Convalescent

Chapter 6

"Well we can't have you developing pneumonia on your holiday in Paris, now can we?" She quirked a brow.

"No," He laughed, clearing his throat again. "No, I don't suppose that would do."

"Take a deep breath for me," She said, placing the bell of her stethoscope on his back. "Your lungs sound clear," She said, once she'd listened on each side. Pulling her stethoscope from her ears, she grabbed his wrist and began taking his pulse, losing count and having to start over when he fell into another coughing fit. "Your pulse is a bit quick," She commented, her brow furrowing as she started to think.

"Let's hear it then," He said after they'd sat in silence for a moment. "Am I as fit as a-" He cleared his throat. "As a fiddle?"

"I'd like a doctor to take a look at you," She said, standing to her feet.

"If you didn't want me to leave you could've just said so," He smirked up at her. She shook her head, laughing.

"Don't worry," She rolled her eyes. "I'm sure we'll have you on the road in no time." Giving his arm a squeeze, she headed for the stairs. She descended the steps and made her way to the administrative wing where there was sure to be a doctor in one of the offices. Finding one seated behind his desk in the second room she checked, she wrapped her knuckles against the open door.

"Can I help you?" He asked, looking up from the chart he was reviewing.

"Sorry to bother you Doctor," She began, clasping her hands behind her back. "There's a patient on the Evacuation Ward who I think needs examined."

"What's his name?" He asked, standing to his feet.

"Archie Andrews sir," She replied, falling into step beside him as they stepped out into the hallway together. "He sustained a femur fracture."

"Ah, yes," He nodded. "I remember him. He's due for transfer this week, is he not?"

"Today actually," She nodded. "He has a new onset cough. I'm worried he might be devel-"

"We need a doctor!" Someone yelled from the stairwell, cutting her off. She exchanged a look with the doctor, both of them breaking out into a run towards the stairs without a word.

"Step back," A deep voice boomed just as they'd made it up the stairs. Another doctor must've heard the call for help and come running too. "Let me through," She heard him say, the nurses that had huddled around the patient, parting. "Breathe son!" The doctor said. She heard what sounded like gasps. Standing on her tiptoes, she craned her neck for a better view.

"I ca-can't," A sputtering cough cut off the garbled words. "Ca-can't breathe." Her chest tightened. She recognized that voice. Pushing through the other nurses who had gathered in a loose semicircle, her eyes fell on Archie.

"Archie," She gasped, crouching down at his side.

"Is this your patient?" The doctor asked. She nodded, tearing her eyes away from Archie, to look at him.

"He had a cough," She explained, helping hold Archie up in a sitting position as he continued to gasp for air. "I had gone in search of a doctor to examine him."

"Scissors," The doctor spat out. "I need scissors!" Snatching up a pair that someone had extended out to him, he laid Archie down. Cutting his shirt up the middle, he splayed it back to examine him properly. Archie's chest was peppered with dozens of tiny red dots - petechiae. Her stomach clenched.

"Ka-" Archie sputtered, his chest heaving as he struggled to get air into his lungs.

"Just try and breathe for me," She said, squeezing his hand to let him know she was there.