Taken

Chapter 17

As soon as they left, I started to clean off the counter and put away plates. I noticed Nolan had left his watch on the table, which was odd. Picking it up, I went to go find a book from my bookshelf. I figured an encyclopedia might work for what I was looking for.

I padded quietly across the wood floors in some fuzzy striped socks, and placed the watch on the marble table by the large bookcases. I climbed, then stood up on the tallest rung of the sliding ladder, reaching for the 'A' book. I had to start somewhere. As soon as I held the book in my hands, I could feel the force of pulling it out sending me backwards. I made the mistake of looking down to the floor 4.87 meters below me and flailed my arms around trying to keep my balance. It didn't work. The last thing I remembered was not landing on my butt.

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I made it about halfway through the door frame before realizing I had left my watch on the counter at breakfast. It wasn't that unusual for me to take it off; I played with it when I was thinking about something else. What was unusual was for me to leave it sitting there. Usually I notice right away when it's missing. Sighing, I turned around and headed back towards Aimée's room.

While walking back, I heard a faint yell and a not-so-faint thump. I didn't know what had just happened, but whatever it was couldn't be good. I started sprinting. When I finally made it to her room, the door slid open to let me inside. There, to the left, was Aimée sprawled out on the floor with a thick book in the hand that wasn't facing the right way. Running over to her, I checked her pulse first, then her breathing to make sure she was actually just unconscious. Then I remembered the wallcom. I was hesitant to leave her alone, but the unit was only a few meters away from where she landed. I hurried over and frantically called Nathan.

9 minutes later, he comes running in with a couple of medical droids following close behind.  He checked her pulse and breathing like I did, then opened her eyelids. He swore loudly.

"Yeah, head trauma."

He barked at one of the droids to get a stretcher and neck brace, told the other to wait, then turned to me.

"I need you to put your hands on either side of her neck and head and hold them in line with each other until the droid comes back. We have to treat it like a spinal injury also, just in case," he said.

"I'm pretty sure her wrist is broken also," I mentioned. He looked over at it, sighed, then got up and fished a cloth bandage out of the bag the other droid was holding. Taking the book out of her hand, he then examined her right wrist.

"You're right," he said, "It's pretty severely sprained if not broken. I'll have to keep it stationary until I get a chance to x-ray it." He wrapped it in bandage carefully then set it back down where it was. I was sitting awkwardly to her side trying to do what he said, when I noticed him shaking his head at me.

"What?" I asked.

"You're always way too modest. You are allowed to have your knees on opposite sides of her, you know."

"Um, no thanks. I'd rather not." I replied. He rolled his eyes and stood up.

"Whatever." He walked over to the bag again and unzipped a large compartment, pulling out a clunky instrument. Kneeling to the left of me, he cleaned off a clip with disinfectant and attached it to her middle finger. He then pulled a small matchbox-sized object out of his pocket, turned it on, and waved it over the crook of her arm. Brows furrowed, he then started what I figured out to be a pulse monitor.

"Wonderful. Fucking excellent," he swore.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Increased ICP; intracranial pressure. When is that damn droid going to get here before I start finding more things wrong?" He muttered.

"Well what can you do about it?"

"Not much," He replied. "I need to get her to the medical ward before I can do anything serious."

"Ah, great."

Just then, the droid reappeared with a hovering stretcher. He pulled it over to him and lowered it onto the ground, slipping it underneath her carefully. It then began to rise again. Quickly, he placed the heart rate monitor on the fabric of the stretcher and moved her arm to where it laid next to her. Then he stood straight up, stretched his back and said, "You can go back to your quarters now, Nolan. There's not much else you can do." Then walked quickly down the hallway with the droids trailing.

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Two small things. I promise.

1. Yeah, all the medical terms, etc. actually exist, Feel free to Google them.  I spent roughly 65% of the time I used on the post just researching, no lie. Does that in itself deserve a vote? Yeah, I think so. :D (This is the part where, if you haven't already, you click the small orange button on the left)

2. Follow me on teh Twitters. There's a link on my page. Click it.

Thanks for putting up with me and my writing so far! (It's been a whole YEAR! My, how time flies...)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY STORY! Woot. :D