I guess the chapter title gives this one away. Who's heart will it be? More reviews makes the infection go away.
Chapter 11: Heart Failure
She was startled by his gasp and weak voice, muffled by the mask.
"Martha."
She looked back at him, his weary face reflected misery and pain.
"I'm here." She touched his cheek, removing the cloth from his forehead. It had only been about 15 minutes since she was near enough to notice him. He was shivering. She felt his bare chest, he was burning up with fever. His temperature had been elevated but now it was even more so.
"Hurts.", was all he could manage to say.
"Hurts worse?"
He nodded.
"Where?"
He grunted, "My chest and head…..agh!...nerve endings….brain on fire……..ugh..can't breathe…."
She steadied his shaking body by a gentle touch to his shoulder. What made it even worse were his next words, a small strangled reply before his eyes rolled back under his lids.
"Help me!"
The monitor squealed out an urgent response to yet another change in his body. His left heart had failed again. Checking the monitors again, she pushed the button 'Cardiac Scan'. The scan was immediate, not like waiting for results of x-rays or CTs. His right heart had picked up the beat to make up for the loss of his left heart. It seemed his left heart was swollen with inflammation and infection. It had rapidly grown since her last check. With his immune system shorted out, who knew what would happen next.
The monitor squealed again, this time it showed a decrease in oxygen content again. He couldn't get oxygen any higher than he was receiving through the mask. He was gasping ineffective breaths, starving for the critical element. She would have to do something, he was turning blue.
Martha wrung her hands muttering, "What to do, what to do? Ineffective breathing pattern, heart failure…….Life Support!" The answer became evident to her. In a flash she had a breathing tube in place and connected the ventilator. She listened to the gentle push of air through a stethoscope she placed on the Doctor's chest.
She stood back, again studying the readouts. His left heart was still but his right was compensating. She pushed more medication to stabilize him into his IV line and hung a few more bags of solutions that would hopefully reduce his fever and infection. Studying the cardiac scan she noticed an artery that was feeding the left heart from the right, keeping blood flow to the left heart. That meant that his left heart could recover if the infection was eradicated.
She stood back, regarding his now still form. A breathing tube entered his mouth and was connected to tubes that attached to the ventilator. The ventilator was a small unit, fitting on a bedside tabletop. Not like the larger units she was used to. This one was calibrated to automatically adjust to the patient's condition. The blood sampler was still on his right finger.
"Oh Doctor," she felt sorry for him, so vunerable. She took his hand and squeezed it. "I'm sorry I had to do this to you." Her tears dropped onto the sheet that covered him. She sniffed away a sob. At least he was alive. She was determined to keep it that way.
