Curse of the Weretroll (rewrite)

Chapter 26

Sirens blared loudly through the crisp early morning air as the two trolls road in the ambulance together, several doctors rushing around Branch to try and get his heart rate to speed up.

     So far however... it had only been slowing down, now almost at a compleat stop...

"Get the zapper bugs ready!" one of the paramedics ordered, holding their hand on Branch's wrist to track his heart rate. "Be prepared for if it stops!"

Her heart filled with worry, Poppy tightened her grip on Branch's cold almost lifeless hand...

She could see his pain plastered clearly on his sleeping face, noticing how each breath took a great deal of effort until... his entire body went completely limp...

"It stopped!" the doctor beside Branch yelled out in a panicked tone. "Zapper bugs! Now!"

Poppy watched in horror, as another doctor handed the first a pair of electrified bugs, the first paramedic rubbing the tiny critters together as quickly as possible while staring down at Branch in complete worry...

"Clear!" she shouted out, slamming the bugs down onto Branch's chest to try and get his heart to restart...

Electricity surged through the gray troll, causing his body to twitch slightly... but still... he remained completely lifeless, laying limply on the ambulance bed, his eyes gently shut and mouth slightly ajar...

"Clear!" the doctor shouted out again, slamming the bugs back onto the village grump's chest, another wave of electricity surging through his lifeless body...

"Come on, Branch... stay with me," Poppy whispered to her best friend as she squeezed his hand tightly in hers, tears rushing down her cheeks. "Please come back..."

The doctor looked at her watch sadly, sighing when she saw the time...

     Almost a whole minute had passed now... and the zapper bugs didn't seem to be working... at all... protocol at this point would normally be to stop with the attempt to bring him back... he was completely gone...

"One more time..." she muttered softly to herself in determination, not ready to give up on the poor boy just yet, the paramedic beginning to rub the zapper bugs together once more. "Clear!"

She slammed the bugs down onto Branch's chest one last time, the gray troll suddenly taking in a deep breath of air before beginning to cough violently...

Tears of joy flooded Poppy's eyes as she looked down at Branch, seeing him slowly begin to regain a bit of his strength...

     No... he still wasn't awake... but he was breathing... and that was enough to rebuild the young princess' broken heart. Branch was alive...

"Heart rate is normal!" the doctor announced to the other paramedics, checking the survivalist's pulse yet again. "Quick! We need to bandage up these wounds before he goes back into shock!"

"Ugh..." Branch groaned, his eyes slowly beginning to flutter open as he move around slightly on the ambulance bed, the young boy catching a quick glimpse of Poppy through his blurred vision... "P... Poppy?" he muttered softly, his voice a little hoarse, sounding extremely weak...

     "He's conscious!" the doctor announced upon seeing Branch awake, continuing to work on bandaging up his still bleeding wounds...

"Branch..." Poppy whispered, gently stroking the back of his hand as she held it in her own, trying her best to comfort her friend in his time of need. "You're going to be ok... we're bringing you to the hospital..."

He gazed up at her weakly as she spoke to him in her soothing voice, not seeming to fully comprehend what she was telling him... He was still so weak... so tired... maybe... he could just sleep for a little while...

     "Ow..." the gray troll groaned in pure pain, his eyes slowly falling back shut, Poppy immediately realizing he was beginning to lose consciousness once more...

"You need to stay awake, young man," the doctor said, placing a gentle hand on Branch's shoulder to make sure he would respond to her...

     Slowly, he opened his eyes back up, trying so hard to do as he was told... to stay awake... to stay alive...

     "Branch?" Poppy whispered, but he didn't react to her voice, seeming to have not heard her as he continued staring weakly off into space, his eyes slowly blinking open and shut...

Finally, the ambulance pulled up to the hospital, several doctors running out of the medical building to greet them...

Quickly, the doctors pulled Branch out of the ambulance, his hand falling away from Poppy's as the two of them were yanked apart, the doctors running him into the hospital to try and help further...

"What is your name?" one of the doctors asked him, trying to keep the young troll awake and aware of his surroundings.

"B... Branch..." he answered weakly with a crackle in his voice, the village grump looking desperately around for Poppy, having lost sight of her in the chaos...

"How old are you, Branch?" the doctor continued, but the survivalist didn't reply... He hadn't even seemed to hear the question. He was just so dizzy... so weak... his brain spinning wildly inside his skull...

Where was Poppy? He wanted Poppy... he needed Poppy...

"Hey! Branch! Focus!" the doctor said firmly, snapping her fingers in front of the gray troll's face. "Stay with me..."

Branch blinked at the sudden motion before looking weakly up at her, waiting to hear the question...

"How old are you?" she repeated.
"18..." Branch replied, turning his head back to continue looking for Poppy.
"And when's your birthday?"

Slowly, too weak... too tired to hold them open any longer... Branch allowed his eyes to fall shut once more, the sounds all around him becoming fuzzy, his thoughts seeming to fall silent in his head, the young troll almost completely loosing awareness of everything and everyone around him...

"Branch?" the doctor said, gently shaking the young troll's shoulder to try and catch his attention, but his brain had completely shut off, making it impossible for him to respond... "Come on, Branch. Stay awake." But he couldn't... he just couldn't do as he was told...

The sounds around him faded into nothingness as he slowly lost consciousness once more...