DARK DAYS AND DARKER NIGHTS
"I thought you might like that news."
At 6:30 two of the day shift nurses entered Miles' room to begin the young man's morning routine. The routine consisted mainly of recording his vital signs and getting him cleaned up and into a freshly made bed. In other words they were preparing him for when his doctors made their morning rounds. Looking over at Natalie, Kim Jacobs said, "You'll need to leave now."
She nodded and looked down at Miles, noting that he'd obviously just awakened because his still held an expression of sleepy confusion. "I'm going to the motel to get some rest and something to eat. But I'll be back to see you," she promised.
"You been here all night?" Kim asked.
"Pretty much," the doctor answered and picked up her purse and tote bag. "Is Dr. Delaney going to be in soon to check on Dr. McCabe?"
"He should be unless he gets tied up in the ER. You can wait around if you'd like," the nurse answered.
"I think I'll do just that," Natalie said, gently rubbing Miles' shoulder. "Now, don't be given anybody any trouble."
His response was to look at her with a pair of raised eyebrows and reach out to grasp her hand.
She laughed lightly and said, "I'll let Stephen and the rest of the team know that you're doing better." Giving his hand a squeeze, she left the room.
Kim finished checking her patient's vital signs and jotted the readings down in his chart. "Now let's get you out of this gown so I can get you cleaned up," she said cheerfully.
Leaving Miles' room, Natalie went straight to the nurses' station and said, "When Dr. Delaney gets here could you please let him know that I'd like to speak with him regarding Dr. McCabe."
"I'll make a note of it, Dr. Durant. I'm sure he'll be able to unless he's paged back downstairs," the nurse replied.
"Thank you," Natalie said and went to get a strong cup of coffee.
A few moments later Dr. Delaney arrived in the SICU to check on his several patients. Entering Dr. McCabe's room last, he scanned the nurses' notes in the chart. "I see he's had a restful night," he commented.
"He's about due for another dose of morphine. Do you want me to administer it now or wait until after you finish your examination?" Kim asked.
"Let's wait," the trauma surgeon decided. "Please turn the vent off so I can listen to his lungs. He placed his stethoscope around his neck while the nurse pulled down the front of the patient's gown.
Dr. Delaney listened to Miles' lungs noting that although there appeared to be slightly less fluid build up, both were still severely congested. "Okay, turn it back on," he instructed.
Mile had patiently submitted to the examination and now he looked up questioningly. He wanted to know how long he'd be on the ventilator.
Dr. Delaney made some notations in the chart and then looked down at his patient. "Your O2 sats appear to be holding at acceptable levels and your lungs are beginning to clear up. If you continue to improve at this rate, I'll see about removing you from the ventilator either tomorrow or Sunday and putting you on supplemental oxygen by nasal canula,' he said.
Kim laughed softly as she saw Miles' attempt to give the thumbs up sign. "I thought you might like that news," she told him.
"I still want to keep you in here at least until the beginning of next week at the earliest. That way you can still be monitored closely just in case you need to go back on the ventilator," the older doctor cautioned. He turned to the nurse "Go ahead and administer the morphine while I go talk to Dr. Durant."
"Yes, Doctor," Kim said. She picked up the prepared syringe and injected the contents into Miles' IV.