Philosophy of the Dark
Chapter 38
-Code
The hospital loomed over Jamie. It’s white and beige paint was
beginning to chip, and the giant red cross was chipping. There were white
blinds in all of the windows, most were closed, but the few open ones
showed bare white rooms typical of hospitals.
She recognized the sterile scent that went with all hospitals as she walked
into the waiting room.
There were two tired looking nurses sitting at the main desk, Jamie walked
up to them.
“Hello honey.” The younger woman looked up from the computer and
smiled at Jamie. The smile took years off of her appearance.
“Hey,” Jamie said, “I’m here to visit Richard Dumont.”
The nurse’s smile faltered for a split second, then returned when she
spoke. “It’s past visiting hours, Jamie.” She said her name like she was
proud she knew it. She’d seen the case.
“Please,” Jamie said, “I need to see him.”
The nurse looked to the other nurse snoozing behind her. Cautiously she
leaned forward, keeping her eyes on the room.
“I’m not supposed to let you see him, but I was on your side,” she
said, “You know what room he’s in. Be out within the hour.”
The nurse sat back down quietly, smiling slightly at Jamie.
“Thank you,” Jamie said quietly before she walked off down the hall.
The door to Richard’s room was no different than any other in the hospital,
yet it stood out to Jamie. Like when you’re driving down a street your friend
lived on, none of the houses stand out except for one. The others are just
cues showing you the real destination.
Jamie took one glance down the hall before slipping into the room.
It didn’t have the look of most long-term patient rooms. There were a few
cards from fans of the case who didn’t like Jamie, but other than that it was
the same, sterile, white room it had been before him.
Jamie sat down in one of the scratchy red chairs next to the bed. She
looked at her father, trying to remember the man he was. Cruel, hateful,
abusive. But all she saw was a victim like herself.
They were both the same in that way. Usually Jamie had no problems
seeing through his kind exterior, but it was harder than she thought to look
at her dying father and remember what he had done to get there.
The slow beeping of the heart monitor was irregular, even somebody with
no medical degree’s could tell that. His skin looked unhealthy, with it’s light
sheen accustomed to cold sweat. He hadn’t moved much since Jamie had
last seen him. He was deteriorating by the second.
“What have I done?” Jamie asked herself. Her head fell limply into her
hands Tears fell from her eyes and her shoulders shook. Small noises
escaped, like those from her mother earlier. Everything was going wrong,
and it was all her fault. A few months ago she would have still had faith, but
what had remained after court had long been gone.
A raspy sound reached through Jamie’s tears. She looked up at Richard,
the source. He hadn’t moved, but she knew that he made the sound. Jamie
stood up and looked down at him.
His left eyelid twitched sending Jamie’s heart spiraling. Was he waking up?
“Dad?” Jamie whispered, leaning over the bed.
Richards eyes began to move behind his eyelids, slowly at first and then
faster. The air in the room was thick, making it hard to breathe.
Jamie looked around the room for something to call in the doctors. There
was no bit obvious button on the wall. Jamie was afraid to push anything in
fear of messing up.
She ran to the door and looked down the hall, nobody was there. The slow
unsteady beat from the heart monitor sped up. At first it was almost
unnoticeable, but it soon reached a dangerous speed.
“Dad,” Jamie gasped and ran back to his bed, searching more frantically for
a way to call in the nurses.
A light started to flash red above the heart monitor. Soon other machines
began to beep, and a single loud siren coved them all. Now something was
wrong. Very wrong.
The doctors rushed in along with several nurses.
“What’s wrong with him?” Jamie asked. Her voice let all of her fear show
through.
“Back away from the bed,” one of the sterner looking doctors said.
“But he’s-”
“I said, back away from the bed, now.” He was yelling at her now.
The room was full of frantic people all fighting to fix him.
“His blood pressures way too high,” one person said.
“His breathings stopped.”
“Somebody intubate him.”
One of the nurses pulled Jamie away from the room as they were pulling
out the defibrillator.
The doctor who had yelled at Jamie took the thing in his hands, “Clear!” He
yelled before pressing it to Richards bare chest.
“Somebody call in more doctors! This is a code!”
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Next part: Chapter 39- Released Suppression
