The Devil's Sweetheart

The hospital was in mayhem attending to the sick and injured. The doctors and nurses were readily available to admit the patients even at late hours.

"Emergency! Need a doctor!" The driver screamed at the top of his lungs and stepped out of the car the moment they reached the hospital entrance. When he opened the car backdoor, the scene he witnessed wrecked his heart. It would be forever etched into his memory. Never has he seen his sir breaking down.

"Leena! Open your eyes!" Holding her in his arms, at the back seat, he patted her cheeks to wake her up but there was no response. He gave a rescue breathing but still, she lay in his arms, unconscious. "Please stay with me. Please stay with me. Come back." He begged as his tears whirled down from his eyes. With a heavy heart, he stepped out of the car and screamed for an emergency. "Doctor!"

A nurse rushed towards the car when she heard a scream of emergency. She thought it would be another delivery case but her jaw dropped to the floor seeing the injuries on the patient's body. "Jesus Christ! What the hell happened!" She exclaimed.

"Please save her!" He pleadingly turned to the nurse.

"We will give our best, sir!"

"Emergency!" The nurse screamed as she checked Leena's pulse. "Bring the gurney. The patient's pulse is thready."

Immediately, a group of people in uniforms emerged out of the hospital and rushed towards the car. The medics examined Leena and quickly picked her from the man's arms. "Very gently everybody!" One of the nurses started the protocol. "Let's transfer on my count! One. Two. Three."

"We got her! We got her!" Placing her on the gurney, a nurse jumped into the stretcher and examined her. "GCS 3! Unresponsive! She has no pulse!"

"Start the compressions!" One of the doctors shouted. Immediately, Leena was pushed inside the hospital room while she was given continuous chest compressions.

"Dr. Walter. We need your help." One of the doctors, Erica shouted. "We have a victim with crushed injuries, massive blood loss, multiple fractures, broken back. She needs to be operated quickly."

"Take her to the trauma one!" Walter rushed to check Leena's wounds. He assured her even when Leena couldn't hear anything. "Hang in there dear...We are getting you to med."

"Alright." Erica and the team wheeled her to the trauma room and cut opened her dress.

"Oh, God! She is bleeding out into pelvis." One of the nurses shouted.

"We will deal with it once she gets into the airway," Erica ordered. "Intubate her! Now!"

The nurse tried to put on the bag-mask but he couldn't open Leena's mouth.

"Damn it! Put the tube in, fast!" Erica shouted. "She has been with no pulse for a long time."

"I can't get a tube in. Her face is entirely ruined! She needs a crike." Her cricothyroid membrane was also hard to find. The nurse made a vertical incision and inserted the bougie to blow up the balloon.

"Check! VENTILATOR EXPANDING!"

Just then a team of doctors arrived and accessed Leena's injuries.

"Thrown from a cliff and the high deceleration injury must have a torn her Aorta." Dr.Walter said wearing the stethoscope and checked her heartbeat.

"We can't be sure!" Another doctor said. "Give her asystole for twenty minutes."

"Asystole for twenty minutes is not survivable. Put the defibrillation and give her the shock!" Dr. Walter ordered leaving no room for discussions. "Now."

Immediately the Electrocardiogram leads were attached to Leena's chest and the nurse stopped performing the CPR. Checking her rhythm on the monitor, Walter said."check to 200 joules. "Stand Clear!"

Leena's body quivered unevenly when the shock button was pressed and Erica immediately checked her vitals. "No pulse!"

"Check to 360 joules on monophasic." Looking at the rhythm of the monitor, he shouted. "Clear!"

Her body shook again. Erica checked her vitals. "Not yet!"

"Check to 360!" He shouted. "Clear."

Even after the second trial, her heart did not pump. 360 joules is the maximum, it can deliver but even then if the blood is not pumped to her heart, the team concluded.

"Is she de_"

Taking a deep breath, Dr. Walter whispered. "Let's give a final shot! Set to 360 again."

The team held their breath and prayed she would come back to her life.

"Clear!" Dr. Walter shouted and Erica pressed the shock button.

...

In a bright jungle, holding a pup in her arms, Leena was playing with fellow animals and the place felt like heaven. A happy smile was marked on her face as she was finding peace in the company with her fellow friends. While she was rejoicing with her companions, she heard a voice. She knows who he is. Her dead grandfather.

"Go back to your home, dear."

"This is my home, grandpa. Aren't you curious to know about meemaw? She is doing well even without you." She chuckled and gently grazed the adorable pup's head."This cute pup is adorable, right?"

"It's not real! It's your telepathy child, turn back once and go home."

Ignoring his voice, Leena began playing with them. She doesn't want to turn back because she was finding the place beautiful. There was no betrayal. Her pain has gone. Her fear has gone, as if she was enveloped in unconditional love, she felt comfortable in the jungle.

"Please come back, Leena..."

She heard another familiar voice this time. Her guardian angel. As if stabbed with daggers, her heart wrecked in pain when she heard his trembling voice. Why is he affecting me? I have met him only once, right? Is it because he has saved me?

She tried to ignore the discomfort, but the voice was pulling her into his abyss. Finally, when Leena looked up, she found an image of shimmering crystal, light has shone through him forming a rainbow. With the sudden brightness, she covered her eyes for a second.

"Come back, Leena. It's not the time to come here. You are not dead."

"But it's so beautiful and peaceful here." She whispered and looked at the shilleoutte.

"You will find it more beautiful in your home. Turn back and hold my hand. I will take you back. I will always protect you."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

The voice repeated until Leena turned back and the moment she did, she felt her arms enclosed and a strong force pulled her back. The door behind her was slammed shut throwing into darkness.

....

The monitor beeped and her body jerked with a start.

"She is back!" Erica screamed. "I got her pulse. I got her pulse."

Dr. Walter closed his eyes as relief flooded in his body. "Get a BP check and keep giving her blood. She needs to be operated on. We are going to transfer her to the main hospital."

"Alright."

The team beamed in joy. Saving a patient would give them immense happiness and it's part of their world.

Leena was wheeled outside after the necessary tests. While she was tugged into the ambulance, she got a glimpse of the person standing in the shadows looking at her. "A_ngel.." She whispered and tried to lift her hand but the door was closed shut.