Chapter 1: Emergency!

Chapter 1: Emergency!

‘Gail, you must have a rest. Go and have a coffee.’

Gail looked round. Dr Kennedy was standing behind her. She looked down at the man in the bed.

‘He’s OK,’ said Dr Kennedy. ‘I’m here now. Go on, you’re tired.’

Gail smiled. ‘Are you sure?’ she said.

‘You’ve been here for five hours. You can’t work all night! Come back in twenty minutes.’

‘But it’s Saturday night. We’re always very busy on Saturdays…’

‘Go on!’ said the doctor.

Gail looked at him. He was tired, too. Saturday was always busy in the casualty department. There were road accidents, fights, and all the other emergencies.

‘All right,’ she said. ‘I’m going.’

She walked to the coffee machine, and bought a cup of coffee. Then she went to the small office for nurses, and sat down. The coffee wasn’t very good. She didn’t like coffee from machines. Gail took a newspaper from the desk, and opened it. She looked at one or two stories. They weren’t very interesting. Then she stopped. There was a big picture of Alex Hayle on the page. She liked his new record… What was it?… Ah, yes, Midnight Party. She read the story.

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She hurried back into the casualty department. Dr Kennedy was running towards the door.

‘An ambulance is arriving. There’s been a car crash!’ he shouted. ‘Come on!’

Gail ran after him. Two ambulance men were coming through the door with a stretcher. She looked down. There was a man on the stretcher. She couldn’t see his face. There was a lot of blood.

‘Hurry! He’s broken his back, I think. And he’s cut his face. He needs more blood,’ shouted one of the ambulance men. ‘Bring some blood, quickly!’

They carried the stretcher towards the lift. Dr Kennedy turned to Gail.

‘It’s his back. We’ll need a specialist,’ he said. ‘Call Dr Casey.’

Gail ran to the telephone. She called Dr Casey. They took the man on the stretcher up to the operating theatre. ‘Gall,’ said Dr Kennedy, ‘you get some information about him. His friends are over there.’

‘Do you need me in the operating theatre?’ she asked.

‘No,’ said Dr Kennedy. ‘Just get the information.’