Into the Fire

As promised on our “Saturday Sample . . .”, we have Jason Joyner sharing Chapter 1 of his WIP tentatively titled Beauty of the Broken. You’ll appreciate his authenticity, a big plus in writing endeavors.

Jason shares some of the same writing concerns as Mark Harbeson—trying to find time to do this creative project while being a husband, father of three boys, and working full time in the medical field. You can find out more about Jason over at his blog “Spoiled for the Ordinary”. He stated in his brief bio for me that he is often on the soccer field or watching a certain football team in the autumn. The name of that particular football team sticks in my throat, but to be fair I shall admit he is a dallas cowboy fan. (Note the lower case mention.)

Here is his teaser/blurb for Beauty of the Broken:

When medical student Jenna Dawson hears about her missionary brother’s death, she impulsively travels to Thailand to discover what happened. When a villager girl disappears, Jenna stumbles upon a larger evil that threatens to engulf her.

Chapter 1

“CLEAR!”
The paddles pressed firmly on the man’s bare chest, and electrical current flooded the body. He jerked on the gurney from the shock, then lay there still once again.
“No change on the monitor!”
The young woman reached over and continued to press down on the man’s chest in synchronized movements. A nurse holding a bag mask blew air into the lungs every time she paused. The doctor stood at the head of the bed, watching the scurry of activity as the ER crew worked to save another life.
“Ms. Dawson. What next?” he asked the young woman.
Jenna brushed a wisp of dark hair away from her face as she rested between compressions. There had been no response as the patient had received another shock. His EKG continued with a jagged pattern that signaled his heart was in serious trouble. A few more minutes and his brain would be gone.
“Epinephrine 1mg IV push,” she panted. Her own adrenaline coursed through her as well. Between it and the work of compressions, it stole her breath. However, she thrilled to be leading a code, doing what she’d dreamt about for so long.
The supervising physician nodded in approval as another nurse started the medicine into the IV. Other nurses worked in a careful dance around the stricken patient as the team tried to revive him.
“What next?”
“Another shock, 360 Joules,” she replied with a moment of hesitation. Her mind raced through the guidelines that she relentlessly reviewed in class. The knowledge was all there; the excitement made it elusive.
The nurse readied the paddles and counted down to the shock. On one, everyone made sure they didn’t touch the table, so as not to share in the voltage. The nurse pressed the paddles down, and with a “THUMP”, the man twitched again.
Jenna held her breath as she waited for a response. To her it seemed like minutes counting by. She didn’t want to lose this patient. She wouldn’t let the family down.
After only a moment, there was a flicker on the monitor. Her eyes widened as the irregular, unstable rhythm shifted into the regular pattern of a functioning heart. The patient then gasped on his own, and a soothing “beep, beep” signaled he was out of immediate danger.
The crew cheered for the battle they had won this time. It wasn’t always the case, but today they had beat back death. Jenna looked at the supervisor, who gave a hint of a smile before he barked out more orders to stabilize the patient.

“Well done,” Dr. Ravi said as he walked briskly down the hall. Jenna kept her excitement in check as she trailed a step behind her preceptor. Dr. Ravi was known at the medical school as a tough man to impress. She knew from students previously with him that he rarely let a student lead a code. Many residents even had trouble with him.
“There is more to medicine than saving lives. You have to deal with the families who are worried about their loved ones. I’d like you to tell the family how the patient is doing.”
They turned the corner into the waiting room. A middle-aged black woman was clutching her adult son’s arm with one hand, and a Bible in the other. At the sight of white coats, they jumped up for news.
“Mrs. Carter? I’m Dr. Ravi, and this is my medical student Jenna Dawson. She has some news for you.”
Jenna extended her hand and shook firmly. “I’m pleased to tell you that your husband is stable. He did have a heart attack, but his heart has been stabilized and he is doing well at the moment. As far as we can tell right now, there has been minimal damage, and he’s expected to make a full recovery. He’s being transferred to ICU for observation. You should be able to see him shortly.”
The woman wailed with joy. “Oh thank you for the news!” She turned to her son. “God is so good! He still does miracles!”
Jenna smiled thinly. “We worked hard to save him, Mrs. Carter. If it weren’t for modern medicine, he wouldn’t be here right now.”
Dr. Ravi gave a look of disapproval. He directed the woman to the floor where her husband was being monitored, and briskly went down the hall. Jenna again followed, this time like a scolded puppy. They took a detour to his office, and he motioned for her to sit down. He took a moment to peruse his paperwork, while she stewed over what he was going to say. The rhythmic ticking of the second hand prolonged her agony.
Finally he took off his glasses and turned to Jenna. “You did fine work on the code today. You have good intellect and great instincts. But I don’t know what happened with that family afterwards.”
“I’m sorry sir. It wasn’t right, and I don’t know why I blurted out like that. It won’t happen again.”
“It better not. Some of my colleagues don’t concern themselves with the fact that their patients are people, with families. I don’t let my students get away with that. Treat people with respect – even the ones you disagree with. We don’t judge what is important to some people. That’s not our job.”
“Yes sir.”
He looked at his pager. “Now go report to the attending and see if you can get some of our triage caught up. Looks like I’ve got a meeting.”
Jenna’s shoulders sank at the sound of her penance. Dr. Bedke was the chief resident and local overlord. She could foresee an evening filled with ingrown toenails and enemas. He delighted in tormenting students with the worst cases. She patted down her scrubs as she fought through the crowds of staff to get to the triage board. The large white surface was almost full of names and conditions. She hoped to find something interesting before he showed up.
“Miss Dawson!”
Too late.
Dr. Bedke swept into the station as nurses and attendants scattered to be somewhere else. She slipped into the persona of the humble medical student, but her brown eyes narrowed as she regarded the pompous resident.
“It’s about time! Have you seen that waiting room?”
“I’m sorry sir. I was with Dr. Ravi,” she replied.
He rolled his eyes, and Jenna bristled with dislike toward him. Oh, he’s so arrogant.
“Never mind then. Let’s see what we have for the likes of you.” He checked down the list. “Trauma – needs a doctor. Chest pain – needs a doctor. Ah, here we go! Looks like Mrs. Nezbit has another cat bite.” He shook his head at her name. “Why am I not surprised? Anyway, I think a 4th year can handle that. Now get her out of my ER and we’ll have something else for you.”
She trudged off to face her punishment. She had only been in this rotation a few weeks, but she had already found out who some of the frequent flyers were. She agreed that the lady was a character, but Dr. Bedke looked down on anyone who didn’t match his standards.
Mrs. Nezbit did not disappoint tonight. She had another cat bite that needed cleaned and treated. This woman never seemed to realize that trying to care for all the stray cats in the Seattle area could cause problems. She had even managed to get bit in her ample rear-end. Jenna wasn’t sure she wanted to know how that happened. At least she didn’t have to look at her gaudy make-up. The woman never met a blush she didn’t overuse. Her lipstick was similarly garish. Her do-it-yourself dye job showed as her hair changed from black to white halfway from the scalp.
“Oh darlin’, you just be careful back there!” she shrieked from the head of the table. Her voice matched her make-up: loud.
She irrigated the wound with a syringe, being careful to avoid backsplash. “Don’t you worry. We’ll get you patched up. You’ll need some antibiotics for this…again.” She tried to sound diplomatic. “Did you ever think of cutting down to a manageable number of cats?”
The cat lady fidgeted, causing saline to spray back on Jenna. “Well, I can’t leave the poor critters out there to fend just for themselves! My son says the same thing, but I just tell him to shush up.” She craned her neck around to get a glimpse of her caregiver. “You know, you should meet my son. He’s single, and you’re sure good-looking. With your dark hair and big eyes, you would sure give me some pretty grandkids!”
Jenna cringed and ducked a little farther down, hoping that no one was hearing this conversation. “I’m a little too busy with school to be in a relationship, I’m afraid.” She breathed a sigh of relief. At least she could be truthful while dodging this potential set-up. She put the finishing touches on the wound dressing and helped her off of the bed. “I think you’re back in one piece now.”
The eccentric woman adjusted her gypsy skirt. “Thank you darlin’! I appreciate you putting up with an old lady. Let me give you a hug!” With that, she pulled her neck down in a tight squeeze. The pink lipstick left a large smack on her cheek, then Mrs. Nezbit headed toward the discharge desk. Jenna gave her a smile, even as she reached for a spare gauze pad to wipe the mark off.
She stopped to glance into a window to check her face. I’m never going to get this lipstick off! She scrubbed hard a couple of times, until Dr. Bedke’s scowl appeared in the window. She startled backwards.
“Maybe you could stop primping for a minute and get my triage board caught up, Ms. Dawson?”
Glare. Remember, humble medical student. She tried to look sorry. “Yes sir.”
“There’s a sick baby in Twelve. Go on!”
She looked up at the board. Fever and vomiting. How exciting. I ran a code today, and now I’m cleaning up the crap at the end of the line. Jenna brushed some more strands back and stomped off to see the child. It couldn’t be that bad, after all.

The faded blue Toyota had seen better days. Then again, so had its owner. Jenna fumbled for her key and after she wrestled it open threw her bag into the passenger seat. A mini soccer ball hanging from a net around the rear-view mirror bounced back and forth. She shut the door and rolled the window down immediately for some fresh air. She still reeked of vomit. How can such a small kid hurl so far? Thoughts of the day assaulted her. She really hit a homerun with the code and her impression on Dr. Ravi, but Dr. Bedke killed the rest of her day.
The key turned in the ignition, and the car started after complaining for a moment. Dad had offered to get her a newer car, but she didn’t like using him any more than she had to. School was one thing. But she could live with a beater car for a while, and she didn’t feel like she owed him anything extra in return. Ugh. She was already having a bad day – no need to dig up more mud to wallow in. She pulled the car onto the road and headed toward home.

Taken from Beauty of the Broken (200?; written by Jason Joyner)