Write 4 Ten: In the ambulance

Today is Wednesday on Write 4 Ten and its a setting...

The smell of disinfectant caressed her nasal passages and weaved its way towards her throat, she could taste the bitterness on her tongue and it made her heave, as she tried to sit up. A hand grabbed her arm, it was strong but handled her tenderly. An almost gravelly voice told her to “lie back, it will be ok, just lie back”.

She flickered open her eyes but the intensity of the light was too much and she could only squint. It was all shadows. She tried to move again but felt a sharp stabbing pain in her side and the feeling was so intense that she crumpled into the gurney, her eyes rolled up slightly and a small squeak creaked out of her throat.

Her teeth began to chatter involuntarily and she shivered. The feeling of coldness had sprung from nowhere, only a moment ago she had been burning up with fever she thought, as she felt a blanket being placed on her. Her body seemed to have adopted a jumpsuit of numbness. She could feel every cell inside her body rushing around like soldiers at war, fighting the good fight.

She  wanted to pull the blanket up to her chin, to get cosy, but to lift her hand was impossible. She was listless and tired. There was no energy in reserve that she could resort to. The shivering was taking what little strength she had.

The sirens were muffled and less clear than they had been when she had first been placed into the ambulance, the voices she could hear were now fading. The shivering had stopped and her teeth no longer chattered. She let out a deep breath and darkness fell.