Talisman 01 - The Emerald Talisman

He needed to get to the hospital quick. I bent over and listened for a heart beat. When I heard his breath, slow and shallow, I was relieved. I tried my hardest to pick him up, but the dead weight of his body made it difficult to lift him. The only alternative was to wrap my arms around his torso and drag him to my car.
    He moaned softly again.
    “It’s okay Phil. I’m going to take you to the hospital.”
    I laid him across the backseat and then covered him with my beach blanket. He started to shiver, taking in short, raspy breaths.
    “Hang on Phil.”
    I jumped in the front seat and drove like a maniac toward the hospital, checking my rearview mirror frequently to make sure he was still breathing.
    “We are almost there Phil, hang on,” I kept telling him.
    I rounded the corner and flew into the hospital parking lot and raced towards the emergency room entrance.
    “Help me!” I yelled, as I flung open my door and sprinted around to open the back door, showing my injured passenger. A guy in scrubs ran to the car, took Phil’s vitals and then another came with a stretcher. Soon a group of hospital staff surrounded my car, separating me from Phil.
    “What happened?” a blonde woman with horn-rimmed glasses and pink scrubs asked me.
    “I don’t know,” I said as they lifted him out of the car and placed him on the stretcher. “I just found him lying in the bushes like this.”
    “He’s lost a lot of blood,” I heard another say. “Looks like it’s an animal attack.”
    “Take him to room four.”
    “What is your friend’s name sweetie?” The blonde woman asked, stepping in front of me, blocking my view.
    “Phil,” I said, frantically looking over her shoulder, watching them wheel him through the double doors. I made a move to follow, but the woman stopped me.
    “And what is your name, hun?”
    “I’m Julia. Julia Parker.”
    “Okay, Julia, we’ll take care of your friend, but you’ll need to wait in the waiting room until he’s stable,” she said, putting her hand on my shoulder. Her words were sincere, but on the inside, she didn’t care. She was the gatekeeper and it was her job to keep me away from the patient until they finished doing their job.
    “What? I want to be with my friend.”
    Her eyes were sympathetic, but it was all a façade. Really, she was annoyed, but not as annoyed as the security guard who was marching towards us.
    “You can’t leave your car there,” he grunted, a little bit louder than necessary.
    I looked at the nurse and ignored the guard, hoping she’d not really make me wait in the waiting room with all the untreated patients.
    “Please. Don’t make me wait in there. I want to be with Phil. He has no one to support him,” I begged.
    “I’ll come get you as soon as he can have visitors,” she said while giving my hand two nice pats. Nothing was going to break this ice queen. I clamped my mouth shut, wanting to say a few choice words but instead watched helplessly as she left me standing outside the double doors. I had to figure out another way to get inside and fast.
    “Ma’am, you need to move your car,” the security guard snapped, his cigarette and stale coffee breath blew in my face.
    “I heard you!” I snipped and spun around. “Gosh!”
    I glared at him when I drove past, but he stood at attention with his smug smile.
    Even before crossing the threshold of the emergency waiting room, I could feel the putrescent stench of misery inside. The electric doors opened and shut as I waffled whether or not to go in. On the other side was agonizing suffering but I had no choice. For Phil’s sake, I had to endure it.
    I held my breath before plunging myself into the air conditioned room and clutched my stomach for fear I’d get sick right in front of everyone. The arrangement was different than my local hospital. There was no desk inside, just a sign with a clipboard and instructions to fill out the form and put it in the slot on the door marked Triage which didn’t apply to me.
    There was a different security guard standing in the corner by the only set of double doors leading out of the waiting room. I walked towards them and hoped maybe there was someone inside that could help me.
    “Can I help you Miss?” the guard said and stepped in front of me, blocking my path.
    “Oh . . . my friend is in there. I need to go see him.”
    “Do you have a pass?” he grunted.
    “No, but . . .”
    “You can’t come in here without a pass. You’ll