DISCLAIMER: All characters are the property of Mark VII and others. I'm just borrowing them. I do own the character of Julianna.
"We have a trauma coming. Twenty-eight year old, hit by a car. Possible abdominal injury, possible hip. Definitely has a tib/fib," Julianna said.
She was waiting in treatment 3 when Roy came in with John.
"Roy, what happened," Julianna asked, not seeing that John was on the stretcher.
"We were leaving a call and the car came out of nowhere. It hit Johnny and he bounced off the hood onto the ground," Roy said.
Julianna was listening to Roy and was shocked when he said it was John on the stretcher. "Johnny," she choked out. Roy nodded his head and Julianna immediately began assessing John.
She consulted with another physician who arrived at the same conclusion she did. They needed to operate and Julianna was the one that was going to have to do it.
"Roy, could you give me Amy's number? She should probably know, since they're practically engaged. Someone should sit with him," she said.
"I think her number's on Johnny's paperwork. Let me call the station," Roy said.
"Great, but hurry. I have to take him to the OR in a few minutes," she said.
She turned to the phone and began making calls and setting up an OR for the emergency surgery.
Roy called the station and obtained Amy's number from Marco. He promised to update the crew when Johnny was out of surgery and hung up the phone.
He entered the treatment room and saw Julianna standing next to John.
"Hey, you. You're quite the daredevil. Don't you know you surf in the water and not on car hoods," she said, trying to smile and keep the tears at bay.
"What happened," he asked.
"You took a nasty spill at the hands of a hit and run driver. I'm afraid you need surgery," she said.
"Is it serious," he asked.
"I'm going to be right there with you, but yeah it is," she said.
"You gonna do it," he asked.
"Yep. You got a problem with that," Julianna asked.
John tried to grin, "Wouldn't have it any other way."
Without waiting for a reply, Julianna stepped out of the way and let Roy talk to his friend while she called the number Roy gave her.
Julianna took a deep breath and called the number.
"Amy, this is Julianna Stoker, a physician at Rampart," she said.
"How could I forget you? What are you doing calling me at this hour," she said.
"John's been in an accident and I thought you'd want to know so you could be with him," Julianna said.
"Is it serious," she asked.
"Well, all surgery is serious," Julianna said.
"Call me when it's over. I'm not wasting my beauty sleep to spend the night by his bedside if he doesn't know I'm there. I'll come when he's awake," Amy said before hanging up the phone.
Julianna heard the dial tone, but couldn't believe what she'd heard from Amy. Not only was she superficial and selfish, she was cold. 'She claims to love John, but she had a weird way of showing it,' Julianna thought to herself.
She glanced at Roy, who looked lost.
"I'll take good care of him, Roy," she said to him.
"I know. Did you talk to Amy," he asked.
"She said not to wake her at this hour and call her when he's awake. She said she couldn't stand by his side if he didn't know she was there," Julianna said.
"Johnny needs to have someone he loves staying with him. Why would she do that," Roy asked.
"I can't explain it, but I know what I'd do if I were in her and someone called about the man I love," Julianna said.
"What, Jules," Roy asked.
"I'd never leave his side until I knew he was OK. And that's exactly what I'm going to do," Julianna said.
"Are you operating," Roy asked.
"Yeah. You can wait in the lounge and I'll get you when he goes to recovery. Try to get some rest," Julianna said.
"Not until I know he's OK, Jules. He has to be OK," Roy said.
Julianna hugged him and then composed herself. "I've got to scrub in. I'll get you when I'm done," Julianna said before heading out the door, leaving Roy in an empty room, looking at the trash that was discarded from taking care of Johnny. "God be with you, Julianna Stoker," Roy said. He headed out the door and went to the lounge. There was nothing he could do but wait and he hated waiting.
"OK, that looks good, let's close up. Suture," Julianna said behind her OR mask. She was taking extra care with this patient.
She closed the last suture and heard a read out of his vitals. She didn't want to keep John under the influence of the anesthesia any longer than she had to because she'd heard of John's reactions with medications.
"He's ready for recovery. I'll write up some additional orders and check on him after he's moved upstairs," Julianna said.
She exited the OR and lowered the mask so it hung around her neck. She ran her hands over her face, a sign that she was trying to keep her composure.
She walked to the nurses station just outside the OR and sat down. She picked up John's chart and began writing her procedure notes and making plans for John's admittance.
She gave the chart to the nurses and went to the nurses lounge downstairs to let Roy know Johnny would be alright.
She rode the elevator down and thought about what she'd said earlier. Everyone called him Johnny but she had always called him John. When she knew it was him in the accident, her detachment left and he suddenly became Johnny to her, like he was to so many others.
She exited the elevator and wasn't surprised to find the entire A-shift waiting in the lounge and lobby.
Roy rushed to her, followed by the Captain. "How's Johnny," Roy asked.
"Surgery went well. Next 24 hours will be critical because I need to watch for blood loss. He's being moved to a room in a few minutes. Once his anesthesia wears off, he'll probably still be sleepy. He'll be given pain meds because he's going to be hurting, despite what he'll have you believe," Julianna said.
"You seem to know Johnny pretty well," Roy said.
"Personal experience, nothing more," she said. "I'm going to check and see that he's settled for the night."
Julianna turned to head into the lounge for coffee when she was stopped by Chet's voice,
Hey, Julianna," he said.
Julianna turned around, "Yeah, Chet."
"Thanks for saving the Pigeon," Chet said.
Julianna chuckled to herself and went into the nurse's lounge. She grabbed a coffee cup and got some coffee from the pot. She stirred some milk and sugar into it, knowing she'd never go to sleep after the surgery she'd performed.
Dixie came into the lounge. "Juli. I heard what happened to Johnny. Is he alright," she asked.
"Surgery is finished and went well. Just waiting on the blood levels for the next 24 hours," she said, taking a drink of her coffee.
"Is Amy coming," Dixie asked.
"She didn't want to interrupt her beauty sleep for someone that wouldn't know she was there," Julianna said.
Dixie's eyes rolled and Julianna gave a wry smile.
"Well, I'm going to go and check on him. He should be awake soon," Julianna said, rinsing her cup in the sink.
Dixie watched the young physician walk out of the lounge. Dixie knew Julianna would be at Johnny's bedside until someone else could take her place.
Julianna got off on the fourth floor and went toward Johnny's room.
She opened the door and found Roy sitting there, watching his friend's chest rise and fall.
"Roy. I'll sit with him. Why don't you go and get something to eat and change. I'll call you if something happens before you get back," Julianna said.
"You sure, Juli? Don't you have things to do," Roy asked.
"Spending the day with Mike was the only thing I had planned and he'd only be worrying about Johnny," Julianna said.
"If you're sure? I'll head home and change and let Joanne know what's going on with Johnny. See you later, Jules," Roy said.
Julianna took her seat next to Johnny's bed. She had brought his chart into the room to finish her operative note and finish charting the procedures. She looked at the monitors and her patient.
"It's a good thing your unconscious because you might not like what I have to say. You're a wonderful guy Johnny and I can't understand why you're with Amy. After meeting her and seeing things, I wish I HAD met you first. If I had...," Julianna said but never finished and started writing on the chart.
An hour later, Julianna couldn't keep her eyes open. She rested her head on Johnny's bed and closed her eyes. She didn't want to sleep, but it was slowly pulling her under and she stopped fighting and fell asleep.