The Bodark

Disclaimer: Story and characters straight from the dredges of my mind..muwaahhaahaa!


Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.





Chapter 3


“White male, approximately twenty to twenty five years of age.. experiencing V-tach with possible seizures. No visible contusions or abrasions....” The paramedic continued to rattle off the patients status as I began to exam the man strapped to the gurney.

He was sweating profusely, shaking and I noticed that there was foam forming around the corners of his mouth. Curious about the lack off abrasions I inquired, “He doesn't seem beat up much, we were told he was an mva?”

Manny, the paramedic that was standing closest to me spoke up, “They told us at the scene that this guy actually caused the wreck. According to eye witnesses he stumbled out into traffic and collapsed, caused a small car pile up,” he shrugged, “but no one was hurt in that.”

As we rolled through the door of room 3, Amy was there waiting. We all grabbed the board on which the patient was strapped, then on three transferred him to the bed. I began to call out instructions for the nurses, but Marc's voice rang out shrilly over mine cutting me off, “We need an IV push, blood gass, and a chem 7..now.”

Instead of rushing to do Marc's bidding both nurses paused and looked at me, much to his indignation. With a quick nod from me, they proceeded to began the IV and various blood test that had been ordered.

As I lifted the man's eye lids open I noted that his eyes were almost completely dilated. “Amy go ahead and add a tox screen to that please.” All the signs of an overdose were present, but I quickly discovered something else. “Damn, this guy is burning up! Let's get his temp Betty.” A temperature indicated a whole new scenario and opened up other possibilities. “Looks like we're gonna need to add a white count to that grocery list Amy.” I said as I began to cut through his t- shirt. Nodding she grabbed another vial from her pocket and set it aside.

I noticed Marc working the straps lose that were across the man's chest and abdomen. “Is that a good idea? The EMT's said he was seizing earlier..” I asked. I had to voice my concern, It was never a good idea to unstrap an patient who had been seizing. With a hiss he replied, “How can we expect to treat the patient if you can't even get at him..hmm?” I opened my mouth to argue my point when Betty distracted me. “He's at 104.3 doctor.” Not liking the sound of that temperature I immediately called out, “Let's get him a push of acetaminophen 800mg and get Lorazepam 10mg started.”

Suddenly the patient's body jerked violently, startling me and everyone else standing around him. My immediate thought was that he was beginning to seize. “Someone help hold his body down!” I yelled as everyone rushed around to do their job. I noticed a couple hands going to his shoulders and another pair grabbing his feet. Going to his head I reached down to hold either side of his head in anticipation of the coming episode.

For the first time I actually looked down at the man we had been working on, really taking his appearance in. Somewhere in his mid to late twenties he had a head full of dark hair that looked like it needed a good wash and cut. Not bad looking but definitely rough around the edges.

As I was taking this in, a pair of golden eyes popped open and stared right back at me. It startled me, and I swear...time seemed to stand still. It was as if all the sounds of the ER, the alarms, my colleagues....everything....had just...faded into the background. For that moment in time, a moment that seemed to last an hour but was in actuality only 10 seconds or so, there was a pair of golden eyes staring right back into mine. 'His eyes were dilated before...'

Then finally...I became aware of a sound. It was foreign to me, not one I recognized right away. It was growing louder and louder not unlike rolling thunder. As I became more aware of my surroundings..I realized that all the other noises around me had quieted to listen to this strange sound as well.

I looked up at everyone and they were all standing still, looking down at the patient lying on the gurney. The sound was coming from him..and it was as if...as if he were growling! Coming from deep in his chest it was a pure animalistic growl, one that should almost be impossible for a human to make.

Everyone else seemed as taken aback as I felt at that moment, and for the first time in a long while was unsure of what to do. Not a feeling I'm used to in the ER, I'll tell ya. I heard Betty's voice, a slightly nervous tenor to it say, “Dr. Maslova?....” but thats all I heard before I felt the patients head jerk out of my hands.

Hearing a loud crash, I felt myself being violently pushed to the floor. “Rachel!” Amy screamed and someone else gave a startled shriek.

My head bounced off the floor hard and all I could see were stars. Fighting the urge not to pass out, I realized that there was a weight on me pinning me down. I somehow groggily understood that I needed to open my eyes and figure out what it could be.

I dimly heard panicked shouts, and before anything else registered in my mind..there was pain. It exploded up from the nerves of my shoulder into the neurons of my brain. It was an excruciating pain, white hot in intensity and, 'OH God I just want it to stop!'

I felt the weight being lifted off my body and soon a cool hand was being placed on my head. “Oh God Rachel, hold on we're getting you a gurney.” Amy's voice said. It was like listening to a voice through a tunnel though. Going in and out.

I reached up toward my shoulder where the excruciating pain was coming from and felt a wetness on my hand. Holding my hand in front of my face I squinted at it and recognized the red of my blood. Hot and slick I could feel it running down my shoulder. “Shh..don't touch it..we're gonna get you moved in a minute. Try and stay still.” Amy crooned.

Soon another voice broke through the tunnel of sound, and I recognized it as Dr. Cross's deep voice. Issuing orders and taking command of the room, he broke through the chaos.

“Get that man sedated now!” “I want another room ready stat.” ….... “I don't care what he's doing get him down here...”

Closer to my ear Dr. Cross said softly, “Rachel, we are going to move you in a moment. Are you with me?” Opening my eyes as much as I could through the pain that clouded my brain, I looked up into his angular face and croaked, “yeah...I..I'm.......”

With that I felt the oblivion of darkness overtake my consciousness, pulling me into it's welcome embrace. 'Oh Thank God...'

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