To Protect and Serve by Pat Adeff

Everything’s going to be all right.”  It was the mantra that got her through the evening traffic and to the hospital.  Although the traffic was not particularly heavy, it seemed to Nancy that she was driving in slow motion and that it took forever to arrive.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER 5
     
                  As Nancy flew through the sliding doors into the Emergency Room waiting area, she was assaulted by the smell of disinfectant with the underlying tang of injured flesh and vomit.
                  The place was packed and noisy.  All the chairs were filled, and people were standing along the walls and in the corners. There were several couples, young and old, a few families, a flock of worried cheerleaders, and a baby crying in pain.  Usually Nancy would have paid attention to the baby and the mother holding and rocking her child.  However, one of HER babies was behind the double doors leading into the treatment area of the ER, and she needed to get there - NOW.
                  She spied the ER admitting desk.  Navigating through the injured and ill, she rushed over to the line of people waiting to check in.  Nancy was feeling the panic start to bubble out, and just about the time she decided to be very rude and cut in front of everyone, the double doors to her right opened up. 
                  “Mom!  Over here.”  Kate and Joey had been on the lookout for her.
                  Nancy hurried over to them and after giving Kate a swift hard hug, and checking to make sure she was okay, they led her inside and down the corridor, walking rapidly towards the two end units.  Lining the hall were gurneys with patients in various stages of pain.  One of the beds held a frail older woman who was plucking at her blanket while whispering “Please” over and over in an eerie voice.  An EMT stood at the foot of the woman’s bed, writing notes on a clipboard.  Another bed had a teenage boy in a football uniform holding his left elbow with his right hand.  Behind the sweat and messy hair in his face, Nancy could see the fear and the tears he was valiantly trying to hold back.  Well, that explained the contingent of cheerleaders in the waiting room. 
                  They finally made it to the end of the hall.  At the first curtain, Nancy peeked around and saw Jackson sitting up with his eyes closed and a nurse checking his blood pressure.  Jackson looked pale and exhausted.  He had a wide bandage around his rib area.  The nurse nodded and smiled at Nancy to indicate that he was alright.
                  Nancy smiled back and then moved to the next curtain.  Taking a deep breath she pushed the curtain aside.
                  Nothing.
                  The bed was empty.  There were bloody dressings scattered on the counter and floor.  There was blood on the rumpled sheet on the bed.
                  She couldn’t breathe.  Where was Christy?  Why was there so much blood!?  Nancy was looking around to find someone to answer her questions when she heard a faint “Mom?”
                  Being pushed down the corridor on a gurney, with a huge white bandage around her head was Christy.
                  “Mom!”  Christy held out her hand and Nancy’s feet finally started to move.
                  “Oh, honey.  Are you all right?  What happened?”  Nancy gripped Christy’s hand like a vise between both of hers.
                  “Mom!  Ease up.  I’m OK.”  Christy even managed a watery half-smile.  She held up the hand that Nancy was squeezing in two.
                  “Oh, honey.  I’m sorry.  I’m just so glad to see you’re alive.”  Nancy loosened her grip a little, but not much.  “What happened to you?  There’s so much blood!”
                  “That’s