Destined From the Start - Part Two

Chapter Eleven - A Surgeon's Skill

February, 2289

Grayson walked into the men's locker room and stripped off his uniform, changing into a clean set of scrubs from the dispenser at the door. Then he went into the scrub room and began the now familiar routine. First, the sink where he scrubbed in liquid soap and hot water, then the hot air dryer, then the sterilizing light, and last the unit where a fine mist sprayed out as he turned his hands around, coating them in a micrometer-thick layer of sealant. Holding his hands upright before him, he bumped the door to the operating room with his hip and entered, the mechanism scanning the small badge pinned to his scrubs to determine whether or not to admit him.

He crossed the room to his assigned spot and saw Jill coming toward him, her own scrubbing completed. She steered a small tray filled with instruments with deft movements of her forearms, not touching anything with her hands until time for the operation to start. When she was in position just behind and to his left, she stopped, ready and waiting for his instruction.

In a few moments, the rest of the team had assembled, and the patient was wheeled into the room. Quickly the anesthesiologist checked to be sure that the medication given to the patient earlier had taken effect, and then intubated him and connected him to the equipment that would provide oxygen and anesthetic during the surgery. One of the nurses on the other side of the table set up the monitor, displaying heart rate, pulse, blood pressure, oxygenation level, and all the other things the doctors needed to monitor during the surgery. They were ready to begin.

Quietly, Grayson told Jill what he needed, holding out his hand and finding her there already. He bent to his assigned task, working closely with the other doctors to complete the complicated surgery as quickly as possible, while doing as thorough a job as they were able to do. It took four hours, and he was soaked with sweat and tired to the bone when they were done.

He sent a quick wave of appreciation to Jill, and headed for the showers. A short time later, he met her in the hall outside the surgery suite, and they headed for the mess hall, where their friends would already be eating. Trays in hand, they sat down in the seats which had been saved for them, right in the middle of the table. Joey was the first to speak. "Tell us what the two of you did today."

Everyone was looking at them, food forgotten. Grayson took a quick gulp of his stew and began to talk, interspersing bites of food when he could. "We did a shoulder resection this morning. Not something that comes along very often. We were lucky to get assigned to it. Remember that idiot that plowed his hoverbike into the side of the gym? He smashed his shoulder so bad that they couldn't regrow the bones. They tried three times, and it just wouldn't set. The bones were in too many pieces. So today, we took out all the splinters, and put in a new matrix, and an artificial joint, and grew new bone over it all, then repaired the muscles and reattached the tendons. He'll be almost as good as new after it finishes healing and he goes through rehab."

Around the table people sighed, and returned to their food. Grayson always had an interesting tale to tell after surgery. Annie spoke to Jill, asking her about her role, and Grayson leaned forward to answer. "She put all the tools in my hand almost without my having to tell her what I needed." He grinned widely. "I have the best surgical nurse on campus."

Jill blushed and grinned. "We always go over the operation ahead of time and talk about which tools he'll use for each portion of the operation. He makes it easy for me."

Annie just shook her head. "I don't know how you keep all those sharp little things and little electronic gizmos separated. They all look alike to me. I see the practice kits you bring to the dorm. You have an amazing memory."

There were nods all around the table, and then the topic of conversation began to vary, finally landing on what they were going to do on Saturday evening. It was something they were all looking forward to, and it had taken them two months to get the tickets. They were going to a murder mystery - one of those where you walked around and looked at scenes that had been set up and tried to solve the mystery yourself. They were all quite excited about it.

Saturday evening they all met at the transit station, tickets in hand, and boarded the train together. They were admitted into the setup in teams of four, and Grayson and Jill found themselves starting out with Joey and Sally. They took the write-up that was handed to them as they went in, and Grayson read it aloud. And then they were in the first room, and looking about, trying to figure out what they were supposed to be looking for, and what clues were in this room. They had been wandering around, making notes, for almost an hour when they felt the tremor begin. Instantly, they jumped into the closest doorway, clinging to the frame, while the building shook. They could hear crashes, things falling, and then someone screamed. When the shaking stopped, they headed in the direction of the cries for help, determined to do whatever they could.

They pushed their way through a pile of debris, and into what had been a large glassed-in room, crowded with plants and wicker furniture. There on the floor was a young man, with a large spike of glass through his upper arm. Beside him a young woman was trying to stanch the flow of blood, calling continuously for help. Grayson knelt down quickly, Jill at his side, and Joey and Sally helped the young woman up and out of the way. "Looks like an artery is cut. We need to stop the bleeding quickly."

Grayson's fingers probed into the deep cut, seeking the source of the pumping blood. "There. Got it. Put your fingers right where mine are."

Jill slipped her fingers into the wound, finding the spot where Grayson wanted her to apply pressure. Carefully he eased his fingers out, leaving her there to maintain pressure while he looked up and asked for whatever tools people might have on them. Joey quickly turned his pockets out, and handed Grayson a small pocket tool, with knife blades and a rasp, and other possibly useful options. Sally opened her purse and took out a small device and offered it. "This is a portable clothing repair tool. It will glue things together."

Startled, Grayson took it from her and turned it over in his hands. Sally gave him a quick explanation of how it worked and he grinned at her. "This might just do the job. At least until we can get him some real repair." He took Joey's tool and found a small, sharp blade, as Joey ran back to one of the other rooms they had been in, returning with a bottle of wine.

"Only thing I could think of that we passed that might work to sterilize the knife blade."

"Good thinking. Here, pour some on the blade as I turn it around." He then took the knife and carefully widened the would, exposing the cut edges of the artery, with Jill's fingers carefully clamping them closed. He used the small tool Sally had given him, spraying the glue generously over the whole area, and then turning on the light that would set it. Slowly Jill eased her fingers up and they held their breaths until they could see that there was no more blood pumping out. They cleaned the pieces of glass out of the wound as best they could, and were tying a folded scarf over the would when the Emergency Medical Team arrived.

They searched for a working bathroom next, the clean themselves up as best they could. And then they gathered with the rest of their friends, to see whether there was anything else they could do to help before heading out somewhere to find something to eat, for the dinner they had paid for certainly wasn't going to be served. As they exited, management was there, handing out rainchecks, so that people could buy replacement tickets at a much lower rate. They just shook their heads. By the time the place was repaired and reopened, they would all be studying for finals.

They found a pizza place nearby that was undamaged, and settled down, pushing tables together until they had room for everyone. And Kan and Shron groused until the food arrived, that they hadn't been there to see Grayson and Jill operate.