Charlie stood outside a green weatherboard home in a shoddy neighbourhood of Bakersfield. The box in her arms was heavy and the medical bag slung over her shoulder was slipping down. Using her boot she kicked the door to knock and waited patiently. A few moments later the sounds of bolts and locks moving announced the owner was home.
The door opened to reveal an older woman, maybe in her 60's. She had the same dark eyes of her son and they warmed as the met Charlie's blue eyes. Mary-Ann Lowman ushered the almost Doctor into the house and closed the door behind them.
"Charlie, how are you sweet girl?" Mary-Ann asked kindly.
"Same old, same old. How about you? Did the new pills help? You look good." Charlie replied as she looked at Mary-Ann's complexion and limbs. "Anymore swelling?"
"Fit as a fiddle, and I can finally see my ankles dear." She chuckled. "Still struggling to sleep but it's better than it was."
"I have some magnesium here for that. It should stop the muscle cramps and let you rest up easier." Charlie said as she deposited the box on the table. "Let's check your blood pressure first."
Charlie unloaded the machine from the box and put the Velcro cuff around Mary-Ann's arm. While the machine inflated the cuff, Charlie took her stethoscope and listened to the woman's breathing.
"BPs still a little higher than I'd like but it's much better than it was at our last visit." Charlie said packing the machine away again. "I have two months supply of your medication. I'm working on getting another order but because it's a trial it's a little difficult."
"I appreciate it. Happy gets out sometime soon and he is good at finding anything I need." She said smiling at the thought of her son's freedom.
"I'll let him know the name of everything that has worked and pretend I didn't hear you say that." Charlie winked. "I'll stop by in a few weeks but my next residency is in Sacramento so I don't know when I'll have time to visit after that."
"Don't worry, my boy will look after me when he gets out. You've done more than enough." She said patting Charlie's arm kindly.
"I better get going. I'll give Happy an update when I see him. Take care of yourself Mary-Ann." Charlie said hugging the woman and pulling the boxes of medication out of her bag.
She raced north to get to her shift at Stockton State on time. Her handbag passed through the metal detector before she followed and rushed up the staff stairwell to the third floor. She swore as she heard the roar of motorcycles pull up and moved to the window in time to see Happy and his posse climb on their motorbikes. They rode away from the prison and she wondered if she would see them again.
She hadn't been working long before she was called to the ad sec sick bay for a suicide attempt. Charlie found Otto Delaney sat against his brick cell wall almost unconscious in a pool of blood, guards trying to hold rags to his wrists. Beside his hand was a razor, floating away in the ever-spreading pool.
"Lay him down, raise his hands." She ordered as she pulled on a pair of gloves. "Keep his arms above his heart."
Two guards complied and laid him down on the floor while another two held an arm up each. Charlie ripped her medical bag open and pulled out two thick pressure bandages and tightly wrapped his slit wrists.
"Get him to the infirmary." She said pulling the bloodied gloves off and picking up her bag.
Charlie made her way faster through the staff corridors to beat them to her room. After the incident with Jax last year she had petitioned to have a small amount of blood available onsite. She only hoped she had his blood type, A+ and O+ was all she was allowed. Anything else had to come from St Joseph's Hospital.
Charlie had found Otto's extensive medical history and his blood type by the time he was carried in. She pulled on fresh gloves and grabbed a bag of A+ and a bag of saline. She wiped an alcohol swab across his arm before inserting the needle and connecting the tubing to it. Many inmates had required blood transfusions in her time here and she was proficient in setting these up now.
Once she had the saline bag hung up and the blood bag tube ready in the pump she began to let it filter into Otto's vein. It would take an hour at least for the bag to be emptied then he would spend the night in the infirmary in case he has a reaction. Charlie went back to her computer to update his medical notes while the transfusion continued.
With Otto sleeping and stable she let the guards roll his bed down the corridor to the the ward for the night. Packing up her bag she shut everything down and made her way down the three floors and home. She forgot all about Happy and she collapsed on her bed exhausted. She had two hours to sleep before her night shift at St Joseph's began.
YOU ARE READING
Chance Encounters
Fanfiction[COMPLETED] Everyone has grand plans for their life and Charlie was no different. She didn't know how those plans derailed so fast her head still spins. That's a lie, it all came down to one moment, a chance encounter. After that, nothing was the sa...
