Ride Along (Kelle/Lara)

[Lara DunCroft]

Lara nodded in agreement when Kelle said about having to pigeon-hole everyone. It was very frustrating, not just in the hospital but in life in general. So many institutions and support systems put people into boxes, and if you didn't fit into one of said boxes then you could very well fall through the cracks and get overlooked.

"But yeah, I hate trying to figure out the wording, what to include and what isn't really pertinent to the case...so it looks good in court."  "That's something else I hate, going to court. Man, they make you feel like the criminal."

Lara frowned.
She knew exactly what that was like when she had to give evidence on behalf of an assault victim not that long ago.
The defense lawyer called her competence into question, arguing that she was an inexperienced intern. Of course she had followed protocol and had done everything correctly so her statement stood up in court, but it was a rough and unpleasant experience that could have shattered her confidence completely had it not been for the support she got from Caleb Borden, the SVU officer working the case at the time.    

A tiny but warm smile crept onto the corner of her mouth as her mind turned to the much more pleasant thought of Caleb who she had stayed in touch with following that case. Luckily Steven came into the room at that moment before she could get lost in the thought.
 
“Ladies!” "How are we doing?”

Lara looked around and seeing Steven she smiled at him, "Almost done." she replied as she stood up and made  him some coffee.

 “Did the patient make it okay?”

Lara handed him the coffee, "I don't know." She replied neutrally.

"We came straight in here after we handed him over and I haven't been told anything yet." She added. "You heard anything?" She asked, turning her head to Kelle.   

Tag: Kelle Lindsay, EMTP, Steven Hudson.

(Ooc: Where would you guys like to take this thread? Do you want to start wrapping it up? Send them on another call out? Or something else? )

[Kelle Lindsay, EMTP]

Kelle shook her head, then stood and handed the computer to Steven. "Report is done, it just needs to be transmitted, if you want to go out and do that while I check on our guy." The computer had to be close enough to the modem in the ambulance for it to connect, and the shielding around the ED for x-rays tended to block the signal. "I'll meet you guys out there in a few."

Well, and she needed to make a quick pit stop, too -- best to do that here where it was clean than at McDonalds or some gas station.

"If you guys get a call, just go ahead and run it and let me know if we had fun!" She laughed as she headed up the hall.

((I'm go for some sort of interesting rescue if you guys want...MVA, building collapse, storm drain, industrial accident...))

Steven Hudson, Lara DunCroft

[Steven Hudson]

Steven grinned and nodded, almost done and then back to fifty one to wait on another call unless something happened before then. Listening to Lara he nodded, sometimes it was best not to know about a patient especially the ones that broke your heart and there were a fair few of those. This time however he wanted to know if all was well simply to go back to the house and not have that nagging feeling or get hauled in because there was something else or a complication somewhere along the way.

He took the computer Kelle handed him, “Yes, think I can do that if I remembered where we parked.” He said as he grinned at Kelle and Lara. Yes he was that annoying guy but he knew exactly where he had left the ambulance. “Meet you back there.” He said as he shook his head, “I can’t leave my favourite partner behind... remember cookies and coffee break. You can’t miss that.” He stated as he shook his head at her before he chuckled.

Steven looked back to Lara as motioned the way to the ambulance. “Shall we go and get the paper work finished on this?” He asked her as he stared to move back to the rig, “Don’t know why it’s paper work more like electronic nightmare work but hey. We just do what we’re told.” He said though he was tempted to add mostly to that sentence.

((Sounds like a lot of fun))

Lara DunCroft, Kelle Lindsay, EMTP,

[Lara DunCroft]

"Report is done, it just needs to be transmitted, if you want to go out and do that while I check on our guy."

“Sure.” Lara replied, discarding her coffee cup and stepping over to Steven.

She wanted to know what the patient's outcome had been and she was glad that Kelle was gonna go find out. As wise as it was to distance yourself from patients, sometimes you just had to know what happened with a particular one here and there. In a way it would do Lara more good than harm to know if he pulled through or not because it meant she wouldn't be wondering about it all night.

“Yes, think I can do that if I remembered where we parked.”

Lara grinned.
She liked Steven's sense of humour and charismatic personality. It would be so much nicer if a few of the attending doctors in the hospital were a little more like him, it would certainly make all of the interns stress levels go down a bit.

“Shall we go and get the paper work finished on this?”

“Yepsolutely.” She replied, falling in step with Steven as they headed out.

“Don’t know why it’s paper work more like electronic nightmare work but hey. We just do what we’re told.”

“Well only if we want to, you know, keep our jobs” She joked back with a smile.

Once they reached the ambulance Lara perched herself on the back, gently swinging her legs as they waited for Kelle, “So what got you into this line of work?” She asked casually, making friendly chitchat to fill the silence until Kelle returned.

Tag: Kelle Lindsay, EMTP, Steven Hudson.

(I'm up for that. Nothing like throwing an inexperienced intern in at the deep end!)

[Kelle Lindsay, EMTP]

It took a few minutes to make the potty stop and then check on the patient, and Kelle took the time to fill her water bottle before heading out to the ambulance bay where Steven and Lara were chatting.

"Did you guys do anything fun without me?" she quipped with a grin, then added, "Patient's in the cath lab already, they said his prognosis is good. We can call for more of an update at the end of shift."

She stowed her drink in the front cup holder and was starting to climb into the passenger seat when their pagers went off again.

"Med 61, respond code three with Engines 54 and Truck 3 for a building collapse, 3604 Oak Street."

"That's not too far," Kelle commented, glancing at Steven, but she was frowning. "Why 53 and 3, though? They're coming from across town. Local units must be busy on something."

They'd get there well before any of the firefighters who had the equipment to deal with any instability or extrication...

Still, when they arrived on the scene, they were greeted by a frantic woman. "The kids are in there!" she shouted as she ran up to meet them, "they were playing in there, I told them not to!"



Lara DunCroft, Steven Hudson

[Steven Hudson]

Doctors, it was the one thing about a hospital the hospitals that he could never understand. Hardly just doctors but more their attitude at times, sure it was always fun to scare the new recruits but at the end of the day they were all on the same team. He knew he had been told off a few times for over stepping his paramedic grounds, making a call on a patient that perhaps went against the doctors verdict but then until they set foot outside of the safety of the emergency room it was up for debate at least in his head.

“See you’re not too bad for a doctor.” He said grinning at Lara as she joked about keeping their jobs. “Well yeah, only that small thing.” He said smirking as he finished off what he had to do. Electronics, paper work it was all part of each call but it was hardly the interesting part just the likely keep the powers that be happy part of it. He smiled at her question, what got him into the line of work well it was his dad to blame for that even if his mother hardly agreed with his choice of job since his father had died doing it.

“My dad was a medic and I just managed to catch the bug, plus I wanted to tell all the cool dinner table stories too.” He teased though sure the stories he heard had been a part of it until he actually did the job. Now the stories were either too hurtful to recite or simply too out there for people to believe. It was still the best job he could imagine doing though and would never swap it for anything. “How about you? What made you decide to become a doctor?” He asked her.

“Oh we’ve been out already, just finishing up paperwork set number two.” He teased hearing Kelle though there was no way they could have remotely done that in the time scale. Steven grinned and nodded, good prognosis well at least that was a positive for the day one that he was actually looking forward to getting the update on. Steven stopped mid way into the ambulance hearing the pagers, great just what they needed fire department and a building collapse. It was going to be one of those shifts he thought.

“No not far and yeah, let’s just hope that 53 and 3 know what they’re doing.” He said, he was hardly against working with other fire houses but there was something about the familiar style of the people he knew that it made any situation easier when you knew what people would do. Getting to the scene was fairly quick though there was no sign of fire-fighters anywhere around the place just the image of a house that looked as if it might have come as a really bad IKEA flat pack. "That doesn't look too good." He stated as he got out of the ambulance.

Steven looked at the woman who was frantic telling them about the kids. “Ma’am are you sure they are in there?” He asked her as he looked at Kelle and Lara, oh this was going to be an interesting call as he waited to see what the other’s wanted to do.

Lara DunCroft, Kelle Lindsay, EMTP,

[Lara DunCroft]

“See you’re not too bad for a doctor.”

Lara tipped her head a little and smiled, playfully shooting Steven a bit of a look, “Your not too bad yourself...for a medic.” She shot back, good-naturedly teasing him with his own sentiment.

She knew he was only playing, and to be honest she knew where he was coming from if he hadn't have been. Some of the doctors she had worked with definitely had an attitude of some kind or another, be it of superiority, arrogance or something else. And they didn't just direct their attitude at the medics but at the nurses and interns too.

It wasn't necessary and Lara had decided that she was never going to become one of those kinds of doctors. She knew everyone was on the same team and she had promised herself that she would always remember that...but then she was still an intern and hadn't been jaded by years on the job yet.

“My dad was a medic and I just managed to catch the bug, plus I wanted to tell all the cool dinner table stories too.”

Lara grinned, that was a sweet answer, not to mention it had a good dose of amusing honesty too.

“I wanted to help people.” She replied with a grin and a shrug that showed she knew how cliché that probably sounded.
 
“When I was younger I kind of wanted to be everything.” She admitted with an amused smile.

“And when I was in my mid-teens I knew I wanted to do something to help people. I was kind of weird and awkward so naturally spent a lot of time sitting on my bed reading law books and medical books. You know, as you do at fifteen” She said with a grin and a shrug.

“At the time I couldn't decide if I wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer...But then I  remembered that wanted to help people, so...” She joked, insinuating that lawyers weren't helpful.

She looked at Steven with a grin “It's ok, I can say that. My cousin is a lawyer.” She added after a moment. Showing she really had nothing against them and that she was just playing.

“But really I guess I've always been interested in medicine. I remember watching operations and stuff on TV. It made my parents feel squeamish but I was like, 'Ah yeah, look at that!' 'Cool.' 'Ah you can totally see that guy's heart beating!' The human body is so fascinating, the way it heals, the way everything is connected. And when there is a problem you get to explore all that, but instead of fixing a bunch of nuts and bolts, you fix a person.” She finished, maybe wanting to help people didn't sound so cliché.  

“...Plus I really wanted to wear scrubs for a living.” She admitted reluctantly, with a mildly embarrassed chuckle.

That was when Kelle arrived, informing them of a good prognosis and bantering with her partner.
Then the call out came, Lara did not understand half of it but she understood the words 'a building collapse', that didn't sound good.

That's not too far," "Why 53 and 3, though? They're coming from across town. Local units must be busy on something."

So that many Engines was not normal then? It really wasn't soundgood good.

As they made their way to the designated location Lara had visions of a chunk of a condo building or parking structure in a pile of rubble. She felt nervous and her stomach tensed as the ambulance speed along, her mind imagining the possible kinds of injuries they would be faced with and what the best action of treatments would be.

But when they arrived the location didn't look that dramatic. There wasn't an army of first responders running around a pile of rubble at all. In fact there was no one else on scene yet.

As they got out Lara frowned as she saw the collapsed building in question. It wasn't as dramatic as she had been envisioning but a house could hurt just as much as an apartment building if it fell on top of you.

"That doesn't look too good."

Lara frowned and shook her head 'no' in agreement as she stopped next to Steven.

The three were instantly met by a woman who was understandably freaking out.
"The kids are in there!" "they were playing in there, I told them not to!"    

“Ma’am are you sure they are in there?”

Lara just watched for a moment, standing by Steven and letting him talk to the woman.

After a moment her eyes turned back to the collapsed building, a frown set deep on her face.
She wasn't a construction worker or a firefighter, she was a doctor, well not even that, she was an intern.

She knew how to treat crush syndrome, but she had no idea what to do with a collapsed building that was potentially doing the crushing!

Tag: Kelle Lindsay, EMTP, Steven Hudson.

[Kelle Lindsay, EMTP]

“Ma’am are you sure they are in there?”

"Yes, yes," the woman sobbed, "three of them, I heard Lisa when I got out here, but she's been quiet since. LISA!"

"All right, all right..." Kelle looked at Steven and shrugged. "Do we wait?" She sort of knew the answer...this was rescue's job, they had the equipment and specialized training, but...

A small wimper clinched it...

"Mommy...help..."

"We have to," she told her partner, "not like it's going to collapse any more, right?" They had helmets and jackets so they could access the kids if they could shimmy through. "I say we go in and check, they're going to have to know where they are, how they're trapped, right?"

The woman fidgeted, then focused on Laura. "Aren't you going to help them? Please...Daniel is diabetic..." Tears started to stream down her face as she took hold of the doctor's arm.

Lara DunCroft, Steven Hudson

[Steven Hudson]

Steven grinned at Lara, well at least he was not too bad he would take that though he knew they were only joking around. Yes some doctors were doctors but among them were a few of the good ones but still it was like that in any profession he assumed. Listening to her talk about why she became a doctor helping people was always a good place to start as he nodded to her. “For a fifteen year old you must have read a lot.” He said thinking back to what he was doing at fifteen.

He was finding out what life was about, no father, a mother who had shut herself away from the world and two younger sisters who needed to be looked after. He had little time for books; no he was home, work and sleep if he could in between times. It now seemed like a lifetime ago but fifteen was a year when everything changed in life.

“Yeah good choice in being a doctor, lawyer’s meh some good, some bad but help people... I’m not too sure.” He said grinning, he was glad that neither of his sisters had wanted to venture into that profession. Lawyers and cop, well at least they were not cops either or he would never let them out of his sight. He had enough with lawyers at times questioning choices when the cops were involved or worse when the hospital decided to push it onto the medics to save them a law suit.

“Scrubs, really? Then again they do come in all kinds of colours.” He said grinning as Kelle arrived. Once they were on the scene Steven wanted the woman to say no, he wished she would say that the children had been spotted across the street where it was safe but then it seemed that it was not to be. Steven debated what Kelle said, wait and sure the fire department could make it safe for them or wait and have no patients to treat at all.

He winced as he heard the small whimper and he nodded to Kelle. “Yeah you’ve got a point, pancake is a pancake.” He said as he took a breath and nodded. “Sounds like a plan to me, find them, see them and if we can get them out then we do.” He said as he watched the woman focus on Lara as he turned to Kelle. “If it moves we get out okay? No hero stuff, we can’t treat anyone if we’re hurt too and I’m not losing my favourite partner to a squashed house.” He said being entirely serious about what he was saying as he moved toward the ambulance to get the helmets and jacket.

Kelle Lindsay, EMTP, Lara DunCroft,

[Lara DunCroft]

"Yes, yes," "three of them, I heard Lisa when I got out here, but she's been quiet since. LISA!" That wasn't what any of them were hoping to hear. It was very bad news and the woman's motherly concern only made it harder to hear. "Do we wait?" That was what they were all asking themselves. Lara's hart told her to just go in and try to get the kids out, but her head gave a list of compelling reasons why they should wait for rescue to arrive. "Mommy...help..." Lara frowned, her brow furrowed and her eyes filled with an expression of heartbreaking sadness and sympathy as she heard the faint cry. "We have to,"  "not like it's going to collapse any more, right?" Lara looked round at Kelle and Steven as the pair decided amongst themselves that they were going to take action. “Yeah you’ve got a point, pancake is a pancake.” Then the woman took Lara by the arm causing Lara to turn her head back to face her as the woman pleaded with tears running down her face. "Aren't you going to help them? Please...Daniel is diabetic..." Lara looked at the woman hesitantly and then glanced back to Kelle and Steven but they were already gone. She felt out of her depth and knew there was nothing she could do until either rescue arrived or until Kelle and Steven managed to pull one or more of the kids out. Seeing that Kelle and Steven were already getting suited up Lara focused on the woman in front of her. Holding her by the arms and looking her deep in the eyes she said, “Look at me. Were going to do everything we can to get you children out, okay?” Lara held the woman's gaze and spoke to her with a calming, reassuring tone, “What I need is for you to stay calm,  so just breathe with me.” Lara took in a deep breath and exhaled, encouraging the woman to do the same. “That's it. In....and out.” She said, taking another giant breath with the woman who seemed to be focusing on her gaze and engaging in the breathing exorcise. “That's it.” Lara said gently encourage her, “Here, take a seat.”  She guided the woman to a spot where she could safely sit down. Lara crouch down in front of the woman so she could talk to her at her level and keep eye contact, because eye contact and the gentle touches on the arm where all part of quality bedside manner that counted for so much in situations like this one, “So there is Lisa and Daniel, what's the name of your other child and how old are they?” She asked gently. Lara gave the woman time to answer before she asked the next question, she didn't wanna bombard the woman with too many questions at once and was trying to keep her calm, “You said Daniel is diabetic, is there anything else? Any asthma, epilepsy, allergies or anything?” It was information they would need, and hopefully keeping the woman engaged, talking and answering questions would keep her calm enough so that she was one less thing to have to worry about.  Tag: Kelle Lindsay, EMTP , Steven Hudson .      ~*~

[Kelle Lindsay, EMTP]

Kelle nodded when Steven stipulated 'no hero stuff'. One of them getting injured wasn't going to accomplish anything, besides a heap of paperwork, and that wasn't the goal here.

She grabbed one of the light jackets and helmets and handed those to Steven, then grabbed a set for herself. The jacket was a bit large, as was the helmet, but they would protect her from things like glass and nails.

Quickly, she checked the computer, then looked at Steven. "Rescue is still almost ten minutes out." That was the final detail she needed to know that they had no choice. "Let's do this, then."

Going back to the site, she gave Lara a nod, then got down and crawled through the largest opening, 'large' being relative. She just hoped Steven could fit. "We stick together?" she called back to him. This was risky enough, but going it alone was folly.

There were some light sobs, so she headed for those, hoping that they could get to at least a couple of the kids, and if they did that they could get them out.

Moving as quickly as she could, which wasn't saying much, she advanced through the rubble, having the sudden thought that there were probably all manner of bugs here, including spiders...like black widows.

But as much as that gave her the heebie geebies, it wasn't going to stop her. Shoving aside some debris, she made room so that Steven could come up beside her.

"Sounds like the girl is this way," she muttered, nodding to the right, then starting to burrow that way, going only a few feet before she got to the girl.

"Here! I've got her...I don't think she's pinned." It was dark, though, and hard to tell. "Can you tell?"

============
Outside, the woman sank into the chair, although she was leaning forward anxiously and gripping onto Lara's hand.

"Um...Lisa is six, Daniel is eight, and their cousin Eddie is five..." She took a breath, then shook her head. "Uh, no, they're all healthy except for Daniel's diabetes. Are they going to be all right? Where are the firemen?"

Steven Hudson, Lara DunCroft

(Steven, if you want we can pass the girl out to Lara)



Kelle Lindsay, EMTP,

[Steven Hudson]

Steven might have been protective about the people he worked with but he knew how fast it could go wrong. Still paperwork and all he was hardly going make a trip with either one of them hurt. Steven took the light jacket and helmet as he shuffled into them. Sometimes universal things were too big and too small though the thought of nails hitting his head without them on.

Oh no, if he could shuffle around in them then he was quiet happy to do that for as long as it took. “Ten minutes... jeez I thought they were supposed to be the fast ones.” He said grinning as he nodded, there was no way they could wait ten minutes and do nothing but watch from the side lines. Besides a lot could be done in ten minutes. Steven looked at Lara for a moment, “See you soon.” He said, well for a ride along it was turning out to be a busy one.

Steven watched Kelle manage to crawl through the largest opening, well this was about to get interesting he thought as he crawled in after her managed to get stuck on most things that were in his way. “Urgh, I need to stop eating chocolate.” He said as he nodded to her feeling his helmet knock against something. “Yeah stick together, no disappearing on me okay. I don’t like dark spaces.” He said with a grin.

Dark spaces never bothered him but then again he was hardly going to let Kelle out of his sight when the house was as flat as a pancake. Hearing the light sobs Steven followed Kelle, at least there were signs of life he thought trying to work his way through the rubble, if he was half a person then he might have been faster but no he had to live off coffee and chocolate. Steven crawled up beside her when Kelle shoved some of the debris.

Steven followed her trying to dig out to where the girl might be as Kelle got to the girl. “I can’t see that she is...” He said trying to shine his light around the girl to see if she was okay to move. “Kelle you think you can get her and i’ll work on getting you two back out?” He asked her he grinned that the girl. “It’s okay sweetie, you’ll be out in a minute.” He said as he shuffled away slightly as he tried to reach around to see if anything might catch the girl on the way out.

Lara DunCroft, Kelle Lindsay, EMTP,

[Lara DunCroft]

Lara looked to Kelle, a light frown on her face as she gave her a small nod in return.
She didn't like the idea of Kelle going in when it was potentially hazard, or Steven for that matter. But given the situation they all felt the same way and they all wanted to crawl into the wreck and pull the kids out.

Lara held onto the womans hand, being as comforting as she could to an anxious mother. She listened and nodded as the woman answered her questions, they were in good health which was one less thing to complicate matters.

"Listen to me, we're going to do everything we can to make sure they're alright." She said gently but with sincere conviction, "My colleagues are working to get them out and I've seen those two in action and I can tell you they're in good hands." She said, assuring her the best she could without making any promises.

 "The firemen are on the way now, they'll be here soon." She answered, gently rubbing her upper arm.

Lara looked back at where Kelle and Steven had gone in, but there was no sign of them yet.
She looked back to the woman, "Have you called Eddie's parents?" She asked, unsure if they knew what had happened and if they were on the way.

Tag: Steven Hudson, Kelle Lindsay, EMTP.

[Kelle Lindsay, EMTP]

Scrunching deeper into the debris, Kelle finally got in to the girl so she could touch her, feeling a spike of fear and worry as she spotted another little arm that didn't belong to the girl.

"Come on, sweety," she cajoled the child, managing to get hold of her under the arms. A gentle pull and she was rewarded with movement -- the girl wasn't trapped! Shimmying backward, she pulled the girl to where Steven was, then nudged him and whispered in his ear.

"There's another back there, I saw the arm, couldn't tell if he was moving." She kept her voice low so the girl didn't hear. "I can get her out, you go after whoever is there. I'll hand her off to the doc and be back."

Continuing on her way, she finally blinked against the bright sunlight as she emerged from the debris, pulling the little girl to her, quickly checking for any major bleeding or deformities.

"Hey, Doc!" she called to Lara, who was just being told that Eddie's parents were out of town. "Can you check her over? I've got to go back and help Steven."

The distant wail of sirens could be heard. It would just be a couple minutes now before help arrived, hopefully not too late!