EXHAUSTION
Summary : Carter takes care of you after you pass out from exhaustion with help from Doug, Mark and Peter
REQUESTS ARE OPEN ( read the rules first)
You have been working for four days straight. Your mind and body are extremely exhausted. The words that are on the chart you write are almost blurred. As your pen glides across the chart, filling in the blanks, you feel a huge yawn coming. You place the chart on the counter and bring your hand, pen still in your grasp, up to cover your mouth. Efforts to stifle that yawn were completely useless. If anything, it has only made you feel more tired. You were so worn out that you didn't even notice that Carter was nearby. As you tried to focus on catching up on your charts, you had a slight dizzy spell. A fog seemed to come over your brain as you willed your head to stop spinning. You swayed ever so slightly and took a deep breath, but that was enough for Carter to notice that something was off. He hesitated at first, wanting to give you some space but concern made him speak to you.
“Hey, you alright?”
Carter instantly knew that your reaction time was delayed. Before you even replied to him, he spoke again, this time the concern seemed to radiate off his body. You put your pen and chart on the counter in front of you, hand lingering on the surface just in case your dizziness appeared again.
“When was the last time you ate or slept?”
Your brain seemed to kick back into gear enough for you to actually respond to him.
“Um, Tuesday?” Your voice was trailed off slightly at the end and you watched as Carter’s eyes widened slightly at your answer.
Today was Saturday. That means that you have not slept or ate much in four days. Carter felt a pang of guilt hit him as he missed the signs. Even though you did not sleep or eat much in the past four days, you had time to take a quick shower and change into a pair of clean clothes during those days. You notice that Carter seems to be closer than you remembered last time. His eyes scan you slightly and then he speaks again.
“Are you feeling dizzy right now?”
“ I’m.. not sure.” You answered but your body and mind seemed to know the answer to Carter’s question.
You suddenly felt ten times dizzier. Once your eyes glazed over and you started to sway on your feet, Carter jumped into action. You let a soft breath as Carter gently but firmly wraps his left arm around your waist. When he speaks to you again, he makes sure that his voice is low and soft.
“ Hey, Y/N. Look at me okay? I need you to answer just one question for me. How many of me do you see?” Carter asks, making sure that you were making somewhat direct eye contact. “Easy, I’ve got you.”
It took you a few moments but your vision was definitely doubled. “Um, like 3."
You vaguely registered that he still had his arm around your waist. You wanted to tell Carter that you were completely fine. However, black spots started to invade your line of sight. Your eyes fluttered shut as your mind and body gave into unconsciousness. Carter immediately picked you up in his arms. One arm was under your knees while the other was under your back. Your head fell against his shoulder, your cheek slightly squished, as he adjusted his hold on you. Your right was resting in your lap, while your left one, dangled limply, bumping against his hand slightly with each step.
“I need some help over here.” Carter called out. His call for help captured the attention of Mark, Peter, and Doug who were nearby. “Jerry, what’s open?”
Jerry’s eyes widened a bit when he saw the state that you were in.
“Curtain Area One.”
Mark, Doug, and Peter meet Carter halfway there with a gurney. Carter carefully and slowly lowered you onto the gurney. He followed the gurney as you were wheeled into curtain area one.
“Okay, what happened?” Peter turned to Carter before asking.
“They have been working for four days straight. They got dizzy and ended up fainting. Don’t worry, I caught them and made sure they didn’t hit their head.”
Everyone breathes a collective sigh of relief.
“Okay,” Mark says and he hooks you up to the proper monitors. “Y/N? Can you hear me?”
No response.
“They are still out. So, let’s go ahead and start them on a liter of saline for now.” Mark replied.
Carter stood at the head of the gurney and fought the urge to stroke your hand. Deep in his mind, Carter knew that he wanted to somehow be able to comfort you, even if you were unconscious.
_________________________________________
You woke up with an empty stomach and a killer headache. Your eyes felt as if they weighed a thousand tons so it was difficult to keep them open. You felt something pull ever so slightly in your arm. It took you a few moments to realize that you had an IV in your arm. The fog that had settled over every fiber of your being was slowly but surely going away. Still, your eyes narrowed in confusion. You were still in your scrubs.
“Oh, what the hell…” You mumbled your voice slightly slurred from waking up from your involuntary and extended nap.
Your comment caused Carter to both sigh in relief and chuckle at the same time.
“You passed out.” Doug had explained. “How are you feeling?”
“Better, not as dizzy anymore.” You replied before you realized what you were doing before you fainted. “Wasn’t I- Can I have my chart back? Hold on, I mean my patient’s chart, back?”
You sat up and was elated to find that the vertigo had completely vanished.
“No.” Peter says as he approaches the three of you. He was coming to check on you and overheard your question. “Mark is on the way with food. You are eating and you are taking a break. I’m serious, Maddie.”
You could tell that Carter was still concerned about you, as was everyone else.
“You didn’t move a muscle for nearly four hours.”
When Carter confessed that, your eyes widened. You never knew four hours could just fly by like that. It was like you blinked and all of a sudden you were in a hospital bed, with an IV in your arm. You huffed in annoyance.
“Oh, well that’s just wonderful.” Your voice was laced with a mixture of annoyance, embarrassment, and sarcasm. “Could you at least take this IV out of my arm. It’s nearly out anyway.”
Peter, Carter and Doug exchanged glances before they all nodded.
You feel a slight sting as they take out your IV. Mark enters the room with food. You recognize by the label on the bag that he got food from your current favorite restaurant. Your eyes narrow in confusion.
“How did you know that was my favorite place?” You asked while rubbing the gauze that was tapped to your arm.
“I told him.” Carter confessed at Mark handed the bad of food to him
The aroma of the food had started to leak into the air and you couldn’t help but take in the amazing smell of the hot food.
Carter placed the bag of food in your laptop. You also noticed that Carter had been hovering over you. You realized that he was afraid that you were going to pass out again and he wanted to be close to you just in case. He wanted to make sure that he was close enough to catch you. You felt your cheeks heat up in embarrassment as you started to realize just how close you and Carter actually were
