Too much love will kill you

Rescue Mission

Alicia's POV:
I often help out as a hospital volunteer on the paediatric ward whenever I could, it sounds strange most people think I can't wait to get away from the hospital when my shift ends but it's strangely comforting to be there it's almost like a second home to me because each part of it has a part of me in it. The maternity unit where all three of my little angels were born, the emergency department where I first met my half siblings and where I work , the intensive care unit where I first asked Jacob to be my dad when Grace was so Ill after that crash that changed so many of our lives and the physio department where I watched Grace and Rachel take their first steps after a long illness, the peace garden where Ethan first asked me to be his girlfriend and the Hope and Anchor (not technically part of the hospital I know) where I told Ethan I was pregnant for the first time.
Ethan was working the opposite shifts to me this month so we could always be there for the girls and I always got restless at home the house was eerily quiet when you are home alone and it gave me the creeps so I volunteered to help out, it was calming so to speak to still be helping the youngsters even when I was off duty it was mostly arts and crafts as therapy. When I arrived on the ward at around lunchtime there was a new arrival an eight year old boy with a fractured kneecap and he was acting up and refusing to let any of the nurses near him so I quickly dropped my things in the staff room and pinned on my badge and hurried over to the little boy "Hey sweetheart my names Alicia can you tell me yours."
"Ethan..."He mumbled his voice muffled by the pillow
"Hey, that's a cute name and you'll never guess my husband is called Ethan and he has fair hair exactly like yours" I sat on the end of the bed and picked up the little teddy that was perched on the cabinet next to the bed no doubt placed there by one of the nurses to provide comfort "Have you given Mr Ted here a proper name yet, everyone on here has one even the biggest boys " I tucked him into the crook of the little boys arm and stroked his cheek which was damp with tears I guessed
"I miss my mummy..." He suddenly burst into tears and I instinctively pulled him into my chest and comforted him like I did with all of the children that cried because they were frightened or in pain.
"And I'm sure your mummy misses you very very much but she wouldn't want to think that you were being a silly billy and not letting anybody help you, she'd like you to be a big brave boy and she'll be able to come and visit you after your operation won't she?" I said and wiped away his tears with my thumb
"Big brave boy.." He sniffed "I can be that big brave boy!" He smiled and sat up
"That's it, shall we introduce to the others on this ward, they'll all be in the playroom they are working on props for our production of the little mermaid ." I wheeled him into the playroom and there was a tall slender girl with shoulder length brown hair sitting on one of the beanbags reading the little mermaid story to Phoebe a three year old regular on the inpatient list as she was born with arthritis so she came here for regular treatment to make it easier "Hey pheebs have you made a new friend" I said pushing Ethan to the table where 6 or 7 of the kids were working on what was eventually going to be the backdrop for the production
"Hey Alicia" The young girl spoke and lifted her head so I could see her face
"Rachel!What are you doing here you haven't got a check up today have you?There was nothing on the calendar at home, why aren't you in school " I picked Phoebe off Rachel's lap and she ran over to join some of the others on the colourings table
"Don't panic but I had a funny turn on the way to school so I made a detour to the hospital and they checked me over in the ED and told me to come up here to get checked by my consultant to make sure I'm not getting sick again"
"Funny turn how?Explain yourself" I asked anxiously
"I felt dizzy, hot , sick and I was wheezing hence the nebuliser"She explained pointing to the canister next to her
I immediately put my hand on the forehead to check if she was running a temperature "Leave off Alicia, they've already done that downstairs" She brushed my hand off irritably
"I was just checking, it's not like this to happen you haven't been like this for a while it sounds like you have had an asthma attack it must have been bad for them to put you on a nebuliser. Do you have any hearing loss or ringing in the ears." I asked fussing round her
"Alicia, will you quit fussing me you're doing my flaming head in" She got up and stormed out leaving a few of the youngsters confused and upset by the disruption
"Hey it's ok kids, she's just a bit frustrated with me" I reassured them and sat down to help them with the backdrop "Do you all remember your lines for the play?" I pulled out my phone and quickly sent a text to Rachel
A:Rachel when you get this call me, I've said I'm sorry truce?
I didn't get a reply from her for a few hours and I was starting to panic, the kids were back on the ward for their lunches so I went to have a scout round for Rachel when one of the doctors called me "Alicia, I know it's your day off but can you help out we're short staffed and we've got new admissions from the ED a teenage girl collapsed after an asthma attack and three young kids brought in after a car accident the girl is on the transplant list for a new heart"
I sighed internally and went to the staff room to grab the spare pair of scrubs from my bag and went out onto the ward "Right what have we got?" I asked Dr Williams
"We've got twins Maisie and George brought in alongside their Sister Molly after a driver lost control and ploughed into them at a pedestrian crossing. Mostly superficial cuts and bruises but the youngest ones haven't spoken a word since so they want us to keep them up here for observation, Molly the oldest she's 10 is on the transplant list she was a planned admission for today so we're waiting for the go ahead from Theatre to say they can take her she's got a deep face laceration that needs stitches and then she can be discharged although why they couldn't do it in the ED they want us to take bloods and send them to pathology to double check that the heart they have is a match for her. Then we've got an unknown female they think she's about 12 was found collapsed outside complaining of breathing problems and tightness in her chest upon observation they said she had already had one prior admission this morning for suspected asthma attack also complained of vertigo and nausea prior to collapse"
I nodded "I'll take the asthma attack if you like, have parents been called ?"I took the notes and quickly read through
"They are trying to get in touch with them now, she was already hooked up to salbutamol nebuliser prior to this so just top up medication and if there's no improvement try a course of steroid tablets " I walked over to the asthma patient "Dr Williams I can't treat this patient..." I backed away and put down the notes
"Why ever not?" Dr Williams walked over to me "What's the issue"
"The patient is my sister, she's thirteen and her name is Rachel Masters" I squeezed her hand gently
"Right Alicia if you still want to help you can either go and call your parents and let them know or you can take bloods from Molly she's in bed five and then Phoebe is due for pain meds she's going down to hydrotherapy at 3" I nodded desperate to take my mind off it I walked away blinking quickly to stop the tears that were pricking my eyes from falling.
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Rachel's POV
I knew I had to tell Alicia but I was scared she'd be cross with me. She was fussing over me and I couldn't take it I didn't deserve her being so nice to me not when I'd done something wrong. "Just leave me alone " I shouted and stormed out I practically ran outside into the peace garden, I sat down on the bench and it was then that I realised it was happening again I couldn't breathe I was so scared my breath's were shallow and ragged and every time I tried to take a breath in it felt like it was getting stuck In my throat and it wasn't going down I burst into tears which only made it harder to breathe. I tried to call out but my voice came out as a whimper, I scrabbled around in my pockets for my inhaler but it wasn't there there was a hole in my pocket it must have fallen out when I stormed out. My hands were shaking too much to be able to put my nebuliser on and it was getting harder and harder to breathe , I managed to muster up some strength to call out and the new paramedic Fenisha came over and she could see I was obviously struggling for breath she managed to get the nebuliser back on me and shouted for Iain to bring over a stretcher "Rachel?Where's Alicia she's looking after you isn't she?" Iain carefully lifted me onto the stretcher "Chest...tight...can't ..can't breathe.....dizzy...Alicia....paediatrics" was all I managed before everything faded to black.