The heat inside of the patient compartment was getting to be unbearable, sweat just running down the three women. Pat was thankful for the long pants and shirt to help catch the moisture. She looked over to the two women in shorts and sleeveless shirts; they appeared to be a cross between wet T-shirt night and mud wrestling as rivers of sweat mixed with the dirt of the softball field on their skin.
The back doors swung open, allowing fresh air into the now rank-smelling compartment. The woman medic sprang out of the ambulance with clipboard in hand. The play in the springs of the ambulance continued the swaying and bouncing motion as the patient was removed on the stretcher into the outside air. The doctor and nurse made their way to the back door following the path of the stretcher. Danni hesitated at the doorway holding her stomach and swallowing hard. Taking a slow deep breath, she followed the group of ill-fated caregivers into the emergency room door.
Dr. Trivoli was meet at the door by the Chief Resident, Dr. Maxine Webster, relief written all over her face when she saw that the injured patient was not one of their own.
"It appears to be a crushed and edematous larynx. We had no choice but to do a cricothyrotomy in the field. Vitals are good. Airway is now clear and patent, the patient is able to breathe on his own."
"We were able to put an 18 gauge angiocath into his left forearm area and established a KVO line of Ringers," the drenched blonde nurse added to the report.
As they entered the Trauma Room, Tim kept the stretcher in front of himself. Moving the patient to the hospital stretcher, the paramedic appeared to be straining, his neck veins standing out pulsating obviously. The Chief Resident leaned over saying, "You keep that up and you’re going to hurt yourself."
The medic looked up to heaven and whispered back, "If only you knew." Everyone’s attention now stayed with the patient as the medic backed out of the room with his ambulance stretcher. Hastily he eyed the open door of the rest room down the hallway. "I’ll be right back," he mumbled to Pat.
She grabbed the clipboard, shoving it into his hands and placing it to hide the prominent mound in his pants, "Why don’t you go take care of this?"
Tim nodded eagerly at her. "And don’t come out until your done."
With that, Tim made a beeline for the restroom glancing at his watch. Not five minutes yet and he looked up to the heavens in thanks for time to spare. Immediately his head dropped, bringing into view the growing wet spot on his uniform trousers. Well, at least he was at the doorway of the restroom when the relief came, instead of the room full of hospital personnel. Thankful for that small favor, he looked over his shoulder at Pat. He could already hear the Viagra jokes that would be circulating at the station house, all with his name associated. He continued into the room and closed the door.
Another medic team was coming down the hall. Stopping, they acknowledged the female medic, sweat dripping off her hair as she made up the stretcher. "Say, what’s up with the rookie, Pat?" He motioned toward the restroom door. "Something he couldn’t handle?"
She paused looking at the closed door. Placing her hands on her hips she rolled her tongue around the inside of her mouth, "Let’s just say that he got something he wasn’t expecting by surprise and ah…he’s having a hard time containing himself." Her voice began to chuckle with the last few words.
The two medics looked at the seasoned veteran then gave a tiny shrug to each other. "Guess you had to be there," one said to the other as they walked out of the door.
Having relayed all of the necessary information about the patient and the care that was administered until their arrival at the hospital, Danni and Garrett exited the room then leaned up against the wall in the hallway. The nurse closed her eyes trying to keep the room from spinning. Her face started to lose its color, turning a ghastly shade of pale green. She drew in several long deep breaths.
"Are you okay, Danni?" The voice was soft and concerned. The smartly dressed Social Worker reached out placing her hand on the nurse’s arm. Her skin felt cold and clammy. "Hey, Doc, she don’t look so good."
Dr. Trivoli looked over to the young blonde nurse. Suddenly Danni gulped hard, eyes bugging out, her hand reaching for her mouth as she ran down the hall towards the restroom. Garrett followed after her. With the perfect timing that only God could create, the restroom door opened just as the nurse reached for the doorknob. Before she knew it, the contents of her stomach were projected over the uniformed man trapped in the small room. Stunned, Tim looked at the petite blonde who was now being held by the tall, raven-haired doctor. Raising his eyes, he looked past the two women only to see Pat sliding to a stop in the hallway. She looked in disbelief, shaking her head and trying to stifle the laughter, "Jeez, Tim, you get it both ways, coming and going." With that out she could no longer contain the laughter. It was several minutes before she could catch her breath to speak. "I’d offer to ride you two back to the park, but I think I had better take Tim back to the station to get cleaned up."
The surgeon pulled at her shirt, wrinkling her nose at the smell. Looking at the medic she nodded her head in agreement, "I think we could use a little clean up too." Her eyebrow raised into her hair.
Feeling better with each second that passed the nurse kept offering her apologies to the young medic, "I’m really, really sorry. Honest!"
"Let’s just pretend that this never happened." He muttered under his breath, "Please, God, don’t ever let it happen to me, again." The medic was mortified as he exited the restroom. Silently he pledged to never have lustful thoughts again, well, at least while on the job. He thought of his sexual experiences in his adult life and vowed that this had to be the worst. It would take some doing to get over this. Somehow he just knew that it would haunt him every time he tried to get it on with a women. Maybe he would be lucky and die tomorrow he contemplated, knowing that he wasn’t that lucky.
"Well, at least we won’t have to explain the wet spot on your pants," the woman medic chuckled, "no one will be able to see it through all that emesis." She grabbed his sleeve being careful not to get any on her, "I know where there is a nice cold shower and some clean clothes waiting for you, back at the base." Pat turned to the women, "It’s been real, guys!" She ushered the young medic down the hallway, pushing the stretcher ahead of them. All the time wondering why she had picked up the extra overtime shift in the first place.
Danni turned from washing her mouth out with the water from the sink. Her eyes roved over her tall friend and then her own pathetic looking body. "Do you think we could get a shower and some scrubs before we head back to the picnic?"