Nate
Human
ER Doctor; St. Benedict's
The curtains flew then he appeared, saying don't be afraid.
Posts: 89
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Post by Nate on Dec 21, 2007 2:51:06 GMT
Normally, Nate was sympathetic to patients, summoning unwavering compassion and an impeccable bedside manner, but he had worked a double shift, having started that on four hours of sleep and only a cold bagel and lukewarm coffee, and tweaking teenagers were not high on his list of favourite people at the best of times; they ought to know better. Their parents ought to know better. God, he needed some sleep and a decent meal; the lack of both was starting to affect his patience, and he would only hate himself later if he took that out on a patient, deserving of a reprimand though they might.
Taking his eyes from the friend without a word’s acknowledgement, he continued gently but firmly holding the high teenager’s head down, his hand between her brow and hairline as he met her frantic eyes as best he could. “Claire, you need to lie still for us—”
Claire screamed again, struggling once more, and Nate gritted his teeth, jaw setting in a rare frustrated mask as he glanced to Nell and then to the door as Talia Jennet swept into the room. Having a paediatrician on hand would make things easier, he hoped, even though Claire seemed to be in her later teens; that didn’t matter with the female physician’s profession, age wasn’t a major factor so long as they counted as a minor in the eyes of the law and medicine. Claire qualified. Quickly and efficiently while he and the nurses worked, he listed off what he knew to Talia, making sure not to leave anything out in case it compromised patient care either in the immediate future or down the line.
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Nell
Human
Departed
And all the roads we have to walk are winding.
Posts: 25
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Post by Nell on Jan 2, 2008 19:08:51 GMT
The larger male nurses finally had the soft restraints in place and Claire's struggles were severely restricted. She still shouted, swore like Nell hoped her own son would never learn to, and she ground her little, white teeth as Nate tried to get through to her. In spite of the 'war wound' that she had sustained, Nell couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl. Clearly, something had gone horribly wrong in her life, enough to drive her to this self-destruction. Poor kid obviously didn't have much to live for.
"Girl's gonna holler herself raw," Nell spoke in over Claire's ruckus. There had to be something they could give her, but she didn't dare suggest anything -- nurse that she was, she wasn't entirely sure what was required, and the last thing they wanted was some kind of drug interaction. Nell looked to the attending doctor, eyes questioning.
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Nate
Human
ER Doctor; St. Benedict's
The curtains flew then he appeared, saying don't be afraid.
Posts: 89
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Post by Nate on Jan 12, 2008 23:29:02 GMT
Nate, personally, had seen so many of these patients that a small, hidden part of him had truly given up hope; that all the help centres and establishments and Good Samaritans were never going to make a difference. But that was the cynic in him talking, and even now, after so many hours at work with no solid break and barely enough coffee to fuel a couple of hours at best, he wasn’t about to let that pessimism and negativity take over. The day that happened was the day he hung up his stethoscope and admitted he couldn’t do it anymore; a doctor couldn’t go from day to day, doing the sorts of things he and Talia did if they didn’t believe that the world, people, could get better. What few of those doctors who existed were the most miserable, negligent physicians Nate had ever met, and it had taken all his self-control upon meeting and working with them not to grab them by the shoulders and tell them, there and then, to quit, to just get out before their lack of compassion and empathy killed someone.
Glancing to Nell as the nurse made the comment, he didn’t reply, just went right back to his exam, pausing momentarily at discolouration on the white pillow below the patient’s head. Completely blinkered to everything else going on, even briefly deaf to the girl’s cries of protestation, Nate moved closer and tipped Claire’s head the best he could, muttering a mild curse afterwards, bringing gloved fingertips into the light, revealing the red smears across the latex.
To the medical staff in the room, he said, “We need to get her calmed down and to CT right now,” and then he was turning his gaze immediately to the patient’s friend. “How did she hit her head? Did she fall?”
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Nate
Human
ER Doctor; St. Benedict's
The curtains flew then he appeared, saying don't be afraid.
Posts: 89
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Post by Nate on Feb 23, 2008 5:13:56 GMT
The friend was unhelpful, fumbling and shrugging, and the ‘hows’ would have to wait, along with the ‘whys’. Nate, or more to the point the patient, didn’t have time for mumblings or confusion or shakes of the head that betrayed ignorance. Still keeping his temper, almost miraculously given his own condition, in check, he gestured to the male nurses to take her for the CT, one of them having already called up to let the right people know they were on their way.
As the gurney was wheeled out, pace brisk and purposeful, Nate watched them go and sighed heavily, loudly, pulling the used gloves from his hands with a snap of latex, easily balling them in on each other as he removed them before tossing them into the disposal unit in the room, looking around briefly at the mess Claire had made during her brief outburst, heated as it had been.
“Ornella,” he said, “can you follow them up and page us when they’re done?” God, he needed coffee. His eyes hurt, the fact betrayed by the way he pressed against the closed lids with thumb and forefinger, his newest breath coming heavily. “We’ll try and get a full history while we wait.” He nodded his head to the side, to the friend fidgeting at the side of the room, looking completely at a loss.
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Nell
Human
Departed
And all the roads we have to walk are winding.
Posts: 25
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Post by Nell on Feb 27, 2008 18:45:29 GMT
"Yes, sir."
An automatic reaction; the doctors were the higher-ups and Nell had always made a point to treat them with respect. The job was difficult -- taxing, really, as tonight had proved -- and Nate would probably see many more ornery patients before the night was up. Best she could do was make some facets of the job less painful and/or irritating.
So, she smiled, briefly, and gave Nate a light squeeze on the arm that said, 'hang in there' before she turned to catch up with the gurney. Her long legs made it easy to keep up with the brisk pace that the male nurses had set and the small team kept conversation to a minimum as they wheeled their patient to the elevator.
Continued in: CT
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Nate
Human
ER Doctor; St. Benedict's
The curtains flew then he appeared, saying don't be afraid.
Posts: 89
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Post by Nate on Mar 8, 2008 4:17:29 GMT
Nate had fully intended to start making mental notes about the details the friend was awkwardly, worriedly recalling for Talia’s benefit, responding so much better, visibly, to a single woman rather than one surrounded by male orderlies who were strapping her friend to a gurney, but the distinctive note of his cell phone’s ring tone pulled his focus away from the situation at hand. He used two different ringers for those who knew his phone’s number, and this was not The Hyperion or any of the wolves’ phones. This was someone else, the only other human who knew his number.
“I’m sorry, excuse me.” He stepped into the adjacent trauma room, blissfully vacant as it was, and made sure the door was closed behind him before answering the call, engaging in what turned out to be a short, unexpected but by no means unimportant conversation. Dammit. This was turning out to be one of ‘those nights’, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time. Quickly banishing such inhumane thoughts, selfish and unhelpful as they were, he moved back into the room, and adopted his best bedside manner that he reserved for co-workers of all things. “Dr. Jennet, I’m really sorry, it’s a family emergency. Are you okay here?” Talia nodded, presumably eager to get back to her duties with the other girl, and Nate returned the gesture gratefully before heading out of the room in a hurried but not hasty and therefore reckless pace.
Now all he had to do was leave a message at the desk for his superiors and get to his destination without getting stuck in traffic or pulled over for speeding.
Continued at: The Colony; Marion’s Office – first floor of The Colony.
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