Greatest Creation | Jessi Stark

two | mantle

"Ma'am, are you alright?"

An officer shined a flashlight over the lifeless body that laid back-flat to the cobblestone of the narrow alleyway. Her deputy vehicle was parked at the mouth of the walkway alongside the curb of the quiet street, it's lights flickering, illuminating the neighborhood with blue and red. Second by second, the skin of the motionless figure flashed along with the colors of the police vehicle.

The cop maneuvered the light up to her pale face, noticing that a small pool of blood was forming at the base of her neck. It seeped into the cracks or the cobble. Instantly, at the sight of blood, her hands reached for the walky that was attached to her vest at her collarbone "yeah, I have an unconscious female, head injury on Mercer and 8th alleyway. Request medical assistance"

She bent down and moved the girls jacket collar out of the way in order to feel her pulse. Her fingers pressed into the skin of her neck and were held there for a long moment "got a heartbeat, faint" she hardly felt it, but it was there. She radioed in "Eyes are open but unresponsive"

"Dispatching back up and an ambulance, hold your position there" the static voice responded on the other end of the radio.

"Copy that... And... you're not gonna believe who I think it is"

➖

It wasn't too long later the alleyway scenery changed, and the unresponsive woman found herself beneath the blinding white lights of an emergency room. Navy blue scrubs littered the hallways as the nurses and doctors dawning them traveled from patient to patient. Shoes squeaked against the floor as stretchers were maneuvered carrying car-crash victims and overdosed junkies. Parents, children and elderly flooded the waiting room, expiring in their seats as the minutes ticked on.

A man at the desk demanded to see a nurse due to his daughter having a cold, and red, puffy cheeks. One boy sat clutching his arm, must have been a late night accident from jumping off the bed instead of sleeping. His mother sat beside him with a tired look on her face.

Behind one of the tall curtains, a lone Doctor stood at the bed side of a patient. She peered into the dull, unblinking eyes that were red and swollen "Hi, can you hear me? My name is Doctor Christine Palmer" she introduced "squeeze my hand if you can hear me"

Nothing. It puzzled the doctor. She readjusted her hold on the patients hand.

"We're trying to see if you need surgery"

The monitor was beeping steadily, slowly, but steadily. Her blood pressure was not the best, but it was stable in the eyes of Christine. Most of what is wrong with her appears to be physical. Pale skin, low body fat percentage, hollowed out cheeks. Obviously she was in a state of malnourishment. The head wound need to be treated properly. Hopefully nothing too serious, more than likely just a laceration due to impact with a hard surface.

"Hello? Ma'am, squeeze my hand if you can hear me speaking to you"

A nurse appeared around the curtain, sweating and exhausted due to the busy emergency room floor and its patients. Babies cried from across the floor, and the sound of scurrying feet followed "Doctor Palmer, do we transfer this patient to the ICU?"

"Do you know who this is?" Christine looked at him, pulling her hand away from the woman's limp, clammy palm.

"Uh... no"