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Chapter Two - A Bird in Trauma is worth two in the waiting room

"Look out!" A voice called as the doors to Princeton Plainsboro's ER department swung open.

A paramedic team, pushing a dark haired girl on a gurney rushed through the halls towards a trauma room, one keeping the gurney rolling while the other ventilated the bag attached to the girl's mouth.

"What you got?" a female voice asked as she rushed over to join the gurney team. Alison Cameron took the chart the paramedic offered.

"Robyn Adamson, Sixteen year old female, went for a swim in the malls fountain. Unresponsive at the scene." Paramedic Bob explained. "Pulse thredy, BP 180/90 'resp's shallow, we scooped and ran. Her friends pulled her out, they are right behind us. The female friend said she's an asthmatic, we treated with 10 ccs epinephrine and a bronchodilator in the field... couldn't get a line in..."

Cameron took all of this in as she kept pace with them. She glanced down at the tangled wet mass of the girls hair. The scalp was bleeding slightly under it. "What happened there?" She asked.

"I think her hair was caught in the fountains main pump, that's what pulled her under it looks fairly superficial." The paramedic replied following her gaze.

The gurney rolled to a stop as it reached the trauma room. The waiting medical team moved into action as one nurse fixed the respirator and removed the bag. The rest of the medical team took hold of the body board from under the patient. Cameron took the head.

"All right. On my count." She told them. "One...Two...Three!"

The team hauled as one allowing the board to slide seamlessly on to the waiting gurney, and the paramedic stepped back. Cameron took control of the situation, as the nurse began cutting the wet clothes from the patient; she took a pen light and shone it into her patient's eyes.

"Robyn...can you hear me?" she asked loudly. " Pupils equal and responsive.." The girl remained unconscious the steady rise and fall of her chest aided by the respirator. Cameron looked worriedly at her pale face for a moment before reaching over and rubbing the knuckle of her thumb into Robyn's Solar plexus, the teenager's body contracted under the pressure.

"She's responsive to pain." Cameron called, unable to keep a slight note of relief from her voice. "....Ok get a blood gas, blood count, chem. Panel, electrolytes" She said. "... Start a line...Heated IV fluids"

"Positive batinsky" Someone at the feet called up. A ripping sound of Velcro sounded as an intern removed the collar and gently examined the patient's neck.

"Necks clear"

"Portable chest and neck..." Cameron continued as she plugged her stethoscope into her ears and pressed the diaphragm against the girl's chest.

Outside of the trauma room and back down the hall stood watching the procession. clutching an ambulance blanket around her soaking clothes, hair wet and sticking to her forehead.

She felt rather stunned and wasn't really sure where to go or what to do. She waited for maybe five minutes before a kindly looking nurse spotted her and approached.

"You aren't hurt are you my dear?" She asked causing Arin to blink and slowly look at her.

"Uh...no. No my...my friend, she...there was an accident." She pointed uselessly down the corridor where the trauma team had vanished.

The nurse flicked her tongue and led Arin to the waiting area. She sat across from the girl and began asking questions about Robyn, her name, date of birth her parents number.

Arin answered as much as she could in a sort of numb way. When she was finished she shifted her feet and looked down at the puddle of water she had made in the chair and the floor. She stood. " I am so sorry..." she started.

The nurse clicked her tongue again and smiled reassuringly. "It's ok pet, not your fault. If you're sure you're not hurt..." she waited for Arin to shake her head again and then continued, "... then I will get this information to the desk and get you something dry to change into a hot cup of tea. Just sit tight."

She left then and Arin moved to another more deserted part of the waiting room. That's where she was watching a janitor or something mop up her earlier mess and holding a steaming hot cup of tea when Zen arrived.
---

Sometime later and the rather roomy waiting area was beginning to feel oppressive. Arin took a slow, slightly ragged breath and bounced her knees looking around at the few other occupants with little interest. In her head she was replaying the scene over again. How had Robyn ended up in the water. Was she watching them on her way back from the bathroom. How could she have failed to notice that her so called best friend was wheezing and in need of her inhaler. She felt achy and still wet. The hospital scrubs that the nurse had given her sat abandoned in the chair at her side along with the untouched cup of tea.

The air conditioning was working well here as a saviour from the heat but it wasn't exactly helping her dry out much. She knew she should go dry off and change but she didn't want to leave the waiting area without knowing Robyn was ok. She had to be ok.

Leaving the damp blanket on the chair Arin stood and began pacing the length of the chairs in their side of the waiting area. Thirteen steps forwards, one-step around, thirteen steps back, she counted.

Zen who watched his girlfriends progression frowning. "Wearing a trench in the carpet isn't going to help her you know." He said gently breaking the silence.

Arin shook her head and ignored him. She sat however and after a few more seconds bounced her knee again eyes trained on the door. Zen put a hand on her bouncing knee and squeezed gently. "She's going to be ok Arin. It's going to be ok." He soothed.

Female figure clad in a white lab coat entered the waiting area and looked around. Her dark hair was pulled back from her face in a ponytail. Her eyes fixed on the shivering Arin and then Slid to Zen before she made her way over. She smiled and cleared her throat slightly. "Are you two Arin Rae and Zenneth Macleod?"

"Yes." Arin replied standing. "Is Robyn alright? Is she going to be ok?"

The female doctor's smile brightened warmly at them. "I'm Doctor Cameron; Robyn's going to be just fine. She was on a respirator when they brought her in but she regained consciousness a little while ago and is now breathing on her own. She's going to be a little sore and achy but yes she is going to be fine."

Zenneth raised his eyebrows." A respirator? Isn't that serious?"

"The respirator was helping her breathe when she was brought in."She explained patiently. She turned to Arin " I understand you helped pull her out. That must have been very frightening for you. It looks like you pulled her out just in time."

"Can we see her?" Zen asked

Arin swallowed hard, her eyes slightly bloodshot. She rubbed part of her damp sleeve across them and Cameron looked away giving her a moment to compose herself while she pondered the boys question and said slowly. "Yes...you can as soon as she's back from CT..."

The doctor, Cameron, began explaining what was happening to Robyn and how when she was stable they would find her a room upstairs. But Arin didn't care. She let loose a painfully deep breath that she felt like she had been holding in for hours. Relief surged through her and she felt her body sag under it. One thing clear in her head.Robyn was going to be ok.

"I was wondering" Cameron continued. "Would either of you have contact details for Robyn's Parents...we've been unable to reach them via the numbers we have and I thought maybe you would have a cell phone number or something or another relative we could call?

"Yes" both of them replied together causing Cameron to smile wider.

"I'll go." Zen said kindly, giving Arin a pat on the arm. He dug into his jeans and produced a handful of coins which he handed over. "Why don't you go find us all a soda or something? Or just take a walk and dry out a bit?"

Arin nodded grateful of the distraction and watched Cameron lead Zen back down the corridor towards the main admit desk. Turning to her left, she picked a direction that looked remotely vending machine wielding and headed down it, her fingers jangling at the loose change in her damp pockets.