Josie's Journey

In Which Josie is Disabled, But Not Defeated!

Josie was in and out of consciousness as her mother drove hastily to the nearest hospital. Her daughter was lifeless, Josie's body was weak and she passed out on the way while seizing.

Suddenly the car broke down, skidding to a stop. "Shit!" Elaine shrilled, biting her lip as she pulled out her phone and dialed 911.

— — (This is where Ren decided that they're actually writing a script for Grey's Anatomy!) — —

Operator: 911, what is your emergency?

Mother: Hi, I need an ambulance as soon as possible. My car broke down when I was on the way to take my daughter to the hospital. She's barely breathing and unresponsive. She's having seizures too. I was a nurse at Boston Children's years ago so...

Operator: Breath, ma'am, breathe. I have an ambulance on the way. What's her name?

Mother: uhh, my daughter's name is Josie Brown.  She's a teenager. She's 15. She hadn't been feeling well on the way home from school from what she told me.

Operator: Okay, I need you to check for a pulse and lay her down on her side in case she has more seizure

Mother: yes- yes, of course.

Josie's mom set her phone down and put it on speaker, beginning to lay her daughter onto her side from the backseat. She reached and touched her daughter's neck, holding her fingers there to get a pulse.

Mother: it's weak but it's beating. She's breathing a little shallowly and pretty quickly. Her pulse is also rapid. She seems to be gasping for air.

Operator: the paramedics are five minutes out, just hang in there ma'am.

Mother: okay.

— — (And this is where Ren decided they couldn't commit to that level of work.) — —

Josie's mom sat there and watched her daughter, beginning to tear up. She couldn't lose her daughter. She already lost her husband due to the war. She couldn't lose her daughter. Not like this, her daughter shouldn't have to suffer like this. It wasn't fair to her.

The operator spoke up. "They should be there now. I will go ahead and hang up now. Remember to breathe ma'am."

The call ended and sirens were very close by. Her mother checked the mirror and saw the ambulance a hundred feet away. She opened the door and got out. The paramedics came out and brought their equipment.

They set it down and began to try to wake Josie up. They were unsuccessful. They placed the monitor electrodes were placed on her chest and they placed the pulse odometer on her finger and it read: 82% | 167 bpm

They quickly picked her up and lifted her onto the gurney, setting the equipment on the gurney until they got into the ambulance.

Her mother got into her car and tried to turn it on. The engine wasn't turning over. She said, "Screw this." She grabbed her purse and keys, then her daughter's phone and her own, rushing to the ambulance. She went with them. Sitting in the back of the ambulance, she watched in fear of her daughter. Hang in there, baby girl. She thought the last thing she needed was losing her only daughter. She thought Josie was safe in the ambulance but to her horror her daughter started to have another big seizure.

Once they arrived at the hospital, they rushed inside and went to a trauma room. Josie's mother was forced to wait in the waiting room as they worked on her daughter.

The last thing she saw was her shaking daughter's pale face with blue lips. She couldn't get the image out of her head.