Chapter Eleven
Wayne Rigsby
I get pushed and shoved out of the ambulance while the paramedics drag her out on the stretcher. They seem to move her with ease, into the hospital. She's got a beautiful figure, so I'm not surprised they are not struggling. I do however catch one of the male paramedics give her a look up and down, and not just to check for injuries.
They wheel her through the double doors of the hospital and I have to jog a bit to keep up. They lead the way through the different corridors and rush into a room. The doctor and nurses are there waiting and they all crowd around her whilst the paramedics transfer her from the stretcher onto a bed. One of the nurses comes over to me with a cheesy smile. She ushers me out of the small, box room and tells me that I can sit in the waiting room whilst they give her some scans. I go to disagree but I walk away and let them help Grace.
I then come across a lone chair sat on the side of another corridor.
I pick it up and look around making sure no one was using it and there wasn't anyone to stop me. I take it back along towards the small room Grace has been placed in. And plonk myself on it opposite the door.
I lean forwards and put my hands on my knees. I sit like that thinking for a few minutes when a man, I'm guessing the doctor, comes out of the room. I rise to my feet wanting to hear what he has to say.
'Are you family?' He asks me.
'Er... Um... Boyfriend,' I decide on saying. He probably wouldn't tell me anything if I'd of said otherwise.
'We've had to sedate her.' He tells me. I nod. 'She'd be in too much pain if she were to be awake. We think she's got a broken arm and will need to x-ray, possibly even a brain scan.'
'Can I see her?' I ask.
'Of course. We'll need to take her for those scans in a few minutes though. Do you know how this happened?'
'She works for the CBI. She fell whilst running.'
'Hmm... Okay. You can go in now.'
'Thank you doctor,' I say. I give him a brief smile and head straight into the little room. The two remaining nurses give a glance at each other then leave. I wait for them to go before I go to her bedside.
She's lying so still. So quiet. I hold onto her hand.
'It's okay...I'm here.' I stroke her cheek and let a stray tear run down mine. 'You're going to be okay Grace. You are. You're going to be absolutely fine. I think it's best if you calm down on the badass agent work in the future though.' I try to lighten the frighteningly grim atmosphere in the room.
A knock at the door makes me jump a little bit. I turn to see Jane's face peering in through the tiny glass window on the door. He pushes it open and wanders into the room. Another knock and Lisbon pops in. I discreetly, yet quickly let go of Grace's hand.
'How is she?' Lisbon asks.
'I, I, don't know,' I reply. The long explanation can come later.
'Hello Grace,' Jane says. There's a pause. 'Yes...Lisbon is here. She wanted to tag along too.' Another pause. 'Jack? Meh...he's back at the office with Cho. We're going to question him later... Indeed, he is a jackass....well don't be annoyed Grace, it was his fault, not yours.'
I look at Jane as if he is the jackass, Lisbon is giving him odd looks too. He now seems to be able to talk to sedated people.
'When are they bringing her round?' He asks.
'Uh...I'm, I'm not sure. She needs to go for an x-ray in a minute,' I stutter.
'An x-ray?!' Lisbon says.
'Yeah... They think she might have a broken arm.'
'What about her head? How's her head?' Jane asks.
'They need to check it over. You know...a brain scan...' I trail off not wanting to panic Grace. I stroke her upper arm. 'But you'll be fine Grace. Absolutely fine,' I tell her.
The door opens and the doctor from earlier stands before us.
'We need to take her for an x-ray now,'he says. Lisbon nods and Jane ushers her out of the room like the nurse had done to me earlier. They're out of sight so I pluck up the courage to give her a quick peck on the forehead, then I too leave the room.
I stand back as they remove Grace's bed and wheel it along the corridor. I turn around to face Jane and Lisbon both stood there with their hands in the suit jacket pockets and in a similar stance. They do this regularly but never seem to notice it.