Chapter Text
“Hailey, Hailey.”
Hailey could hear someone calling her name, but it sounded as if everything was underwater. She noticed the hard ground underneath her and could feel her brain trying to remember what had happened, but everything was hazy and it felt like she was dreaming.
Hailey tried to open her eyes but recoiled as the sunlight hit them. The small movement caused pain to rip through her head, intense nausea coming with it.
She moaned, grabbing her head with her hands.
“You okay Hailey? You good?”
“Don’t try to move okay, I’ve got you.”
Hailey’s brain couldn’t make sense of what she was hearing. In her confusion she decided sitting up would definitely make her feel better. As she tried to get up, she could feel a hand pushing her down.
“Don’t move okay.” She slowly processed the instruction and stopped fighting whoever was holding her down.
Hailey tentatively opened her eyes again, relieved that it wasn’t anywhere near as bright as before. Slowly, her eyes came into focus and Hailey realised that it was Jay leaning over her, talking to her and keeping her down.
Slowly things began to come back to her, she remembered standing there with Jay, then there was the loud bang and intense heat. She looked over and could see that the truck was still on fire.
“It hurts”, Hailey tried to get out, but the words were barely audible.
“It’s okay Hailey, the ambulance is coming, it’s gonna be alright”
Hailey closed her eyes again, willing the pain in her head to stop.
“No, no Hailey, you’ve got to stay awake. You’ve hit your head.”
Jay squeezed Hailey’s shoulders and she looked at him again, moaning.
“Look, the ambos are here Hails, it’ll be alright.”
Brett and Dawson rolled up on scene.
Brett came running over. Looking at Hailey laying on the ground, she could see the cut on her cheek and blood dripping into her ear.
“What happened Jay?”
“She got hit by the explosion, I’m pretty sure her head hit the ground and she’s concussed,” Jay said, panicked.
Brett knelt beside Hailey, gently grabbing hold of her hand.
“Hailey, it’s Sylvie, you’re going to be fine. We’ll take you to Med to get checked out but first I need you to tell me what hurts.”
Hailey took stock of what she was feeling. Thankfully, all of her limbs felt fine, her ribs were sore but hopefully just bruised. The nausea in her stomach had subsided a little but her head was still absolutely killing her.
“My head is really sore,” Hailey groaned, “and I feel pretty sick.”
At that moment Dawson arrived with the stretcher.
“Look Hailey, we’re going to sit you up nice and slowly, then get you onto the stretcher. Do you think we can help do that?”
Hailey nodded, but her stomach churned at the thought.
With Jay and Brett’s help, they managed to get Hailey into a sitting position.
“God, I’m really dizzy,” whispered Hailey, leaning into Jay.
“That’s to be expected, we’ll just sit here until you feel like you can move again,” Brett said, rubbing Hailey’s back.
Hailey gave a small nod.
“I’ll ride with you to Med ok,” Jay gave Hailey’s hand a squeeze.
After a few moments Dawson knelt down in front of Hailey, “you reckon you’re okay to stand and we’ll get you on the stretcher?”
Hailey took a moment to decide, “yep, I’m not as dizzy now.”
Brett and Jay grabbed Hailey under the arms, steadying her as she stood up.
Jay immediately noticed her tense up and the colour drain from her face.
“You alright Hails?”
Hailey shook her head, gagging, leaning on Jay to keep her upright.
Brett grabbed a sick bag from under the stretcher, handing it to Hailey just as she retched, bringing up whatever she’d eaten for breakfast.
“It’s alright Hails, get it up,” Jay said, rubbing her back as Hailey vomited.
The vomiting made Hailey’s headache ten times worse. Her vision was beginning to swim and she felt pretty close to passing out.
Swaying unsteadily on her feet, Jay and Dawson quickly hoisted her onto the stretcher, Dawson helping her lay down.
“You alright Hailey?” asked Brett concerned, taking the sick bag from her and handing her a tissue.
Hailey kept her eyes shut but nodded. “Laying down is good,” she mumbled.
They loaded the stretcher into the ambulance. Brett and Jay stayed in the back and Dawson got in the front to drive.
Slowly the ambulance pulled out of the car park and headed towards Med.