5. Alex
Chapter five
Alex
Rachel. That’s this poor woman’s name. She looks so broken and fragile, lying here in my arms, holding her stomach and sobbing. She has blood running down her face from the huge gash on her forehead down through her eyebrow. I am trying to soothe her as much as I can by rubbing her hair and telling her that the paramedics are on the way. I don’t want to say it will be alright because, truthfully, I don’t know if it will be. It threw me for a loop when Olivia asked me how far along she was. She doesn’t look pregnant at all, but the big spot of red pooling below her can’t be good for a pregnant woman. FUCK! Can the paramedics get here?
“Shhhhh, I got you, Rachel. I got you. Everything will be ok. I am here with you. I know you don’t know me, but I will do anything you need me to do. We are just waiting for the ambulance to get here. You will be ok. I promise.” She looks up at me. Her blue eyes are puffy and red from crying.
“Will you go to the hospital with me? I don’t have anyone and don't want to be alone right now. I am not sure what to expect with my baby, but I feel like I know the answer.” The shock on my face made her lips curl in the tiniest smile. I guess my emotions are all over my face right now.
“Yeah, I will go with you, Rachel. You won’t be alone through this. By the way, I am Alex, and Olivia is the woman over there. She is a cop, so she called the on-duty cop to come and get Andrew.” She just nodded. I feel worthless. All I can do is sit here and watch her. I can’t stop the pain or bleeding; I can't stop the emotional hurt. I can’t do fucking anything. But all I want to do is protect her and take away the pain.
I kissed her head without even thinking. As I looked up, I saw an ambulance coming towards us. Thank god. She needed the ambulance 30 minutes ago. I know they can’t go any faster than they are, but I wish they could.
“Hey, sweetie, the ambulance is almost here. They will help you and the baby to the best of their abilities.”
She looked up at me with complete terror on her face. “Aren’t you coming with me?”
“Yes, love, I am. Don’t worry, I will be coming with you. I need to step back and let the paramedics take care of you. I just wanted to let you know that I am still here and will stay as close as possible without interrupting the paramedics.” She relaxed in my arms when the ambulance parked, and two paramedics jumped out. One exited from the back with a bag slung around his back, and the other was from the passenger seat.
They rush up to us, start pulling gloves out of their bags, and ask so many questions that it’s hard to keep up. Rachel looks at them blankly but doesn’t answer.
She starts to shake, and the paramedic yells at the driver, who is now working on getting the gurney out of the back, “She is going into shock!” The paramedic comes running over with a blanket while the one to the left starts to bend her legs.
“Sir!” I turn my attention back to the paramedic near Rachel’s head, who is trying to talk to her.
“Yes? I am sorry. Can you please repeat what you said?” The paramedic looks from Rachel to me and asks. “Do you know what happened here?” I look up.
“Yes, that man over there-” I point to Andrew, “and Rachel were arguing when we were driving by. We heard the screaming and then saw him kick her in the stomach. She flew from right next to the road to this wall and hit her head; she then slumped to the floor.” The paramedic then started to look at Rachel’s head and began to touch where she has a large gash on the back of her head.
I turned to look at Olivia and realized the cops were also there. She was talking, and her hands moved with everything she said. There was rage in those green/blue eyes.
I look over at Andrew, who is getting a new pair of cuffs on his wrist. He is laughing like a lunatic. Why is he even laughing? This dude seriously has issues.
The officers lift Andrew, walk him to the squad car, and put him in the back.
Olivia is still talking to the other officer, taking her statement. They must have worked together because the officer spoke to Olivia as if they were friends and tried calming her down after she almost beat the shit out of Andrew.
As soon as I turn back around, they are lifting Rachel onto the gurney, and she is crying. Through the sobs, all I can hear is, “He is coming with me! Don’t leave without him!” I assume she is talking about me.
I stand up, walk over to where she is, and grab her hand. She holds my hand in a death grip like she is scared she will fly away. “I’m not leaving you. I am right here.” You can see her shoulders relax a bit. “Sir, are you coming with her?”
I look over at Olivia and then at the paramedic talking to me. “Yes, I am. Let me go tell Olivia that I am going with her.”
I turn to walk towards Olivia as I glimpse the paramedic lifting his eyebrow at me. I roll my eyes and continue walking to Olivia. I touch her shoulder and say, “Hey, Rachel wants me to go with her. I just wanted to let you know before I leave.” She turns towards me and nods.
“She needs someone with her. Keep her safe.” I nod in response, head for the ambulance, and get in. I go straight to Rachel’s side, grab her hand, lightly squeeze it, and smile.
We zoom through the San Diego streets, sirens blaring. Rachel is in and out of consciousness. “She is bleeding a lot. I need an OBGYN on-site! We are ETA, ten minutes out.” The paramedic, who has been in the back the whole time, is saying things through his walkie-talkie.
We pulled into the emergency vehicle side of the ER, and a whole team of doctors and nurses was waiting for us. Rachel groans while they wheel her down the hall.
“Sir! Who are you? How are you related to the patient?” A nurse with a clipboard asks me.
“I am not related to her. I am the one who stopped to help her when her fiancé kicked her into a wall. She asked the paramedics who came to the scene if I could come with her. She has no one else.” I say, rushing as I speed walk through the hospital halls, trying to keep up with everyone.
We finally stop in one of those stupid curtain rooms that aren't actually rooms, and I hear the doctors talking. I am not sure what they are saying, but I hear something about surgery, prep OR, and blood loss. I wish I could hear everything so I know what is going on.
I stare at Rachel, watching her chest rise and fall to make sure she is still breathing. I have so much anxiety right now with everything going on. She is not dying on my watch.
“Sir, Ms. Fayet has to go into surgery, and since her documents do not list her next of kin, I need you to sign these, giving us permission to proceed with the necessary surgeries.” A male nurse with a computer on a cart comes up to me.
“Um. Is that even legal?” I ask, completely confused. I barely know this girl, and they want me to sign official documents on her behalf.
“Yes, sir, the paramedics heard her ask you to come. They said she started to panic when she thought you were not coming with her. So, if no next of kin is listed, the friend with them is the primary point of contact for medical decisions. And since Ms. Fayet is unconscious at the moment, this is handed to you.” He says this like he is the fucking man who wrote the law. I don't have time to look up this information, so I have to trust what he is saying.
“Ok fuck it, what do I need to sign? Just save her life, please. I don’t want anything to happen to her.” I say as the computer signing pad gets handed to me to sign. I scribbled my signature on the line, and the nurse thanked me before leaving the room. I turn back to Rachel and stand beside her.
“I hope you aren't mad at me when you wake up for what I just did. I know they only want to save you; if I had the ability, I would save you myself. But unfortunately, there is already one Superman, and the bastard stole the position from me.” I say with a chuckle.
I hear a noise from the curtain opening, and I look up. A tall, blonde nurse comes in, smiling like she just heard me make a fool of myself.
“Alright, sir. We are taking Ms. Fayet back for surgery now. You can wait in the waiting room," she says to me.
“How long should the surgery take?” I ask in a panic. I know this is necessary, but I don't want to leave Rachel alone. She trusted me to stay by her side the whole time.
“Honestly? I don’t have an answer to that. We are going in for a life-saving surgery to stop the internal bleeding that is going on.” She looks back at her notes on the clipboard and then looks back up at me with sympathy.
Then it dawns on me. “What about the baby? I thought women shouldn’t have surgery while pregnant.” I am no expert on pregnancy, but that would make the most sense to me.
“I’m so sorry, sir. The baby didn't make it. There was no heartbeat when she got here, and she was bleeding a lot. Unfortunately, the impact was too severe for the fetus to survive.” She tells me as a tear rolls down her cheek.
“Thank you for letting me know. Please save Rachel. I don’t want anything to happen to her.” I comfort her by placing my hand on her shoulder. Her emotions tell me she loves and is deeply invested in her job. I know she will take care of Rachel with everything she has.
“We will do our best, sir.” As she says this, she leaves the curtain room. A group of nurses enters and begins moving cords and IV bags, then unlocks the wheels to move the bed. It all happens so fast that I have no idea what's happening until she's gone.
I slide down against the wall, putting my face in my hands, only hearing the sound of monitors beeping and the smell of sickness and bleach. My mind is in overdrive, and I feel myself breaking down.
I look up to watch them wheel Rachel away. A piece of my soul felt like it left me as I watched her get wheeled down the hall.