#Chapter 30 Panic

I looked up at the nurse. He stared back at me with wide, frightened eyes. It was clear he had no idea what to do about the screaming patient. “What are you doing?” I repeated. “The patient is agitated,” the other nurse, a woman, informed me. As though I couldn't see that for myself. “He has to be restrained for his own safety.” I looked at the cuffs in the nurse's hands. “Not with those. He'll rip his wrists apart.” I looked around. “Don't you even have padded restraints?” “They aren't strong enough,” the female nurse said. I looked down at the patient. He was frail and thin. I could probably wrap my index finger and thumb around his wrist joints. The patient trembled. His breath was coming fast. He would be hyperventilating soon. I could see his pulse throb in his throat above the collar of his thin hospital gown. “Let me examine him,” I ordered, and shoved past the nurses. I crouched in front of the patient, making myself as non-threatening as I possibly could. I c