Firecracker (On Hold)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Justin's P.O.V.

The doc turns up thirty minutes later and Ariya is still completely out of it. When he sees her, he shakes his head and lets me know he's not impressed with the situation.

"What the heck happened here, Justin? Do I need to get the sheriff involved?"

"No, doc. You don't need to get the sheriff. He already knows about the situation. She's a runner. She's been on the run for a while, which is why she hasn't eaten anything. Do you think it's just malnutrition?"

He lets out a deep sigh before answering, "Most likely. I would imagine she's dehydrated as well. I'll attach an IV for fluids, which will help boost her sugar levels and rehydrate her as well. If it's just that, then she'll start to come around once her body recovers a little. If she doesn't wake up after a few bags of fluid, then we have a problem on our hands and she'll need to go in for tests. You going to be ok changing the bag?"

"Yes sir. Do you need to do anything else?"

"I need to assess her for other injuries. Check for broken bones or lacerations. Can you help me with that?"

I frown. Maybe I should get Lou to help him. If anyone finds out we stripped a resident in my care, then there could be a lawsuit on my hands. Although, this would class as an emergency I suppose.

It's as if the doc reads my mind, because he says, "I can check by myself, but it'll be easier to have two sets of hands. This would fall into the emergency category, in case you're wondering about someone filing a suit against you. They can't sue you for administering first aid, especially in the presence of a doctor."

I let out a little sigh of relief and we get to work on checking Ariya over. We don't strip her naked, just take off enough layers to make sure she has no major bleeds or severely broken bones. Obviously, we can't check for small fractures or cracked ribs unless she's awake to tell us about the pain or we take her in for an x-ray. Neither of which are happening right now, so we simply do a quick scan. She's got scratches and bruises all over her arms and legs and I feel bad for making her feel like she had to escape like that. I know she has issues, but ultimately this is my fault. If only I knew how else to get through to her.

The doc breaks my thoughts, "Do you want me to clean her up?"

"No, I can do that. I just wanted to know if there was anything seriously wrong with her and what I should be doing."

"Well, it seems like it's lack of food and water, but you will need to keep an eye on her. If she doesn't come around in the next 24 hours, then you need to call me. When she does wake up she'll be groggy, but you need to make sure she eats and drinks as much as possible. She'll need to take it easy for a while as well. I'll come back to check on her in a few days, unless she needs urgent care."

"Ok. Thanks, doc."

I see him out and then I grab some supplies to take care of Ariya's wounds. I carefully wash her, making sure I pay closer attention to the deeper wounds. I see so much scarring over the parts of her body that are exposed. I actually feel bad, like I'm betraying her, for doing this. I know she wouldn't want me to do this. She wouldn't want me to see her scars, her war wounds. Even though she hasn't been in an actual war, she has been in wars of her own kind. I'm sure a lot of these scars are from her fights, but I wonder just how many have been caused by whoever or whatever made her the way she is.