Fainting

Chapter 1 - Allison

My head. My back. My eyes. My head. My left leg. Also my right one. My arm. It hurts. It all hurts. Ow. My head is moving. It's... jostling. Is that a word? That might be a word. My head hurts. Wait. It shouldn't hurt. Is that bad? I think it's bad.

And where am I? It seems like a car. No, wait, not a car; it's too loud. Is it a bus? No; you can't lie down in a bus. Maybe a truck? Oh, an ambulance. It must be an ambulance. That's why it's loud. My back hurts.

Why am I here? Uh oh. Did I do something wrong? No, then I would be in a police car. I must be... sick? No, that can't be right. I was going out to eat and I felt fine. My head didn't hurt before. Or did it? I can't remember. I can't think. It hurts. ...Yeah.... It... huuuuuurrrrrrrtsssssssssssssssssssszzzzzzzzzzzz.

I'm getting shaken. Is it the bus? No, I remember. I'm in an ambulance. I try to open my eyes, but they're so heavy.

"Allison. Allison!" Someone's calling my name. I try to answer, but I'm still groggy. "Miss Parker!" It's an unfamiliar male voice. I hope I'm not being kidnapped.

I try to get in touch with my body, and I realize that there's a needle in my arm and something wrapped around my head. That might explain some of the pain. I try again to open my eyes, and this time I'm rewarded with a yellow lamp shining in my eyes. After blinking a few times to get my eyes adjusted, I take in my surroundings. To my right, there's a female paramedic who sighs with relief and picks up a radio. "Nicole, she's awake."

Next to her is an IV pole, with a bag attached to the needle in my arm, a monitor reading my blood pressure and oxygen level, and a bunch of other wires and stuff that I don't know what they are or what they do.

Trying to tilt my head back, I realize I can't: there's a headrest behind me. I assume, reasonably, that there's someone else driving this thing.

I turn to my left, and I see another paramedic, this one a man. He's busy adjusting the wires attached to me that jostled when I woke up.

"What happened?" I manage to ask through my pain.

"You fainted," the female paramedic – her name tag reads Olive Beckett – informs me. "In front of Cade's."

"I fainted? Cool." I've never done that before, even with my POTS.

The male paramedic – Austin Finley – glances at me and raises his eyebrow before turning back to his work.

"When we came to get you, someone reported that he saw you walking unsteadily talking on the phone with someone. He kept an eye on you to make sure you were alright, which, you weren't," Olive says. "You finished your conversation and tried to put your phone in your pocket- "

I frowned. Women's' clothes rarely have pockets, and I didn't think I had any today, unfortunately.

"-but the movement must have been too much because your knees collapsed and you... fainted. He called us, and here you are."

I decided I didn't care about the pocket detail. "Do you have the name of the guy who saw me? I'd like to say thanks."
"She tried to get it, but I said we needed to get you to the hospital," Austin says, talking for the first time. "You were as white as a ghost."

Wait a minute. "I should think ghosts are transparent, not white."

At first it's silent, and then I see Olive trying not to laugh. "Huh. She has a point, Austin.

He cracks a smile. "At least you're fine if you're cracking jokes," he says to me.

"That wasn't a joke."

Of course that was a joke.

"Of course that was a joke. It's a commonly used, perfectly acceptable phrase used in society, and you busted it."
"It doesn't make sense. I had to change it."

"So, are you going to announce to the world that that phrase doesn't make sense and therefore nobody should use it anymore? That's not nice."

"Relax, Mr. Finley. If I did that, I would deprive myself of a joke. I would never do that."

"I'm Austin."

Olive gives in to her laughter.

"It's not that funny," Austin complains.

"Yes, yes, it is," she responds, and that's pretty much how the rest of the ride goes, the two of them bickering.

The windows are covered in medical supplies, so I don't see when we pull up to the hospital. But when we stop and I get pulled out I see we're in a parking lot on a bit of a hill. Looking over the edge I can just make out the main entrance a floor below where we are now. Olive takes the stretcher and rolls it in with Austin following. I guess the driver's gonna wait out here.

We go straight to the nurses desk in the waiting room and Olive leans forward.

"Hey, Nicole. This is Allison Parker, the one who fainted?"

The nurse looks up. "Hey, you two. And hello, Allison. I would say welcome, but, well, as much as you're welcome here, we don't want you here." Nicole smiles.

Austin mutters, "Wow. What a motivational speech, Nicole. So nice, so inspiring"

She and Olive both swat at him; only Olive is close enough to make contact with his arm.

"Ow!"

Olive smirks. "Serves you right."

Nicole sighs. "On the one hand, you should be glad you got these two: they're fun. But on the other hand, sorry. They're very friendly and chill, which can be a problem."

I smile. "Well, they've certainly set high expectations; never having been in an ambulance before, I can't compare them." Surprisingly I feel at ease with them despite my original bit of discomfort.

"And hopefully you won't again. Olive, Austin, 13 is ready."

Austin takes the gurney and wheels me away. "Peace out, Nikki."

"Don't call me Nikki. Pretty please"

Olive sighs and follows. "Thanks, Nicole. See you later."

"Bye," she grumbles.

When we reach bed 13, Olive pushes the door open. "Home sweet home for the next hour or so for you."

Inside there's a bed, very similar to the one I'm currently on; a wall full of wires; and a sink with cabinets above and below the counter.

I get pushed alongside the bed and the two paramedics lift me up and put me down on the new bed.

"Alright, I believe we're done here. Allison, it was lovely meeting you, and maybe we can do it again under different circumstances. So glad to be your paramedic this afternoon, thank you for being part of Monterey Peninsula, California, and I, um, I think I lost the rest of my speech." Austin turns to Olive for help, who's shaking with laughter.

"'I hope we never meet like this again' is, I believe, how you ended it last."

He makes a face. "No, that sounds... weird. Imma have to work on that ending. Anyway, Miss Parker, the doctor should be in here shortly. Goodbye." He mimes tipping a hat to me at he leaves the room.

Olive rolls her eyes. "Have a good day, Allison. Hope we didn't make you uncomfortable. If we did, feel free to leave an unsatisfactory review online."

It takes me a moment to be sure she's joking. "I'll be sure to do that, then. Being around the both of you and your unprofessionalismness is, just, wrong. Mark my words, the whole world will know."

She freezes for a moment, and I feel bad, but then she bursts out laughing. "You're good, Parker. Real good. How 'bout I leave a negative review for you? For talking back to your paramedics?"

"You do that. I'll get mine in first, and then no one will believe you."

She sighs. "Bye."

"Bye. And thank you!" I call after her.

***

Hi!

Thank you for reading the first chapter of my book! I hope you enjoyed it; if you have any comments and/or feedback, please let me know.

And I'm open to title suggestions...