Edward Cullen, M.D. ignored the comparable sea of sweat amassing on his forehead. He blinked hard to clear his eyes and to make himself focus. He glanced over at the cardiac monitor and saw the jagged lines of tachycardia suddenly change.
"V-fib" announced the nurse. Today was not his day.
"Paddles," he ordered- the nurse already had the paddles waiting for his grip.
"Charge to 300," he was perspiring though his scrubs, but the determination in his voice annulled any inkling of fear- "and clear."
He placed the paddles onto the patient's chest and shocked her. The jolts of electricity coarsed through the patient's body and caused her to convulse. Edward couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was, even in such a sterile setting, with her shirt cut open, blood everywhere, and a tube down her throat, but then again, he didn't really mind the blood...
"Charge to 350... Clear!" He yelled as he shocked the patient again, his rising desperation now present in his tone. He shocked her again and listened intently for a normal sinus rhythm.
"Asystole" came the defeated tone of the nurse when the cardiac monitor flat lined.
"fuck" he whispered under his breath. "Alright, push an amp of Epi."
He waited there to see what would happen. He wanted to wait forever, but he knew that the trauma had been too severe, and that this patient had lost too much blood. He tore off his blood soaked gloves with ferocious disdain, spots of crimson spackled onto the green and white tiled floor. There was something inherently savage about his movements, he could see that the nursing staff was profoundly unsettled. He suddenly felt the onset of an intense migraine and decided it was probably from the damnable white sterile light that was flooding the room. Dr. Cullen pinched the bridge of his nose and spoke to his resident, "Hold compressions."
Edward felt a rage boiling inside him, he had wanted to save this girl. He had tried his hardest and still failed.
"What was her name?" he asked.
His resident answered him, "I.D. says Isabella Swan." The resident's voice was low and somber.
"Notify the family." Replied Edward.
Fuck it!- In an act of frustration, of defiance to death, Dr. Cullen rose his ungloved fist above his head and buffeted it down hard into the girl's sternum. Edward knew it was unprofessional, hell, even unethical, to strike a dead patient- he didn't know why he had done it, but he had. To his and everyone else's surprise- the cardiac monitor spiked.
"What the fu-"
"Sshhhh!"
The room went quiet, as if all the air had been sucked out of it. The doctors and nurses all held their breath in the vacuum created by the girl's heartbeat. The blip repeated itself and sinus rhythm returned.
Nurse Alice Cullen gasped- "It's a miracle."
"Not yet," responded Edward. "we need to get Neuro down here for an EEG. And let's get her O2 level up."
He had been in this game long enough not to be corrupted by false hope- she had been down for too long. If she was still alive her brain would be mush- the EEG would confirm that. He couldn't help it though, he did feel a little excited, there seemed to be something special about this girl.
He blew through the double doors of the ER and down through the corridor, a whole amalgam of different people were running around- it seemed like a person from every walk of life could be found within these halls, be they doctors, nurses, patients, or what ever else. Edward didn't like it, the hallway smelled like fear. He went into the doctor's lounge and sat down at the table. He sagged his head and then ran his hands through his thick black hair. The doctor's lounge was poorly lit and smelled like a locker room. The rotation of the ceiling fan created an eerie shadow that circulated the room, and Edward could barely hear himself think over the din of the air conditioning. It seemed unbearably loud in the otherwise silent room. To be honest, he hated this place, and not just the doctor's lounge, but the entire Hospital. It consumed the life force of the people that worked there- ironically, the hospital was like a vampire. Edward's stepfather, Carlisle Cullen, was the Chief of Medicine. Edward owed his life to this man, and admired him greatly. He loved him: as a father, a friend, and a mentor, but he hated working for him, he hated the family hospital. The hospital had taken so much from Edward. He'd never had a chance to have his own life, he'd never had a chance to live, he felt stifled, he felt smothered. He was locked in this loveless arranged marriage to his profession, to this place.
He laid down his stethoscope on the table and stretched. He had been on duty since yesterday evening and was fatigued and weary. Story of my life he thought to himself. He didn't have too much to complain about though, because the residents had it ten times harder. His current resident was one of the most promising doctors he'd seen come through these halls in years. In his third year of residency, he was the obvious choice for chief resident position. Edward almost wanted to see him get out, before he became another cog in Carlisle's machine. He heard a timid knock on the door, the residents knew he hated to be interrupted.
"Come in" he said.
His resident came in, "EEG is back on that trauma, looks good, but we'll still have to wait and see on the long term damage. What should we do now?"
Edward smiled to himself. Alice was right, it really was a miracle. He had to hand it to Carlisle, sometimes it was a good business they ran here. Victories like this made it worth it.
"Have you reached the family?" Edward asked with a growing smile.
"Yes sir, they're waiting in chairs."
"Okay we'll lets go let them see their daughter." Edward said as he got up out of his chair. "And good work Dr. Black."