DISCLAIMER:  I DO NOT own the characters from “ER”.  They belong to Warner Bros and NBC.  The only character I have property of are Dr. Arielle Hartson.  THANK YOU! Title:  "The Decisions We Make" Author:  Sadira Jewelsten Category:  Dr. Arielle Hartson NOTE:  Feedback is optional.   Just e-mail me at sadira_er@hotmail.com.   You are welcomed to post this story on your site, just please e-mail me to get my permission first.  THANKS! Anway, on with the story….. “The Decisions We Make” It was around 4:33 A.M.  And I, Dr. Arielle Hartson, was on my way to Cook County General Hospital for my first shot at being in charge of the Peds Unit.  Even though I was thrilled to death, I was till a little nervous.  As I walked along the streets of Chicago, I started thinking about how I was hoping to make a difference in kids lives.  And not just in kids lives, but in all of the people’s lives that I came in contact with. Including the staff and other patients I would be taken care of.  I had lived with my father most of my life.  My mother died when I was only 3, and since then, it’s just been my Dad and I.  Not that I’m complaining, but there were certain times in my life when I wished that my mother was still alive.  Like on those days when I couldn’t seem to get my hair to stay in the style that I wanted.  Or when I had boyfriend trouble.  Or when I just needed someone to talk to bsides my Dad.  It was rough, but I got through it.  A couple minutes later, I was standing at the corner of a very busy street, when I heard a car screech and a big crash.  I tried to reamin calm while running to see what had happened.  A few minutes later, I heard a young girl’s voice call ou frantically,  “Please, someone help! I think my sister’s dead!”  “Is she breathing?”  I asked, kneeling down to the young girl’s level.  She shook her head.  “I-I’m not sure.”  I nodded as I tried to get the girl’s vitals and level of consciousness.  As I looked up at other girl, I realized that the person who had hit them, took off.  That made me really mad.  But three was time to give whomever it was a talking-to later.  Right now, I had a little girl to try and save.  “Can you tell me your name, sweetheart?”  I asked the young girl as I tried to figure out what sort of injuries I was dealing with. “Sarah,”  the young girl replied softly.  “And my sister’s name is Ambrosia.  I’m twelve and Ambrosia’s four.  W-we were walking to the corner market, and a car came out of nowhere.  I tried my best to shield her, but I couldn’t.”  Sarah replied, a river of tears streaming down her face. “Shh,”  I replied genlty.  “Ambrosia’s giong to be fine, and so will you.  I promise.” Sarah nodded as she tried to stop crying. “What’s your name?”  She asked, glancing up at me. “Arielle Hartson.  I’m a doctor.” Sarah brightened slightly at the name. “Like the Little Mermaid!” I smiled.  “Yup just like that.  Only my name is spelled with an extra “L” and extra “E” at the end so it’s Arielle instead of Ariel.” “Oh,”  Sarah replied, now smiling a little bit.  “I see what you mean.” I smiled at Sarah and patted her on the shoulder.  “Don’t worry,”  I replied.  “You both are going to be taken care of.  Trust me on that one.” Sarah nodded as she went back to her sister’s side. Meanwhile, I started rummaging through my backpack for my cell-phone.  I prayed to God that it was charged. A few minutes later, I found it.  I turned it on and dialed 811. “Hi, this is Dr. Arielle Hartson.  I need an ambulance right away.  I’m at the corner of Hershey and Limber Avenue.  Two girls were involved in a hit and run and they both have extensive injuries.  The one girl is unconscious with a tacky BP.  Okay, thank you.” About eight minutes later, the ambulance arrived.  I helped them load Ambrosia onto the gurney and put in the ambulance.  Then Sarah got in and sat beside me.  She was still shaking a little bit, but for the most part she only had a few cuts and bruises.  Her sister however, was in worse shape than her. “It was a good thing you were passing by when you did,”  a paramedic named Mike said as he pulled out of the area and headed for the hospital.  “Or this two girls may have not survived.” I nodded.  “I know what cha mean.” “What’s you name?”  Mike asked, turning to glance at me throug hthe rear-view mirror. “Arielle Hartson.  I’m a third-year resident.” “Oh, well, it’s nice to meet you Dr. Hartson.  I’m Mike.  And what’s your name, sweetheart?”  He asked, turning to Sarah. “Sarah,”  she replied. “Well Sarah,”  MIke said with a smile.  “You are certainly a hero in my book.” Sarah smiled slightly as she closed her eyes and laid against my shoulder. “So what field are you?”  Mike asked, turning back to me. “I’m usually work in pediatrics, but sometimes I float around.  Ya know like sometimes I’m in the ER and sometimes I’m up in OB, but most of the time I’m either in peds or the ER.  So I guess you could call me a doctor/pediatric attendant.” “Sounds good to me,”  Mike replied, as he turned into the hospital parking lot.  The ride had only taken a couple minutes, but with Mike chatting with me and talking to Sarah a little bit, it seemed much shorter than it really was. * * * * * * When we entered the hospital, a paramedic named Laura, started to explain,-very rapidly- I might add, what happened.  “Four year-old female involved in a hit and run along with her twelve year-old sister.  They both have bruises and cuts to their face and shoulder.  The twelve year-old complains of left wrist pain and upper abdominal pain.  The four year-old was inconscious at the scene, and still has no level of conscousness.  The twelve year-old’s BP is steady at 96/32, pulse 95.  The four year-old’s BP is tacky at 105/54, pulse 83.  They were on their way to the corner store when the accident occurred.”  “What about the driver?”  A young blond-haired female doctor asked.  Laura shook her head.  “Apparently he must have taken off after the accident happened.”  “Okay,”  the blond-haired doctor replied in a commanding voice,  “Let’s get a CBC, Chem 7, and a central line going, now!”  As the doctors began to work on Ambrosia, the young blond-haired doctor turned to me.  “Uh, you, what’s your name?”  “Uh, Arielle Hartson.  I’m a third-year resident.”  “All right, I need you to take her sister up to the peds unit and get her situated.  And also call their parents.”  I nodded as I turned toward the hallway.  “Do you know your phone number?”  I asked Sarah as we walked toward the elevator.  “Yeah, but Ambrosia and I don’t have any parents.  We live in a group-home with a bunch of other kids.”  My heart went out to Sarah immediately.  I really did feel bad for her.  Knowing that she and her sister didn’t really have any true family that they could really call their own.  “Okay, let’s get you cleaned up and then we’ll see how your sister’d doing, okay?”  Sarah nodded.  As I pushed the button for the elevator to come down, I started thinking about what I could do to help these girls.  After all, that was my job as a doctor and as a pediatric attendant.  To see that my patients get the best care possible.  And leave here knowning that they’ll be all right.  But I realized that it was going to take more than a couple of sutures and band-aids to give Sarah and Ambrosia the help that they needed.     TO BE CONTINUED…… Next on ER:  Arielle looks into possible adopting Sarah and Ambrosia, and also she meets Lucy for the first time.

 

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