The Walking

Chapter thirteen

Code Black: While there is no formal definition for a "Code," doctors often use the term as slang to refer to a patient in cardiopulmonary arrest , requiring a team of providers (sometimes called a "code team") to rush to the specific location and begin immediate resuscitative efforts. 

As we ran down the street, I was confused on what was going on. Chucky woke me up by shaking me yelling that someone was in the hospital. When I was fully awake I could hear him say Mike was being rushed by ambulance. I quickly got dressed and ran down to meet everyone. They were saying Mike had gone into a cardiac arrest and that the hospital was in a code black. Kenzie had family who worked there and she would volunteer as a nurse when she would visit. It was a long haul from the house to the hospital building. I don't think I've ever ran that fast in my entire life. 

We approached the front desk and gave the lady our names, she took us into a room to change into scrubs and non-slip shoes. She assigned us people to work with and what rooms to go to. She looked at me and scratched her head. Everyone else either had a partner or someone to take care of. 

"Come with me." she said and I followed. We walked down a quiet hallway to rooms that had patients being taken care of. She lead me to room one-hundred and nine and assigned the room to me. I walked in to see a boy laying on the bed with ruffled hair and hitched breathing. It was Mike. I took off the mask I was wearing and sat it on the table. Pulling over a chair to sit in, I kept my eyes on him as to not wake him up. He was paler than usual and looked skinnier. I massaged him arm softly and started talking aloud.

"Are you happy, Mike? Are you healthy? I'm always here if you need to talk, I'm a good listener. I swear, if someone's hurting you I'll beat them up. You're my best friend and nothing can change that." I said retracting my arm and slouching in the chair. I laid my head on the bed and pretended to sleep. Than, I felt the bed shift and a hand on my head. I sat up to see Mike looking at me and playing with my hair. He gave me a smile.

"Hey, Toby." he said.

"Mike." I said sighing.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"What's wrong? You went into cardiac arrest. What happened?" I asked. He shook his head.

"I don't know." he said. A doctor came in and noticed he was awake.

"Oh, good. You're awake." he said than looked at me. "You came in with those group of kids." he said. I nodded.

"Yeah." I said.

"You're friends with Mike?" he asked.

"Yeah, he's my best friend." I said grabbing his hand. The doctor nodded. 

"Well, Mike. You did go into a cardiac arrest and the reason was stress. How is your life at home?" he asked. I looked at him. He lowered his head than lifted it back up.

"Umm, it's pretty normal. The usual chores: do the dishes, take out the trash, check the mail, whatever there is." Mike said.

"Uh huh, and how is your relationship with your parents?" the doctor asked.

"I get along with my parents except the occasional yelling when I do something wrong." he said. The doctor nodded.

"Do you have any siblings?" he asked.

"No, I'm an only child. I'm starting to think that's why they pin stuff on me." Mike said looking at me.

"What do you mean?" asked the doctor, who I later found out his name was Joe.

"I mean, my parents work all the time and sometimes they need a break. They'll go out to drink or whatever and I'm home alone taking care of the house. I clean and do all that I can and around ten or eleven at night, my parents will come home and if they see something out of place, they'll blame me. Even if my dad does something, he'll accuse me of doing it. This one time, he had a knife sitting on the counter, but than he couldn't find it because he put it away. He started yelling at me saying that I stole it and took it to my room. They hound on me if I don't come home with straight A's on my report card. It's just all to much." Mike said laying his head on the pillow. I tightened my grip on his hand and looked at him.

"OK. Do you have a friend or a family member you can stay with until this clears up?" Joe asked. 

"I could ask Kenzie." he said. Joe nodded.

"OK, sounds good. I'm giving you this prescription bottle, I want you to take them once a day as soon as you wake up." he said. Mike nodded and Joe left. I helped him to the bathroom to get dressed. Joe came back and Mike was discharged. 

The code black was lifted and we returned the clothes. We walked with Mike out of the building and to his house so he could pack a few things. We drooped them off at Kenzie's house and the rest of us went home.