Night shift - Completed

Chapter 29

Poppy's PoV

I felt better once Dave was back, saying everyone looked like a proper diner. He proceeded to stand at the end of the table and keep watch as we all tucked into our meals. I couldn't help but keep my eye out too, watching as the paps stood by the window, cameras around their necks as they waited for us to do something they could make a story about. One diner was talking to the waiter who had brought me over, which caught my attention as I ate a small forkful of pasta, scared in case the paps caught me in a bad light looking like a pig.

"I just need to know that there are no nuts in the meal." The diner said, pointing at something on the menu. "I have a severe nut allergy."

"We hand make all our pasta, sir, and the sauces, so I'd say they would be your best bet. Just not one with a pesto." The waiter said confidently. The diner nodded.

"Okay, I'll have the penne arrabbiata." He ordered quickly, the waiter writing it down and walking away quickly to tell the staff.

"Something interesting over there Poppy?" Calum asked, bringing me back to reality quickly. I looked around the table and saw everyone looking at me. I laughed nervously.

"I'm sorry, someone had a nut allergy, I was just thinking about how brave it is for them to eat out. It's always risky." I said, embarrassed that I'd not heard what they said because I was listening to some random diner. Calum smiled at me sweetly.

"You're never really off duty, are you?"

I shrugged. "I suppose not, just like you guys." I said, nodding over to the window where the paparazzi remained, waiting for a story opportunity. We all looked at each other and rolled our eyes. I knew what they were thinking; what an awful job.

We continued to eat but the conversation flowed, all chatting about funny things that had happened recently, even in the hospital room. We reminisced about the first time we'd all met each other and how different Calum had been, so angry and disengaged from everything. He hid behind his hand in embarrassment.

"Alright, lets talk about something else!" He groaned. "I can't stand thinking about how I was back then, but it was all that damn nurse's fault. Had she actually listened and believed me, we wouldn't have had that problem. I went a whole shift with a broken ankle and fractured rib being told there was nothing wrong with me!" Calum said, irritation lacing his voice as he spoke about Iliana. The others shook their heads.

"Honestly I've never seen him that bad and I've know him since we were in primary school." Michael added. I went to open my mouth to apologise on her behalf but something caught my attention once more.

"Greg? Greg!" A lady was saying, her voice getting louder and more scared each time she repeated his name. Looking around, I noticed it was the table where the man had caught my attention with his nut allergy. "I need some help here! My husband!" Without thinking, I shot off my chair, rushing over to the table to be with Greg and his wife.

"Miss, I'm a nurse, my name is Poppy. What's happened?" I asked her as I moved to her husband who was gasping for breath and clutching his throat.

"He was just eating and then he started complaining he wasn't feeling very well. Please, just help him." She said in a rush, her voice strained as she watched her husband suffering.

"And he has a nut allergy?" I questioned, she nodded quickly. "Do you have any injections? Anything he carries in case he eats nuts?" She began to rummage in her bag.

"Greg, can you hear me?" I spoke to him but he barely acknowledged. I grabbed my phone from my pocket and called for an ambulance. "I need an ambulance to Fratelli's restaurant, on Cedar Street. There's a man here in severe anaphylactic shock." As I spoke, Greg passed out. He fell towards the table but I stopped his head hitting the plate. I quickly pulled him off the chair and laid him flat on the floor, checking his breathing as I felt for a pulse. "I'm a nurse." I stated on the phone. "He's unconscious, his breathing slowing. I need someone here now with adrenaline!" I shouted down the phone. "A few minutes? Good! Thank you." I hung up and threw my phone to the side as I tried desperately to think of something to do.

"Here!" The wife shouted, handing me an Auto-injection pen. I quickly jabbed him with it, hoping it would suffice and watched to see if anything got better, but it didn't. I moved his chair and rested his feet on it, trying to elevate them. "What's happening? Is he going to be okay?" The wife was beside me, tears streaming down her face as I tried to save her husband.

"He's having a severe allergic reaction. He needs to go to hospital as soon as possible, I'm so sorry." I said as I tried to calm her down. Before long, the ambulance arrived and two paramedics rushed in.

"What's happened?" One asked.

"He has a nut allergy. He's in severe anaphylactic shock. He couldn't breath and then passed out. He's been unconscious for a few minutes. We injected him with this and I've elevated his feet but he needs adrenaline and oxygen." I listed off as I normally did to the consultants when we had an emergency in the ward.

"We'll take over from here. Thank you for your help." The other said as they quickly put the man on the bed and whisked him out of the building with his wife running beside them in a state.

"Thank you!" She called back as they left, the ambulance speeding off with the sirens playing and the lights flashing. I remained on the floor for a few seconds, staring down at the ground as I tried to come to terms with what had just happened and what I knew the outcome was going to be. The injection didn't work, and it'd been minutes before the paramedics could give adrenaline; there was a chance he wasn't going to make it out of that with all his health intact. I slowly and sadly stood up, grabbing my phone off the floor and putting it in my pocket as I headed back to the table, sliding into my seat as I looked up at six sets of wide, shocked eyes.

"Wow." Michael managed to say, which was more than anyone else but still not enough to make me feel any better.

"That was amazing. You're a lifesaver Poppy." Dave smiled, placing his hand on my shoulder and giving it a comforting squeeze.

"Thanks." I managed to say whilst my mind was elsewhere. "It wasn't as good as it looked though, he's in a serious condition." I heard a few phone vibrations but paid no attention, my thoughts still on what more I could have done to help Greg.

"Hey, lets get out of here. I think we need some quiet time after that." Calum said strongly, his hand snaking round my shoulders as he helped me up off the chair, grabbing my stuff for me as we walked out the back and towards the car. Something was telling me this whole thing wasn't right, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what...