TW: MENTIONS OF BLOOD. A SLIGHT PANIC ATTACK.
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A/N: The medical info you're about to read is real and can be used in daily life emergencies. It could be really helpful one day :)
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Valeria Chambers
"Is there anyone left that I haven't taken their attendance yet?" Dr. Pierce asked when she finished checking everyone's names. Her dark eyes scanned the room one last time. Her Afro hair was pulled up into a nice bun and a stethoscope was placed around her neck.
There were almost twenty students, all of us wearing lab coats over our ordinary clothes, piled up in one small meeting room, sitting on chairs while Dr. Pierce stood before us.
When no one answered, she began, clasping her hands together "alright then. Today we're gonna learn something you might have learned in your previous years, but I'm gonna teach it again for the international students who might or might've not taken it before."
Bl i'adeh ifadeh. I thought to myself. It was true, repetition is beneficial.
"Alright, let's begin. Today, I'm going to teach you what to do if the patient is unconscious but the heart is still beating. This procedure is done when the situation is urgent and there aren't any attendants or professionals around, or even until the ambulance arrives, just to keep the patient alive until someone gets there."
Okay, so far so good. I have not taken anything like that before. But I've read about it before coming here.
Dr. Pierce regarded each of us with a thoughtful gaze, her expression grew more serious as she spoke "today, you won't be practicing on real patients-" she explained "-Instead, you will have the opportunity to work with one another under my careful guidance and supervision. I recommend dividing yourselves into pairs, allowing you to collaborate and support each other throughout this learning experience."
Oh no.
I don't like where this is going.
I looked around. As I surveyed the room, I noticed that everyone was already pairing up with whomever they felt most comfortable, whether they were two girls, two boys, or even boy and a girl.
I glanced back at Niall to see him already paired up with a redhead girl. Then I saw Harry there, standing all alone and wearing his own lab coat.
He looks so damn hot.
Nope. None of that.
If I could convince Harry to go with Niall and I'd be with the redhead, at least I think I'd be a bit comfortable.
I went towards Harry who already had his green eyes on me.
Why is this so awkward? I haven't even thought what I'd say to him.
I was standing right in front of him now. I gave him a small sheepish grin "erm, hi."
"hello again, buttercup. Found yourself a partner yet?" Harry asked, giving me a cute dimpled smile.
I shook my head, my face felt too hot and blushed "no, actually, I was thinking if-"
"looks like everyone's got a partner now. We'll start right away. Follow me." Dr. Pierce spoke, interrupting me.
Oh my God! What did just happen??
Now I can't switch with anyone.
Not that anyone would want to work with me.
"Looks like you're stuck with me then, buttercup." He smirked slightly.
"yeah, I guess so." I sighed out.
Maybe it won't be too bad.
"You okay? You were about to tell me what you were thinking before Dr. Pierce spoke." I heard Harry's deep voice say from beside me as we walked to a larger room.
I glanced up at him for a split second before I muttered with a nod "yeah I'm fine. It's nothing, really. I forgot what I was gonna say anyway."
He shrugged "okay then. If you do remember though, tell me. Okay?"
I could still feel him staring at me. I huffed out "will do, if I remember."
Each pair was assigned to one of the ten beds, which were arranged side by side.
Everyone now was facing Dr. Pierce again when she asked "I need a volunteer to play the role of the patient so that you'd do the same steps that I'm going to show you on each other. It's better if everyone participates. But if you're uncomfortable with what you're going to do then it's fine too, just tell me."
I could tell her.
I could.
But I won't.
If this is the better way of learning this, then I want to do it.
I can do it.
"I'll volunteer."
Oh God no Harry don't leave me alone!
Of all people, only you wanted to volunteer?!
I looked up at him in disbelief and shook my head as he removed his lab coat and handed it to me "will you hold this for me please? Thank you!"
Before I could protest, he was at the front of the room with his lab coat still held in my hands.
Then he did something that had us all gasping and had some girls giggling quietly.
He took his damn shirt off.
Isn't he going to get cold?
I just stared at him, unable to remove my eyes from his stunning body.
His tattoos.
He has so many tattoos than I have ever imagined.
Dr. Pierce told Harry, craning her neck back to look up at him "Thank you Dr. Styles. You didn't have to take your shirt off but since you did, I'm not gonna ask you to put it back on as it is better to explain this way."
She turned to face us, a look of amusement still lingering there "now, I'm going to show you and explain what you have to do. I'll be going around to see your work and assist you if needed. As I said before, under my supervision."
Then she started explaining, pointing at Harry's chest every once in a while.
But of course, I didn't hear a single word she was saying, because how could I when a beautiful canvas drawn on skin with permanent ink was displayed before me?
There was an incredible butterfly tattoo on his epigastric region.
The two swallows were now on full display.
His right forearm had an eagle tattoo with the word Mary right above it while his left arm was littered with tattoos from his shoulder to his wrist.
He also had two fern leaves tattoos on either side of his sculpted abdomen which were peaking out from under the waistband of his jeans.
Do they reach down to his-
Nope! Stop right there brain. We do not think like that.
We don't need to know this private information.
When I think Dr. Pierce was done explaining, her clear voice pulled me out of my thoughts that were heading to some dark places "if you have any questions, please ask. You may start now."
I watched as he put his shirt back on and as he made his way back over to me.
A smug smirk was plastered on his face "you should've taken a picture. You rarely get to see someone with tattoos all over his body."
I swatted his arm, right over his ship tattoo.
I've already memorized the location of each an every tattoo faster than I memorize my books.
"Oh shush, I wasn't looking." That was a lie. I hope he'd believe it.
"Yeah? Your eyes glued to my body would say otherwise. Did you even hear a word she said?"
I raised an eyebrow and folded my arms, handing him his lab coat back "I wasn't looking, well maybe a little bit but that's because she was pointing at you the entire time. And yes I have listened to every single word."
His brows shot up in amusement "you sure?"
I just peered up at him and squinted my eyes "uh huh."
He finally said, scratching his neck "I can be the patient first if you want."
I nodded my head quickly.
At least I'd know what he'll be doing to me after I was done with him.
And hopefully he'll talk me through it because I don't know shit about what I'm about to do.
Him and his stupid magnificent tattoos.
The reason I couldn't focus.
I watched Harry as he got on the bed and laid there on his back, looking up at the ceiling before he glanced at me "start, I'll help you."
Why thank you.
I was standing right beside him "oh please, aren't you supposed to be the patient? Technically unconscious?"
What? I had to show him that I know what I'm doing.
I read the steps before coming here, so that's gonna help me somehow.
Harry shrugged "yeah, but I'm not unconscious. Now c'mon, we don't have forever. What do you do first?"
I asked the scripted question, following the scenario with a hint of kindness in my voice.
I didn't want to scare the patient or else he'd think he was going to heaven or hell.
"are you okay?"
He nodded "good. That was great. Okay so I didn't respond. What do you do now?"
I answered, recalling the steps that I'd read "uh.. I do a motor exam." and I did just that. I brought the base of my palms, gently placed them on his chest and moved them in a circular motion.
"Wow, you really did pay attention." He said with a light chuckle, his dimples carved on his cheeks.
Yeah I did.
Ha ha.
If you only knew the truth.
"No response, next?"
"Pain exam." I squeezed his finger then his earlobe, all while still looking at his attractive face that was sculpted along with his body by a Greek Goddess.
There was no way in hell that a Greek God has put all this effort to create someone who's way much more good-looking than any human being on this planet.
Men written by women are the best, in everything. Unfortunately, you don't get to meet those men in real life.
But then there's Harry.
Is he even real?
His already closed eyes pinched shut even more from the possible pain that I'd caused him, which made me mutter "sorry I didn't mean to-"
"It's okay, don't worry. Means your doing it right. Now what's next?"
I couldn't help but feel a bit guilty about this, but it was what I was supposed to do.
He can feel pain.
He's so real.
I responded "now I do the sequence."
I move back towards his head so I was now standing behind him. I place one hand on his forehead and the other on his chin before I straightened his head upwards.
Then I placed four fingers on either side of his mandible* and both of my thumbs under his chin and moved his jaw forward to open up the airway if it was closed.
I could feel the light stubble on his face against my fingers. My eyes flickered all over his face before they stopped at his perfect plump lips. I moved my hands so that my thumbs were now on his cheeks, one closer to the corner of his tempting lips, almost touching them. His skin was so soft that I could caress it forever.
His lips cracked into a smile, displaying his perfect, white teeth "as much as I'm enjoying the view of your pretty face right now, love, did you forget the next step? Or are you just lost in those thoughts of yours?"
What did you just think about? What the hell are you doing? Pull your shit together Val, dammit.
"Sorry, I think I zoned out for a second." I breathed out before I moved to Harry's side again and placed my ear just above his nose to hear his soft and steady inhales and exhales while I studied the rise and fall of his chest.
Once that step was over. I carefully moved two fingers to rest over his carotid artery on the side of his neck to feel his pulse. I could feel it as it slightly picked up speed the longer I kept my fingers lingering there.
His eyes suddenly yet slowly opened and fluttered a bit before he looked straight into my soul. He cleared his throat as I retrieved my hand away awkwardly "awesome. You did great. Now the final step."
I couldn't help but feel my heart pounding against my rib cage.
I nodded "yeah, the final step."
Still standing to his left, I held his left arm and placed it beside his head with his palm facing upwards, then I brought his right arm and placed it against his left ear to support his head, the palm of his hand was facing towards me.
Just like in the pictures in the book.
I lifted his left leg from the knee before I placed one hand on the outside surface of his lifted knee and my other hand on his right shoulder.
In one swift movement, I rolled him to his side and readjusted his leg over the other so he wouldn't roll on his back or on his stomach.
And that was it. He sat back up with a smile "that was awesome! You nailed it, buttercup."
I smiled at that, my face was probably blushing madly "thank you."
He hopped off the bed and stood beside me before he tapped twice on the mattress "you're turn."
I started at the bed for a moment, thought about it some more before I heard him say "I'll be gentle, I promise. And whenever you feel uncomfortable we can stop."
I wanted him to learn just like I did. It wouldn't be fair if he didn't.
And like he said, we can stop if it felt too much.
I can trust him. I trusted him when we were dancing and I trust him now.
I laid there just like he was before. I was now staring at the bright white lights on the ceiling.
The bright white lights on the ceiling.
Moving.
I brought my hand up to touch my face where it felt weird. My eyebrow, my cheek, and my chin.
I looked at my hand and saw that blood was covering it entirely. I wasn't feeling any pain, just mild discomfort.
"Eleven years old female with deep wounds on her face from glass shards. A vertical one the left eyebrow, horizontal one on the left cheek and one on the chin. Definitely needs stitches." The person who was pushing my bed spoke to a doctor when everything came to a stop.
A bright light invaded my eyes only for a few minutes as the doctor asked "are you okay?"
I nodded my head quickly, my eyes grew wider with every passing second.
"What's your name?"
"V-Valeria Chambers."
"Do you remember what happened?"
I shook my head no. I didn't know what happened or why I was here.
He looked at the other doctor when he explained "a mortar shell almost got the school bus. Landed right beside it that it blew the bus away a couple of meters before it collided with the ground. It's a miracle she doesn't have any broken bones. Got the glass shards from the shattered windows that we managed to get out. She probably got a head trauma, a concussion that made her forget what happened. The others don't look so well though."
I was drinking milk and eating healthy food. That's why I don't have any broken bones.
What does a head trauma and a concussion mean? I've never heard these words before.
I glanced down to see I was still wearing my school uniform, but red spots now covered my t-shirt and sports joggers that were now rippedin some places.
I thought we had fled the first mortar shell. I remember sitting on the floor of the bus between the seats and playing with the other kids.
We were supposed to be safe down there.
Maybe we did flee the first one, but the second one almost killed everyone in the bus.
I should be panicking right now, but yet, I'm not.
I was pulled out from that memory by the deep familiar voice, it was distant though "from Earth to Val. You still here? You okay? You've been off since morning."
When I was fully aware of my current surroundings, I noticed that my body was shivering.
I sat up quickly, trying to catch my breath, but I just couldn't get enough oxygen into my lungs.
I started to feel dizzy, my mouth felt dry and my heart rate picked up.
Not again.
Reaching out my shaky hands when I noticed that Harry was now sitting beside me with concern written all over his face, I death-gripped his bicep with both of my small hands and rested my forehead on his shoulder as I continued to hyperventilate.
"Woah hey, what's going on?" He asked as his other hand shot up and held my shoulder, to which I shrugged away "please don't touch me."
Still out of breath, he removed his hand from my shoulder "tell me, I can help."
"No, you can't."
"You're going to be okay." He tried.
"It's happening again." I whispered, too tired to talk louder and my chest felt too heavy, like my lungs were made out of metal.
"I-I can't do this in front of e-everyone."
"Breathe for me. Deep breaths. I'm right here with you." Harry spoke calmly before he asked, his voice was somehow soothing "what do you need?"
I shook my head against his shoulder as I gave him a one word answer, squeezing his arm slightly "talk."
"Okay um, random facts about me? Yeah okay. So my favourite movie is The Notebook, favourite colour is blue, I'm from Cheshire. Ooh I have an older sister named Gemma, she's studying fashion- is this helping?"
I nodded my head slowly, couldn't help the smile that made its way on my face as my breathing began to slow down "my favourite movie is The Notebook too."
"Yeah? We should hang out sometime and watch it together then." He suggested with a chuckle. A nice scent of pine surrounded us. Maybe it was his shampoo, because mine smelled like lavender.
I finally lifted my head up slowly to look at him, he had a smile on his face despite the concern in his eyes "you sure you okay? Wanna talk about it?"
I shook my head sideways "nope. It's enough that you had to see that yet alone tell you what it was about."
I glanced at his arm were I was holding him, the sleeve was wrinkled and I guess there were red fingerprints on his skin beneath it. I widened my eyes "oh my God I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"I'm fine. It doesn't hurt. Okay? Don't worry about me."
I sighed, giving him a sympathetic look "thank you though. As much as I'm feeling embarrassed right now, you helped me."
"Of course, love. I'm always here for you." I breathed in a shaky breath when I suddenly felt his hand hold mine gently before he brought it up to his lips and kissed it gently, not breaking the intense eye contact.
His eyes were a mesmerizing shade of green, a mixture of emerald and olive, with hints of hazel and brown scattered here and there. So captivating I could drink in their beauty for the rest of my life.
His beautiful irises locked with mine as I felt butterflies in my tummy. The same weird feeling I had felt on the dance floor when he kissed my neck and shoulder.
And surprisingly, I didn't flinch away.
I stared at him with wide eyes as he muttered, drawing small circles on the back of my hand "relax love, I'm not gonna touch you if you don't want me to. We can stop if you want."
I shook my head "no, I want you to learn too. Please continue. I can do this. I'm fine, I promise."
He sighed out an okay before he let go of my hand and stood closer to my upper body as he began to do the steps.
His hands moved over me as he rested his palms lightly just below my collarbones, far from my chest but still correct, and moved them twice before I couldn't feel his hands anymore.
Well that went well.
Not entirely, but still.
He continued on with the steps slowly. He kept looking at me from time to time to check if I was okay.
I tried to slow down my pulse before he could check it. But it was useless.
He raised an eyebrow at me with a small smirk playing on his pink lips "your pulse's a bit fast. Nervous?"
I avoided eye contact at all costs, so I closed my eyes and swallowed thickly.
I was calm on the outside, but screaming bloody murder on the inside.
But at least I was not having a panic attack.
I could still feel his calloused fingers on the skin of my neck even after he's removed them.
What was this feeling called? Affection towards another? No I don't think that was what it was.
This was not a crush. This was nothing.
I should feel nothing.
But I couldn't help but feel something strange, yet so delicate I was scared to break it.
So I pushed whatever those feelings were away.
When he was done placing my body into the correct position to keep the air flowing through my nose, I sat up and swung my legs to the side before I hopped off the bed.
I shoved a hand in my pocket and tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. I couldn't help but feel the blush on my face when I looked up at him and saw that stupid smile with dimples on either side of his cheeks.
He looked so cute!
God no why would I say that. I don't even know him that well.
But he just witnessed me having a panic attack.
Why would he be the one to calm me down out of all people?
But yet again, I wouldn't have chosen anyone else from this room, would probably choose Rebecca, but she isn't here.
His voice. His deep deep voice. So calm and soothing I could fall asleep just listening to him talk nonsense.
But it wasn't nonsense, he was telling me about himself, and now he's slightly more interesting than he was before.
Dr. Pierce came up to us to save the day "I watched you two do a very great job. You're a natural. Both of you. But are you okay Dr. Chambers? I saw you weren't well."
I shrugged "it's fine. Low blood pressure. Felt dizzy for a bit."
"Alright then, take care of yourselves."
We both spoke at the same time "sure will."
We watched her leave before Harry turned his gaze back to me "do you have anything else now?"
I shook my head no as a mischievous grin made its way on his face "wanna get out of here then?"
I furrowed my eyebrows "wouldn't Dr. Pierce notice that we're gone?"
Harry shook his head, his long curls swayed a bit "no she wouldn't. We've given her our names that we attended this class. She saw us work and now we're done. We can go. You can ask her if you don't trust me. I've done it before so don't worry."
I sighed as I lifted my bag to my shoulders "fine. Where?"
I'd never done this before. I'd never left the class before the scheduled time was out.
Who is this and what has she done to Valeria?
He extended his hand and waited for me to take it. It wouldn't hurt me if I just held his hand, right?
I carefully slipped my hand in his. He tightened his grip just slightly as he stated "follow me."
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Dictionary:
*Mandible: Latin origin from the word mandibular. A singular bone, also known as the lower jaw or jawline.
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A/N: yooo wassup :)
Thoughts?
If you want more info about what they did, you can look up "recovery position first aid" and read about it and see the pics! :)
I think I'm gonna update during the weekends from now on.. uni is making me use up all my energy and motivation to write and edit the chapters T-T
Also I added a watermark to all of the pics that I have created cuz poeple are taking them and publishing them on their accounts without giving me credits and those pics are getting more attention from the others' accounts without knowing that I spent my time and patience to make them.
Anywayyy
Hope you're doing well :D
Don't forget to vote! :)
All the love <33