Such A Beautiful Disaster

Part 16

The sound of knocking at the door woke Shauna up. With her eyes still closed she stretched her limbs, yawning and wishing she could go back to sleep. Her stomach rumbled however, reminding her that if she didn't get up now, breakfast would be gone by the time she woke up again. Shauna swung her long legs over the side of the bed and stood up. She stretched her arms into the air and yawned once more. She started to make her way over to Molly's side of the room, to see if she wanted to go to breakfast with her. The bed was a mess of twisted sheets and blankets which Molly was not among. Shauna looked over to the bathroom and noticed that the door was shut and light flooded out from underneath it.

"Molly?" she called out, her voice weak with sleep, standing next to the closed door. She heard no movement from within the bathroom. "Molly?" she called again, louder this time. She waited a few moments but there was still no response. Shauna thought that Molly must have already went out to breakfast and turned the handle on the door. She pushed the door open but was met with resistance. Something was blocking it's path. "Molly?" she repeated, confused. Shauna heard nothing in reply, so she continued to the shove the door open, trying to remove whatever was in it's way. It was barely budging, but she finally was able to create enough space to stick her head in.

Shauna saw Molly lying there on the floor, not moving, foam around her open mouth. The lower half of Molly's body was what was blocking the door. Shauna started screaming. She stood there, staring down in Molly in shock, shrieking until she felt someone's arms on her shoulders, turning her around.

"Shauna! Shauna! What's going on?!" a voice asked urgently. Shauna broke out of her stunned trance to see Jeremy standing there with a worried frown and creased brow on his face. "Molly!" Shauna screamed. "She's in there and I can't get the door open! She's not moving! I think she OD'd!" Then Shauna began crying. Jeremy gently pushed her aside and peeked inside the bathroom through the space Shauna created. He saw Molly lying there as Shauna had said. Molly had on only a pair of boxers and a tank top on. Her skin was tinged blue. Jeremy immediately began shoving the door open, knowing that if there was any chance Molly was still alive, he'd have to hurt her this way to get in and get her help.

Jeremy was finally able to move Molly's legs and torso with the door. He rushed inside, falling to his knees beside her body. He put his fingers to Molly's throat, feeling for a pulse. Her skin was like ice. He kept searching but couldn't find even the smallest throb to indicate there was still life inside of her. Jeremy scooped Molly into his arms, lifted her up into the air, and pressed her to his chest as he ran from the room.

He flew through the main office, yelling to Lauren "Molly OD'd!" before swinging the door open and barreling out. He ran out the front entrance , then continued running down the length of the hospital until he reached the Emergency Room doors. The automatic doors slid open and he ran up to the triage desk. "She's overdosed!" he yelled at the nurse behind the desk. "I can't get a pulse and I don't know how long she'd been unconscious before her roommate found her!" The nurse sprang into action, calling for the doctor. "We have an overdose with no pulse!" She yelled out.

Another nurse ran out with a stretcher. Jeremy placed Molly's cold, still body on it. He could see the nurse feeling for a pulse as they moved her along in the stretcher to an open room. She didn't seem to find one and started to perform chest compressions on Molly. The other nurse began to hook her up to a heart monitor as a doctor ran into the room. The little "V"s on the monitor were chaotic and out of rhythm. The nurse started stripping off Molly's tank top. Jeremy turned away, feeling like he was violating her somehow by seeing her topless. The doctor placed the paddles on Molly's bare chest, applying pressure to them with his upper body. The paddles sent a small shock through Molly's thin body. The doctor pulled the paddles off and the nurse continued with the chest compressions, while another nurse started an IV on Molly. Her heartbeat on the monitor was becoming more regular.

Jeremy stepped out in the hallway to wait. His own heart was beating very fast from running over to the Emergency Room along with being terrified that Molly was going to die. He felt something for this girl that he could not explain. Jeremy, along with two of the other counselors, had once been an addict himself. He was able to straighten himself out at the age of nineteen and dedicated his life to helping others. He had been a Rehabilitation Counselor at Tri-County Memorial for three and a half years now. Not once did her ever feel this way for a patient.

Molly's story touched Jeremy and he saw something familiar when he looked at her. He saw himself in her eyes. He felt that if he could help her move past the trauma of her mother and son dying that she would be able to live a long fulfilling life as he was. But there was something more. A deep attraction to her was there. Jeremy shook his head as he thought of this, feeling guilty for having such feelings for a patient. He vowed to push those aside and to be professional as always.

The doctor emerged from the room and turned to Jeremy. "She's going to make it," he informed him. Jeremy let out a sigh of relief. "She's a patient on the Rehabilitation Unit. I have to head back there now but can someone notify me when she's awake? I'm going to have to talk to her about what happened. Unfortunately she might be discharged from the program for this," Jeremy told the doctor who nodded his head gravely. "I'll tell the nurses to notify you when she's stable," he replied. "Thank you," Jeremy said to him. Jeremy glanced back into the room at Molly, who was still unconscious, one more time before turning around and leaving the ER.