Burnt (book1)

It happened so fast

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It all happened so fast. The light was green but the truck wasn't stopping. Scarlett didn't see it, why would she have. She wasn't looking for a truck driving away from a bank robbery. She was going to meet Evan and his parents for lunch. She wasn't thinking check again before you go, it was a green light for Scarlett but the truck didn't care. On impact Scarlett's little blue Honda flipped three times. Scarlett banged her head on the ceiling, the steering wheel and then the window. When her head hit the window the force was too much, then it broke and a shard of glass broke into her head.

Once the car stopped flipping Scarlett tried to suck in a breath but she couldn't breathe. She looked down slightly but her neck, her head, her everything was in so much pain that she couldn't see, couldn't breathe, she passed out from the pain.

The ambulance and the police showed up and threw the robber in the back of the cop car, he was stoned and didn't put up much of a fight, meanwhile, Scarlett was slowly removed from her car. The robber had minimal scratches and some mild whiplash, the robber that was going to spend a long time in jail. Scarlett was a victim to his stupidity. This evil man was Jack. He was high after watching Baby Driver and thought it smart to rob a bank. Maybe the money would make Scarlett see he was worth putting up with, worth changing her ways for. Jack was delirious when he saw Scarlett transferred to the ambulance.

They placed her in the ambulance and put her on oxygen. As they drove weaving through traffic, horns blazing Scarlett lay unconscious and bleeding out. They attached her to an EKG and monitored her heart, it was bradycardic and the bleeding wasn't slowing. While the ambulance drove to the hospital, the police car started up towards the station, while in the police car Jack stopped screaming, stopped kicking at the officers seat, stopped moving all together.
"What's your deal smart ass?" One of the officers asked as they stopped at a red light. "Hey... stop the car."

"We are stopped" the other officer stated.

"I think he's dead."

"What?" Officer Bourne turned slightly to see the now motionless man flopped over the seat, he put the car in park and flipped on the siren. Flew open his door and unlocked the back. Jack had blood streaming down his ear and his eyes were blood shot. The officer went to take a pulse and found needle marks up his arm. "He was a junkie, probably overdosed and the accident put him over the edge."

"Sounds good to me."

"Hospital?"

"Yep." They got back in the car and flipped off the siren. "This jerk had it coming." Jack had shot at two people, luckily he was high and missed them entirely but he wanted them dead. They officers took their sweet time turning around and heading towards the hospital. "That poor girl though, she didn't deserve that" Bourne said as the light turned green.

"I need more gauze!" paramedic Jones said as she handed her second in command the blood filled waste. "Oliver start compressions" Jones said as she tried to stop Scarlett's abdomen from bleeding out. Oliver started compressions seeing that her EKG flat lined. He pushed harder,

"Come on, come on" he said urging Scarlett back to life.

"Wait" Jones said and Oliver removed his hands from her chest. The hospital was growing nearer and nearer, as they watched Scarlett lay, chest rising and falling but the monitor still read nothing. "I don't understand." Jones still put pressure on Scarlett's wound as she reached over to her purple stethoscope and placed the end on Scarlett's chest. "I have a heart beat..." They both looked at the monitor, still a flat line. Oliver rose slightly and saw that he pulled out the lead that was on Scarlett's chest, Jones gave him a look of annoyance but also relief. Oliver pushed on the lead and the monitor indicated that she was still alive but her heart rate was still very slow.

As the ambulance pulled up, the blazing horns were drowned out by screeching cars, screaming people and the hustle and bustle of the doctors and their staff shuffling in and out of the large building.

They moved Scarlett onto gurney and up to the trauma bay, towards the surgery room. They had a surgeon and team ready and started on Scarlett immediately.

It was a quick surgery, her wounds were stitched and her abdomen was sealed and she was stable. They would have to wait and see if she had any further injuries to her vision or speech but for now, she was stable and she was moved to the recovery room. She was kept under close observation until she opened her eyes. Her mascara covered eyelashes fluttered as she slowly opened her golden eyes.

"Hi" a nurse said and Scarlett stared straight ahead confused. She was supposed to be at lunch with Evan wasn't she? What day was it? Where was she? Why was she in so much pain? She was supposed to be there, not here, where was she? She tried to remember what happened but her head hurt and she saw that she had bandages covering her arms and legs then she couldn't focus on anything except the pain. "You are in the University of Chicago Hospital, in Chicago, Illinois." The nurse explained. Scarlett guessed this much but she still didn't know why. "You were in a car accident."

No, Scarlett thought, my car. That wasn't what she should have been thinking, she should have been thinking what injuries she acquired during the car accident but, she thought of her little blue Honda sitting all smushed in an impound lot.

"You have external and internal wounds," the nurse gestured to the bandage that covered her stomach. "We had to do surgery, you had a GI bleed... gastrointestinal bleed." She clarified even Scarlett knew what GI meant. Scarlett started to shake, trying to move, she couldn't stay here, she had to call Evan. She had to make sure he was okay. Was he in an accident? Was he with her? Suddenly she couldn't remember anything past waking up. "The doctor wanted to see you when you woke up, I will be right back." The nurse paged the doctor as she left the room, leaving Scarlett alone with her thoughts and her pain.

Scarlett was weak and tired from the medications and she wanted to talk to the doctor but her eyes felt so heavy and her head, it hurt so much. She tried to move her hand to her head but couldn't find the strength. As the doctor emerged through the doors Scarlett's eyes had fluttered close and she was asleep once again. The doctor looked annoyed but understood and waited a moment checking her vitals and scanning the results of Scarlett's blood work. Scarlett remained asleep when Evan burst through the doors almost collapsing at the sight of her. Dr. Larz wondered if this man needed assistance but his wounds looked old and healed over so she didn't ask him, she only answered his panicked questions.