Second on the Right (16 page)

Bright light seared his vision, causing him
to close his eyes. Pain racked his body as he tried to move. The
homeless man, labeled “John Doe” struggled to recall the events
that had lead him to this place. He opened his eyes again. A wave
of nausea swept over him, and he leaned over the side of the bed,
vomiting onto the floor.

Noises from the room flooded his ears. His
head felt as if it were about to burst. He drifted in and out of
consciousness. He felt jolts of electricity shoot through his
chest. His lungs burned as his body gasped and sputtered for
air.

Men and women in light colored clothing
swarmed, shining lights on his body. Metallic instruments were out
in a flash, cutting the filthy rags he would have called clothes
off his body. He raised an arm to pull himself up, only to have it
pushed back down onto the bed. He was too weak to fight what he
felt was an accosting of his body. As one woman forced him into a
sitting position, a man slipped his arms through some clean
clothes. Once they lowered his body back down, the man placed a
clean blanket over him.

"Nurse, call Dr. Davis. See if she’s
available. All right, everyone. Let’s move the patient. On the
count of three. 1…2…3…," he heard a stranger's voice say. At ‘3’,
the man felt his body lifted and slid onto another bed.

He struggled to fight, to sit up. The
exertion was too great. His eyes rolled into the back of his head
and he lost consciousness.

Dr. Allen, the emergency room doctor managing
the care of John Doe, had an IV inserted to hydrate the patient.
Allen decided to order a chest x-ray to check for the cause of the
patient’s wheezing and shortness of breath.

"Where did he come from?" Dr. Allen asked.
The patient’s appearance and clothes looked vintage, as if he were
dressed for a costume party.

The nurse explained the homeless man had been
found on the street and pronounced dead at that time. At the
morgue, during examination, the man began to breathe spontaneously,
much to the surprise of the medical examiner. The start of a
running joke, she described Dr. Perkins’ frantic call to the
paramedics, making sure to tweak her voice and face to make the
story as humorous as possible.

The green card chart had accompanied the man,
along with Dr. Perkins' thorough notes on lifesaving measures.
Glancing over at the patient, he noticed the man was filthy, though
in a clean hospital gown. His hair, including facial hair, was in
such disarray that it was difficult to make out his ethnicity.

Startled, Eileen struggled to maintain her
balance. Looking around, she found herself in a cobblestone and
dirt alleyway. It was dark, other than the faint glow from the
moonlight through the clouds. Something within her rang out in
alarm. She felt as if an evil presence was lurking just out of
sight, waiting to strike. Shivering from fear, she took in her
surroundings. That’s when she noticed that the shadows hid a dull
shape. As she squinted to gain a better look, two red eyes appeared
within the mass. Those eyes looked eerily familiar.

What on Earth?

It came towards her. She panicked, and ran
from the shadowy figure. Pulling and clawing at the wall beside her
she tried to urge her body to move faster, but felt as if something
were holding her back. No matter how much she struggled, the
creature was gaining on her. She turned to find the dark mass
nearly on top of her, glowing red eyes looming. It opened its mouth
and let out a banshee-like scream.

Eileen woke with a start, falling out of her
chair. While sitting on the floor, she replayed the images in her
mind. She shook her. Ever since her dreamed adventure on board
Captain Benedict's ship, she had been plagued with nightmares. She
never believed in them as a means of foretelling the future. She
merely viewed them as her brain's way of regurgitating what she had
seen in the past.

Pulling herself up off the floor, the
overhead intercom announced, “Paging Dr. Davis to the Emergency
Room. Dr. Davis, to the Emergency Room please."

Eileen signed deeply knowing what awaited her
in the ER.
Perhaps this one could be transferred to the
shelter.
She was tired, both from the amount of work as well as
the type of work. Things were becoming mundane. She needed
something exciting in her life. Taking care of yet another vagrant
was not the type of excitement she craved.

She took a cleansing breath and stretched.
She would manage with this one and then perhaps transfer title of
"charity physician" to a resident. Grabbing her stethoscope and
swirling it around her neck, she headed out the door to the nurse's
station.

"Dr. Davis!" he said cheerily looking up to
see Eileen entering the ER. "Thank you for coming down so quickly.
How are you doing?"

She smiled and shook his hand. "Good. Thank
you, Dr. Allen. How are the wife and kids?"

"Good, good, can't complain. Well, actually,
I could, but I'll spare you," he said with a grin and a wink.
"Patient's over there." He waved towards the far corner of the ER.
"Need anything, just ask a nurse." He chuckled as he walked
away.

After the ordeal in the morgue, the homeless
man was moved to the local hospital. Luckily for the staff in the
ER, he had been too weak to respond to the confusion and remained
unconscious for the remainder of the day. He was transferred to Dr.
Davis’ care and moved to the second floor.

Eileen was followed by Nurse Bradford. The
patient was still unconscious, allowing her to complete an overall
external exam. A chest x-ray showed evidence of pneumonia. CBC and
chemistry blood panels came back within normal limits. He had
tested positive for Hepatitis B, not surprising for a vagrant.
Chances were high he was a drug user; sharing needles would have
greatly increased his exposure risk to Hepatitis.

It was difficult to examine the skin of his
face, with its disheveled and tightly matted hair covering his
head, mouth, and chin, continuing partially down his neck. Eileen
noted the patient’s eyes were jaundiced, a possible sign of
Hepatitis B infection, though it could have just as easily been
caused by another medical condition such as cirrhosis of the liver.
What skin she could examine did not appear to be jaundiced. His
teeth were dirty, but in fair condition.

Eileen scribbled notes of what she observed
and continued the exam once he regained consciousness. She reviewed
the chart once more.

Medical Record: 109935833

Patient Name: Doe, John

40 YO Caucasian Male

History and Physical: 40 year-old
malnourished white male found on street in the evening by passing
couple. Police were called. Body was unresponsive. Paramedics were
called. No pulse was detected. Coroner was called. Paramedics had
pronounced death at scene. Body was transferred to morgue for
processing and possible identification. Patient was found still
alive in the morgue. Paramedics transported patient to hospital ER.
Patient was given IV fluids. Chest x-ray showed pneumonia.

Exam: Positive for fever. Eyes: Negative for
discharge Pupils equal round, reactive to light, extra-ocular
motions intact. Lids/lashes normal. Faint scar present over right
eye. Whites of eyes jaundice. Ears/Nose/Throat: Negative throat,
ears for sores or erythema. Teeth: Poor dental hygiene. Recommend
dental exam. Cardiovascular: Palpitations. Respiratory: Positive
for shortness of breath, wheezing. Abdominal/Gastrointestinal:
Unable to complete at this time. Negative for masses. No
distention. Genitourinary: Unable to complete at this time. Skin:
Negative for rash. Exam incomplete at this time. Head/Face:
Normocephalic, atraumatic.

Blood Pressure 119/87; Pulse: 104;
Respiratory: 15; Temperature: 97.4; Pulse Oximetry 97% on R/A;
Weight 88.9 kg / 196 lbs, Height: 5 ft. 11 in. (181.6 cm).

Patient Medical History: Unknown patient
history.

Patient Social History: Unknown social
history. Alcohol: Unknown history.

Handing the chart to Nurse Bradford, Eileen
gave orders. "Please continue IV fluids. Monitor the patient's EKG
as well. Once he comes to and is ambulatory, please assist him as
needed. I would like for him to shower, shave, brush his teeth, and
change into some clean clothes. Contact me if there are any
problems. We may need a psych consult. Call Dr. Karon and find out
if she is available." Eileen left the room to return to her office.
Completing the remainder of her charts, she decided to take a lunch
break and headed down to the cafeteria.

Eileen sat, her head resting on the back of
the booth, eyes closed. Just as she was blissfully drifting off to
sleep, her phone rang. With a soft groan of disappointment, she
looked at the phone. It was James.

"Hi," she said.

"Hey Beautiful. Listen. I only have a few
more days out here, and then I'll be back home. I'll take you out
for some much needed R&R. How does that sound?"

"That sounds nice," she answered, wondering
what his definition of R&R actually was. "How are your
folks?"

"They're doing all right, I suppose. Mum has
the flu, and Dad won't leave her alone," he said, chuckling.
"Nothing new, as it were."

"The flu has been going around. Sorry to
hear. Hope she feels better soon," she said, her mind only half on
the conversation.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit tired," she
answered.

"Eileen. I've known you long enough to tell
when you’re merely tired. What's going on? Are you still having
nightmares?" The concern in his voice was detectable.

"I—” she hesitated. She didn’t want to cause
him any undue worry. "James, I'm really tired.”

James sighed. "I’m worried about you. I know
you’re still having nightmares. You're not sleeping well, and you
work too much. You
know
you don't have to work at all. I
make enough for the both of us."