by Katz, Gayle
Strange Start
Jane Zombie Chronicles
Book 0
Gayle Katz
In Your Face Publishers
Blue Bell, PA
Copyright © 2018 Gayle Katz
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission from the author. For permissions contact:
[email protected]
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living, dead, or undead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Visit the author’s website at GayleKatz.com
Table of Contents
________________________________________
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
About the Author
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Chapter 1
________________________________________
College Orientation
“Ouch! That hurts!” I complain to the school nurse taking my blood.
“I’m sorry, but you have to relax,” she replies. “It’s difficult to get a sample when you tense up like that. Your veins collapse, and I can’t do anything.”
She’s been trying to take my blood for the past ten minutes. I’m told this torture is to fulfill some random health assessment for college. Needless to say, it isn’t going well. She keeps jabbing me and I’m starting to get a little…err, a lot dizzy.
“Gah. That’s way too much information,” I blurt out. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”
“Maybe you should lie down,” the nurse suggests as she helps me out of my chair. “Maybe we can get you to an exam table.”
“Uh-huh.” I nod. Then I stand up. And a nauseated feeling washes over me. Seconds later, light-headed and wobbly on my feet, I feel something cold on my back. I think it’s the floor. Completely disoriented, I can’t move.
“Jane? Jane! Can you hear me?” the nurse shouts from above me.
I hear her, but she sounds so far away. Her mouth is moving, but the words coming out of it are muffled. I feel as though I have cotton balls in my ears.
“Jane!” The nurse then shouts out into the corridor. “I need some help here. I’m losing her. She’s becoming unresponsive.”
Despite the chill on my back, I’m starting to sweat and my vision is fuzzy. The room is spinning. Everything goes dark.
Seven Months Earlier - Second Semester Senior Year
“Time to wake up, Jane!” my mom shouts into my room. “Are you up?”
“Yeah. Yeah. Sure,” I reply, still snuggled under the covers.
“You didn’t forget, did you?”
“Forget what? Wh-What time is it?”
“It’s 6:00 a.m. and you’ve got your field trip to the clinic today.” She then comes in and steps up to my bed. “You forgot, didn’t you?”
“No. Uh. No. I didn’t.”
“OK, then. Get out of bed already,” she sings as she rips the covers off me. “Get going! And make your father and me proud! It’s your first step into premed!”
“Uh-huh,” I groan.
“‘Uh-huh’ nothing. We’ve always wanted to have a doctor in the family.”
I roll to the edge of the bed and plant my feet on the floor. It’s still dark outside, and I want to go back to sleep, but I force myself to get up. First stop, the bathroom.
There I turn on the shower, wait for it to get warm enough, and hop in. The water blasts me straight in the face. Some people drink coffee, but for me, a good shot of water to the face is enough to wake up. That, plus the fancy lemon verbena soap helps energize me.
After the shower, I brush my teeth, style my hair, and pop on some makeup. Now I’m definitely awake and ready to start my day. I run downstairs to greet my parents.
“There’s my girl,” Dad says. “Big day today?”
“Yeah, totally,” I reply. “A few of my classmates and I are spending the day at a clinic. We’re going to interact with doctors, nurses, and patients. Get a taste of what a job in medicine is really like.”
“Your little girl might just be the first doctor in the family,” Mom says, beaming with pride.
“Mom, stop it. You’re embarrassing me.”
“That’s my job as your mom, am I right?”
“Very funny. I gotta go.”
“Oh! I almost forgot,” she says as she holds out a steaming package wrapped in aluminum foil. “I made a little egg sandwich for you so you can eat on the go.”
I take the sandwich and pop it in my backpack. “Thanks, Mom. Bye, Dad.”
“Bye, honey,” he says.
My mom hugs me good-bye.
***
As I walk to the bus stop, I see everyone else in the neighborhood warming up their cars, grabbing newspapers off their lawns, and generally getting ready to head off to work or school. And no one looks enthusiastic about it, including me.
Getting up this early in the morning is tough. While I’m not really looking forward to going away to college next semester, I’m never going to schedule any classes before 10:00 AM when I do.
After waiting at the bus stop for a couple of minutes, I hop on the yellow school bus, like I’ve done for the past three and a half years, and my fellow classmates and I arrive at school fifteen minutes later. Once there, Anne, Bobby, Jean, and I all go into the building and gather outside of our biology class to meet up with our teacher and a handful of other students coming along on the field trip.
The general consensus among our group is unanimous. While we’re thrilled to get out of class for the day, we’re not particularly excited for the field trip to some medical clinic.
“I still can’t believe we get to cut an entire day of class for this trip,” I say.
“Well, it’s not just to get out of class,” Anne says. “It’s to see if we really have an interest in biology, premed, and all that medical stuff.”
“Whatever. Going from class to boring class is such a snoozefest. At least today, maybe there’ll be some excitement in our lives,” Bobby replies.
“It’ll be something different for sure. And we’ll have a chance to help people, too,” Anne adds.
“Yeah, that, too. I guess that’s a good thing,” Bobby says.
Jean just nods and yawns. It still might be a little too early for her.
As we’re talking, Mrs. Jones, our honors biology teacher, comes over to us. She’s going to be our chaperone on the field trip.
“How is everyone this morning?” she asks. “I hope you’re all looking forward to shadowing the staff at the clinic today. Not many high school students get an opportunity like this, but South Mountainside High School has such a great reputation, they couldn’t say no.”
I see some of my fellow students nod their heads in sheeplike agreement. I’m not into it either, but I feel like I should at least try to feign some interest. Only a few students were chosen for this experience so I might as well make the most of it. I may want to pursue a career in medicine. I may not. I really don’t know. I try to show interest, even if it isn’t exactly genuine.
“Are we just sh
adowing them or will we be able to help them in some way?”
“Good question, Jane! I’m not exactly sure to be honest. We’ll have to see what they need when we arrive. I’m sure there’ll be something for us to sink our teeth into. The main takeaway is to get familiar with the environment and ask lots questions,” Mrs. Jones says. “All right everyone, let’s go outside and meet the bus. We don’t want to be late!”
As we all file out of the school and huddle around one another at the curb, we see another yellow school bus pull up beside us. I climb the steps to get into the bus and find a seat. There aren’t many of us going on this field trip, so I have a seat to myself and I’m able to sprawl out and chill before our day of medical adventures.
Chapter 2
________________________________________
Our bus pulls into the parking lot of the clinic. The building seems pretty plain in design. Red brick exterior, lush green grass in need of landscaping, and a sign that simply reads “Cancer Care Clinic.”
As the school bus doors whoosh open, we all funnel out, walk across the parking lot’s blacktop, and open the front glass double doors. Once inside, we congregate in the lobby until a young woman greets us and introduces herself as Dara.
“Hello and welcome to the South Mountainside Cancer Care Clinic! Thank you all so much for taking time away from your studies to learn about what we do here. I think you’ll find it’ll be a rewarding experience.
“Why don’t we head over to the conference room so you can watch the orientation presentation? Just follow me.”
As we fall in line behind Dara, we pass by a larger area with a few tables and chairs, possibly a waiting room, as well as several doctors’ offices and nurses’ stations. Deep inside the building, we finally reach the conference room. It has a large wooden table and one of the interior walls is made from a clear material—maybe plexiglass—so it’s easy to see inside. There’s also a big screen TV hanging down from the ceiling and a laptop labeled, “Conference Room,” across the top of the monitor screen. It’s sitting in front of the first chair closest to the conference room door. We each take a seat as the light in the room dims and the video presentation begins.
The presentation opens by talking about the history of the clinic and how it was founded the previous year by a team of professors and other educators from around the country. Their objective: to tirelessly research, pursue, and one day cure the most deadly forms of cancer so people can live happy and healthy lives.
In the video, they feature interviews with several patients that tug at the heartstrings. They also have clips of doctors and nurses talking about their commitment to this worthy cause. Throughout the video, the name “Scrycor” pops up several times—a company I’ve never heard of. Strange name. It was on the introductory screen of the video and I spotted their logo in various spots around the clinic as we walked through.
After the video comes to an end, Dara moves to stand in front of the screen and asks if we have any questions.
I guess Jean finally woke up because she’s the first to ask a question, “What types of cancers does this clinic specialize in treating?”
“Very good question,” Dara says. “We’re making progress with some of the most aggressive cancers like bone, bladder, lung, and various blood cancers, such as Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, just to name a few. We still have a lot of work to do and a long way to go.”
Silence.
“Any other questions? That’s why I’m here.” Dara smiles.
I raise my hand.
“Yes, go ahead,” she says, looking at me.
“What’s Scrycor?”
“You have a good eye for details,” Dara replies. “I love that. To answer your question, Scrycor is our primary donor. It’s the company behind the clinic that keeps the lights on, funds our research, and allows people to seek treatment at no cost.”
Another long silence.
“OK, if there aren’t anymore questions,” she says, “let’s get you suited up into scrubs so you can begin the most exciting part of your day. Follow me.”
She leads us out of the conference room and down the hall to a couple of changing areas. “Inside each of the stalls, you’ll find scrubs just like the doctors and nurses wear on TV. Find your size and get changed. If you have any valuables, you can leave them here with me and we’ll store them safely until you’re ready to go home.”
***
After changing into a pair of blue scrubs, I emerge from the dressing room to join the rest of the class. Dara leads us down another hallway and one by one she assigns each of us a doctor or a nurse to shadow. I’m handed off to a Dr. Michael Lively. A little nervous, I barely manage to eek out a shy, “Hello.”
I watch as the rest of the group keeps walking down the hall and I’m left standing in the doorway of Dr. Lively’s office.
“What’s your name?” he asks.
“My name is Jane.” I can feel my heart beating a million miles an hour. I’ve never helped a doctor before. The work they do here is so important. I don’t want to mess up by doing something stupid.
“Nice to meet you, Jane.” He extends his hand. I quickly do the same and we shake. He’s got a serious death grip.
“What can I help you with, Dr. Lively?” I ask.
“For now, we’re going to make the rounds to all of my patients, get their vitals, and check in on their progress. Basically, get the scoop on what’s going on with them. I usually do this first thing in the morning, but I knew you’d be coming, so I delayed it. I thought you might enjoy the experience.”
“I appreciate that. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Of course. You can hold my clipboard for now and just observe. You really want to jump in with both feet, huh?”
“Yes!” I say with a little too much enthusiasm. “Well, I’m considering a major in biology when I go to college and then going premed, so the sooner I can get into it, the better.”
“I like your energy, but you need to relax. I also have to warn you that being a doctor in the real world may not be as glamorous as you see on TV. I’ll do my best to impress, though.”
“OK, Dr. Lively.”
“No need to call me Dr. Lively. Dr. L or just L for short—either is fine.”
As we leave his office and proceed to the first patient’s room, I am beyond nervous. What if I say something dumb? I can feel my stress sweat starting. I can’t remember if I put on deodorant this morning. And when I’m nervous, it manifests itself through sweat and a bad habit of picking the skin around my fingernails. Yeah, it’s gross, but it helps to diffuse my anxiety.
Dr. L enters the first room. The patient is an old man. He seems unresponsive or maybe he’s just asleep for now. He’s bald and wrinkly. Though the most unusual thing about him is his skin. It looks a light gray and you can clearly see his dark veins showing through. It’s as if his skin is somewhat translucent.
“What’s wrong with him?” I ask.
“It’s a little bit of a mystery, but we believe he has bone cancer. Basically, we think his blood is sucking the life out of his bones and we don’t know why. And the worst part is that it’s spreading. We can’t seem to stop it no matter what treatment we administer.”
“Oh no,” I put my hand over my mouth in shock. I don’t know why I didn’t realize the patients here would be in such grave condition.
“We’re not giving up, though,” Dr. L continues. “He’s a fighter and we’re not going to let him down.”
“Is he in pain?” I ask.
“If he is, he hides it well. We’re doing all we can to keep him comfortable.”
As Dr. L reviews his chart and takes his vitals, like blood pressure and such, I just stand there, watching the patient. He seems peaceful until his eyes suddenly pop open.
I’m spooked. My body jumps, and I take a step back. He sits up quickly and makes a horrible hissing sound, then reaches out, grabs my scrub top, and pulls me close enough I can see the veins pulsing th
rough a gray haze covering his eyeballs.
“Kill me,” he mutters.
“Charlie!” Dr. L shouts. “What are you doing? Don’t frighten her! Stop it!” He unhooks Charlie’s hand from my top, helps the patient back down onto the bed, and tries talking to him to get him to calm down.
“How are you feeling today, Charlie?” Dr. L asks.
There’s no response. Charlie’s just lying there in bed with his eyes wide open, staring at nothing in particular.
“Charlie?” The doctor snaps his fingers in front of his face.
Nothing.
Dr. L grabs his phone out of his pocket and punches in a few digits. “Nurses’ station, please.” There’s a pause as he waits for an answer. “Yeah. Hi. It’s L. I’m in room 1027. Send up an orderly, all right? Our patient has become a little more unpredictable. He needs to be restrained.”
“Dr. L…” I ask, still recovering from the patient scaring me.
“Yes?”
“Is this guy going to be OK?”
“That’s tough to say, Jane. We’re an experimental clinic, so all of the hospitals send us their toughest cases. Just know that we’re doing everything we can to help him.”
Moments later, an orderly rushes through the door with straps. He wraps them around Charlie’s arms and ties them to the bed frame. He does the same with his legs. He even puts a couple straps over Charlie’s torso.
“He shouldn’t cause any more issues,” the orderly says. “He’s in there pretty good now.”