"Hold the lift!" Dr Kayla Fitzgerald called, running.
It was her first day at All Saints hospital, and the last thing she needed was
to be late.
As the VMO replacing Malcolm Pussel, she wanted to give a good first impression.
Kayla noted that she was sharing the lift with a female nurse, she eyed her
companion appreciatively. The nurse was very beautiful, with red hair and
sparkling blue eyes, Kayla found herself feeling things she hadn't felt in a
long time.
Catching her staring the Nurse smiled at Kayla, she smiled back and was about to
say something, but instead found herself sneezing all over the Nurse.
"I'm so sorry" Kayla said mortified
"Don't worry about it" the Nurse replied as the lifts' doors opend.
Kayla checked out her name tag as the Nurse stepped off the lift: Bronwyn Craig.
***
Bron yawned meretriciously as she walked up to the front desk to sign off.
Suddenly the world fell out from under her, she grabbed onto the desk for
support.
"Bron, are you ok?" Jared asked her
"Yeah, I just felt a bit woozy" Bron replied.
"Love sick maybe?" Connor suggested "speaking of which, where is
Ben? Normally you 2 are attached at the lip by now"
"Did I hear my name?" Ben asked walking up to the group and pulling
Bron into a passionate kiss.
"See what I mean?" Connor said to noone in particular
"At it already, I see" Scott said walking in.
Ben looked at Bron with concern, brushing her hair off of her face "Are you
ok" he asked "You look pale"
"I'm fine, just a bit tired" she assured him "nothing an early
night won't fix."
"Hey Romeo and Juliet!" Scott called "say cheese!"
Bron cried out in pain as the flash went off in her face.
"What the hell did you do that for?" Ben snapped at Scott.
"Ben..." Bron placed her hand on his arm soothingly
"Sorry Bron" Scott said sheepishly
"Come on" Ben said putting a protective arm around her "I'm
taking you home and putting you straight to bed"
"Sounds good" Bron replied "I'm just going to get my stuff"
She walked off in the direction of the tea room, her footsteps echoing loudly in
her ears.
"I'm worried about her, she hasn't been herself today" Jared confided
to Ben.
"Take care of her for us" Connor added as there was a loud crash.
The 4 of them raced for the tea room, Von was kneeling beside Bron's prone form.
"Get Mitch in here" Von orderd "Now!"
Her head was bursting! It felt like 1000's of hot pokers were being thrust in
over and over again.
She could faintly hear someone talking, then a light being shone in her eyes.
She tried to cr out, jerk away, but she was trapped, a prisoner in her own body.
The blackness was welcome, the murmuring getting farther and farther away as she
slipped into unconciousness, a black abyss.
***
"Temps 43.3 degrees, BP's 80/40 and falling" Kylie said to Mitch
"What the hell could be causing this" Mitch wondered aloud.
"Mitch!" the urgency evident in Terri's voice
"What is it?" Mitch trailed off as he say the purplish rash staining
Bron's body "Set up for a lumbar puncture and get pathology to put a rush
on that blood"
"What is it?" Kylie asked as Luke came running in.
"Meningicoccal disease!" he said breathlessly
"Just waiting for confirmation" Mitch said " How did you
know?"
"A Dr's just been diagnosed in emergency" Luke replied
"Set up an IV of antibiotics, we can't wait for confirmation. I want obs
every 10 minutes and a cold compress, we need to bring the fever down"
Mitch said to Terri
"BEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!" the heart monitor flatlined as Bron's
blood pressure collapsed.
***
Outside the atmosphere was tense. The 4 men paced up and down, each going
through their own private hell.
Ben kept looking at his watch, a present from Bron. It seemed to be taking a
long time, what did that mean? Agonizing minutes ticked by, both Kylie and Terri
kept darting in and out of the room, neither being able to offer reassurance.
Finally Mitch appeared looking haggard
"I'm having her moved up to ICU" Mitch said
"Well whats wrong with her?" Connor asked
"Bron appears to have what is know as Waterson Friderichsen syndrome, it's
a form of septacemia"
"She is going to be ok, right?" Scott asked "I mean you know
what's wrong with her now, so just..."
"It's not that simple" Mitch interrupted "This particular form of
septacemia is rare. It's caused by bacterial pathogens entering the bloodstream
through a disease called Meningicoccal disease or Meningicoccal meningitis"
"So Bron has Meningicoccal disease?" Ben asked
Mitch nodded
"But it's curable right?" Connor asked "She's going to be
fine?"
"If we were dealing with the Meningicoccal on it's own and we caught it in
time, Bron would more than likely pull through" Mitch said hesitantly.
"If?" Ben asked nervously
"What are you saying Mitch" Jared asked.
"Meningicoccal that develops into Watersons carries a high mortality
rate" Mitch replied
"How high?" Ben asked
Mitch hesitated before answering
"By this stage, most people won't recover"
The last sentence hung in the air.
Ben tried to come to terms with what he had just heard
"Can I see her?" he asked
"Sure thing" Mitch said "I just want to get the 4 of you started
on a preventative antibiotic"
Ben sat beside the bed and took Bron's hand in his.
Ben had no idea how long he'd been sitting there for. There had been no changes
in Bron's condition.
His head snapped up as he felt Bron's hand move.
"Bron!?"
Bron smiled weakly as she opend her eyes and saw Ben.
"Ben?" she whisperd
"Christ Bron, I've been so worried" he kissed her forehead "we
thought we were going to lose you" he pressed the button for the nurse.
Bron gripped Ben's hand tightly, she could feel herself beginning to fade.
"Promise me?" she whisperd breathlessly
Ben kissed her knuckles "Anything" he said hoarsely.
"Never forget how much I love you"A wave of panic gripped Ben, he was
losing her!
"Please Bron, God no! I can't lose you, you mean everything to me"
"Promise me?"
"Yes I promise" Bens eyes were wet with tears "I love you too,
god I love you so much more than you'll ever know!"
"So tired" Bron whisperd
"I know baby, just hold on for me please" Ben begged her, where the
hell was the nurse "I NEED SOME HELP IN HERE!" he shouted.
Mitch came running in as Bron flatlined.
***
Terri, Von, Connor, Jared, Luke, Scott and Ben were waiting for news, growing
more and more impatient as time wore on.
Mitch watched them for a second, before making his presence known.
"Well?" Ben asked anxiously
"I'm so sorry" Mitch said "She's gone"
The end