Scars of the Past

Chapter Thirteen: Corey Fillmoore

   I scanned the board behind the ER front desk. Most of our patients were already discharged and today really was not a busy day. Or at least it wasn't before. I can't use the q word or else, well, if you know, you know.

   "Fillmoore, We just got an ambulance call. Two more are on the way. Make sure your guys aren't slacking!"

     I guess mentioning the letter is bad enough.

   "Alright, thanks Lisa. I assure you, they won't be," I replied. One can only hope that's true. Of course, I would never let anyone who isn't capable of their job in the OR but sometimes it happens. I looked at the clock, counting down the time left on their break. Three minutes.

    "They're about four minutes away," Lisa added in. I nodded and looked around. Days like this happened every once in a while. We'd get a few calls in and spend the rest of our time in the breakroom, half of my team huddled up around a computer till we're needed.

    Lately, they've been really into The Office which is so interesting to me. I grew up without a lot of money. We didn't own a television or anything similar to that. We had a telephone and a radio. It was a fine lifestyle for us though. We enjoyed it. My brothers Zeke and Payton would come out with me and we'd play football with the neighborhood kids. I wish life was still that simple. We didn't have to work about the finances, debt, student loans or Payton's medical bills. We just had to worry about being a kid.

    I looked anxiously back over to the clock and gave up. They needed to be ready for this patient, whether their break is over in a few minutes or not. Their decreasing health doesn't take a break. I walked into the break room to see my team huddled back over the computer again.

   "Hey Corey! You gotta see this one scene!" Christopher smiled as he looked up from the computer. His green eyes glistened from the lights of the room.

   "No, we can't do this right now," I sighed.

   Maia sighed, "Come on, Corey. It's cool! We've got time."

    "No we don't. We just got an emergency call," I replied, "They're here three minutes."

    "Oh, alright," Allison replied as she shut her computer.

    "Quickly go put your stuff away and meet me back here in two minutes. All of you who don't have anything to put away, suit up," I reply.

    "What's the emergency?" Maia asked, Christopher, trailing behind us as we walk out of the break room and over to the coats, sinks, and gloves.

  "I haven't heard much. A car crash. Two people are coming in. I believe Kara's team is taking the other one but I'm not entirely sure about it all. We're just going to have to figure it out when they come," I reply.

   I quickly headed to the sinks to start sterilizing, Maia and Christopher following.

   "Where did Sarah go?" I question, looking from the clock to my hands.

    "She was putting her stuff away as well. I'm sure Allison will tell her," Maia replied, tying her brown hair up into a ponytail. I can't imagine what it must be like to have that long of hair. Must be overly annoying to have stray hairs in your face all the time.

    I sighed, "Chris, can you go make sure she gets back here? We don't know what we're dealing with and I don't want her showing up half an hour late to an emergency."

    I sigh when I hear my pager go off. It's go time. 

    I glance over and notice Christopher and Allison coming in but no Sarah. Of course no Sarah. Sarah was always late. It's a miracle that she still has her job. No matter how many times I try to report her, they let it slide. They act like it's no big deal if she misses a surgery or shows up an hour late. She's Sarah. How could we ever let her go?

  "Chris and Alli go sterilize, Maia with me to the ambulance," I says, heading out the doors. We get calls like this a lot. After all, it's New York. Sure a lot of people walk, but loads don't. There's bars everywhere. There's no doubt there will be crashes.

    I rush out with Maia to the screaming sounds of the ambulances and it's lights flashing into my eyes. I'm so used to the bright lights of the emergency rooms that stepping out into the dark felt weird. My body immediately thought I was heading to sleep but I quickly fixed that.

   I watched as Kara's team flooded out of the Emergency room and to the ambulance all together. Here I am with less than half of my team, waiting for a patient. I felt like a failure. I can't even get my team organized.

   The paramedics ran over to us with our first patient, laying on the cart. He came with us inside to provide us with any available information he could. "Anthony Higgins, 28 years old. Injury sustained to the left side. Rapid blood loss and arrhythmia."

    My eyes went wide when I heard the name. Anthony Higgins, the guy I had known all while growing up. The guy who always had my back but was always there to crack a joke when I'm feeling down. I wanted to stand there and freeze but I couldn't. I had a job to do. My feet dragged me forward at a pace I wasn't ready for. My feet weren't in line with my head, and I wasn't sure if they ever would be for this patient.

   I quickly positioned the blood bag next to the cart. I can do this. You treat him like he's a regular patient. He's nothing special. He's just a regular patient.

    Who am I kidding? He's my best friend and he's in the hospital. I took a deep breath and tried to carry on. This was going to be a hard shift.