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Chapter Seven
Five minutes later, Arianna ran with Barbara toward the heliport where Rafael waited next to his copter with the paramedic. Barbara had given her scrubs, gym shoes, and a cap.
“Arianna, this is Leo Connor, the paramedic who’ll be working with you. Leo, Arianna Garcia, our newly hired flight nurse. This will be her on-the job training run.”
“Hi, Leo. Glad we’ll be working together.”
“I’ll do my best to help you, Arianna. I already brought the two stretchers we’ll need.”
They climbed aboard. “You’ll find the medical equipment here.” Barbara opened a cabinet. “IV lines, oxygen masks, cannulas, and canisters, syringes in this drawer—
“Barbara, I have to leave.”
“Okay, I’m out of here. Good luck.” She jumped down.
Leo handed Arianna a pair of headphones, and Rafael called. “Seat belts on. Going up.”
Headphones on, Arianna sat and buckled herself in, surveying this helicopter, a much larger one than the one she’d flown in two days ago.
Rafael maintained a steady speed at a lower altitude, an agreeable ride that barely lasted ten minutes. “Going down,” he called.
She kept her gaze fixed on Leo. As soon as they touched down, he removed his headphones, unbuckled himself, and unclasped the two stretchers. “We’ll bring the adult first. Follow me.” He opened the medical cabinet for her.
“You can go,” Rafael said.
Leo opened the door and jumped out. “Locate the patients. I’ll bring the stretchers.”
She followed him out. “Over here,” a policeman called. “We have an unconscious woman and an injured twelve-year-old girl. The father is sitting over there.” The officer gave her a notepad. “Information is here. You should take them to Mercy Hospital.”
Leo had already brought the stretcher and lowered it to the floor next to the victim. He slipped his arms under the victim’s back and waist, and signaled to Arianna. “Hip and knees. On my command, up.” They lifted the victim onto the stretcher. “You take her. I’ll bring the girl.”
Arianna pushed the stretcher to the door and found Rafael waiting for her. “I’ll help you with it.” They lifted the stretcher into the copter. Rafael strapped it down. The victim’s face was covered in blood. To see what she was doing, Arianna dabbed the blood away with a sterilized pad.
The patient gasped for air, having trouble breathing. Arianna slid an oxygen tube into her nose, then measured her blood pressure, temperature, and pulse, and finally inserted an IV port into her arm, then proceeded to clean the various cuts on her face and neck. Her blood pressure was low, and Arianna wondered if the young mother hadn’t suffered an internal hemorrhage.
Meanwhile, Leo and Rafael brought in the second stretcher with a crying twelve-year-old girl strapped to it. Arianna secured the stretcher in place and measured her vitals. “Are you hurting, Ava?”
She sniffled. “Yes. My arm.” She had several cuts on her face, too.
Arianna cleaned them carefully. The girl seemed to be in a lot of pain. There was no need to touch her arm to confirm a fracture. “Keep your arm straight against your body and don’t move it. It may hurt less.”
“Rodney, sit here.”
The man seemed dazed. Leo helped him into a seat, buckled him in, and gave him headphones, then took his own place.
“All ready. Going up,” the pilot announced. They should reach the hospital in ten minutes.
Arianna dropped into her chair, buckled up, and watched the young mother on and off, while typing her readings, observations, and initial diagnosis, and sent a text to the ER attending doctor who would soon receive the victims.
“Going down,” Raphael called.
A few minutes later, they landed on the helipad of Mercy Hospital, the roof where Arianna had stalked Rafael a few days ago. She saw him removing his magnet. From now on, she would follow his example and bring her image with her for good luck and protection.
“Landed.” The pilot had given the signal to get off. She unbuckled and stood.
“Help Rodney down,” Leo said. She was grateful he’d told her which task to handle first. Hopefully, she would learn quickly. She unbuckled Rodney and walked him to the door. Rafael had already climbed out. He held a hand out to Rodney, held him firmly, and called for a wheelchair. A nurse’s assistant sat him down.
Two nurses had climbed into the copter. One carried the girl’s stretcher with Arianna, and the other handled the mother’s stretcher with Leo. “To the ER. The doctor’s waiting,” a nurse said.
