Dead and Forsaken Read Online Free Page A

price. He
was also running a fever and had a couple of bite wounds thanks to
one of his crazy cab fares. Dirty jokes were being told by a mixed
race group of college students in the corner near the TV. There was
also a sneaky looking freakishly skinny man in glasses who kept
fidgeting around in his chair uncontrollably. He was sweating
profusely and unwilling to look anyone else in the eye. I thought he
was just nervous but I found out later that he accidentally sat on a
large cucumber according to what he told registration. It had become
lodged deep in his backside.
    Surprisingly
enough stories like his were not that unusual. It seemed like some
object or another always mysteriously ended up in somebody’s
rectal cavity. The staff just learned to accept their claims and
perform the extraction to avoid all the nasty details. The room was
loud, crowded, and smelled bad. Many of them had already waited
close to two hours. I slowly walked through the room so everyone
could see me before heading to the back patient care area. A young
white man holding a toddlers hand was angry at the registration
staff because he had to wait so long. His son was sick with a fever
and after several hours he still hadn't received any medical
attention. At one point he was kicking the door to the back patient
area until I showed up. I spoke to him briefly and stood by for a
second but left after he calmed down. In the back I stopped by the
plumbing work area. The hall was congested but the work area was
clear and safe.
    Randy
the maintenance man said that he had to take out a couple feet of
pipe and replace it. He was going to be here all night. He had his
work area blocked off and all his tools were out on the floor. I
told him I would check on him later. I received a radio call from
Hernandez. He said they needed security in holding. Staff tried to
check the vitals of an intoxicated patient. A wild animal had
attacked the man when he tried to urinate behind a building.
Something leaped out of the shadows. He was so drunk he thought a
woman attacked him. As time went by there was a noticeable change
and increase in aggressive behavior. He became agitated and struck a
male staff member without provocation after they asked him if he had
a history of psychotic episodes. Behavior like that could
potentially be an imminent risk to everyone. Hernandez was
requesting additional officers to help d-escalate the situation.
    I
stopped by the security desk and grabbed the leather restraints.
Then I ran down the main hall to holding. When I got there Officer
Darden and Lt. Arvayo were fighting to keep the man down in the bed.
The staff was standing back watching and waiting for directions.
They normally followed our lead when dealing with out of control
people. There were a lot of innocent people close by. We had no
other choice but to end it quick before it could escalate. Officer
Darden was holding the patients legs while Lt. Arvayo had his arms.
I placed the restraints on him while they held him down. We placed
one arm up and one down to limit his range of motion. He continued
thrust and try to kick.
    “ Let me go asshole!' he
cursed. “It's just a scratch! I'll be fine! Don’t make
it harder on yourselves by pissing me off.”
    “ Don't worry sir!” Lt.
Arvayo told the man. “The staff will take good care of you!”
    The nursing staff gave him a shot
to sedate him. If he continued to act out he would be referred to a
mental health representative and exercise more appropriate control
measures.
    “ I think he’s OK now!”
said the nurse. “We’ll be fine. You guys can wait
outside.”
    The
other officers went back to their posts while I stood by. Soon the
drugs began to kick in and he stopped struggling. Once he was asleep
they dressed his bite and scratch wounds. The doctor decided to
leave him strapped down until further assessment. Everything was
okay so I left.

CHAPTER 3:
Trouble at the Border

    The sunrise broke over a deserted
stretch of