Chapter 4
One, two, three, four, five, Summer counted as she slowly drew in a deep breath feeling her lungs expand. Concentrating on counting and the slow intake of air, she tried to calm her mind and relax her muscles. Breathe in for a count of ten and then slowly exhale for a count of ten. She did this several times trying to relax. It was 6:00 AM and she was sitting in the parking lot of Rampart Hospital getting ready to start her first shift. She was so nervous she could feel a small tremor running through her body and felt sick to her stomach. She closed her eyes for one more set of deep breathing and then forced herself to get out of the car. She felt clumsy, like her body wasn't moving right.
She walked through the emergency room doors and headed toward the nursing desk. There was a nurse standing at the desk, she was pretty, probably in her thirties, was Summer's guess.
"Hi," Summer smiled at the nurse. "My name is Summer Skye; I am the new intern starting today."
"Hi, Summer. I am Dixie McCall, the head nurse." Dixie shook hands with Summer.
"Dr. Brackett is in his office, but why don't I give you a brief tour before he comes out." Dixie showed Summer each of the treatment rooms and a brief overview of where everything was kept in each room.
"This is where we get the calls from the paramedics in the field," Dixie opened the door to the small room. She pointed to the light above the door, "That light will blink red when we have a call coming in."
"Do you get a lot of paramedic calls," Summer asked taking in all the equipment. The communication equipment was new, they did not have paramedics at the hospital she was in for medical school clerkships, but the rest of the equipment was familiar. It all still felt very overwhelming, and the communication equipment made her feel a faint tremor run through her body.
"We stay pretty busy, but the paramedics are great. You will meet all of them over the next few weeks." Dixie smiled at the young doctor, she seemed so nervous Dixie wanted to help her relax. "How about a cup of coffee?"
Summer smiled, "Sure that would be nice."
Dixie led her back toward the nursing station and was just about to point out the pot of coffee when Dr. Brackett stepped out of his office and started coming down the hall.
"Kel," Dr. Brackett looked up from his clipboard at the sound of Dixie calling his name. "This is Dr. Summer Skye, your new intern."
Dr. Brackett smiled at the young woman in front of him wondering if he had looked that nervous on his first day and doubting that was possible. "You are just in time; I have a patient waiting for me in Treatment Room 1. You will stick with me today, I will let you do the initial exam of each patient and present the findings and your thoughts of a treatment plan to me. I will then exam the patient and let you know if I agree with your plan. Sound reasonable?"
"Yes, sir." Summer's voice was barely audible.
Dr. Brackett and Dixie exchanged an amused look. "Okay, follow me." Dr. Brackett moved toward Treatment Room 1 with Summer just a step behind.
It was a busy day in the Emergency Room and Summer moved with Dr. Brackett from room to room quickly throughout the morning. She was beginning to relax a little bit and getting used the flow of the patient exam. When Dr. Brackett took a break for lunch Summer used the time to do a quick review of all the patient charts, and complete any paperwork that she needed to have done for Dr. Brackett's signature. She was just getting ready to head toward the cafeteria when the red light went on.
Dixie looked over at Summer, "This will be good for you to see." Dixie opened the door and waited for Summer to join her.
"Rampart, this is Squad 51."
"Go ahead 51," Dixie picked up a piece of paper to take down the information.
"Rampart, we have a male victim, age approximately 35. Victim has been involved in a motorcycle accident, respirations are 35, pulse is 110 and BP is 105/85. Victim has bruising on his abdomen and is complaining of stomach pain and right shoulder pain."
Dixie spotted Dr. Brackett coming down the hall and waved him in. As he entered the room she handed him the information on the patient.
"What do you think?" He looked over at Summer.
"Internal bleeding, maybe a spleen or liver, " Summer said. "I would be concerned about the patient going into shock."
"What are your recommendations?" Dr. Brackett asked her.
"Place the patient in a G-suit, start an IV of lactate ringers and transport immediately." Summer said looking at Dr. Brackett.
"Tell them," he pointed toward the base unit.
Summer looked at the unit, looked back and Dr. Brackett and paled a little bit.
"Go ahead, your patient is waiting." Dr. Brackett put his hand on her back and moved her in front of the unit. "You start out with Squad 51, their ID so they know you are talking to them."
"Squad 51, place the patient in a G-suit, start an IV with lactate ringers and transport immediately," Summer's voice was barely audible in the room; Dr. Brackett knew there was no way the paramedics heard her in the field.
"Say again, Rampart." The voice came over the base unit. Roy and Johnny exchanged looks that had to be Summer, you could not make out anything she said, but the voice was definitely scared.
"They have to be able to hear you. Speak up and with confidence, you are giving them directions on how to take care of a person out there."
"Squad 51, place the patient in a G-suit, start an IV with lactate ringers and transport immediately," Summer said again this time louder, but Dr. Brackett could hear the quiver in her voice.
"Place the patient in a G-suit, start an IV with lactate ringers and transport immediately; 10-4."
"You will have a patient in about 15 minutes, Dr. Skye, what should we have ready?"
Summer looked at him at little lost, "Uh, we need x-rays, of the abdomen…"
"What room should we put them in?" Dr. Brackett interrupted her.
"Oh, uh, sorry," Summer looked over at Dixie looking like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car.
"Treatment Room 2 is available," Dixie said taking pity on the young doctor.
"Yes, please Nurse McCall, will you please get Treatment Room 2 ready and request radiology come up for x-rays?" Summer looked gratefully at the nurse.
The next half hour moved very fast, the patient came in on the gurney, Roy by his side and she directed them to Treatment Room 2. Dr. Brackett followed her into the room and she started her own examination of the patient. Roy stood off to the side watching Summer work, he noticed her hand trembling slightly as she reached for equipment and she looked pale.
He stepped out into the hallway and headed toward the cafeteria. Johnny was standing at the nurse's station talking to Dixie.
The patient was pushed out of the room and Roy heard Dr. Brackett directing them to OR 1. Summer followed him out, but Dr. Brackett stopped her. "You did good, go get a cup of coffee; I will go with the patient to the OR."
Roy took Summer by the arm and moved her back into the treatment room as Dr. Brackett and the patient moved down the hall. He twisted the cap off a bottle of orange juice and handed it to her. "Drink this," he said as he started opening a sandwich wrapped in cellophane.
Summer looked down at the orange juice and back at Roy. "Your hands are shaking and you are pale. Passing out is probably not what you want people to remember about your first day." He smiled to ease the words and the seriousness of his tone.
Summer took a big drink of the orange juice knowing he was right. Roy handed over half the sandwich, "Eat."
Summer smiled at him, "Why are you being so nice to me? Aren't you mad at me too?"
"Johnny's not really mad at you; he just doesn't like being caught off guard." Roy leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms. "I am curious why you didn't say anything though, especially when we were talking about the new female intern at Rampart. That would have been the right time."
Summer blushed, knowing he was right. "I was going to Roy, honest. I was just about to speak up when the alarm went off and you guys had to go. It didn't help though that the idea of a woman doctor seemed so," Summer paused searching for the right word, "unsettling to everyone."
Roy put a hand on Summer's shoulder and handed her the other half of the sandwich. "See ya around, doc."
"Where have you been?" Johnny asked as Roy approached the nurse's station.
"Just checking on a friend," Roy said.
Johnny watched as Summer entered the hallway from the same room Roy had just come from. "A friend, huh,"
"You heard her on the biophone, that girl is scared to death. I thought she could use a friendly face for a few minutes." Roy said heading toward the squad.
"What would Joanne think of you being a friendly face to another woman?" Johnny wasn't sure why it bothered him, but it did.
Roy laughed, "Joanne knows she has nothing to worry about, I think she would be glad I was being considerate. I am not your competition."
Johnny got into the passenger side of the squad, "I am not jealous. I don't care what she does, or who she spends time with. She lied to us."
"I asked her about that, she said she was going to tell us when we mentioned the woman doctor coming to rampart, but we got a call." Roy grabbed the radio, "Squad 51 available."
"I don't know. I just don't know." Johnny shook his head.