Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2000 22:20:45 0000 From: "Audra Lynne Whitton" Message-ID: Subject: visions-to-be, part 1 "Visions of the Things to Be" Charlene Boyce windsong19@angelfire.com Part I The blue light faded, and Sam Beckett looked around, curious. The surrounding seemed to be the waiting room of a hospital emergency department...wait a minute! He had just been there! Had he Leaped? **Yeah,** he decided a moment later, **I DID Leap. I was just in Chicago, this isn't it.** He remembered the last leap only vaguely, he had been a resident named John somebody, there to help some medical student get off...something. Ritalin, if memory served--and it usually didn't. So who was he now and why had he ended up in a hospital again? Was he even a doctor on this Leap? A quick glance down answered that question...with a lab coat and stethoscope, there wasn't much else he could've been. Just then, another doctor ran over to him. "Adam! We could use your help!" Sam shrugged. He had a medical degree, so at least this time he would know what he was doing. "Sure. What can I do?" The doctor tossed her auburn hair over one shoulder. "We've got a MVA coming in...two victims, both female, 30-ish. One's got a really bad cut on her arm, but, otherwise, she's fine." "And the other one?" Sam asked. The woman's eyes met his. "She's critical. ETA is 5 minutes." "I'll be there." She flashed him a quick grin and then sprinted off, presumably to take care of other matters. Sam sighed. Talk about your adrenaline rush...but at least it was nice to feel useful. Maybe even save a couple of lives. ************* The ambulance pulled up to the hospital almost exactly 5 minutes later...Sam had to give them credit for their timing. He rushed over to meet the paramedics. "What's her condition?" "BP's 90/40, it's been really touch and go. Breathing's shallow. She was belted inair bag's probably the only thing that saved her life, though." Sam looked at his patient. Several locks of her shoulder-length brown hair were stained almost auburnwith her blood. A nasty-looking laceration ripped diagonally across her face...probably from a piece of metal. "Trauma 2?" the female doctor suggested. "All right," Sam agreed, unable to think of much else besides how he was going to save this woman's life. "Trauma 2, then." A thought occurred to him, and he turned to the nearest EMT. "What's her name?" The man shrugged. "I don't know. No ID." Sam took her limp hand in his. "Just hang on," he told her, unsure whether she could hear him or not. "You're going to be all right." ************* It took an hour to stabilize the woman. Even then, Sam couldn't guarantee her full recovery--or even half of it. It seemed depressing, but that was the truth. It was a miracle she'd even made it this far. He decided to check up on the other woman who'd been in the car. She was sitting in the waiting area, her left arm bandaged and in a sling. With her right arm, she was flipping through a copy of _Psychology Today_. It was obvious she wasn't paying much attention, though. "This is stupid," she muttered. "It's so stupid." Her blonde hair was long, with dark undertones, and very straight. Her eyes were unbelievably green. Sam sat down next to her. "Miss?" She looked up. "Can I help you?" "Actually," Sam replied, "I wanted to see if *I* could help *you*." "How so?" "Your friend's stabilized now." That seemed to ease her mood somewhat. "Is she going to be all right?" "I can't say that just yet. We're doing everything we can." "'Everything we can'," she muttered. "I've heard *that* before. That's what they said when my little sister was dying...they'd done everything possible. Still condemned her to death. I was just about as ready for a fight as her best friend was, truth be told. But don't tell him I said that. I'd never hear the end of it--from either one of them." She played with the clear crystal she wore on a black choker. "I'm sorry about your sister," Sam said. "It's okay," the lady replied, waving a hand dismissively. "She survived it...no thanks to them, that is." She looked at him quickly. "No offense." "Is there anyone you'd like me to call for you?" Sam asked, trying to be helpful. She gave him a confused glance. "Call? Oh, wait...yeah. Never mind. They've already been...informed." Just then, a red-haired woman burst through the doors, and hurried over to them. She nodded to Sam. "Doctor." Then she turned to the brunette. "Are you all right, Mel?" She nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine." "How's...?" "She's in pretty bad shape," the blonde finished. "This doctor here's been taking care of her, though." The redhead almost smiled. "Twentieth century medical science being what it is..." "Excuse me," Sam interjected, but I never quite caught your names." "Just call me Melissa," the blonde said. The redhead flashed him another smile. She had a pleasant smile. "Beverly Crusher. Where is she, Doctor?" "I'll take you to her," Sam offered. "Can I ask you something, though?" "Sure." "What's her name?" Beverly glanced down for a moment, as if debating herself, then looked back up at Sam. "Deanna," she answered. "Her name's Deanna." ********** {More to come later.} <<>>>