In a Perfect World

Chapter 9

The view outside the ambulance window was dreary. Even for a California in winter. We were coming down from the mountains so there were cascades of evergreens in green blurs from the road. From behind us I could hear the wail of the sirens, signaling there was an emergency.

My stomach growled and my mouth tasted foul. It had been hours if not a day since I had eaten and the water we had access to was brackish and metallic tasting. Yuck!

The ambulance driver gave me a sideways glance.

"Kara, right? I saw your family and your friend be taken in. The driver was young, in his early to mid 20s, with sandy hair and piercing blue eyes. "You hungry? I can hear your stomach from here." He chuckled a little.

I nodded.

He fished around on the console with the hand that wasn't on the wheel.

"I think I got a granola bar in here somewhere..."

A few minutes later he handed me a slightly squished granola bar, which I took gratefully. I was starving but I opened it and ate it slowly it was only now I realize how stressful the escape had been, I had put all my energy into saving others, particularly Noel and my grandmother and I never thought how that would really affect me, until now.

We drove to the nearest hospital which was a few counties away, but we reached it in minutes as the vehicles sped through the city streets. Then there was another blur of activity as patients were unloaded in the ambulance bay, the most critical unloaded directly in front of the doors I saw Noel and my grandmother rushed past while my mother hurried behind. I would catch up with them shortly.

The ambulance driver, Chris, helped me down before unloading the other patients in the back.

"You okay?" He asked and I nodded. "I'll be right in." He added as I made my way through the automatic doors.

The ER was about as chaotic as I expected. I found my mother and grandmother in one of the triage rooms and finally sat down. While the doctors were assessing my grandmother another nurse looked me over.

"Dehydrated, malnourished," she said shortly, "I'll speak to the doctor about starting you on fluids and electrolytes as well. Most of the group coming in from the camp needs to be rehydrated." She added, "I'll start your IV right now."

Nearly everyone who had come in was on IV including me, and I sat with an IV pole on the corner while my grandmother was treated. She was in bad shape and was hooked up to many machines and tubes. I wondered if she would make it.

"How's my friend Noel doing? Noel Eckhart." I added for her benefit so she knew who I was talking about.

"I can't give you any details, but he's doing okay." The nurse answered. "It's going to be a slow process, they have to get that horrible mask off him."

I nodded.

"I think you can see him as soon they take him upstairs, but we'll see."

I said taking my fluids while the chaos of the ER rushed around me. It was only then I realized how tired I was and how much I really wanted to sleep.

I must have fallen asleep at some point because when I woke up there was a crick in my neck and the nurse was shaking me. In another chair my mother was asleep and my grandmother was still in the bed monitors beeping softly.

"He's been moved up to ICU, you can see him if you like."

I was thankful my IV had been removed and I was able to move around more freely. Most of the people that were stable had been rehydrated and told they were free to go but many of them had stayed because they had family members or friends in critical condition.

I followed the nurse's instructions and made my way up to the ICU. Noel was at the far end of the room behind a partially closed curtain. Next to his bed was a middle-aged woman in a chair, who I assumed was a relative. She started when I approached.

"Who are you?" She asked blearily.

"My name is Kara," I replied, "Noel has been my best friend since grade school. I was with him in the camp."

The woman nodded.

I knew something was wrong when I didn't hear from my sister in over a month. No activity on social media... Nothing. When I heard about what happened, I started calling hospitals...and heard about my nephew."

I knew now was not the time to tell her I had seen them shot, if she didn't know already.

I took a chair on the other side of the bed. At this point, Noel was still on a ventilator, stable but not enough. His face was scratched and cut in several places and his head was bandaged heavily. I couldn't see much of his face under the tubes and bandages, but I took his hand.

"Hang in there, Noel," I said softly, "I know you can get through this."

"You really care about him, don't you?" Noel's aunt asked.

I nodded.

"Then it's a good thing he has you." She said with a thin smile.

I couldn't even begin to tell her how true that was.