O.K. So, I know nothing about medicine, something which might become blatantly obvious in this chapter, but I've done my best.
Chapter 15 "Everybody's Somebody"
Robert Romano, M.D
I arrived in Northwestern's ER about a half-hour later. Victims in various stages of
treatment were everywhere, all with the same vacant, dazed look in their eyes. Dr Graham
Morton, ER attending, was the only one able to take time out to talk to me, and only
because I ran into him in the hallway.
"Are you O.K?"
He looked at me, puzzled no doubt by my distraction.
"The bombing. Survivors..were brought here."
I managed to form a complete, if nonsensical, sentence.
"Yes. Are you a relative?"
Relatives? Shit, I hadn't even thought about that yet.
"No...No, I'm Dr Robert Romano, chief of staff at County,"
He looked suddenly enlightened and shook my hand.
"Yes, of course,"
My reputation precedes me, I know, get over the awe stupid boy.
"We've been expecting you,"
He led me away, toward the treatment rooms I assumed. I scoured the halls, desperate for
a familiar face but finding none. Don't let me be the ony one, I cried inside, I couldn't
cope. He talked to me as we walked.
"We've had 8 survivors from the wreckage, not including the walking wounded,"
"And the death toll?"
"Three so far,"
I nodded. I couldn't even give them an accurate record of who'd been in, all my schedules
had burned with my empty office. I pictured how it would have been to have been there,
trapped and burning to death and it was a truly hideous image.
"Exam 1...Abby Lockhart,"
He pushed aside the heavy swing door. The pretty little brunette was sleeping, her skin
gashed and ugly, her leg in a cast. I picked up her chart and scanned it quickly. She'd been
lucky considering. I didn't know as I watched her at peace, if she felt the same way.
"She's pregnant?"
I looked up at him, slightly surprised.
"She should have miscarried. She still could,"
Somewhere, somehow, I hoped not. She couldn't take it. No - one could after this. I
clipped the chart back over the bed end and the resident led me onwards.
"Exam 3..Jing -"
"Mei,"
I finished. She weas conscious, her face white against a shock of black hair. She sat
awkwardly, both hands and legs covered in bandages. I saw the same distance on her face
as on the walking wounded.
"Robert,"
She whispered, still slightly overwhelmed I sensed.
"How are you?"
Graham took a step back and let me speak. I couldn't move any closer to her. Nothing
could bridge the gulf between us.
"O.K, considering, I guess,"
A lot was bubbling under in her, I could sense. A lot of the same anger I felt.
"What happened to your hands?"
She closed her eyes and fell silent.
"Third degree burns, and her legs too."
He paused.
"She's sedated too,"
Graham whispered. I nodded. She was usually fiesty, even vicious.
"How are the others?"
She asked suddenly. I looked her dead in the eye and saw impending tragedy that neither
of us could avoid. Graham swallowed loudly and spoke as calmly as he could.
"Abby's alright - double fracture tib-fib but otherwise reasonably unharmed. Elizabeth
Corday had a few breathing difficulties but stabilised without an intubation. We're
observing her closely, but otherwise it seems she sustained only a few cuts and couple of
cracked ribs. Peter Benton require O2 for smoke inhalation, and had a hand lac, but was
otherwise unharmed."
Graham paused. Jing-Mei's eyes were downcast, trying to take it all in.Lizzie was alright.
It really was a huge relief - I couldn't bear to lose her. She was such a special woman. My
heart was in less of a vice, but still knew the worst was to come.
"Jerry Markovic suffered two bad lacerations to his face, but he was wandering around
last I saw. Kerry Weaver is alive but only just. She was redlined to neurosurgery, and will
be in the ICU after surgery. She also sustained a nasty spinal fracture. Lily Jarvik survived
emergency surgery but is on life support upstairs...."
He stopped. My stomach tied in knots. That couldn't be it. He said 8.
"Shirley Gordon is still in surgery, but looked the strongest of the three who came in
together."
I ran through the staff but my mind was horribly blank. Who hadn't he mentioned?
Jing-Mei met my eyes but spoke to Graham.
"Dave?"
He nodded slowly.
"The worst by far. 55% full thickness. You're both doctors - so I can be frank - I don't
see him making tomorrow, let alone a long term recovery,"
I'd never seen anyone with that severity of injury pull through but that didn't mean it
didn't happen. I tried to hold onto a miracle, but I didn't believe in them. Jing Mei cried
then, I wouldn't know till later why, she unashamedly broke down. I would have held
her, I wanted to, but I wasn't sure I was of any great comfort to her.
"Do you want to be alone?"
I asked gently. Her head shook.
"I want to know who died,"
She said through gritted teeth. I had an awful list forming in my head, far too long for me
to bear and containing the names of some of the best doctors I'd ever known. I nodded,
encouraging Graham to continue the morbid bedtime story.
"Haleh Adams was DOA, she coded in the rig. Cleo Finch was pulled out, but she was
dead long before she got here - crush injuries to pelvis and lower back. John Carter was
found, but he too had already died - excessive blood loss from a deep neck wound,"
I couldn't help but feel the bitter irony bite. A year ago to the day, he'd lived and Lucy,
under my care, had died. Lightening, it seemed, did indeed strike twice. Jing-Mei looked
startled, rigid. I couldn't bear her pain as well as my own and looked away. Graham
sounded very sad. It wasn't news anyone wanted to break.
"The third body they pulled from the wreckage was Luka Kovac. We wouldn't have been
able to put him back together if if he'd gotten out sooner. Impaled - kidney, colon, liver,
spleen and spinal damage. He was a train wreck to be honest. It's more merciful he died
without unnecessary interference,"
"What about Mark Greene?"
The words were out before I thought. There was a pause.
"We don't know,"
"Don't know?"
"Marks missing, Robert,"
Chen said frankly. He was dead. No one was alive under there now. It just wasn't
possible.
"Do you want me to stay?"
I asked the younger resident.
"Go. Go see Lizzie. I'll be O.K,"
She wouldn't say yes, even if she'd wanted to. Chen was a fighter, but this might just be
the one she was destined to lose.
****
I couldn't face Lizzie. Knowing she was O.K was enough for now. I couldn't see her in all
that pain. I walked into the hallway, dazed by what I'd just heard and not entirely sure wat
my next move should be. It just seemed to be chaos and how could you make any sense
out of this? How could anyone? I stood there for a moment, before I saw another dreaded
black bag. It was past my eyes almost before I realised.
Then my next course of action was decided. I descended towards the hospital mortuary,
knowing I probably wouldn't find anything there I didn't already know. I showed my
County ID to the assistant, who looked doubtful, but spoke anyway.
"They've just brought in another body,"
He said slowly, looking slightly suspicious at my percieved interference.
"Do they know who it is?"
"Are you here to ID them?"
What a horrific idea. I couldn't, not yet. I probably would have to, in the end.
"No..No, I'm just looking for someone,"
I said quickly. I was inexplicably looking for Mark. So if I did go to Elizabeth, I would at
least have some purpose to it, something to say even if I did end her world.
"They haven't looked yet, the paramedics looked pretty shocked though,"
"Shocked?"
"Use your imagination, Dr, 6 hours in flaming rubble would probably do something pretty
horrible to the body,"
I knew instinctively who this body would prove to be, though I said nothing to the
mortuary attendant. He spoke honestly, something people would later in this saga avoid. I
didn't need to see the body after that, I had no need of it. The pictures of the carcass that
might be all that was left were too vivid, and for the first time in my medical career I
wanted to vomit. That was someone's husband. Someone's father.
"I'm sorry..."
He muttered, seeing the look of disbelief and confusion flit over my face. He was. It was
horror we'd all wish we'd never had to see.
Chapter 15 "Everybody's Somebody"
Robert Romano, M.D
I arrived in Northwestern's ER about a half-hour later. Victims in various stages of
treatment were everywhere, all with the same vacant, dazed look in their eyes. Dr Graham
Morton, ER attending, was the only one able to take time out to talk to me, and only
because I ran into him in the hallway.
"Are you O.K?"
He looked at me, puzzled no doubt by my distraction.
"The bombing. Survivors..were brought here."
I managed to form a complete, if nonsensical, sentence.
"Yes. Are you a relative?"
Relatives? Shit, I hadn't even thought about that yet.
"No...No, I'm Dr Robert Romano, chief of staff at County,"
He looked suddenly enlightened and shook my hand.
"Yes, of course,"
My reputation precedes me, I know, get over the awe stupid boy.
"We've been expecting you,"
He led me away, toward the treatment rooms I assumed. I scoured the halls, desperate for
a familiar face but finding none. Don't let me be the ony one, I cried inside, I couldn't
cope. He talked to me as we walked.
"We've had 8 survivors from the wreckage, not including the walking wounded,"
"And the death toll?"
"Three so far,"
I nodded. I couldn't even give them an accurate record of who'd been in, all my schedules
had burned with my empty office. I pictured how it would have been to have been there,
trapped and burning to death and it was a truly hideous image.
"Exam 1...Abby Lockhart,"
He pushed aside the heavy swing door. The pretty little brunette was sleeping, her skin
gashed and ugly, her leg in a cast. I picked up her chart and scanned it quickly. She'd been
lucky considering. I didn't know as I watched her at peace, if she felt the same way.
"She's pregnant?"
I looked up at him, slightly surprised.
"She should have miscarried. She still could,"
Somewhere, somehow, I hoped not. She couldn't take it. No - one could after this. I
clipped the chart back over the bed end and the resident led me onwards.
"Exam 3..Jing -"
"Mei,"
I finished. She weas conscious, her face white against a shock of black hair. She sat
awkwardly, both hands and legs covered in bandages. I saw the same distance on her face
as on the walking wounded.
"Robert,"
She whispered, still slightly overwhelmed I sensed.
"How are you?"
Graham took a step back and let me speak. I couldn't move any closer to her. Nothing
could bridge the gulf between us.
"O.K, considering, I guess,"
A lot was bubbling under in her, I could sense. A lot of the same anger I felt.
"What happened to your hands?"
She closed her eyes and fell silent.
"Third degree burns, and her legs too."
He paused.
"She's sedated too,"
Graham whispered. I nodded. She was usually fiesty, even vicious.
"How are the others?"
She asked suddenly. I looked her dead in the eye and saw impending tragedy that neither
of us could avoid. Graham swallowed loudly and spoke as calmly as he could.
"Abby's alright - double fracture tib-fib but otherwise reasonably unharmed. Elizabeth
Corday had a few breathing difficulties but stabilised without an intubation. We're
observing her closely, but otherwise it seems she sustained only a few cuts and couple of
cracked ribs. Peter Benton require O2 for smoke inhalation, and had a hand lac, but was
otherwise unharmed."
Graham paused. Jing-Mei's eyes were downcast, trying to take it all in.Lizzie was alright.
It really was a huge relief - I couldn't bear to lose her. She was such a special woman. My
heart was in less of a vice, but still knew the worst was to come.
"Jerry Markovic suffered two bad lacerations to his face, but he was wandering around
last I saw. Kerry Weaver is alive but only just. She was redlined to neurosurgery, and will
be in the ICU after surgery. She also sustained a nasty spinal fracture. Lily Jarvik survived
emergency surgery but is on life support upstairs...."
He stopped. My stomach tied in knots. That couldn't be it. He said 8.
"Shirley Gordon is still in surgery, but looked the strongest of the three who came in
together."
I ran through the staff but my mind was horribly blank. Who hadn't he mentioned?
Jing-Mei met my eyes but spoke to Graham.
"Dave?"
He nodded slowly.
"The worst by far. 55% full thickness. You're both doctors - so I can be frank - I don't
see him making tomorrow, let alone a long term recovery,"
I'd never seen anyone with that severity of injury pull through but that didn't mean it
didn't happen. I tried to hold onto a miracle, but I didn't believe in them. Jing Mei cried
then, I wouldn't know till later why, she unashamedly broke down. I would have held
her, I wanted to, but I wasn't sure I was of any great comfort to her.
"Do you want to be alone?"
I asked gently. Her head shook.
"I want to know who died,"
She said through gritted teeth. I had an awful list forming in my head, far too long for me
to bear and containing the names of some of the best doctors I'd ever known. I nodded,
encouraging Graham to continue the morbid bedtime story.
"Haleh Adams was DOA, she coded in the rig. Cleo Finch was pulled out, but she was
dead long before she got here - crush injuries to pelvis and lower back. John Carter was
found, but he too had already died - excessive blood loss from a deep neck wound,"
I couldn't help but feel the bitter irony bite. A year ago to the day, he'd lived and Lucy,
under my care, had died. Lightening, it seemed, did indeed strike twice. Jing-Mei looked
startled, rigid. I couldn't bear her pain as well as my own and looked away. Graham
sounded very sad. It wasn't news anyone wanted to break.
"The third body they pulled from the wreckage was Luka Kovac. We wouldn't have been
able to put him back together if if he'd gotten out sooner. Impaled - kidney, colon, liver,
spleen and spinal damage. He was a train wreck to be honest. It's more merciful he died
without unnecessary interference,"
"What about Mark Greene?"
The words were out before I thought. There was a pause.
"We don't know,"
"Don't know?"
"Marks missing, Robert,"
Chen said frankly. He was dead. No one was alive under there now. It just wasn't
possible.
"Do you want me to stay?"
I asked the younger resident.
"Go. Go see Lizzie. I'll be O.K,"
She wouldn't say yes, even if she'd wanted to. Chen was a fighter, but this might just be
the one she was destined to lose.
****
I couldn't face Lizzie. Knowing she was O.K was enough for now. I couldn't see her in all
that pain. I walked into the hallway, dazed by what I'd just heard and not entirely sure wat
my next move should be. It just seemed to be chaos and how could you make any sense
out of this? How could anyone? I stood there for a moment, before I saw another dreaded
black bag. It was past my eyes almost before I realised.
Then my next course of action was decided. I descended towards the hospital mortuary,
knowing I probably wouldn't find anything there I didn't already know. I showed my
County ID to the assistant, who looked doubtful, but spoke anyway.
"They've just brought in another body,"
He said slowly, looking slightly suspicious at my percieved interference.
"Do they know who it is?"
"Are you here to ID them?"
What a horrific idea. I couldn't, not yet. I probably would have to, in the end.
"No..No, I'm just looking for someone,"
I said quickly. I was inexplicably looking for Mark. So if I did go to Elizabeth, I would at
least have some purpose to it, something to say even if I did end her world.
"They haven't looked yet, the paramedics looked pretty shocked though,"
"Shocked?"
"Use your imagination, Dr, 6 hours in flaming rubble would probably do something pretty
horrible to the body,"
I knew instinctively who this body would prove to be, though I said nothing to the
mortuary attendant. He spoke honestly, something people would later in this saga avoid. I
didn't need to see the body after that, I had no need of it. The pictures of the carcass that
might be all that was left were too vivid, and for the first time in my medical career I
wanted to vomit. That was someone's husband. Someone's father.
"I'm sorry..."
He muttered, seeing the look of disbelief and confusion flit over my face. He was. It was
horror we'd all wish we'd never had to see.