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Imogen Halstead (age 14)
Word count: 1222
Imogen's POV
Maybe I shouldn't have jumped off of the sixth stair yesterday, because if I didn't, I wouldn't have fallen, and if I didn't fall I wouldn't be in so much pain right now. As I'm getting ready for school I notice that even the smallest of movements are making me out of breath, and I'm not sure why. One thing I do know however, is that my chest hurts like hell. Once I'm ready I make my way downstairs to see jay stood by the door, "jay, my chest hurts..." I admit. He frowns, reaching out to place a hand on my forehead, "well you're not burning up, it's probably just the weather change" he decides. I mean, we did also spend hours in the rain yesterday too... he's probably right.
"I'm picking you up today, so don't be late" jay nods as I hop out of the truck. I smile and wave him off as I turn around, taking somewhat of a deep breath before it starts to hurt. I shake it off before entering the school, I'm sure jays right... it's just the weather.
~
As I'm sat at lunch, I can't even bring myself to eat, swallowing my food hurts too much, but I'm so hungry... Hopefully this will pass, because breathing is getting so much more difficult.
~
At the end of the day I make my way out to the pick up zone where I see jay waiting for me, I carefully climb into the truck and place my bag by my feet, buckling up as he begins driving away. We make small talk as we drove back to the district, and I'm glad, because the only thing I'm focused on is not breathing too quickly right now. I've tried taking deep breaths and it just hurts ten times more, so I stick with shallow breaths, even though I've nearly passed out twice today.
Once we're inside of the district I head straight for the stairs after waving at trudy, and right up into the bullpen, where I say my hellos and depart into the break room like usual. Maybe I can relax a little in here...
~
Around three hours later, I notice the unit have gone out, so I take a seat at jays desk and tuck my legs up to cross them on the chair. I let my head rest on the desk as I try to ignore the unbearable pain.
Soon enough, I hear the unit entering the bullpen again. Hailey greets me with a warm smile, yet she soon loses her smile and forms a frown, "you good?" She nods in my direction. I slowly nod, although my rather rapid, shallow breathing isn't that easy to hide, "you're blue, Imogen" she sits down on jays desk. I see jay approaching with the same worried look on his face, "you're turning blue..." he places a hand on my forehead. He places the same hand on the side of my face, "you feeling alright?" He nods. I shrug, "just my chest, but I already told you about that this morning" I shake my head.
He pauses to notice my shallow breathing, "you're not looking too good immy, I'm gonna call Will" he plants a gentle kiss on my forehead. I watch as the unit glare in my direction, am I really turning blue? Like a Smurf?
Within two minutes, jays back at the desk and putting his jacket on again, "we're gonna head over to med" he nods. I frown, "why?" I stand up. He places a hand on the small of my back as hailey grabs my backpack from the break room, "Will just wants to check you over" he looks down at me and leads me out of the district.
Once I'm buckled into the backseat, my brother and his girlfriend hop into the car too. I try my best not to cough, dreading the feeling that'll surely come with it. However, I overestimate my abilities and can no longer hold it in. I cry out as I cough, and my brother reaches over to place a hand on my shoulder. I wipe my tears away and look up at him to see the anxiety plastered across his face, "alright?" He nods. I nod back before sinking into my seat, jeeez...
"Immy?" Will walks over to us as jay leads me into the ED. Haileys waiting in the waiting room and I just want to go home, "well jay was right, you're skins a little blue..." my red head of a brother placed his hand on my forehead. I shake my head, "it's just my chest, it's been hurting since this morning" I sit down on the hospital bed as my brothers step into the room. Will frowns, "why didn't you tell us?" He sighs. I carefully cough a little, "I did, I told jay before school" I shrug. Will shoots jay a shocked glare, "you knew about this?" He spits out. Jay sighs, "we were in the rain yesterday, I thought it was just a cold..." he raises his hands in defence.
"How could a sore chest be a cold?" Will scoffs at his question, "I don't know!" Jay snaps, "guys..." I sigh, "please" I fold my arms. I'm acting more mature than them right now, "just get rid of the pain" I beg. Will nods, "we're gonna get an x-Ray, see what's going on" he places a hand on my shoulder, "we can give you some morphine after we know what we're dealing with" he smiles weakly. I nod and sigh, "try and rest for now" he helps me scoot back into the bed. I sigh and nod before laying down. I didn't know I was this exhausted, but jeez, I fell right into a nap...
~
Around twenty minutes later, Will walks back into the room, waking me up from my comatose state. He smiles weakly, "pneumothorax" he sighs. Jay sits up straight, "what's that?" He shakes his head. Will sits down next to me, "deflated lung, often caused by a high impact fall or trauma to the ribs" he nods. I stare at the floor, uh oh...
"What is it?" Jay looks at me in confusion. I look up at the pair, "I fell down the stairs yesterday..." I rub the back of my neck. Will shakes his head, "how? And why didn't you tell us?" He seems annoyed. I fold my arms, "I jumped from the step, missed the floor, and landed on my side... and I didn't think it was gonna end up like this" I protest. Will shakes his head, "why would you try that?" Jay huffs a laugh. I smirk to myself, "well i thought I'd make it" I shrug. Will shakes his head, "this family" he stands up with an eye roll. I huff, "can you stop the pain now?" I turn serious, however I can still see jay laughing to my side.
"Yeah, we can" Will smiled weakly at me, "but you can't let this happen again" he warns. I raise my hands in defeat, "you will need surgery though" he breaks the ice. I groan loudly, "I know, I know..." Will places a hand on my shoulder. I stand my ground, I hate hospitals...
