It was a day like any other at Chicago Med. One of those in which you could not stop for a moment.
It was flu season and the emergency room was targeted by many parents who accompanied their children to visit them. Among them there were also sick adults and elderly people.
Even among the doctors and nurses there was someone who had fallen ill. For example Lhatam, Charles, Choi, April and Megan had caught the intestinal virus that was circulating at that time.
The doctors still at work were few, they could be counted on the fingers of one hand and were also forced to do double shifts to cover absences.
This was the case, for example, of Natalie and Will in the emergency room and Connor who was dedicated to the operating room.
- Will there is an arrival. - Meggie said attracting the attention of the doctor who, very tired, after so much work, had sat down to take a very small pause to catch his breath.
Taking a sad and resigned sigh, Will stood up and joined her and was joined by the paramedics who were entering at that moment pushing the new patient's stretcher.
A small girl was lying on it, curled up on herself and seemed asleep, it was evident that she was ill. At first glance it looked smaller than it was.
- Sarah Brown 4 years old, temperature 101,84 . Dehydrated with constant vomiting.
Dr. Halstead then took charge baby and brought her into the room.
He already had an idea of what the child might have: the flu.
- Hi baby, I'm Will. - said the young doctor showing off one of his wonderful smiles attracting his attention - Be calm, I will do everything to make you feel better. -
Halstead was a man who, just looking at him, inspired confidence and who, besides, really knew how to deal with children. He loved and they perceived this and they, in fact, trusted in him.
- Room six is free doctor Halstead -;Meggie said, smiling to see the complicity that had been created between the two. She was satisfied with the choice to entrust the baby to him, a decision she had not made by chance.
So it was that the doctor, while the nurse was watching him, took the child into the room and made her settle on the bed followed by the little girl's mother who had joined them and followed them.
-So little, but how beautiful you are.- Will said smiling trying to put the little one a little more at ease than her .- I need to do a check to see how you are, okay? -
- Will you hurt me? - Asked the little girl innocently, a little frightened.
- No honey, I promise you. I will not hurt you and I will explain step by step what I will do. - he replied. - do you see this? It's a stethoscope, I'll use it to hear what's going on inside of you. I will place it on your chest and then on your back. It will be a little annoying because maybe you will feel it a little cold ...-
And so the doctor began his visit. The more he evaluated the conditions of the little girl, the more he confirmed the idea of what that little girl could have that he had had when he had seen her for the first time and the paramedics had informed him by giving him the first useful data. To confirm it he first had to exclude all other possible problems that could be framed and similar with the symptoms presented.
- You tickle me - said the little girl, laughing weakly, causing the good mood of all the people in the room, including the mother who was worried about her daughter.
All of a sudden though, as Will was leaning over her, her little girl sneezed in his face twice in a second without putting her hand in front of her. It often happened that children forgot to cover their mouths.
- Sarah - the mother immediately warned her - how many times have I told you that when you sneeze you have to put your hand in front of your mouth? Apologize to the doctor. -
- Sorry doctor, I'm sorry - she said really sorry.
- Don't worry honey,- Halstead said softly as he instinctively wiped his face with his hand. It wasn't the first time this it had happen to him - now Meggie will give you a little prick in your arm to get some blood so you can do some tests to see what is making you sick, okay ? -
When she saw the nurse enter the room with the supplies for her removal, her child stiffened and curled up more and more in herself in fear.
- You don't have to be afraid,- Maggie said. - you will feel nothing, just a pinch for a few seconds. -
Hearing this, the little girl calmed down slightly and had the blood sample done. Her great surprise to her was just as the nurse had told her, you feel nothing.
Lockwood, after taking the blood sample she needed, inserted a central line to give the baby the necessary fluids as she was dehydrated along with some medications.
As the visit proceeded, meanwhile, the little girl seemed to have strangely dozed off.
The doctor decided to take her temperature again, as it had been done after the paramedics left she with the doctor. At that time this was the same, but remeasuring it had increased to 103,64.
- I am more than convinced that it is the flu virus that is circulating in this period. I want to wait to have the results of the analyzes to be sure.
In the meantime, I started giving her antipyretics to lower the temperature and I also added something against nausea so that as soon as the fever drops she can start eating something again. Finally, I put some fluids into her drip to rehydrate her. - explained the doctor to the little girl's mother.
- Thanks for everything, doctor. - said the woman extremely grateful to the doctor for the kindness, courtesy and attention she had had towards her daughter.
Will thanking him in turn, the lady went away waiting to have the results, stressing that he would come back as soon as he had the results of the analyzes.
In that half hour of waiting, until the results of the child's analyzes were ready, Dr. Halstead visited other of his patients and as soon as he had the results he immediately went to Mrs. Brown to tell her that the little girl had nothing but a simple influence.
Once the fever dropped and little Sarah was given the right treatment, Will continued his grueling shift, going from one patient to the other without stopping for a moment, deciding to have the child remain under observation until the next day before sending her home the high levels of dehydration she presented.
Back home after finally finishing his many hours of work, he took a quick shower and finally went to bed.
The next two days were not far behind, the usual routine with many sick patients waiting to be examined.
In the period of the flu, as often happened, since many doctors were absent due to illness, the grueling shifts followed one another continuously, lasting even for a whole week.
And usually Will was one of those doctors he had to do. He was the one who resisted the most, he never let himself be beaten down by anything and seemed tireless.
All the colleagues gradually, one after the other, sooner or later collapsed and had to stay at home waiting for the flu to take its course before being able to return to work.
But Will no, he seemed to have created a virus-proof barrier. It had been several years ago when he last got sick, at least it had been like that up until then.
After two days, however, Will seemed to have felt the pinch. Since the morning he had been up feeling a little strange, but he still showed up at work for his shift. He didn't feel like taking a day off especially with all the absences that were there at that time.
It was in the evening that day that things started to get worse and Will began to collapse. He was not himself, he was tired, pale, he felt so strange that he did not even know how he was.
Despite this, however, Dr. Halstead decided to continue working tirelessly without stopping and when they asked him he also gave his availability for the night shift when he discovered that Connor had also raised the white flag and had returned home being ill.
Not even he, on reflection, was at his best, he was not even remotely the portrait of health.
After giving his availability for the next shift, he immediately regretted it. Obviously Will was a man of his word and once he got his word he wouldn't hold back.
What he hoped in his heart was just that the night might not be as chaotic as the day shifts had been.
Fortunately, his prayers were answered, the night passed peacefully and Doctor Halstead as well as made some rounds among the patients to check their conditions, treated some new ones who, however, fortunately presented not serious problems.
The rest of the time, however, Will spent sitting at a desk reading some medical articles just to pass the time a little by trying to make it pass quickly.
Thus it was that the doctor spent the night until about three in the morning. He was sitting and trying to read the latest medical research.
The more time passed, however, the more he felt as if he could not concentrate on anything.
He had the impression of having swollen eyes and often they burned and started to water.
He had pains all over his body, both in his bones and muscles.
The more time passed, the more the headache he had and that he had presented a few hours before, at first lightly and quite silently, also increased.
The more time passed, the more he felt like he had a jackhammer in his head. He sneezed often and willingly, his nose was like blocked up and his throat was itching forcing him to cough from time to time.
There was little to do, it was not difficult to understand what was happening to him, he too, the reckless Halstead enemy of flu viruses, was falling ill.
He too had caught the flu and although he tried to resist, ignoring the symptoms, he felt worse and worse.
His stomach had started to protest and a strong sense of nausea had forced him to go to the bathroom several times to vomit. He was just knocked out and he was growing paler in the face with his heart beating rapidly in his chest.
Around 4:30 am Will was called for an arrival and so he got up from his desk, which had become his refuge at the time, to quickly head to the ER entrance and then the patient arrived there with the paramedics.
Once on his feet he was seized with dizziness and his stomach already upside down protested noticeably causing him another wave of nausea that the doctor was able to control and manage not being able to run to the bathroom.
Fortunately, the boy who had been brought into Ed had nothing serious so Will took a short time to visit him and after having hypothesized a diagnosis with relative care he sent him for confirmation tests.
Once finished the doctor finally headed for the bathroom to throw up what little was left in his stomach of what he had eaten for dinner.
This time he had to wait a long time for his stomach to calm down. It was when this was finally empty, after countless dull gasps that Will was able to sit on the floor to catch his breath.
He was soaked in sweat, wet as a chick. His hair was soaked and glued to his forehead. His body shuddered as Will leaned back to catch his breath, once he felt the cold of the tiles that was in stark contrast to the heat radiating from his body.
His head had begun to beat even more violently than before, in unison with his heart.
As soon as he felt ready the doctor then stood up, washed his face and went back to Ed as if nothing had happened. But it was noticed that he was bad looking at him well. It was no longer possible to hide it.
Doctor Halstead really looked like a ghost of himself, he was very pale.
Without speaking to anyone, he settled back at his desk and with his head down he pretended to continue reading the famous research in the magazine he had taken earlier.
At least that was what the doctor wanted others to believe as they watched him as they passed.
Will, on the other hand, kept his eyes closed, breathing deeply and trying to control the nausea and that annoying jackhammer in his head.
The only thing that consoled him was that being 5:00 in the morning he had very little time left at the end of his night shift. At 7:00 he could finally go home to rest for a while and recover.
But sitting there, slowly, overcome by the exhaustion and high fever that was now rising, he fell asleep.
At around 06:30 Natalie arrived in ED refreshed from a good night's sleep and full of energy ready to get to work.
-Good morning Meggie - greeted the doctor after seeing her friend of hers already behind the counter. - already at work? -
- Good morning Nat, how radiant we are this morning - replied the nurse - yes, this morning I started the shift an hour earlier than expected with this shortage of staff ...-
- Thank you,- she said with a smile and then asked, - Did you see Will anywhere? -
The nurse turned and pointed to the doctor sitting at the desk.
- He's there,- he said, - I'd be curious to know what he's reading .. he's so focused, so absorbed.- It has been since I arrived half an hour ago that I have seen him read carefully without ever looking up from that magazine. -
Natalie then moved away from Maggie thanking her friend for meeting her love for her.
She came up behind him and hugged him from behind her giving him a kiss on the cheek, then she walked away to take the breakfast she had brought him from inside her bag.
- Coffee and croissant for my favorite worker. - she said smiling.
Her smile, however, darkened when she saw that her trusted boyfriend had not reacted to either the touch or what she had said. She began to worry and then smiled again when she realized that her love for her had fallen asleep.
- My poor love, you must be exhausted. - she said to herself as she approached him to wake him up with a tender kiss.
As she approached her forehead frowned even more, Will was giving off a great deal of heat and also trembling like a leaf. Taking the stethoscope around his neck she began, then, somehow, given his position, to check it.
She heard a hiss, it was as if it were all clogged up. Then she walked away from him for just a moment to get a thermometer.
Once back she held the device to his ear and she was shocked when she read the numbers that appeared on the display.
The young doctor had a temperature of 104,18
There was no doubt that Will had caught the flu.
Sensing someone beside him eventually the doctor began to wake up. He opened his eyes, which were small, small because of his discomfort. She looked around and saw Natalie standing in front of him.
Gently she came even closer to him and helping him to get up she said:
- Love come, I'll give you something for the flu and then I'll take you home so you can rest and heal. -
Even the strong and resilient Dr. Halstead sometimes gets sick.