Another nice long one, seeing as it's Friday :D
Thankyou so much for your feedback, it encourages me to keep going when I start doubting myself xD
Danielle888- You hoped she'd talk to Zoe? In that case, you might like the next chapter ;)
Hope you all enjoy the update and Casualty tomorrow! Oh, and HAPPY FRIDAY! -Sophie x
Seeing as Olive was only waiting for a bed on Keller, she only needed to be seen to once every hour. She had had her surgery that evening and was very grumpy due to the anaesthesia and discomfort. It was down to Connie to check her BP, heart rate and SATS on the hour, and she did so with as much courage as she could muster, working herself up to stepping through the doors by imagining finding her dead.
"Any other problems I should know about." Connie asked flatly, not managing to meet the woman's eye.
"No." She said shortly, crossing her arms tentatively over her stomach.
"Fine. I'll be back in an hour." The clinical lead sighed, turning and leaving the room, catching sight of Charlie talking to Robyn by the doors leading to reception. She turned away quickly and went back to cubicle 13, where she was treating an elderly man by the name of Keith Anderson.
"Hello again. Well I've got your x-ray results back. Your wrist is only sprained, rather than broken so we'll get you patched up and you'll be ready to go, ok?" His face turned from worried into joyous and he took her hand and kissed it, making her jump slightly.
"Thank you so much my dear, I'm so relieved it's not broken. I doubt my pool career would survive it!" His eyes glittered up at her before he started to cough, and she smiled before taking his notes and jotting something down.
"I'm only doing my job, Mr Anderson. Are you a smoker, that cough doesn't sound very good." She became concerned, noticing how his face reddened with every laboured breath.
"No, it- it's just come on, just now." He became worried again and Connie moved the bed so he was sat further upright.
"Let me just check your throat." She said quietly, removing the neck collar and placing it to one side. His neck has started to swell and Keith stopped coughing, suddenly desperate for breath.
"Keith? Keith keep breathing for me." Connie said clearly, unable to keep the worry from her voice. She looked up for a member of staff before spotting Cal stood at the nurse's station.
"Cal a little help please!" She called and he came dashing over, throwing his files onto one of the desks.
"This is Keith Anderson, 58, crashed into a building on the ice. Initially treated for a suspected broken wrist but now he can't breathe. Neck has swollen and BP's rising."
Cal felt at his throat as Connie placed an oxygen mask over his mouth.
"Are thinking the same as me? Subcutaneous emphysema?" She asked and he nodded before turning to shout.
"We need an urgent CT scan now!"
Immediately two nurses ran off, but it was too late. One of his machines started to bleep incessantly, and both their heads snapped up to the screen.
"He's in VF, we need to get him to resus now." Cal said firmly, kicking the brakes and moving the trolley. Connie just stood there, eyes glued to the screen, frozen.
"Mrs Beauchamp!" Cal called but she didn't hear him. He handed the trolley over to Zoe and Max who were passing and went back to where his clinical lead stood.
"Mrs Beauchamp?" He asked but again, there was no response. Her eyes were glazed over, deep in thought. Was she to blame for this? She hadn't noticed the swelling but he had a neck collar on. Plus he was purely being treated for his wrist. But in that case, did he need a neck collar on? Why was it put on in the first place? Oh, in case of injury to the head. But he said he was fine when he came in- why did she keep it on him? So it was her fault? She would have noticed if he wasn't wearing the collar.
"Connie." Cal said gently, touching her arm. The sudden contact and use of her first name startled her and quickly cleared her throat.
"Just thinking." She mumbled, "Let's go see what's happening."
She kept her eyes on the floor and hands close to her side as they passed the smaller resus and went through the doors and out into reception. Cal opened the door to the larger room and she entered, looking up.
Zoe, Rita and Ethan were all around his bed. Rita was injecting him with adrenaline, Ethan was on the phone to Serena Campbell on Keller who was going to treat him, and Zoe was preparing herself for an emergency tracheotomy to help him breathe again.
Just as the instruments were brought to her side however, another of his machines started to go off.
"The adrenaline isn't working, he's gone into cardiac arrest." Rita said loudly and Zoe removed her gloves.
"Right, try another lot, I'll start chest compressions then we'll shock him. Ethan can you sort that please." He nodded and put the phone down before grabbing the defibrillator.
Connie and Cal moved closer as Zoe stood on the small step and began CPR, and from the other side of the bed Rita injected him with another needle of adrenaline. After the first 30 compressions there was still no pulse.
"Still no cardiac output. Ethan?" Zoe said, worry evident in her voice. She moved aside as the registrar placed the pads on the old man's chest and pressed the button for it to charge.
"Charging." He called, "Stand back. Shocking!"
Keith's feeble body jerked on the bed. Connie jumped, her eyes pricking and body tensing before watching him lay still again, the persistent beeping noise informing her that he still had no pulse.
Zoe and Ethan did another three rounds of compressions and shocks before standing back, looking at one another.
"Are we all agreed?" Zoe asked, watching as Ethan, Rita and Cal nodded their heads.
"No." Connie interrupted, "You can't just give up on him like that!"
"We've done 4 rounds of CPR and shocks, as well as 2 lots of adrenaline. He's not responding. What else is there to do?" The consultant looked at her but she shook her head.
"You'll try again and again until his pulse returns, that's what you'll do." She insisted, her jaw clenching and her hands becoming fists at her sides. Rita and Ethan exchanged glances before looking over to Zoe. She sighed.
"Connie he's not coming back. He's been in VF for 19 minutes now."
"So? Try again!" Her voice became louder but Zoe stood her ground.
"No, he's gone. You'll get over it in a day or so but there's nothing we can do." Zoe's voice became gentle but it had no effect on her.
"Well if you won't carry on then I will." She hissed, and before anyone could stop her she was by his side, on the step, hands over his heart.
"Mrs Beauchamp-" Ethan tried to input but she waved him away, compressing Keith Anderson's chest like her life depended on it. After thirty she turned and held her hand out for the defibrillator, her face red and her hair coming out of its neat bun.
"Come on!" She snapped but nobody moved. Cal and Ethan both looked very wary, Rita stood with her arms crossed next to them and Zoe raised her eyebrows as Connie looked down at her.
"Don't give me that look, all I'm trying to do is save this man's life. Is that too much to ask?" Her voice faltered slightly and her eyes pricked again, anger becoming exhausted frustration, only this time it didn't go unnoticed. Her colleague moved forward slightly and placed a gentle hand on her arm, pulling it away from above the man's chest.
Connie looked down at where her skin touched hers and jerked away from it.
"Don't touch me." She hissed before coming down from the step and walking quickly past her audience, a hand over her mouth.
"Connie!" Zoe called after her but it was too late- when she got to the swinging door that led to reception, the clinical lead was no-where to be seen.
...
She ran back to her office, snatching up her bag and coat before storming out, keeping her head down in case her colleagues noticed the tears that were beginning to fall. Without stopping, Connie walked through cubicles and reception before bursting through the front doors and out into the car park, fumbling in her bag for her car keys. Her hands shook so much that she ended up dropping the contents of her handbag on the floor, watching the items scatter around her. She picked up as much as she could quickly before walking back off again in fear of being seen. With a press of a button, the vehicle clicked open and she climbed in, throwing her handbag into the foot well of the passenger's seat before slamming her door shut.
Then, after wiping her eyes on her sleeve, she started up the engine and drove out of the grounds- she'd had enough for one day.
