When Caitlin came to, she was being rolled into the ED at Med. She started to panic. There was something about this hospital that she didn't like and it most probably had something to do with Antonio. She started hyperventilating and tried to sit up on the gurney. She couldn't see Alvin and she panicked.
The paramedic stopped the gurney. "Caitlin, you need to calm down".
Connor came rushing in their direction as he put his stethoscope around his neck. "What do you have"? as he took the chart from the other paramedic.
"Strangulation".
Connor looked over the file then towards the gurney. "Caitlin"? he said out loud to no one in particular. "Get her in trauma 2", he said as Kenny was brought in.
"He took a very bad beating, sats and BP are low and heart rate high".
Connor looked at the clipboard. There could have been fluid build-up around the heart. He wanted to take care of Caitlin, but knew that he would be more helpful to Kenny. Will came up to him and took Caitlin's clipboard.
"I've got her. Go"!
Connor nodded. "Ok, let's get him in trauma 2"!
Will entered and caught a glimpse of a very agitated Caitlin. She was battling to remove her oxygen mask. He quickly assessed her from afar. There were indeed strangulation marks around her neck and her eyes were slowly showing signs of petechia, they were slightly blood-shot.
"Cat, it's Will", he said as he walked up to her. "I know you're scared but I can't help you if you don't calm down. Can you do that for me, please? I don't want to have to sedate you or restrain you".
She tried to calm down but found it hard. She looked at Will panicked.
"That's it Cat. Just try to relax".
He checked the monitors, her oxygen saturation was still low regardless of the oxygen. He took out his stethoscope and first checked her torso before checking the back. "Can you try and take a deep breath for me"?
When she did, pain ravaged her. When he stopped listening, he heard a low croak and she was squinting her eyes from the pain.
"Ok's let get her hooked up to a saline drip and push in 0.5mg of Dilaudid for the pain. I want a neck and chest X-Ray and CT-scan of the neck as well".
He put his hand on Caitlin's leg. She was shaking. "Are you cold"? She nodded. "Ok, let's get another blanket here".
He watched as she tried to remove the mask. "Cat, you need to keep that on, your oxygen level is too low", he said as he placed it back over her nose and mouth. She tried to talk but no sound came out and if it did, it was not recognizable.
Outside, Alvin had been caught up by Hank when he had gotten out of the ambulance. Hank pointed a finger at him. "You're damn lucky they're still alive"!
"Excuse-me"? said Al infuriated.
"You received that message at 2 o'clock in the morning. We could have acted sooner"!
"Oh don't you go blaming this on me! Like I was supposed to know that they were in trouble and that she would text me for help".
"But she did! And she contacted no one else", yelled Hank.
"So this is what all this is about! You're not so pissed off about the fact that I got the text as late as I did. You're pissed off, because she sent it to me and not you"!
"Oh that's low"! said Hank as he pushed Alvin.
"No, it's the truth. And you can't handle the truth, because it means that she thinks that she can't count on you anymore and that has you going insane"!
Jay, Kim and Adam looked at them. "Should we get involved"? asked Kim.
"Nah, not until it gets really physical", said Jay.
"My bets are on Alvin", said Adam.
At that moment, Alvin punched Hank in the face. "See, what did I tell you", said Adam.
"Now, we're stepping in", said Jay as he looked at Kim. "You take Alvin and I'll take Hank", he said as he and Adam walked over.
They broke them apart. "Alright, enough already"! yelled Jay.
"Come on guys, Kenny and Caitlin are in there, you really want to stay out here and fight"? asked Adam as he pushed Alvin back.
Alvin set himself straight and walked towards the ED entrance with Adam beside him.
Connor worked around Kenny quickly but thoroughly.
"Get me the portable ultrasound, now"! He ordered April.
The minute she returned with it he grabbed it and looked at Kenny's heart.
"How's Caitlin"? asked Kenny.
"Don't worry about her, she's in good hands".
"I've got fluid in the pericardium, let's get him up to surgery"!
"You've got to tell Caitlin, I'm sorry. It's all my fault", Kenny said as he grabbed Connor's hand.
"You'll tell her yourself". He looked at his assisting surgeon. "Get him prepped, I'm right behind you"!
He walked out of the trauma room and looked over in Caitlin's, but it was empty. He joined Will at the doctor's station. "How is she"?
Will saw the rest of the team walk in. "We might as well update them and each other at the same time, what do you say"?
Connor nodded. "I'll start, I need to get to the OR".
The team stopped in front of them.
"How are they"? asked Alvin.
"Kenny is on his way to surgery. I need to evacuate liquid that has formed around his heart and is compressing it, limiting the blood flow. I'll know more when I'm done".
Hank nodded and Connor left for the OR.
Alvin swallowed. "And Caitlin"?
"She's in a lot of pain. Breathing and swallowing are also quite painful. At this moment in time she is aphonic".
"Aphonic"? asked Kim.
"It means she has temporarily lost the usage of her voice. It's very common and due to the compression of the larynx on the vocal cords".
"Can we see her"? asked Alvin.
"I sent her up for a scan and some X-Rays. I want to rule out such things as pulmonary and tracheal edemas and a fractured larynx or hyoid bone".
"So, it's serious", said Hank.
"Until I've been able to rule those out, I consider her state being very serious".
Alvin looked down at the floor.
"Did she lose consciousness during the strangulation"?
"She was starting to, but I didn't get that far", said Hank.
"Just as it was the case for Connor, I'll be able to give you a more precise update when I get the test results".
Paterson arrived and introduced himself to Will. "Doctor, we're going to need to take photographs once she comes back. Our forensics team will be waiting on your green light".
"Of course. I'll let you know".
Paterson turned his attention to Hank. "Is there a place where we can talk in private"?
Hank nodded and they walked outside.