other. His mentor just shakes his head at what he considers his premature celebration.
“It’s great that she’s pulled out of this, but she isn’t awake yet. What’s going to happen then?”
The men share another look, realizing the road ahead will not be an easy one. For any of them.
Several hours later…
Worn out from the events of the past 24 hours and assured they would be apprised of any new developments, Nate and KvK have left the hospital, Jet and Salem staying to see what they can find out. About an hour after their cohorts had left, a doctor comes out to speak with them.
“Mr. Somers, Mr…. umm.. Salem… I’m Dr. Gates, Miss Saint’s doctor. Everything is fine, no need to panic, she did give us quite a scare earlier, but all is fine now. I expect her to make a full recovery.”
Jet asks the first question.
“She looked pretty banged up, Doctor, so what can we expect?”
“She’s a tough woman and in peak physical condition. I think that’s why she wasn’t damaged anymore than she is, at least physically. She had some deep gashes and lacerations that we stitched up and that rather elementary job at a PICC line doesn’t seem to have caused any permanent damage. The dialysis didn’t do her any favors, but so far it doesn’t seem to have caused any damage that I can see. She has several contusions, both of her shoulders were dislocated and her left hip was dislocated also. Her left knee isn’t in good shape, but it isn’t fractured. I know you had feared that. As far as I can tell she has no fractures and no spinal abnormalities, so she’s lucky there. I suspect she has a concussion as there is a large bruise and some swelling on one side of her head. She also has numerous burns and I can only hope that whatever “shock therapy” she was put through has no lasting damage. As it is, she’s lucky she doesn’t have an infection and I’m shocked that pneumonia hasn’t set in. We’re going to have to monitor her close to ensure that doesn’t happen during her stay here. She’s very dehydrated so we have her on some IV fluids as well as something for pain and something to calm her when she does awaken.”
“She hasn’t woken up yet?” Salem interrupts the doctor, who smiles reassuringly at him.
“Not yet, but it shouldn’t be long. I can only vouch for her physical state, but her emotional and mental one… that will be touch and go. You said you found ketamine there? Dangerous business, that. And with what she’s been through… but she has a supportive base and like I said before, she’s a strong woman. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll see about getting her a room and we can get her settled in.” Before he can walk off, Salem stops him again.
“I can stay with her, right?” he asks. Jet clears his throat and steps up beside him.
“We can stay with her, right?”
“Of course you can, provided when she does come to you don’t tire her out or distress her. My patient’s wellbeing comes first, you understand.” Not waiting for an answer, he strolls off.
A few hours later
Cold. That’s the first thing she felt, cold. Then the thin material lying on top of her body. Jezebel stirs, not wanting to wake from the dream she had of being rescued. Jet. Salem. Klaus. Nate. They were all there. She starts to cry as she moves fitfully, the tears slipping silently down her cheeks from her closed eyelids.
Please don’t let it be a dream.
Her eyes fly open and she is in darkness save for a faint light that barely lends a glow to the room, but is enough to cause Jezebel’s eyes to squint, struggling to adjust, but losing focus as she becomes lightheaded. She moves her right arm experimentally, pain knifing through her and then receding. Her breathing speeds up and she panics as she feels tubing running from her arm.
It was a dream, I’m still here, it was all a dream, he’s come up with something new, he’s going to kill me this time, what about my baby, he said he’s going to take Havyn, oh God somebody please why haven’t they come for me?!
In her panicked state she doesn’t notice the beeping from the machine next to her as her heart races and her blood pressure shoots up. Ignoring the pain, she jerks up screaming, a wild, frenzied, hopeless sound from her hoarse throat as she struggles to rip the wires and various tubings from her body. Her plaintive screams and sudden movements awaken Salem and Jet who, hidden in the shadows, were slumbering on a couch and in a chair, respectively. They both jerk awake and lurch toward her bedside, calling her name. Seeing the dark, obviously male shapes move toward her, Jezebel screams more trying to fight them off before falling back onto the bed coughing and wheezing and struggling to breathe through a panic attack. A nurse rushes in, urging the men to back up, and turning the light on.
“Miss Saint, Miss Saint, please calm down! Can one of you get a towel? She’s made a mess of her IV. I’m going to have to reconnect all this stuff.”
As Jezebel’s eyes get used to the light, she can make out the dark blue scrubs of a nurse. Turning her head she sees Salem kneeling down beside her, his face anxious and worried. She can just make out a blurry shape moving to what she assumes is the bathroom and hearing his voice she realizes it’s Jet.
It wasn’t a dream. It’s real.
Her breathing slowly starts to return to normal and her vision clears little by little so that she is able to make out more and more things. She’s in a hospital bed and her arm is bleeding from where she ripped out her IV. The pain sets back in and she lets out a moan. The nurse places a cool, damp rag on her forehead, brushing her hair back soothingly.
“It’s okay, hun, you’re safe here. I’ll be right back, I need to get some equipment to restick you and I’ll get something for you for your pain and something to calm you down.”
So saying the nurse bustled out, leaving the finally awake Jezebel with her brother and her lover. For several long moments no one speaks and then finally she finds her voice.
“I thought it was a dream. I thought I was still there, with him.”
Salem reaches out to take her right hand, Jet taking her left gently. Salem kisses the tips of her fingers, the stitches rough under his lips.
“You’re safe now and he won’t ever touch you again. That I promise you.”
Her eyes lose their focus as she remembers all that happened to her while in Dragon’s care. Seeing that they are losing her, Jet squeezes her hand sharply, bringing her back to reality.
“Stay with us, Jez. Don’t give him that victory of constantly living what he did to you. When you’re a little better, we’ll talk about it, but for right now, try to forget.”
During his speech, Jez had simply stared at Salem intently, as if trying to memorize every detail of his face. It was a very creepy sensation and Salem felt a chill run down his spine when she finally turned her gaze to Jet, her eyes haunted and almost unseeing.
“Don’t make me forget the only thing that feels real right now. I’ve had this dream before. When I wake up, this will only have been that, another dream. You’ll both be gone and I’ll be still in that room, with him. And his machines. I don’t want to go back there, but I will. Knowing that I will helps me hold on to what little sanity I have left, so please don’t ask me to forget when that’s all I can remember.”
During her speech, the tears slip from her eyes down her face, her eyes pleading. The nurse returns with the promised medications. The men look to each other worriedly as the nurse sets about her business of instilling another IV into Jez’s arm. Jez simply stares straight ahead, allowing the nurse to go about her business without a fight.
“Alright, my dear, I gave you something for your pain and something to settle you and help you have a more restful sleep. If you need anything, call me.” The nurse starts gathering up her supplies to leave, but is stopped at Jezebel’s words.
“If I sleep I’ll wake up. I don’t want to wake up. I like this dream, even if it isn’t real.”
“Honey, this is real. You’re safe now.” She gives a confused glance to Salem and Jet who return it with a worried stare. Jezebel looks at her blankly.
“That’s what you say every time.”
