Read Avoiding Amy Jackson for Free Online

her bedside. “Go ahead and get us started.”
    I leave Ms. Lloyd’s bedside in a much better mood than I started with. There is nothing like hearing an elderly woman rap a Three 6 Mafiasong that can brighten up your day. That little old lady was the coolest, and I have a strong suspicion that her grandson doesn’t make a point to filter his music selections when he drives her around. Honestly, I would have paid good money to hear her sing those explicit lyrics, and if it weren’t completely illegal and against all hospital policies, I would have been more than tempted to get video proof.
    I sit down in the nurses’ station and finish up my charting for a few of my patients. The phone rings and I answer once I realize that I’m the only one sitting out here. “Regency ER, this is Amy.”
    “Ellen wanted me to call you and let you know that she’s bringing one your way. She said you need to prepare yourself,” Malory, the secretary who mans the triage desk, warns me.
    I let out an exasperated breath. “Alright,” I say before hanging up the phone.
    The ER doors open and I see Ellen pushing a wheelchair at a fast pace. “Bed six!” I call out to her. She just nods her head in response and I follow her lead. Once I finally get inside the room, I’m a little confused about what is going. There’s a young girl who doesn’t even look coherent in a wheelchair and a young boy standing next to her, holding a pillow in front of his pants.
    “Help me get her into the bed, please. She keeps passing out. Her last blood pressure was 73/48,” Ellen updates. A blood pressure of 73/48 is very—very low. Normal blood pressures run in the 120/80 range. We need to get this patient into a bed and get IV fluids into her as quickly as possible. Luckily for us, she’s a tiny, petite little thing, and we transfer her onto the gurney without difficulty. I proceed to put the bed in the Trendelenburg position because this aids in increasing a patient’s blood pressure. Basically, this is where the patient is placed flat on her back with her feet tilted higher than her head.
    “She’s seventeen years old and her name is Mary. This is her boyfriend, Jimmy. He brought her in after she kept fainting at home.” Ellen continues to give me the quick rundown as she hooks the patient up to our monitors. I get supplies for an IV so we can get access as quickly as possible.
    “When did she start passing out, Jimmy?” Ellen inquires.
    “Uh…I guess about forty minutes ago,” the young boy answers and still manages to keep a throw pillow securely in front of his pants. I should further explain that this throw pillow looks ancient and is adorned with white lace. A hand-sewn saying, Mothers are the roses in the garden of life, is front and center.
    “Mary, do you drink alcohol, do drugs, or smoke cigarettes?” I question the young girl, who looks like she’s starting to become a little more responsive.
    “No. Well, not really,” she responds quietly.
    “What do you mean by not really?” I urge for more answers.
    “I haven’t done illegal drugs.”
    “Okay, well what kind of drugs have you done?” Ellen chimes into the conversation.
    “Um...” Mary pauses for a long time and makes eye contact with Jimmy. “Nothing. We didn’t take anything.”
    Apparently these two think Ellen and I were born yesterday. I shake my head when I make eye contact with my best friend, and we exchange annoyed looks before proceeding.
    Ellen grabs her phone and calls out to the nurses’ station. “What ER doctor just took over at five?” she asks into the receiver as she primes IV tubing with Normal Saline. “Dr. Simon?”She lets out an exasperated breath. “Yeah, that’s fine. Notify him that he needs to see a patient in bed six. ASAP.”
    Well, this should be interesting…
    “I need you to hold still, Mary. I’m going to put an IV in your arm and draw some blood,” I instruct with a stern tone. I glance up to see her facial expression