Bri brushed a strand of dark hair out of her face and started to offer her own recommendation, but Sarah shook her blond head urging Bri to keep quiet. Darla watched them, focused on their words, their actions, anything she could cling to, to keep awake until she could find someone to switch with.
Maybe she would switch with one of them once they no longer needed to care for her. Bri was slightly prettier than Sarah, but Sarah had a familiar aura to her.
She felt the tether come alive as she focused on Sarah, waiting for the moment it was given permission to make the switch.
“How much fluid has she been given?” A doctor in a long white coat was inspecting the head wound. “We need to get this stitched up before we can get her into surgery. Let’s get x-rays and a CT scan of her head. I also want x-rays of the rest of her body so we know what we are looking at before going in.” The doctor looked again at the ambulance nurses. “So how much fluid has she had?”
“One bag.” Darren spoke up this time.
“Let’s get another one going.” The doctor responded quickly and turned his attention to her chart in his hands. “She also needs blood.”
“Her heart rate is now at sixty-five beats per minute.”
The gurney came to a stop and the linen was removed from her head as a new set of gloved hands stopped midair, waiting for a nurse to supply the needle and thread. A bright light was brought in close. Sarah remained with linens to prevent blood from running down her face as the doctor moved urgently.
“Please stop! That burns!” Darla pushed against the hands working on her as a shot with a numbing serum was administered into her forehead, and seconds later, the doctor went to work. Another nurse was using her hands to pull the open wound together to allow for the doctor to complete the stitches. In a matter of minutes, the wound was closed and bandaged.
A new IV was put in her arm, and a new supply of blood flowed in.
I need to throw up,Darla thought as her stomach rolled.
Her tether suddenly appeared and sought out someone, anyone that she could switch with while she was in surgery. She was afraid that the injuries in her body would be too much and she was going to die. Her plan was simple. Switch until she was out of surgery, and then she would switch back.
She couldn’t switch with a nurse. They were too high profile, and she didn’t have the skills to be helpful. It could also draw too much attention. They wheeled her to get the x-rays and CT scan, and they passed a small waiting room.
An older woman, who looked to be about her age, sat in a corner chair sipping coffee. The tether called out to the woman, so Darla let the tether linger. She needed to wait until rightbefore the surgery to avoid any chance of the stranger causing a scene in the hospital.
“What are you doing to me?” Darla’s speech slurred as they wheeled her into a machine.
“We need to take some pictures of what is going on inside for surgery.” A nurse with bright red hair spoke softly to her, offering a quick stroke on her arm for reassurance before leaving her alone in the machine.
She focused on the tether as the machine whirred to life. An intercom clicked on overhead. “Please lay as still as possible. This will be over soon.”
After a few minutes of loud whirring, sounds of the machine cut off.
Almost there, keep holding on.She focused all her thoughts on the tether, not letting go and not sinking into the darkness.
The red-haired nurse reappeared and patted her shoulder. “You did great. We’re going to wheel you down to prepare you for surgery. Your surgeon is already reviewing the images and will be talking to you shortly.”
Darla just nodded at the woman, barely listening as her thoughts clung to the tether. Desperation coursed through her as it beckoned her to make the switch. Every instinct to survive pulsated inside her, and she wanted to succumb.
They brought her into a sterile room where a team of doctors and nurses stood at their designated stations. A nurse was preparing her for anesthesia when the surgeon came over to her.
“Ms. Samson, you have quite a bit of internal bleeding and some significant damage to your spine. We are going to work our hardest to repair all the damage and get you back on the road to recovery. Nurse Mae is going to place the mask on your face. Just count backwards, and when you wake up, you will be in a much better condition.”
Darla latched quickly onto the woman as the mask was placed on her face, just as she closed her eyes to finally give in to the darkness.
The cup of coffee sat on the table in front of her, steam wafting gently from the Styrofoam cup. The contrast in the atmosphere jarred her for a moment.
Where am I?She glanced down at her appearance and recognized the brown dress with little white flowers as she was being wheeled by in Darla’s body.More importantly, who am I?
Her hands sat neatly in her lap, the skin was soft and wrinkled. Her brain was still scanning for injuries and all she could feel was some soreness in her withered knees.
Darla dropped her head into her hands. Sobs broke out as she processed the situation she found herself in. She thought about Kinley. Could it have been just that morning they were shopping for clothes?
How many hours had it been, she wondered,since we were jamming out to the music on the radio?And Jenkins—the image of his small body with his ragged breathing, hanging slack against the seatbelt—was scorched into her mind.
I need to find out what happened to him, to see if he is okay.
