Thank you again for all the reviews! Again, thank you Soldier Heart for being my Beta reader. I am sorry if I take so long in getting the chapters up. Again, I do not own Emergency or any of the characters. So please sit back, relax and pull out a few tissues. You may need them. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Doctor Brackett stepped wearily off the elevator four and a half hours later at the Emergency Department. He noticed Dixie and Joe Early at the nurses station. Dix saw him as well. "How is she doing Kel?" Dix asked, fear clouding in her eyes.
"She's out of surgery and she's hanging in there. Are the guys still here?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.
"Yeah, they're still in the lounge," Joe replied, Dixie handing him a cup of coffee.
"Thanks. I'd better go talk to them. You guys can come too," Kel said, heading for the lounge, coffee cup in hand. Dixie and Joe followed behind him. Kel took a deep breath before he opened the door to the lounge. The room was silent. All seemed lost in thought. However, all six men jumped up when they saw the two doctors in the doorway.
"How's she doing?" Roy asked the question that was on all their minds.
"She's holding her own for the time being. She's out of surgery and in recovery. She'll then be moved to ICU in about an hour or so." Kel said, sitting down next to Johnny at the table.
"What's the extent of her injuries Doc?" Hank Stanley asked. The four hours had not done him any good. If any thing, Captain Stanley looked worse.
"They are pretty extensive. We stopped counting broken bones at 25. She has a skull fracture, which accounts for the blood in her ears and nose. The skull fracture also accounts for the seizure she had at the scene. She knocked a few teeth loose, which is why she had the bloody mouth."
"What about the cardiac arrest?" Johnny asked.
"She had a bruise to her heart and a punctured lung, which collapsed. She has a chest tube still in to get rid of the excess drainage. She is bleeding into the brain so we have already inserted a shunt in her head. We wanted to stop the pressure before it caused permenant brain damage. She also cracked 2 vertebrae in her lumbar region. There is a lot of swelling around the area, so we are not sure whether she will be paralyzed or not. We did stop the internal bleeding by removing her spleen. She is in a coma right now"
All in the room was silent, taking in the seriousness of Karen's injuries.
"Will she make it?" Mike asked quietly.
"It's hard to say. The next 48 hours are going to be the most critical. We have to see if an infection will set in or if, because of the damage to the lung, she comes down with pnemonia. I wish the news was better." Kel said, taking a sip of coffee.
"Can we see her?" Roy asked.
"After she is in her room. That's going to be in about an hour."
"Doc, she doesn't have any family that can be with her now. I'm sure you know her only living relative is a grandmother and she is in a nursing home and has Alzheimers. Could you arange for one of us stay with her at all times?" Cap asked quietly.
"Hank, you know the hospital rules. There is no…"
"Doc, she basically has no family, except us here in this room. If, God forbid, by some chance she does die, I am not going to let her be alone. I don't care about any stupid hospital rules. One of us is going to stay with her." Cap said, standing up and standing to his full height.
Kel sat for a full minute staring eye-to-eye with Hank Stanley. He could feel Dixie's gaze boring into him. Captain Stanley made no moves, and his eyes never left Doctor Brackett.
Kel let out a deep sigh, took his gaze from Hank to the floor then said,"I'll arrange it. But whoever is with her has to stay out the hospital personnels way. Understood?"
"Understood," Hank replied, sitting back down.
"Good. As soon as she is in her room, I'll have a nurse come for you." Kel said, standing and heading for the door.
"Doc?"
"Yes?" Kel said, turning around, hand on the door.
"Thank you, for everything. I know you all did your best." Hank said, tears gathering in his eyes.
"That goes for all of us, Doc," Chet said from next to Marco.
Dixie noticed all the guys were wiping away tears. She herself was doing the same thing.
"Your welcome. Believe me, someone is on her side, for her to have made it this far." Kel turned and walked out the door quickly. He didn't want the six firefighters, one nurse and one doctor still in the room to see him. As Kelly Brackett walked to his office, the tears began to fall.
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