The Team's Return (A Team book Book 2)

by S G Read

  Carol walked out of the sluice room, something was nagging her but she did not know what it was. Jenny's light was on so she walked up to her bed.

  ‘Sorry I need to go.’ Jenny said apologetically. ‘Can you hear that whining sound?’

  Carol helped Jenny on to the bed pan.

  ‘I can certainly hear something but for the life of me I can't think what it is.’ She replied.

  ‘I can't make out where it's coming from, it's very faint.’ Jenny said as she eased herself on to the bed pan.

  Carol looked round the ward.

  ‘I have it. I think a certain young man has taken off his sensors to go to the bathroom! I'll be right back.’ Carol said and headed up the ward.

  ‘I'm not going anywhere!’ Jenny called after her. ‘Say hi to Stuart for me?’

  When Carol walked into Stuart's room he lay motionless, the monitor alarm still whining. She turned to run out but as she opened the door she ran into Doctor Patterson, he had heard the alarm. When you are a doctor your ears become attuned to the varying 'bad' noises.

  ‘Do I call for a crash team?’ Carol asked, wanting badly for the answer to be yes.

  Doctor Patterson looked at the timer on the monitor, it read seventeen minutes. Carol's eyes followed his gaze and her mouth fell open. The doctor tried to find a pulse, not expecting to find one, but trying anyway, then after a few seconds repositioned his fingers and tried again. He moved his fingers once more.

  ‘I can't find a pulse, I don't think there is any point in trying to resuscitate him, with the best will in the world. If I do succeed in restarting his heart there will be massive brain damage.’ The doctor replied. ‘No one would thank me!’

  He pulled the sensors off of Stuart's limp body and turned off the monitor. Then after a last look he pulled the sheet over Stuart's face. Carol looked up and saw a face at the side window. She walked swiftly across and pulled the curtains.

  Stephen walked out of the lift and strolled along the ward, he was looking forward to seeing Stuart and Jenny. He looked through the side window and saw the doctor was with Stuart. He knew he would not be allowed in to see Stuart while the doctor was there and thought of walking on to see Jenny but something held him at the window. When he saw the doctor taking the sensors off of Stuart he smiled, at least they would be able to go down and see Jenny together. Then the doctor, after looking down at Stuart, covered him completely with the sheet, even Stuart's face. Stephen's heart leapt when he realized what it meant, he had seen films, it is what they do in films! His eyes filled with tears and they cascaded down his face.

  ‘No! He can't be!’ He cried as he watched the scene oblivious to all around him.

  Carol turned and saw him at the window; she walked over to draw the curtains. Stephen turned and ran, tears still cascading down his face. He did not stop to wait for the lift, his friend was dead and he just wanted to get out of there. He ran down the stairs and through the automatic doors. They were too slow to open and he hit one of the doors with his shoulder. It did not stop his flight, he did not even feel the pain. He just ran!

  To Stuart it seemed like he was floating above the bed

  -Wow some pills these are- He thought.

  How long he remained floating in the air he did not know. Billy arrived and then the whining noise started. Stuart wanted to get away from the noise but he did not seem able to, then the door opened and he was sucked out. He was grateful to be away from the noise but still seemed to be floating. While he was debating where to go the noise stopped and he heard a voice he recognised say.

  ‘No! He can't be!’

  ‘Stevey is that you?’ Stuart called and looked round the corner to see Stephen looking through the side window.

  Stephen ignored him and Stuart could see the tears running down his cheeks.

  ‘What's up Stevey?’ Stuart called and moved closer to look in the window to see what Stephen was looking at.

  As he reached the window Stephen ran off. Stuart tried to see in, only to come face to face with Carol! Then the curtains were closed.

  ‘Wait for me Stevey!’ Stuart shouted and followed, a little annoyed that Stephen was ignoring him.

  He followed Stephen down the stairs and along the corridor. Stuart saw the automatic doors open and saw Stephen hit one of the doors in his hurry to go through.

  ‘Wait for me Stevey!’ He cried after the fleeing boy.

  Stuart almost reached the doors before they closed and expected them to stop closing and jerk back open as they had done before. They did not. They closed and stayed closed.

  ‘Come on this is no time to break down! Open up!’ He cried angrily.

  The doors, just as Stephen had done, ignored him.

  Billy arrived in time to see Stephen run down the stairs and smiled. When he arrived at Stuart's room, he pushed the gurney in before him.

  ‘Need this do we?’ He asked.

  Carol was extremely upset; she blamed herself for Stuart's death.

  ‘You little-’ She bit her tongue to stop herself. ‘Billy can help you move the-’ She burst into tears and fled from the room.

  ‘She should learn not to get attached to the patients!’ Billy said wisely.

  Doctor Patterson yawned.

  ‘Give me a hand to get his pyjamas off then we can lift him on to the trolley and you can take him down.’

  ‘Can I tie the label on his toe?’ Billy asked.

  ‘I haven't got a label with me.’ Dr Patterson replied.

  ‘I have!’ Billy said holding it out for inspection.

  Terry Fielding had examined a liver sample from John Sykes post mortem, by the time Geraldine returned.

  ‘I would say that your John Sykes was an acute alcoholic and even without the heart attack he wouldn't be long for this world. Not without a new liver anyway!’

  ‘And I fell for the flu story, more than once!’ Geraldine complained remembering John's unsteadiness on his feet. ‘How could I have been so blind?’

  Terry produced three mouth sprays and several packets of strong mints from the drawers in front of him.

  ‘He made sure that you didn't smell it on his breath! I suppose I should check his last few samples in case there are any major goofs! Have you any old samples?’

  ‘Yes we keep them in storage refrigerator number two!’

  Terry worked his way through the samples.

  ‘John White has a tumour, should we tell anyone?’ Terry asked after the first sample.

  ‘Too late he passed away!’ Geraldine said quietly.

  ‘Did Mr Sykes find its presence?’ Terry asked.

  ‘No they found it with a brain scan!’

  ‘Then it's worse than I thought, that was an easy one! Bring me everything that you have but let's keep it to the ones who are still alive!’ Terry said fearing the worst.

  Terry checked the next sample.

  ‘At times his work is brilliant other times it is criminal!’ He complained. ‘This chap in ward seven is liable to have a stroke at any time!’

  Geraldine looked through her Rolla deck files.

  ‘He's been sent home!’ She said when she saw the file.

  ‘Well I think he should be called back in and pronto!’

  ‘I'll send an ambulance. Doctor Patterson will sign the order, he's been on forty eight hours now he's dead on his feet. When he's like that he signs anything!’

  The next sample was a blood sample.

  ‘The labels fallen of this blood sample. Is that usual?’

  ‘No we make sure they don't fall off!’ Geraldine insisted.

  ‘Can you find the label?’

  Geraldine looked in the refrigerator.

  ‘Yes here it is! It is a sample from Jennifer Robbins!’

  Terry examined the sample then read her file.

  ‘That's weird. It agrees with her first finding exactly, with the exception of a reaction to the medication. The second finding is slightly different but the last one from Guys finds that she has an adva
nced form of typhoid!’ Terry said and looked up at Geraldine. ‘Has somebody tampered with the samples?’

  ‘No not here, we're one big happy family!’

  Terry ran tests on the blood then studied Jenny's file until he noticed a small 'SS' in the top right hand corner of the first sheet.

  ‘What's this mean?’ He asked pointing out the initials.

  Geraldine looked at the initials and her mouth fell open.

  ‘That means it was someone else's blood sample and they had the initials SS!’ She declared.

  ‘Which is very healthy. How many patients are there with the initials SS who are on chlorophenicol?’

  Geraldine looked through the files and found only one with the initials SS. She produced his file and Terry looked up in the corner of the first sheet to be put in there from the laboratory. In the corner were the initials 'JR'.

  ‘He mixed the two up. Still at least we have one healthy specimen in the hospital.’ He studied the notes further. ‘He is having a serious reaction to the chlorophencal, so they've given him-’ He double checked the form. ‘More chlorophenical, only with a coating to stop him from bringing the pills back up! In fact I'm the one who has just sent them up! When do they usually give out the medication?’

  ‘Half eight, today it would have been later but he would have had them sometime by now.’

  ‘Long enough to rule out a stomach pump?’ Terry asked hopefully.

  ‘Yes.’ Geraldine replied. ‘What can we do?’

  ‘I can double check the reaction to find out the best remedy, if one exists and if he's still alive!’ Terry answered. ‘Phone Guys and see if the label is loose on Stuart Sellar's blood sample.’

  While Terry checked his findings and made one more test to check the depth of Stuart's reaction to the drug, Geraldine phoned Guys hospital.

  ‘Ask for Arthur Simmonds.’ Terry called while she was waiting for someone to answer.

  ‘Hello, can I have Arthur Simmonds please? Good morning, I am speaking for Terry Fielding-’ she waited to speak again. ‘He's fine but we have a problem. We sent you a blood sample- Yes Stuart Sellars. I know we have had your report thank you, can you tell me how well the label is attached to the sample bottle? Okay, thank you as soon as you can please.’ She replaced the receiver. ‘He is going down to the store to check personally, then he's going to ring us back.’

  ‘Good. This boy is in trouble. If I can get to him in time I might be able to save him but it's a slippery slope and the further he goes down it the harder it will be for me to bring him back. If they try to resuscitate him it will almost certainly kill him!’

  Terry picked up his battered Gladstone bag and tipped out the contents, his lunch. It was where he used to keep all his equipment like a lot of doctors, now he used it to hold his sandwiches.

  ‘I wondered what you had in there!’ Geraldine said when she saw the contents. ‘No wonder you never eat when I'm here!’

  Terry smiled.

  ‘For appearances and to remind me what I could have been if I wasn't squeamish!’ He walked to a glass case. ‘Where's the key?’ He asked.

  After a quick look for the key Terry smashed the glass and collected what he wanted.

  ‘Let me know when you find out about the sample and let-’ He glanced at the file. ‘Mr Follet know what's going on and tell him, no ask him to meet me in the boy's room!’

  Before Geraldine could answer Terry was out the door and heading for the lift. He pushed the button and waited impatiently, time was precious. After a few seconds he started up the stairs. When he turned into the corridor which led to the Kimberly ward, he nearly collided with a porter pushing a gurney. He managed to avoid a collision by hitting the wall and bouncing round him and the gurney. Without stopping he ran on. When he reached the room Stuart was supposed to be in, he found it empty. The bed was empty and so was the brass name holder. His first thought was to find the nurse and he started up the ward but the picture of the porter pushing the trolley with the sheet covering its passenger flashed in his mind.

  ‘How many deaths do they have on a little ward like this?’ He asked himself, then turned and ran to catch the porter up.

  When Terry reached the point in the corridor from where he could see the lift, Billy was just pushing the trolley into it. He followed it in.

  ‘Is that Stuart Sellars?’ Terry shouted, starting to run out of puff.

  Billy had his walkman on and was not aware that Terry was there. Terry ran forward but the lift door started to close and he realised he would not reach the door in time to stop the lift. In desperation he slid his bag across the polished floor toward the lift. The closing door hit the bag and pushed it sideways until it hit the doorframe on the other side. As soon as the door felt an obstruction it reopened a little way, tried to close again with the same result. Billy saw the bag and kicked it out of the way. When the door closed again Terry's hand slid in between the door and the frame. When it reopened he pushed the door open button.

  ‘Is that Stuart Sellars?’ Terry asked again.

  Billy stared blankly back. Terry saw the earphones Billy was wearing and ripped them from his head.

  ‘Ow! That hurt!’ Billy complained.

  ‘I don't really care! Is that Stuart Sellars?’ Terry repeated.

  ‘How should I know, it's a dead body!’ Billy lied.

  Terry pulled the sheet back and saw the tag on Stuart's toe. Terry tried to pull the trolley out of the lift but Billy resisted, Terry threw Billy bodily against the side of the lift and pulled the trolley out of the lift. He pushed the button which called a crash team, stood his bag on Stuart's bare chest and filled a hypodermic syringe from a small bottle. As people started to arrive he barked out orders.

  ‘I need an intravenous line in and I want it now!’ He had not tried himself, as the sight of blood coming out would have left him on the floor. ‘See if you can find a pulse!’

  A nurse tried to find a vein but had to give up, even with the vein side of the arm held stopping the return blood flow there was no sign of vein.

  ‘I can't find the vein!’ She complained. ‘I need more flow! Or at least some flow!’

  Terry did not hesitate; he plunged the needle into Stuart's chest and emptied the contents into his heart. They all waited for either nurse to speak.

  Stuart waited at the automatic doors, he was hoping that someone would come in from outside and make them open. He could see Stephen running down the road.

  ‘Oh wait for me Stevey.’ He did not shout it; it was said more in despair.

  Suddenly the doors opened and a man walked past Stuart to the outside.

  ‘Hey be careful you nearly hit me!’ Stuart called after him. ‘In fact you should have hit me you couldn't have got past me, I was in the way!’ The last sentence was more an observation than a shout.

  ‘What's going on here? Is this a dream?’ Suddenly he felt himself being pulled backwards. ‘No, not this way I want to go with Stevey!’

  He was pulled by an invisible hand along the corridor, up the stairs and toward the lift.

  ‘No stop, I want to go with Stevey! Won't anyone listen to me?’ As he reached the group of people by the lift everything went black.

  ‘I have a pulse but it's very slow.’ The nurse holding Stuart's wrist cried. She had been searching for a pulse for sometime and was relieved to actual find one.

  ‘I still can't find the vein!’ The second nurse said hopelessly.

  ‘Let me try!’ A voice said from behind her. It was Mr Follet. He tapped and prodded until the needle slid into his vein and he attached the drip. ‘There, now can someone enlighten me as to what is going on?’

  Terry filled the same hypodermic syringe and injected the contents into the drip feed before he took Mr Follet's arm and led him away.

  ‘Someone has been playing with the samples. He was a perfectly healthy boy; his only problem was being allergic to the chlorophenicol, which is why his stomach emptied every time he took them. It was his body
's way of protecting him!’ Terry advised him.

  ‘So the new pills have sent him into what?’

  ‘A slow down. As his heart slowed down, everything else should have. I think we had a good chance of saving him!’

  ‘Had?’

  ‘I needed a line in him but they couldn't find the vein so I had to give his heart a little boost.’

  ‘Adrenaline?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘So now we have a chance that he will coma on us?’ Mr. Follet said with a frown.

  ‘That's about the size of it but I had no choice, seconds were vital!’

  ‘I can see that, you have done well.’ Mr Follet took off his dinner jacket; he was just off to a function. ‘I'll take it from here but I would like your measured opinion now and then, as you seem to know what you are about!’

  The lift arrived and Geraldine stepped out. She walked over to Terry.

  ‘The label was held on by sellotape!’ She announced. ‘We never do that! We would change bottles and re-label it!’

  ‘Someone switched the samples!’ Terry concluded. ‘I wonder who did it.’