PART 4
Alex Reid was having a hard time catching her breath. 'You idiot!' she reprimanded herself. Of course, those were just her thoughts. She was feeling like crap but was still at the top of her game.
The splenectomy was going as planned. 'Thank The Powers That Be for some small miracles'.
Just as the last thought left her mind, it all began spiraling downwards. 'Scratch that!' her mind told her. Stupid, silly thoughts. Of course it had to go wrong somewhere along the line.
"Dammit!" she spat out. Blood pressure was plummeting. The patient was crashing. It was either a pre-existing nicked artery from the crushing accident or a new one, caused by her attempt to remove the spleen. Either way, the end result was the same.
Despite her breathlessness, Alex reacted with intense precision and speed, spitting out orders, describing her actions as she performed them; Maggie Lin and Patrick Curtis assisting her as she proceeded.
It was over within a minute, although it had felt like an eternity while she was trying to get the bleed under control.
Now she was standing still, trying once again to catch her breath. It felt like being in a marathon. 'It's just the adrenaline' she told herself and tried desperately to slow her breathing.
It wasn't working.
God! She was going to faint in the OR. Oh GOD!
She swayed, and reflex took over and she grabbed the first thing she could steady herself with and it was Dr. Curtis.
The stuffy English surgeon almost recoiled at her touch, but quickly regained his composure. "Dr. Reid?"
Simultaneously, Maggie Lin cried out "Alex?! You OK?"
She wasn't OK. God she was anything butOK.
"I—I just n—need a—a mo—ment… to s—sit d—down…" she managed through gasps and pants. This was really bad.
Maggie was the first to take action. "Get Dr. Reid a chair!" she yelled at a nurse "NOW!" she added for emphasis. "You!" she said to a second nurse, "Page Dr. Raycraft and see if he can step in for me."
As she was giving orders, Maggie tore her gloves off and moved towards Alex who was slumped on the chair. Alex felt Maggie's finger gently prod her neck as she searched for her carotid artery. She had no strength left to resist, nor did she want to. She had reached that point where she knew it would be foolish. Actually, she thought to herself, she had reached that point earlier. She knew that one day her stubbornness would kill her.
"What's going on with her?" Patrick Curtis called out to Maggie from his position at the operating table.
"She's in A-Fib. It's looking like a coronary event."
Curtis was surprised. "She got cardio issues?" He had no clue.
"Maggie…" Alex rasped.
"Shshsh… You're going to be alright. Don't talk." Maggie tried to calm her friend down.
"Charlie…" Alex said.
"Don't worry about him right now. I'll call him when we'll get you stabilized." Maggie told her.
Patrick Curtis sounded pissed. "What the hell's goin' on there?!"
"She was stabbed in the heart by a patient two years ago, Patrick. Yes, she has a history, OK?" Maggie retorted angrily.
Just then the OR doors opened and Dr. Raycraft backed in. He took one look at the scene and blurted "What the hell?!"
Lin was quick to respond. "I think she's having a coronary. I need Dawn."
"She's operating on one of the pylon crush injuries. I don't think she'll be out any time soon." Raycraft told her.
"Crap!" Maggie exploded.
She flew out of the OR doors yelling to an orderly "I need a gurney!"
Alex felt worse and she couldn't believe it could feel any worse than it had already been, but here she was barely clinging to a semi sitting position, unable to lift her head, her limbs felt heavy and her breathing was becoming more labored by the micro second. She felt like she was going to die. God! That was so unfair!
She heard a major commotion and Maggie Lin hustling about her.
"OK, on my count, we will lift her to the gurney. One- Two- Three-!"
Alex felt strong hands moving her as she was hefted onto the gurney.
Lying down was making things worse. She felt a strong pain in her chest, and all of the air was sucked right out of her. She fought to get up.
"Alex! ALEX!" Maggie was commanding her "It's OK. We've got you. Lie down. ALEX!"
'Help me!' her brain screamed in panic. "Help…" This time she heard her voice, although it was barely a whisper now.
"We're going to help you, Alex." Maggie was telling her, but her tone was worried, and Alex could hear this in her voice, even in her current condition.
She couldn't fight any longer. She felt she was losing the battle. 'Charlie…' her mind called out. 'Charlie, help me…'
"We need to intubate!" Maggie Lin was screaming.
The room was fading out. She was just too tired to hold on any further.
And then she was back in the room, staring at her pale body sprawled on a gurney in the scrub room.
"Oh no…" her voice trailed, but nobody seemed to notice her.
