The Heart of It All (HeartSick Series Book 1)

by Weston Mitchel

  Brian is just standing there, watching the Doctor in her full maniacal craziness to get at the blood. When he saw her raking it in like chips on a poker table, his stomach bubbled and threatened to release all of it’s contents. After he saw her swallow it only to lick it off of her hands the threat became a promise and he began to hurl what felt like everything he had ever eaten in his entire life.

  Brian couldn’t talk, couldn’t breath, all he could do was projectile vomit straight into the pool of blood now gathered around the kneeling Doctor. He was pretty sure a tooth or two went streaming out with the bile being ejected from his mouth like a broken fire hydrant.

  The Doctor looked up at Brian like he was the crazy one, seemingly pissed off that he had been the one to taint the blood, as she stood up and ran full force at Brian while he was bent over still puking his guts out.

  Cap That Ass

  Izzy had a strong stomach after years of med school, plus the last few months working with blood at the K Prize, but this sight in front of her was almost too much to take. If only the blurry vision and ringing in her ears had never gone away she might have escaped without these images seared forever into her brain.

  She was still on all fours, after crawling over to unplug the machine and was watching the events like a curious dog. Until she saw the doctor make a mad rush for Brian, who she was now utterly certain of which side he was on.

  Brian was able to halt emptying his stomach just long enough at the split second before impact and was able to block the Doctor’s hand, that she was bringing down in a stabbing motion, with a raised forearm. When they collided, the force of the impact and the fact that Brian had already been in a precarious position, Brian and Dr. Greer fell to the ground in a heap of writhing body parts.

  Izzy could make out sounds of disgust still coming from Brian’s mouth as he wrestled with the Doctor, keeping one of his hands on the Doctor’s wrist as she tried to stick him with the needle in her hand.

  Izzy looked around the floor for her tire iron that she must have dropped when her head hit the tool chest and couldn’t find it. She couldn’t find it anywhere, but she could see the gun that Brian used to shoot the Doctor laying at Austin’s feet. Izzy crawled over to the wheelchair and picked up the pistol.

  She slid off of her knees and was now sitting on her butt, feet out in front of her, leaning back against Austin’s legs. Izzy pointed the gun at the mass of squirming limbs on the floor in front of her.

  Just like Izzy had never been in a fight before, she also had never fired a gun. She figured it couldn’t be that hard, you literally just point and shoot. So she wasn’t scared about the actual gun part, she was only scared of the bullet hitting the wrong person part.

  Not only that, but the gun was getting heavier with every slow second that passed, which undoubtedly made it harder to hit the right person. Izzy knew it wouldn’t be much longer before her already tapped energy supply would make itself known by trembling her hands.

  The Doctor was now on top of Brian, straddling his midsection, with one hand on top of the other pushing down with all of the weight that she could possibly apply, trying to jab the needle into Brian’s shoulder. Dr. Greer slid her weight to the left a tad, straightened out her right leg, then brought her knee up hard as if she was doing some type of Jillian Michael’s workout routine.

  Her knee made solid contact with Brian’s bean bag and made him forget all about holding off the syringe, curling him up into a sit up with his face inches away from the Doc’s chest. Dr. Greer seized on this opportunity and brought the syringe down with an undeniable force, sinking it to the hilt into the flesh of Brian’s shoulder.

  Izzy had seen the Doctor on top of Brian, knowing this would be the perfect time as she raised up but she hesitated. The fear of hitting the wrong person, even just feet away with a clear target now was still almost too much to overcome.

  When Izzy saw that the Doctor racked Brian so hard it it made Izzy even cringe down there she knew would have to make her move no matter what.

  Izzy forced her eyes wide open, demanding them not to close as she pulled the trigger the moment the syringe was embedded into Brian’s shoulder.

  The shot rang out just as deafening as before, but this time Izzy was close enough to smell a faint odor of smoke in the air after the bang. She watched as the Doctor toppled over Brian, forcing him back and his head hitting the ground while somehow still holding onto his balls.

  Izzy’s heart sank for a moment as she couldn’t tell exactly who she hit, and threw the gun down in trepidation. She stood slowly, head still fuzzier than she thought as she made the move to get up. Sidestepping the pool of blood and vomit, she walked closer to the two bodies stacked on top of each other.

  “Nice shootin Tex,” Brian groaned out through clinched teeth obviously still in a lot of pain that was moving slowly up into his abdomen.

  “I’m from SoCal…” Izzy said as she pushed the lifeless corpse of Dr. Greer completely off of Brian.

  “My bad,” Brian said forcing out a chuckle. “Nice shootin Hollywood,” Brian added a little too proud of himself.

  Izzy rolled her eyes and said “You might wanna do something about that,” as she pointed down to the syringe sticking out of Brian’s skin right where the neck meets the shoulders. The plunger still sticking fully out, Dr. Greer not getting the chance to press it in to fill his veins with an overdose of Ketamine.

  “Thanks nurse,” Brian said to Izzy who was already moving back to Austin to see what she could do to help. Brian pulled the needle out and threw it at Dr. Greer’s slack body. Standing up, looking again at the mess everywhere, he found it hard not to blow chunks again, but tried focusing on what he could do to help Izzy help Austin.

  “What can I do,” he asked.

  “I don’t know, he’s pretty bad off, we need to get him to a hospital quick, he’s lost way too much blood,” Izzy said taping the small hole left over from where she pulled the needle out that hooked him up to the machine. Giving orders to Brian she continued “Come on, grab the back of the chair, I’ll get the footrests, we’ll have to carry him up the stairs but we can use the chair as a makeshift stretcher.”

  Brian moved to the back of the chair and placed his hands on the push handles sticking out like flags from the back. As he did so, Austin’s head lolled back, resting on the back of the chair, his eyes making contact with Brian’s.

  “Mia,” is all Austin was able to whisper.

  Brian looked down at his friend, amazed he was able to say anything at all in his state.

  “Mia,” Austin repeated, this time with more force and a few more decibels.

  Brian looked to Izzy with a, what do I do, look on his face as he pushed the chair to the foot of the steps while Izzy applied pressure to the injection site she taped up. Brian swiveled the chair around and instead of waiting on Izzy to grab the footrests, he hefted Austin up into his arms and began lunging up the stairs.

  “Grab the chair, come on,” Brian shouted back behind him to Izzy as he was already shuffling up the last set of stairs, careful not to hit Austin’s head on the narrow walls, but not slowing down. Brian didn’t slow down until he got all the way to Ashley’s Jeep. He slung Austin cautiously onto his shoulder in order to get to the key fob in his pocket and unlocked the doors.

  While Brian was getting Austin settled into the backseat, Izzy was folding the wheel chair and throwing it into the back of the Jeep.

  “Take me to Mia,” Austin said heartily this time, with all the strength he could muster, but still just barely audible.

  “You got it bud,” was all Brian needed to say, to Austin at least. “Izzy hop back here and help him anyway you can, I’ll drive,” Brian said as he popped out of the back and jumped in behind the wheel.

  Before Izzy had time to close her door fully Brian threw it into gear and exclaimed “Might wanna close your eyes bud… You are not gonna like this.”

  X-ray Tech to the Rescue

  “Where are you
going, Idioto? You’ve passed like two hospitals already,” Izzy screamed from the back seat, throwing her hand not being used into the air as the jeep hurled through yellow lights and red lights a like.

  “Don’t worry, we’re going to a hospital. But our little patient back there needs to do something first, and we’re going to need your help to do it,” Brian said not looking back just keeping his eyes on the road ahead.

  “Izzy right?” Brian asked not adding that he only now remembered her name after hearing the Doctor say it after she kicked him in the ribs.

  “Yeah, Izzy is fine.”

  “Do you know anybody who works at that hospital across the street from your lab?” Brian asked swerving to the right lane and making a turn all in one motion.

  “Yeah, an X-ray tech that used to work at the lab, works there now.”

  “Okay, good. Call this tech guy and have him meet us in room 346, along with whatever equipment you’re going to need to do a transfusion with.”

  “Why can’t we just take him to the ER, once they know what’s going on they will take care of him from there, much better than I could ever hope to.”

  “Look, the transfusion ain’t for him, it’s for his girlfriend.”

  “Ex,” Austin murmured raspy from the backseat into Izzy’s ear.

  “Ex?” Izzy asked confused, but loudly so Brian could hear up front.

  “Sorry, ex-girlfriend,” Brian said. “That doesn’t really matter now, but if we go in there telling them what’s happening there’s no way they’re gonna let us do what we need to do to save her life. That’s where you and this X-ray tech of yours come in. So call him… NOW!”

  ***

  Brian squealed the Jeep to a stop on the 3rd floor of the parking garage, not bothering to turn off the engine, barely remembering to slam his door shut. Izzy worked on getting the wheelchair unfurled from the back as Brian picked Austin up and carried him to the chair, gently placing him down into it.

  “Come on, this way,” Izzy said hurrying off to a door that was being propped open by a young, skinny guy in scrubs.

  “I know us gophers gotta stick together Iz, but you owe me big time for this,” Blaine said motioning them through the door. Blaine handed Izzy a lab coat and Brian an orderlies’ smock top to throw over his shirt, then placed a blanket over Austin covering him from the neck down before saying “Follow me, and be quiet.”

  Brian pushed the wheelchair behind Izzy who was right behind Blaine. Brian leaned over as he walked, looking like any other worker talking to a patient as he pushed.

  “It’s okay brother, you’re gonna save her, and you’re gonna be okay bud, you hear me, you’ll be alright,” Brian said. His pulse was pounding, knowing how close they were to getting to Mia and finishing all of this, but also knowing it only took one damn nosy nurse to screw it all up. Even though he kept promising encouraging words into Austin’s ear Brian was surprised they made it to Mia’s room without more than a few questioning looks.

  Blaine led them in to the room where a crash cart and a transfusion machine with a stack of O negative PRBCs on the tray was already in the room waiting.

  When Brian pushed the chair into the room, Austin cried out Mia’s name as loud as he could but only came out as a hoarse whimper. Mia didn’t respond, nor was she able to take notice of anyone entering her room.

  Mia was far worse than what Ashley had told Brian earlier. She was barely clinging on to life, a breathing machine next to her doing most of the work of getting oxygen to her brain. Other machines, that Brian had no idea of what they did, had screens full of squiggly lines, dots, and numbers, but none of it looking good even to his untrained eye.

  “Alright Izzy, time to shine,” Brian said still looking around the room, wondering why Ashley wasn’t here.

  “Okay,” Izzy said unsure of what to do first, unsure of everything she was doing really, “but I don’t know how much more blood he can afford to lose, I don’t think-”

  “Just do it,” Austin demanded, clearly and loud this time.

  “You heard Phil Knight, just do it,” Brian said not gaining much favor from Izzy in the moment.

  Izzy let out a sigh, full of what the hell am I doing here, and went to work getting her two new patients ready. It was obvious that Blaine had no clue what was going on, but that didn’t stop him from blindly following all of Izzy’s orders.

  Brian pushed Austin’s wheelchair as close as he could to Mia’s bedside, and lifted Austin’s arm up to the bed, Austin being too weak to do it himself. Austin wasn’t too weak however to take hold of Mia’s hand, giving tiny squeezes every few seconds, willing her to wake up.

  A minute later, Izzy proclaimed “okay we’re ready, Blaine go make sure no one comes in.”

  “Me? No one is going to listen to m-”

  “Don’t worry short stack I got this one,” Brian said already walking to the door.

  “Brian!” Austin said with the little voice he had left, but it was enough for Brian to hear and come running back to Austin. Brian knelt at his side, lowering his ear to Austin’s mouth so he wouldn’t have to strain to be heard.

  “Thank you, Brother,” Austin said leaning his head into the side of Brian’s in place of a hug, or handshake, or any other gesture that he was too feeble to make in this instance.

  Brian turned his head and pushed his forehead against Austin’s, but at an angle so their mouths weren’t close, of course, and said “Save your girl. I’ll be right outside waiting for you when you’re done Austin.”

  Brian straightened and left the room like a soldier on duty taking his post. Except, this soldier was wiping tears from his face before they could fall off his cheeks as he closed the door behind himself.

  Bring Him Back

  Before she could start the procedure Austin needed to make one thing clear to Izzy.

  “Make sure she gets enough,” he said to her as she taped the tube down to his forearm. “No matter what, she gets whatever she needs to fix whatever is wrong with her. Do you understand?”

  “I understand,” Izzy said placing her hand on top of Austin’s hand that was holding Mia’s and added “completely.”

  Izzy stood up and switched on the machine. It began drawing blood from Austin, sucking it up the tubes into it’s receptacle and then pushing it straight through into Mia’s blood supply via the tube inserted into her vein at the other end. A much more modern version of the decrepit machine that now laid busted in pieces at the feet of the Doctor in a basement across town

  The instant the machine kicked on Austin was no longer able to keep the faintness in his head and the swooning of the room at bay. He was on the verge of passing out again, now too weak and limp to squeeze Mia’s hand for much longer.

  Austin was settling in to the fact that he might not be around to watch her wake up, his heart hardening in these last moments as it pumped thready, out of rhythm beats pushing out what little blood remained inside his body.

  Five minutes went by and nothing on Mia’s face or the screens all around her showed any sign of improvement. Meanwhile, Austin was fading, and fast. His skin now the color of tinged paper, with sallow cheeks hiding colorless gums.

  Each heartbeat now grew farther and further apart from each other. Austin could feel each beat of his heart reverberate through his body like he was sitting on top of a speaker at a car show. The bass in the speaker causing him to pulse with each pounding thud.

  Austin put everything he had into one final squeeze of Mia’s hand, only looking at her eyes while doings so. Hoping, praying, and urging her to do something, anything.

  Not seeing any movement whatsoever, he said the same words that he told Mia the night before.

  Has it only been one day? See what just one day with us being apart does to the world.

  “I love you Mia,” Austin said then repeated it, “I love you with every ounce of stardust in my body. I am not going anywhere, Mia, I’ll be right here at your side… Always.”

  Austin’s
eyelids stopped taking commands from him and closed even though in his mind he was screaming for them to stay open. His hand followed suit, letting go it’s grasp of Mia’s hand, even though to Austin every muscle in his body was tensing just to keep it’s hold.

  “Wait!” Izzy screamed out as she ran over to the stack of blood bags on the crash cart that Blaine prepared, thinking it was going to be a completely different situation that he now found himself in.

  “Ugh! I’m such a moron, why didn’t I think of this before,” Izzy continued admonishing herself as she grabbed a pole on wheels, rolling it over to Austin. She grabbed the bag on top of the stack, hooked it on the holder at the top of the pole, connected a tube to the bottom port and then connected the line to Austin’s vein.

  Just as she slid the needle into Austin and unclipped the line in order for gravity to start doing its job, she could hear a commotion coming from the hallway outside of the room.

  With as much noise that was seeping through the solid metal door, Izzy could tell Brian was trying his best to keep whoever was out there from coming in. She could hear muddled shouts and clangs and things getting knocked over before things went silent for a second as the door slowly opened.

  Even for doctors and nurses and orderlies who were used to seeing weird stuff on a daily basis, it was quite a sight sight to see. Blood draining from a bag going into one person, then more blood flowing out of that person into a machine then right into a girl who lay dying on a bed.

  Two large, hairy orderlies and one male nurse helped to drag away the rogue radiation technician and his pal from across the street. Which just left the doctor’s and nurses left to figure what the hell was going on with the two seemingly dead people left in the room, one in a wheel chair and the other one being the only person that actually belonged here in her bed.

  As a nurse moved Austin’s slack hand from where it rested atop Mia’s hand, moving into his lap, Mia’s eyes opened. She watched in confused apprehension as the nurse rolled a pale, deathly version of the man she loved being rolled back and away from the bed.