I'm back! With the quarantine episode. This was just a fantastic story line and the beginning of Audrey and Neil's relationship. How could I not write about it.
Also if you have any ideas for one shots that you'd like to see, I'd be happy to write them!
'Dr. Lim isn't just a patient'
"If we expand the quarantine, I can do the transplant. The only technical breach woul..." the room became deathly silent as Neil's announcement into the room came to a holt. Everyone followed his gaze to the hospital cameras where Dr. Lim was being held in quarantine.
"She's infected" Andrews explained, standing.
"We've gotta get in there" he tried
"Dr. Reznick and Dr. Murphy are in there with her, they are doing everything they can"
"Well, we need someo..." he was suddenly cut off by his phone ringing, he looked towards Andrews before answering it "Melendez..."
Back in the ER, Dr. Reznick and Mr. Murphy were performing an emergency surgery with Dr. Lim helping them from her containment.
"Take down the adhesion's on the sigmoid" Audrey breathed, beginning to feel herself getting weaken "How are his vitals?"
"Holding steady" A younger nurse who was assisting replied
"That's dead bowel" Morgan said as she was digging around
"It's perforated" Shaun added looking over at Dr. Lim
"Dammit" Audrey cursed, her head snapping up when a nurse suddenly began yelling from the other room
"I need a doctor!"
"Petringa needs help" Dr. Lim breathed out
"If I don't secure these clamps, there will be stool everywhere" Morgan replied
"Murphy, go" the young resident hesitated before nodding and leaving the room
"Back to business Dr. Reznick" Audrey said, bringing the other resident back to the present, who nodded at her.
"Suction" Morgan tried "I must've nicked a branch of the inferior mesenteric artery, I can't see where"
"Can you feel it?" Morgans hand moved around the patients body before finding the bleed
"I think so" she replied
"Use your finger to plug the hole" Audrey breathed, her lungs restricted the movement and her sight was being obscured by the dizziness she was feeling
"Now what?" Morgan tried
No answer
"Dr. Lim?" Morgan turned towards her senior doctor to find her collapsed on the ground unconscious "I need help, go get Dr. Murphy!"
"Of course" the nurse nodded and went to find the other resident, within minutes they both walked into the ER
"We can repair the IMA with a graft from the saphenous vein" Murphy announced as he arrived into the room "We just..."
"I don't need a diagnosis, I need an extra pair of hands" Morgan replied frantically " Get me a 2-0 silk, vascular clamps, and an blade"
"You got her on maximal oxygen?" Andrews questioned Morgan as they spoke over the phone
"Yeah, her vitals have recovered slightly" she replied, emotion clear in her voice
"The CDC is sending a PCR test based off the virus in the Malaysian outbreak"
"So what's their treatment protocol?" she questioned
"Antivirals, steroids, inhaled nitric oxide and anti-TNF receptor antibodies" he replied
"That's what we did for the two plane patients" she breathed "And Tyler"
"We got to Dr. Lim sooner, that should make a difference"
"and if it doesn't?" she questioned, feeling less hopeful of Lim's chances of survival
"Just keep an eye on her" he replied "I refuse to lose my best trauma surgeon"
"How is she?" Neil questioned as he walked into Andrews office
"Not any better" he replied crossing his arms
"When will the CDC arrive?"
"They are moving as quick as they can"
"Yeah, well the virus is moving quicker!" he growled, more to himself than to Andrews
"I know you are worried about her, we all are, but being angry with yourself is not going to make the situation any better" his superior replied "Call her"
"she's in respiratory failure, I can't just call her. She needs her strength"
"I know she does, and I'm holding out hope but if we can't find a cure, or something to stop this virus than this may be the last time that you talk to her"
"I can't..." he closed his eyes
"I know you two were close in residency and even more now, you'll regret it"
"I'm sorry for your loss" Audrey whispered, drawing Morgans attention to her and away from her now deceased friend. Morgan immediately ran over to her and began checking her vitals.
"Status?" Audrey asked
"O2 SAT is 92, respiratory rate is down to 16" she replied "Your lungs sound clearer"
"Keep pulmonary edema to a minimum with conservative fluid management" Audrey replied and Morgan nodded "Use furosemide so my CVP's under 8"
"Absolutely" the younger resident smiled sadly at her superior before they were both alerted by a phone ringing
"It's mine" Audrey nodded towards her white coat that was now on the ground "Left pocket"
"It's Dr. Melendez" Morgan held up her phone to show a photo of Dr. Lim and Dr. Melendez from when they used to be residents
"Leave it" she sighed turning her head
"Are you sure?" Morgan questioned
"I'm not his patient"
"No but you are his friend. We both know what this virus does, and as much as i hate to say it..."
"...okay" she nodded
"I'll leave you two" she pressed accept on the phone, putting it on speaker and placing it in Audrey's hand before leaving the room
"Audrey?" Neil's voice broke through the phone "Are you there?"
"Hi" She breathed but he could barely make out her response
"How are you?" he could have slapped himself "Dumb question"
"Good as gold" she smiled to herself, after an almost silent minutes, besides from her hard breathing she spoke again "I love this place. I always said I'd be doing this till the day I die" she took a deep breath "Ta-da"
"They started your treatment early" he tried, keeping his own emotions in check "You'll be back to repairing late-night, drunken head injuries in no time"
"I forgot to call my mum on her birthday" she said
"I'm sure she understand's, you work to much" she could hear him grinning into the phone
"I forgot to do a lot of stuff. I want to go sky diving, I want to get married, have kids... Neil I want to tell yo..." her voice suddenly dropped out as he began hearing machines beeping in the background
"Audrey!" he tried
"She's choking" Morgan announced as she and a nurse entered the room, Hazmat suits on "Adjust pulmonary edema" after a few minutes the beeping began to die down
"Dr. Reznick?" Neils voice could still be heard through the phone
"I'm here. She's alright, getting worse but still stable" she replied
"Look after her" he breathed "Please"
"Of course"
Morgan was assisting another doctor as alarms started blaring through the hospital, knowing where they were coming from she ran to where Dr. Lim was being held
"Start Bronchodilators" Morgan announced entering the room "Dr. Lim... can you hear me?"
Audrey's eyes fluttered as she struggled to get oxygen into her lungs
"O2 SATs are still dropping" the nurse said, rushing around the room
"Push paralytics" Morgan replied "Starting intubation"
The alarms blaring in the room alerted Dr. Andrews, Mr. Melendez and several other staff of her condition. They all rushed towards the camera monitors and watched as Morgan and the nurse worked their way around Dr. Lim. Andrews rushed over to to his phone and began calling the resident, he watched on the monitors as she rushed over and answered the phone, leaving it on the bed beside Dr. Lim.
"I'm getting resistance bagging" Morgan said
"I gave her hyoscine" the nurse added
"Hello? What's going on?" Andrews tried
"Lim's O SATs are crashing" Morgan panicked "Her lungs aren't inflating. They're filled with fluid and secretions"
"Pick up the phone" Melendez interrupted
"I've got my hands full"
"Nurse, pick up the phone!" the camera on the phone fuzzed as they moved the camera to face Lim's vitals so the other doctors could see
"Okay, show me what's going on?"
"She's in full respiratory failure" Morgan replied
"She needs more pulmonary support" Andrews tied, grabbing the phone from Melendez and placing it on the table "Get her on BiPAP. That might buy us some time"
"I can't right now, her heart rate is dropping too fast" Morgan replied "Her body can't take much more, her lungs are in complete failure. We're gonna lose her!"
"Start compressions!" Dr. Melendez's voice cut in
"On it" Morgan climbed closer to Dr. Lim, laying her knee on the edge of the bed as she started CPR.
"Do 60 compression's before using the defibrillator, we don't want to shock her body any more than we have to" Andrews replied, looking over at Neil who was gripping the edge of the seat tightly
"She is still dropping" Morgan said near a minute later
"Start on 250 joules! before resuming compression's if it doesn't work"
"Yep" Morgan stepped back as the Nurse began setting the machine "Clear"
Audrey's body jolted but her vitals remained flatlined
"Keep compression's going, bump it up to 300 joules" Neil tried, his hands turning red and his breathing irregular
"Her hearts not pumping!" Morgan tried "We can crack her chest and do cardiac massage"
"Morgan" Andrews sighed into the phone
"Andrews no!" Neil cracked, staring at his boss in frustration
"There is nothing more we can do!" Andrews yelled, clearly frustrated himself "Stop compressions.."
"Dr. Andrews" Morgan cried
"Now" Dr. Reznick stepped back from Dr. Lim as she continued to flatline
"Time of death..."
"No!" Neil yelled grabbing the phone "Bump it to 350, try again!"
"Mr. Melendez, this is not th..."
"She's not just a patient Andrews!" Neil yelled, realising he was yelling at his boss but not really caring in the moment "This is Audrey"
Andrews stared at a frantic Neil before nodding his head.
"Do it Morgan" he said
"Come on Dr. Lim" Morgan whispered "Clear"
Her body jolted again and her status stayed the same
"Neil..." Andrews tried as Neil threw the phone to the ground before collapsing into the chair in front of him and placing his head in his hands.
"Wait!" Morgan yelled into the phone, causing them both to look to the monitors. Held in breaths were released when they heard a low beep, signally that there was a heartbeat "She's breathing"
"Gracias a Dios" Melendez mumbled into his hands
"Keep her stable" Andrews breathed a sigh of relief
"I have an idea" Morgan replied "What if we take her lungs out of the equation. We put her on ECMO, oxygenate her blood outside her body... her lungs will have time to heal."
"We can't do ECMO in the E.R"
"We aren't supposed to do abdominal surgery in the E.R., either" she replied hopeful "Please, walk me through it"
Andrews nodded before replying
"Prep an area over her femoral vein..."
After about 30 minutes, Morgan's phone began ringing to to an unknown number.
"Hello?" she questioned answering
"Dr. Reznick" a muffled voice came through the phone
"Dr. Melendez" she replied
"What's going on?"
"Map is holding steady at 65, but she was dipping into serious hypoxia for a short bit"
He breathed a sigh of relief
"Good work, taking care of her"
"Thank you"
"Call me with any updates" he replied "Please"
"He is okay" Murphy smiled as he handed over the baby he just delivered to his mother
"A Christmas miracle" one of the nurses smiled
"Thank you" the mother cried looking down at the baby. Suddenly alarms started blaring in the hospital.
"It's Lim" Morgan shouted running over to the ER. When she entered, she made a B line for a hazmat suit but she turned towards the glass room and let out a sigh of relief
"Could i grab some water?" Dr. Lim questioned as she tried, but failed to sit up. Morgan nodded enthusiastically and smiled at her senior doctor "ECMO? That was a ballsy move"
Morgan let out a small laugh as Audrey leaned back into the bed.
"Ester Blum, Pete Bailey" Walked over to a patient and the person keeping them company "your PCR and serology came back negative for the virus. You're officially cleared" the couple smiled at each other
"So the Virus is completely gone" Browne questioned as she came up to stand next to Murphy
"CDC announced that everything was clear, everyone in the hospital has been cleared" Dr. Melendez replied, walking over to the two holding a folder
"how many loses?" Browne questioned
"3" He replied
"It was 4" Murphy added "Until Dr. Reznick brought Dr. Lim back to life"
"What?!" Browne said shocked
"She contracted the virus and went into cardiac arrest" Murphy replied "I am going to have a turkey sandwich for lunch" with that the resident left
"So that's why you weren't focusing during all of this" Browne said
"I would never let a patient cloud my judgement or keep me unfocused" he replied
"but it's like you said" Andrews voice cut through them "Dr. Lim isn't just a patient" Melendez lowered his head "She's awake"
"She'll be wanting some company" Browne added, and Neil nodded before walking away
"Oh and Dr. Melendez" Andrews stopped him "You owe me a new phone"
Neil announced his arrival by knocking lightly on the already opened door of Audrey's room
"Hi" she whispered and he walked over
"Hi" he grabbed the nearest chair and brought it over to sit next to her "Merry Christmas"
"I don't think I'll forget this one" she replied, coughing lightly
"Me neither" he smiled at her "The idea of you not being around... wasn't okay with me. Who would I drink bourbon with?"
"I think my bourbon days are behind me for a little bit" she laughed, making herself cough more.
"Hey, you alright?" he frowned
"Don't make me laugh" she smiled "It still hurts"
"Sorry" he replied sheepishly, after a pregnant pause he spoke again "How did you do it?"
"Do what?" she questioned
"You led an entire surgery while fighting a extremely deadly virus"
"I led part of a surgery, I passed out before I could finish it" she smiled but noticed his head drop "Hey, what's up"
"You could've died Audrey" he suddenly said, his eyes watering "You did die"
"I'm aware" she smiled sadly reaching over to grab his hand "But I'm still here, there is no way you are getting rid of me that easily" she caught his smile before he looked up at her
"You know you're going to have to stay here for a few weeks right?"
"Yeah, can't wait" she groaned "I need to be back on my feet as soon as possible"
"Your lungs were badly damaged, they might not fully..."
"Neil I know" she replied huffing "I am a doctor"
"I... I just need to know that you understand" he said "There will be lots of medication, albuterol treatments, weekly lung exams, pulmonary rehabilitation, ventilation machines will be hooked up to you constantly..."
"Neil stop" she tried "Please"
"Sorry..."
"You're worried, I understand. I was worried, I still am but I know for a fact that we will get through this"
"We?" he questioned
"Of course, do you really think I'd be able to get through this without you"
"I mean it do..."
"Too late. You're stuck with me" she grinned, cutting him off.
"There is no place I'd rather be" he smiled, gripping her hand tighter.