Chapter Thirteen
Johnny grasped the arms of the chair he sat in as the ambulance swung through the traffic with the siren howling. After a while the journey became smoother as they sped along the dual carriageway on to Dundee and, Ninewells Hospital.
He looked at Caitlin lying strapped in the bed and cursed the day he went to Jerusalem. Her condition was nothing medical, he thought, it was definitely something to do with the nightmare with which he was involved.
After a while they turned into the drive that led to the concrete leviathan that was Ninewells Hospital. The ambulance took a sharp left and hauled up outside the Accident and Emergency Department
Johnny unstrapped himself as the back doors opened. The two paramedics lifted Caitlin out on the stretcher she had been lying on, on top of the bed. They put her on a trolley which was waiting by the doors.
Inside, a young female doctor with long, blond hair looked at Caitlin and then let the paramedics take her into an empty resuscitation bay. Johnny followed and watched as the doctor and a nurse pulled a curtain around the area.
“Mr Duncan?” asked another nurse. “Are you the father of the patient–Caitlin Duncan?”
“Yes.”
“Her address is 12 Ethie Street Auchmithie, Angus. And your address is 10b Guthrie Port Arbroath.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you. Could you sit in the waiting area please? We’ll keep you updated when we can.”
Johnny sat and stared into space. He would need to let Caitlin’s’ mother know what had happened. Later, he thought, because he would need to go outside to use his mobile, and he didn’t want to miss an update on his daughter.
After sometime the doctor with the blond hair came and sat beside him. “Mr Duncan, I’m Doctor Macmillan. We’ve examined Caitlin, and the good news is that she’s healthy. However, she’s in a coma. We’ve taken a blood sample for toxicology tests, the results of which we’ll get back tomorrow. She’s being taken to a ward where she’ll be monitored around the clock.”
“What could have induced the coma?” Johnny asked.
“I don’t know. Coma’s can be brought on by metabolism abnormalities, strokes, drugs and concussion. They generally last a few days to a few weeks.”
“Could the shock of seeing something out of the normal bring one on?”
“It’s possible. Why, did she witness something strange?”
“No, I just wondered.”
“A neurologist will see her tomorrow and an EEG ran. I’ll get a nurse to fix you up with accommodation as you stay in Arbroath.”
“Thanks doctor.”
After he was shown his room Johnny left the building and rolled himself a long overdue cigarette. He stood among the other smokers and inhaled deeply before reaching into his jacket pocket for his mobile. He rang Veronica and explained what had happened and put her off from coming to the hospital until the morning.
“That was the easy call,” he whispered to himself as he exhaled another cloud of smoke. He pressed a key and, after bleeps, a voice told him that the person he was calling was unavailable. Sue’s mobile was off, he thought with some relief.
He took another draw on his roll-up and thought: whatever it took he would get his daughter back.