"Stab wounds to the neck, chest.." Kerry swallowed, as her hands moved
over the body, assessing her injuries. "Three to the belly..
Right and left upper quadrants, and one on the lower left quadrant.."
She informed her team, trying to keep her voice even.
"We need to intubate.." Kerry said positioning herself at Lucy's head. "WHAT'S HER BLOOD PRESSURE!?" She barked.
Haleh glared at her. "Hang on a second.. Her pulse ox is 84.. "
"I'll get a chest tube tray.." Carter muttered before Kerry yelled at him to get back. "Central line kit. Start a central line.. and Haleh.. I didn't ask you for her pulse-ox! What in the hell is her BP!?"
Haleh sputtered, her hands moving quickly. "BP's 90/50.."
Kerry rolled her eyes.. "Fine.. Was that so hard!? Get me four units
of O-neg.. Hang two on the rapid infuser!! Give me some Cricoid pressure.."
She barked as she struggled with the E/T tube.. Her hands slipping and
trembling as she tried to angle the scope. Haleh
pressing on the larynx so Weaver could visualize the chords.
"Hey.. Dr.Weaver.. Are you okay??" Carter said worriedly as he watched the Chief fumble. "I can do it if you want.."
"No.. I... I.." Kerry bit her lip and slid out the scope. "I got it.. Start the central line..."
Carter sighed with relief. "Okay.. I need some Betadine and a sterile drip." He eyed Kerry closely. Her colour was off.. This was hitting her harder than anyone.
"I.. I can't.. I can't believe this.. I can't believe that those two
were the only ones seeing patients around here and they're the ones
paying for it with their damn lives!" Kerry shook her head sadly andgazed
upwards as she watched them roll Dave.
"Two stab wounds to the right flank. First one is at L4, centimeters of the midline.. Second one's at L5 in the midscarpel line. One stab wound to the left flank at L3.." Wendy said tearfully as they rolled Dave back. "One to the abdomen, paraumbilical.."
"Squeeze in three units and prepare for a subclavian.. What's his BP and pulse?" Luka said gravely.
Wendy sniffled. "BP's 60/50, pulse 100." She murmured sadly.
"Pulse ox 94.." Chen announced, tears glistening in her eyes, Dave flailed an arm and grabbed her hand.
"Stay.." He said groggily, the blood marring his words. "Don't leave me Cindy.. I.. I need you.."
Chen looked at Luka who nodded. "I'm not Cindy.." She hissed at him.
Luka shook his head. "Yes you are."
Deb looked at the Croatian fearfully as Dave grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "Stay here.. I.. I don't want to be alone.. It hurts.." He moaned painfully. "Don't leave me Cindy.."
She watched Luka's eyes as she replied to the altered Dave, her voice cracking and filling with tears. "I.. I won't.. I'll stay here Dave.. I promise.. I won't leave your side."
"Should we intubate?? Can I try? I mean.. It's just Malucci.." Abby said tearfully.
Luka nodded. "Yes.. but I'm doing it.. Get a portable x-ray in here and type and cross for four units. Prepare for a laparotomy."
Abby shook her head sadly as she left the trauma room. "I was just talking to the bastard.. It's no fair.. I should be able to intubate him.. I mean I've had to put up with enough of his asinine jokes."
**
Benton ran down the stairs three at a time, down the halls, pulling
on his gloves and cursing softly as he banged into a cart in the hall and
limped into the Trauma room. "What in the hell happened!? Aww.. Dammit!?
Malucci!? Who did this!? Not that I blame them
really." He said trailing off and stared into the adjoining trauma
as Lydia nodded tearfully.
"They got Lucy too.. The police think it may have been a patient."
Peter sighed and pushed past Kovac into Lucy's trauma room. "What do we got?? You're traching her?!"
"Well yes, Peter.." Kerry muttered angrily as she finished prepping Lucy's neck with disinfectant and filled a syringe with Lidocaine on an IV Cannula 16 gauge. She angled it at 45 degrees towards herlungs and feet and ignored Benton as she started to aspirate the free air confirming the tracheal space as bubbles started to form in the Lidocaine and the piston started to slide. The breath she had been holding, whistled out slowly as Kerry injected the Lidocaine and advanced the cannula into the trachea.
Lucy started to gag, her body shaking and coughing as it tried to reject Kerry's life saving measures. As she bit her lip, Kerry held firm finishing the intubation as she demounted the syringe, grasping the cannula firmly and attaching the jet insufflator, the oxygen line and microvalve. Kerry sighed in relief as Lucy's chest started to rise. "You wanted something Peter? Of course I trached her.. The bastard slit her throat.. She started to aspirate blood.."
Kerry trembled and watched as the nurses cleared the empty intubation
tray and cleaned up the clutter, struggling to keep her BP
and vitals level. "I had her tubed, then she started bleeding out..
How's Malucci doing?"
Peter shrugged. "Malucci? I'm sure he'll live.."
"PETER!" Kerry growled.
"All right! I'll be right back." He growled in return, banging angrily through the doors. "How's he doing?"
"We did a laparotomy. There was gross haemoperitoneum and a large retroperitoneal haematoma. We were going to cross clamp but I think he'd have a better chance in the OR.. What do you th-"
Dave, who had been semi-conscious, slumped on the gurney and his BP began to drop... "Aww shit!" Luka moaned before he could stop and Chen raised an eyebrow.
"Intubate, hang a two more bags of O-neg on the rapid infuser and bag him!! We have to get him to the OR.." Benton barked, coming to the aid of the doctors as the frantic beeping drowned out his orders and gave the surgeon a splitting headache.
****
"Did you page Elizabeth and Mark yet?" Kovac looked up from the bloody mess of Dave that Benton was up to his elbows in.
"We've tried.. We're still trying.. They must have them switched off.." Randi said tearfully, standing in the doorway.
"I need the Supracoeliac Aortic. We have to clamp off so we can get him upstairs. We have to get his pressure up people... We're losing him.." Benton's usually steady hand trembled as he threaded the blue prolene.
Haleh burst through the doors. "Peter.. We need you in trauma two.. Lucy's crashing and Weaver's actin' weird."
"HEY! You just can't leave! You're in the middle of this! You can't
just-" Kovac trailed off and looked at Dave split open on the table. This
was not happening.. It couldn't be. A single lyric floated in his head
and he shook it free. "This is not really happening.. You bet your life
it is.." But he couldn't bet his life.. There were lives at stake right
now.. and they weren't his. This wasn't about him.
*****
Mark smiled at his fiancee and hit his palm flat on the top of the piano. "Hey... You know Tori Amos?" He said grinning drunkenly at the pianist.
"Well not personally buddy.." The man replied sarcastically.
"Do you know the song 'Cornflake Girl'???" Mark shifted on his stool and grasped Elizabeth's hand in his.
"Cornflake girl?" The pianist cocked a brow and looked back at his bandmates. "You guys know 'Cornflake Girl'??"
The band rolled their eyes and nodded. "Yeah we know it Jack.." As they
tuned up their guitars to match the un-even key that their
'guests' were caterwauling in, the drummer snickered. "Are these guys
on crack or something?"
The pianist seemed to ignore the comment as he played out a new experimental notes and the two doctors began to sing.
"Never was a cornflake girl. Thought that was a good solution.
Hangin' with the raisin girls she's gone to the other side. Givin us
a-
yo-heave-ho. Things are getting kind of gross and I go at sleepy time.
This is not really happening. You bet your life it is. Peel out the
watchword just peel out the watchword.
She knows what's going on seems we got a cheaper feel now.
All the sweeteaze are gone. Gone to the other side with my
encyclopedia. They musta paid her a nice price. She's puttin
on her string bean love. This is not really happening. You bet your
life it is.
Rabbit where'd you put the keys girl. And the man with the
golden gun thinks he knows so much, thinks he knows so much.
Rabbit ... where'd you put the keys girl..." - Tori Amos (Cornflake
Girl)
*****
"W-we have to crack her.." Kerry murmured as the nurses handed her the saw. The prized sternal saw. The saw that she'd butted heads with Romano and Benton to get. The saw that filled her with raw excitement everytime she held it. Now her hands shook and fear paralyzed her like virus invading her system.
Benton watched her frozen, the saw clenched in her grasp. He watched
the monitors and Lucy. He heard the monitors click, whir
and suddenly sound as Lucy worsened. Slowly crossing the floor, he
stood poised as the nurses disinfected the site and he pulled the saw from
her hands. Kerry nodded slightly and didn't fight it as she watched Peter
saw open the medstudent.
"Rib spreader... Suction.. Come on people.."
****