The Apprentice

The Fall

"Dr. Manning!" Maggie called over.

"Yeah?" Natalie responded.

"We just got a call. Young girl. Fallen from a second-story window. Very anxious. Think you can handle it?" Maggie asked.

"Of course." Natalie agreed.

"Take April with you." Nurse Campbell suggested.

***

The ambulance sirens echoed down the street as Natalie and April raced to Berkley High.

They pulled up to the front of the school building.

"Grab the trolley!" Natalie ordered as she exited the vehicle with her medical backpack of supplies.

"I've got it," April assured. "Go."

"She's this way." The principal pointed.

The principal led Dr. Manning around to the very back of the building where a young brunette lay on the ground. The girl was laying on her back and her hand grasping the hand of a student beside her.

"Okay, Sweetie. My name's Natalie." She stated as she knelt by the girl's side and applied a pair of latex gloves. The girl was sobbing hysterically, fighting for air. "Can you tell me your name?"

The girl sucked in a few short gasps of air.

Natalie turned to the blonde girl beside her.

"Callie. Her name's Callie." The girl informed as Dr. Manning attempted to place an oxygen mask over the girl's face. The brunette took as much energy as she could muster to turn her head away. "She doesn't like things over her face." The girl explained.

"It's okay, Callie. This is just gonna help your breathing, okay?" Natalie said soothingly. Callie looked up at her friend who nodded in reassurance, calming her down enough for Natalie to apply the mask. That's when Natalie noticed the large gash on the side of her head and immediately applied pressure to slow the bleeding. "Did anybody see her land? Did she land on her back?"

"No, she landed on her side and rolled." The blonde girl explained. "I tried to break her fall but..."

"Did you get hurt?" Natalie checked.

"No." She fibbed tucking her free hand beside her leg, hoping the Doctor didn't notice.

"What's your name?" Dr. Manning asked the blonde.

"Alana."

Just then April came racing around the corner and took over covering the girl's head wound.

"Have you tried to contact her parents?" Natalie asked the principal.

"No answer." He explained.

"Okay, could you contact Alana's parents? We need to take her with us to get that arm checked out." Natalie glared at the blonde. April and Natalie shared a knowing glance.

"That's a little higher than the second story." April noticed as she looked up at the broken window.

***

"Callie Matthews. Fourteen years old." Natalie announced as they wheeled the young girl into the ED. "Fell through a fourth-story window and landed on her side before rolling onto her back. Pneumothorax on the left-hand side. GCS: Nine. Pulse: One Twenty. Resps: Thirty. Stats: Ninety-six percent." She listed. "Query Fractured ribs three and four on the left and possible concussion. We need to arrange an x-ray to check for any glass. Can I also get IV access and five of morphine, please?" Dr. Manning ordered.

Callie let out a sequence of short high pitched cries as her hand flew out to the side, desperately searching for something to grab onto. Alana raced to her side and grasped her hand tightly. The brunette's breath became raspy once again.

"It's okay," Alana reassured her friend. "I'm right here. Just breathe." She spoke softly.

"Heart rate is up to one sixty." Another nurse informed.

"Okay, Nurse Sexton you stay here. I need everybody else out please." Natalie requested.

The other nurses all vacated, leaving Natalie and April with the young girls.

Alana was humming a strange tune to Callie, which seemed to be calming her down, even if only a little.

"Heart rate slowing back down." April noticed.

***

A few hours later Natalie came back to check on the girls. Alana's broken wrist had been plastered and Callie was seeming much calmer than before.

"Hey, Sweetie." Natalie greeted the sleepy patient. "How are you feeling?"

The brunette blinked a few times before yawning.

"Tired huh? Can you tell me your name?"

"Callie." She rasped.

"Okay, good job. Can you tell me your birthday?" Natalie continued.

"November 24th." She answered.

"Do you remember what happened?"

The young girl turned to her friend then back to the doctor before shaking her head.

"That's okay." Natalie comforted. "You fell out of a window at school. And we did an X-ray. Do you remember that?" The young girl nodded. "Well, the good news is, we didn't find any trace of glass. But you do have a couple of broken ribs and a fractured tibia, which is this bone on your lower leg."

"I know what a tibia is," Callie explained.

"You do have a small pneumothorax on your left side which means..."

"The presence of air or gas in the cavity between the lungs and the chest wall, causing a collapse of the lung. I know."

"Looks like somebody is gonna ace their science." Natalie smiled.

"Callie aces everything." Alana chuckled. "She's like Einstein. Only smarter."

"The good news is. It will heal on its own. We have tried to contact your dad. But the man that picked up said it was a wrong number."

"Yep, that's daddy." Callie sighed.

"Is there anyone else we can call?" Natalie wondered. The brunette let out a sad sigh while Alana shook her head, signaling that it was a pretty sore subject. "Okay." She sighed. "Alana, can I have a word?"

The blonde wriggled her hand free from Callie's grasp and followed the doctor out.

"Okay, Sweetie. I need to ask. Have you noticed a change in Callie's behavior lately?" Natalie questioned.

"No."

"She's been the same as normal. Not overly worried about anything or sad or-"

"I know what you're asking and she didn't jump," Alana assured. "She was pushed."

Natalie froze. Her eyes opened wide in slight disbelief.

"Now I just have to prove it."

***