Chapter 10
While Mac was getting his family together to get to Rampart, Christy was well on her way to the hospital. Her vitals had started to stabilize on the way in and they no longer thought she was in too much danger. However, she still had not regained consciousness and that concerned everyone, especially Dr. Brackett. Everyone that was working on her knew that the longer she remained unresponsive, the worse her chances were.
From the time of the initial phone call from the hospital until the time Pete Malloy and the MacDonald family arrived it had been almost an hour. Not much was known at that point beyond what they had been told initially. When Mac saw Hank Stanley and the rest of the crew, he called out to them.
"Hank, what happened this time?" Mac was really worried this time. He had a bad feeling that this one might be a game changer for Christy. Hank Stanley then proceeded to give an update as to how she was injured this time. Somehow, they all knew that this injury was more severe than any other she had suffered before. Now the wait began. Luckily they didn't have to wait too long as Dr. Brackett came out to see all of them.
"Glad to see you here, Mac. Malloy, you're looking good as well. Alright, let's take this to my office, shall we? Hank, I know you and the others need to get back, but I really think you all need to hear this." The look on his face was not exactly encouraging. Enough so that Capt. Stanley notified dispatch that they were still at Rampart and would be there for the foreseeable future. Then the entire crew of 51, the MacDonald clan and Pete Malloy made their way to Dr. Brackett's office. It was a bit crowded, but room was made to accommodate everyone there. Pete, Mary, Mac and Hank were given seats while the others stood around.
"Alright, now that we're all together, I can give you a proper update. Right now, she is stable. However, she has not come around and that has me very concerned. I believe Hank explained how she was injured this time, correct?" Stanley nodded in agreement, and then Brackett continued. "From what I can tell, the immense pounding her back took from the fall and landing on her air tank caused her spinal column to swell. Right now, we're not sure of the extent of the damage. Until she wakes up, we can't really run many more tests to determine what is going on. That brings me to another injury of hers. When she landed, she did hit her head with the helmet slipping off. The injury is just above her right ear, near the temple. There was also blood in the ears, meaning ruptured ear drums. There is a chance that at this point she will have some hearing loss, at least temporarily. But, again, until she regains consciousness, we just will not have a good idea how bad the injuries are." Brackett stopped at that point and let the information sink in for everyone, especially the youngest ones.
That's when Pete Malloy a question that apparently no one really wanted to ask, yet knew an answer was needed.
"Doc, tell us truthfully. It sounds like she has a back injury as well as possible hearing damage. Is this going to keep her from being a firefighter again? I might not have known her for nearly as long as everyone else around here, but I think I can tell you with a lot of certainty that if she can't, then this just might destroy her. Yes, she is a nurse as well. However, if the problem is with both being able to walk and to hear, then that is off the table as well, isn't it? Worst case scenario, Doc, what is she looking at?" Malloy knew he wasn't being too fair on the doc, but given his unique position, he felt he could do this. Luckily, Brackett felt the same way.
"Pete, the hard truth is this: right now we just don't know. Yes, worst case scenario is that she loses both her hearing and her ability to walk. On the flip side, the best case is that she keeps both completely intact. Now, that being said, I really don't think either one is likely. At this point, I am really hoping for best case, but more than likely it will be some mix of the two. Right now, that's all we can hope for. At this point, Hank you and your crew probably should get back to the barn. I'll let you know if there any changes, and I'm quite sure whenever John and Roy come in they will be checking on her as well." Kelly Brackett was not a mean or hard man, but he was pretty firm in what could and couldn't be done. Thus, he had to get the guys back to the firehouse to keep their mind off of Christy and on their work. They still had a lot of shift to get through and he knew that Christy would pitch a fit if she knew they were here.
"You're right, Doc. Come on you twits. Let's clear outta here. Mac, we'll keep her in our prayers as usual." Stanley leaned down to shake Mac's hand and then led the group of firefighters out. This left just the family proper, including Pete Malloy. Pete felt kind of like a fish out of water here. In actuality, he wasn't dating Christy, yet they had agreed that once they found out he could see that they would start dating. He felt they had become very close friends over the past few weeks. He didn't know it, but it would be that friendship that would bring her back from the brink.
"Now, Bill I know you are all worried about her. Truthfully, so am I. She's not only one of the best firefighters in the county, but paramedic as well as nurse when she has to pull a shift here. I would really hate to lose her if we didn't have to. Right now, like I said, we have to wait until she comes around. Once she has been stable for a bit, we'll move her to ICU. We need to keep an eye on the head injury and make sure it doesn't get any worse than it is. If the swelling get to be too much, then we'll have to go in. I don't have to tell you that any time you perform surgery on someone's head it is as risky as it gets. For now, we are at a wait and see stage. In the meantime, I need to get back out there. Go ahead and feel free to use my office to make the rest of your calls. I'll let you know when we get ready to move her." Kel Brackett really hated cases like this. He considered Christy not only a colleague, but a very good friend. Thus, the reason his heart went out to the MacDonald family, as well as to Pete Malloy. Then, Malloy spoke up.
"Doc, do you think I could see her for a minute? I really can't explain it, but right now I have the overwhelming feeling that I need to be there. I just can't describe it, and Mac, I hope you understand." Mac took one look at Pete, glanced at Mary to confirm, then said "Pete, I'd probably kick your can all over the place if you didn't want to see her right now. Go on, we'll be alright here. She needs you right now." Bill MacDonald placed his hand on Pete's shoulder to let him know that he was truly alright with Pete being in with her.
Thus, when Brackett went out to check on others, his first stop was taking Malloy back to where Christy was. Once he made sure that Pete was situated in a chair, he left him alone with her. Now, all Pete could do was wait.