Winning the Lottery

Ch. 6 Stitches

The next morning, I work early and went to work. I got dressed in my scrubs and coat. I put my red stethoscope around my neck and hooked my pager to my pants. I went to check on Bradley.

He was awake, smiling, "Hi, Britt!"

"Hey, Bradley. how are you feeling this morning?"

"My tummy hurts."

"Yeah, it will for a couple days, but that's just the magic working."

He smiled.

I checked his vitals and updated his chart before making my way to Erica's room.

She smiled, "Hey, Dr. Malone."

Nick was already in there. He turned around and smiled at me.

"Good morning, Erica. how are you feeling?"

"Tired."

"Me, too," I smiled.

She smiled and groaned, "Ouch!"

I walked over and moved Nick aside. I checked her vitals and wrote them down. Then, I led Nick from the room.

"How are you so good? It's your second day."

I shrugged.

My pager went off. Emergency room.

Nick and I ran down.

When we got there, Dr. Jenkins explained, "Explosives blew at a military base during a training session on the other side of town."

Dr. Hamilton and I looked at each other as we got our gowns and cloves on.

I tied my hair back and took a deep breath.

An ambulance came.

The first man was barely identifiable.

Dr. Hamilton looked at me and bit her lip. "Have you heard from him today?"

"No, but last night he told me they were doing training today."

The blood drained from her face. "Oh, God."

Another ambulance came, followed by another. the first unloaded.

Then, the second did. A man was wheeled into the E.R. with Jake by his side, gripping his arm.

Dr. Hamilton and I rushed over.

"What the hell happened?" she asked, throwing her arms around him.

"I don't know. I just know that half my men went down. More are on their way. You've got to help them," Jake told his mom.

She nodded and turned to me. "Dr. Malone, can you take care of his arm?"

"Of course."

"I'm fine."

"Yeah, I'll be the judge of that. Have a seat."

He sat down and released his arm. It was cut about an inch long. It was a fairly deep wound.

"Jake-"

"I'm fine, really. It barely even hurts."

"Lay back and let me examine you, then I'll stitch up your arm."

"Why?"

"How'd you get the cut?"

"The explosion threw me a few yards. I got it caught on a piece of our training equipment."

"I'm checking. Now, shush and let me listen to your heart." His heartbeat was steady. I listened to his breathed. "Deep breath." I repeated it a couple times, then I put my stethoscope around my neck.