CH 6
Luis barged through the Harmony Hospital Emergency doors carrying Martin in his arms, as everyone else followed close by.
"We have an emergency here! I need a doctor!" Luis frantically ran to the reception desk.
"What happened?" A nurse approaching them asked.
"He fell off the monkey bars at the park." Luis could barely speak. "I think he broke his leg. He got cut. I don't know how though. Please hurry! He's slipping in and out of consciousness!"
"Ok put him in here." The nurse guided Luis to an empty room, as he laid Martin's lifeless body on the bed. "I'll call Dr. Russell right away."
In a short while Eve Russell rushed to the room.
"Luis, Beth, what happened?" She immediately began examining Martin, as she gained information from Beth and Luis.
"I don't know Eve. One minute we were playing and the next minute he yelled out! We didn't know he was at the edge!" Luis nervously tried to explain things to Eve.
"Ok, it looks like he may have fractured his knee, and somehow he got cut. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to wait outside so the doctors can examine him further. I'll be out shortly to tell you what's going on." Dr Russell motioned everyone to leave the room, as she closed the curtains behind her.
"Eve you have to save him!" Beth called from behind the curtain. She turned to Luis as he embraced her. "Luis, we can't lose Martin!"
Luis just held her completely motionless.
"This is all my fault." He stared into space, a single tear rolling down his cheek. "I should have been watching him."
"Hey Luis, don't do this to yourself man." Fox put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm just as much to blame. If I wasn't so busy playing with Ethan, I would have noticed the little guy approaching the edge."
"No, Fox. This was not your fault. Neither yours Luis." Theresa stood in between the two men. "It was an accident. Right now we just have to pray that he's going to be ok."
"My baby, they have to save my baby." Sheridan mumbled staring at the closed curtain. She quickly realized what she had said, as everyone stared at her concerned.
"Sheridan, you mean Beth's baby right?" Theresa slowly walked over to Sheridan.
"Oh, yes I mean Beth's baby. They have to save him."
"Luis!" Ethan and Gwen called from down the hall quickly approaching them.
"Oh Luis, is he alright?" Gwen asked, giving him a hug. "We came as soon as we heard." She walked over to Sheridan and gave her a reassuring squeeze.
"We don't know. Eve said they were going to examine him before she gave us any news." Luis ran a hand through his hair.
"Oh Sheridan, you must be torn apart. I know how much Martin means to you." Gwen comforted her friend.
"Damn Sheridan," Beth whispered to her mother. "Martin is my child, and everyone is acting as if he's hers!"
"Uh duh, that's because he is hers!" Ms Wallace spat.
"But they don't know that!" Beth quietly cried. "I can't lose Martin! He's my only key to ever getting Luis back!"
"Evil, evil girl! All you care about is getting Luis, when that poor little bambino is fighting for his life! You should be locked up Beth, locked up!" Ms Wallace cried.
"Alright everyone. Here's what's going on."
Everyone turned around and gathered around, as Eve appeared through the curtains.
"We have a very serious case on our hands. Martin must've had a pretty hard fall because he has managed to fracture his left knee. There also must have been glass near by because there is a deep wound on his leg. From the x- rays we found bits of bone cartilage that have broken off into his knee joint."
"What does all this mean Eve?" Luis asked.
"It means that we're going to have to do surgery on him. We have to get that cartilage out from the joint space before it causes an infection. It's not a complicated procedure so everything should go smoothly. Since he is so small though, he has lost a lot of blood, so we may have to do a blood transfusion."
"Oh my poor Martin," Beth cried, holding on to Luis.
"Normally this would not be as serious, but in Martin's case it's more fragile. Remember Martin was a very sick baby when he was first born, so his immune system is very weak. Which means it could take him a longer time to heal. Right now we need to hurry and start the surgery. The worst thing that could happen right now is ---"
Eve was suddenly interrupted by the sound of loud beeping coming from Martin's room.
"What's happening?" Luis quickly ran over to his son's room.
"Oh boy, it's what I didn't want." Eve checked the monitor above Martin's bed. "He's got a fever and it's rising. We have to get this fever down or it could complicate the surgical procedure." Eve turned to the nurse in the room. "Nurse Linda I need a dosage of paracetamol right away."
"What is that?" Beth asked.
"Paracetamol is a painkiller used to lower raised temperatures. I'm going to give Martin a dosage of it. Hopefully it can bring down his fever. But we need to start on the surgery as soon as possible. I'm going to check my files to see if we have a match for Martin's blood transfusion, and as soon as we do we can start the procedure. But once again I need you all to leave. The doctors need as much room as possible in order to work. I'll be right back."
Eve left the room, as everyone went out in the hall.
"What's a blood trans—trans—," Little Ethan fumbled.
"Transfusion?" Fox helped him out. "It's when someone who has lost a lot of blood, needs someone else's blood in order to help them stay strong. But the problem is they need to find a person who has the same type of blood, as the person that's sick, or else everything won't work."
"Do any of us have the same type of blood as Martin?" Little Ethan asked.
"That's a good question." Fox turned to Luis and Beth. "Do you guys know Martin's blood type?"
"No, he's never been in the situation where he needed a blood transfusion, so we're not sure." Luis rubbed his temples. "Damn it! This is so frustrating!"
"Hey Luis, don't worry ok? I'm sure everything will be fine. We just have to keep praying." Ethan comforted him.
Alright everyone," Eve returned. "I just checked over Martin's files and it seems that he has a very rare blood type, Rh positive. This can be a very difficult blood type to match."
"Don't any of us have a match?" Theresa worriedly asked.
"Well so far I've checked Luis's, Beth's, Ethan's, Gwen's and even yours Theresa, but none of you match with Martin. I have one of the nurses checking everyone else's to see if we can find one."
"And what if we can't find one?" Luis nervously asked.
"Well then we may have to delay the surgery, and put Martin on a waiting list."
"But that could take forever!" Beth cried.
"Yes, but we cannot go through with the surgery in hopes that he doesn't lose a lot of blood. The results can be fatal. We have to be completely sure. I have given him the dosage and his fever has calmed down so right now he is stable. But we cannot do anything until we have that match.
"Dr Russell," Nurse Linda suddenly appeared. "I checked everyone else's files like you asked and no one has a match---"
"Damn it!" Luis cursed, interrupting her.
"Wait, you didn't let me finish." The nurse continued." No one has a match except for Sheridan."
Every pair of eyes stared at Sheridan.
"Me?" she asked surprised.
Nooo!!! Beth nervously thought to herself. Now everyone will know that Sheridan is Martin's real mother!
"It's all over Bethie," Ms Wallace whispered to her daughter. "It is all over!"
Luis barged through the Harmony Hospital Emergency doors carrying Martin in his arms, as everyone else followed close by.
"We have an emergency here! I need a doctor!" Luis frantically ran to the reception desk.
"What happened?" A nurse approaching them asked.
"He fell off the monkey bars at the park." Luis could barely speak. "I think he broke his leg. He got cut. I don't know how though. Please hurry! He's slipping in and out of consciousness!"
"Ok put him in here." The nurse guided Luis to an empty room, as he laid Martin's lifeless body on the bed. "I'll call Dr. Russell right away."
In a short while Eve Russell rushed to the room.
"Luis, Beth, what happened?" She immediately began examining Martin, as she gained information from Beth and Luis.
"I don't know Eve. One minute we were playing and the next minute he yelled out! We didn't know he was at the edge!" Luis nervously tried to explain things to Eve.
"Ok, it looks like he may have fractured his knee, and somehow he got cut. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to wait outside so the doctors can examine him further. I'll be out shortly to tell you what's going on." Dr Russell motioned everyone to leave the room, as she closed the curtains behind her.
"Eve you have to save him!" Beth called from behind the curtain. She turned to Luis as he embraced her. "Luis, we can't lose Martin!"
Luis just held her completely motionless.
"This is all my fault." He stared into space, a single tear rolling down his cheek. "I should have been watching him."
"Hey Luis, don't do this to yourself man." Fox put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm just as much to blame. If I wasn't so busy playing with Ethan, I would have noticed the little guy approaching the edge."
"No, Fox. This was not your fault. Neither yours Luis." Theresa stood in between the two men. "It was an accident. Right now we just have to pray that he's going to be ok."
"My baby, they have to save my baby." Sheridan mumbled staring at the closed curtain. She quickly realized what she had said, as everyone stared at her concerned.
"Sheridan, you mean Beth's baby right?" Theresa slowly walked over to Sheridan.
"Oh, yes I mean Beth's baby. They have to save him."
"Luis!" Ethan and Gwen called from down the hall quickly approaching them.
"Oh Luis, is he alright?" Gwen asked, giving him a hug. "We came as soon as we heard." She walked over to Sheridan and gave her a reassuring squeeze.
"We don't know. Eve said they were going to examine him before she gave us any news." Luis ran a hand through his hair.
"Oh Sheridan, you must be torn apart. I know how much Martin means to you." Gwen comforted her friend.
"Damn Sheridan," Beth whispered to her mother. "Martin is my child, and everyone is acting as if he's hers!"
"Uh duh, that's because he is hers!" Ms Wallace spat.
"But they don't know that!" Beth quietly cried. "I can't lose Martin! He's my only key to ever getting Luis back!"
"Evil, evil girl! All you care about is getting Luis, when that poor little bambino is fighting for his life! You should be locked up Beth, locked up!" Ms Wallace cried.
"Alright everyone. Here's what's going on."
Everyone turned around and gathered around, as Eve appeared through the curtains.
"We have a very serious case on our hands. Martin must've had a pretty hard fall because he has managed to fracture his left knee. There also must have been glass near by because there is a deep wound on his leg. From the x- rays we found bits of bone cartilage that have broken off into his knee joint."
"What does all this mean Eve?" Luis asked.
"It means that we're going to have to do surgery on him. We have to get that cartilage out from the joint space before it causes an infection. It's not a complicated procedure so everything should go smoothly. Since he is so small though, he has lost a lot of blood, so we may have to do a blood transfusion."
"Oh my poor Martin," Beth cried, holding on to Luis.
"Normally this would not be as serious, but in Martin's case it's more fragile. Remember Martin was a very sick baby when he was first born, so his immune system is very weak. Which means it could take him a longer time to heal. Right now we need to hurry and start the surgery. The worst thing that could happen right now is ---"
Eve was suddenly interrupted by the sound of loud beeping coming from Martin's room.
"What's happening?" Luis quickly ran over to his son's room.
"Oh boy, it's what I didn't want." Eve checked the monitor above Martin's bed. "He's got a fever and it's rising. We have to get this fever down or it could complicate the surgical procedure." Eve turned to the nurse in the room. "Nurse Linda I need a dosage of paracetamol right away."
"What is that?" Beth asked.
"Paracetamol is a painkiller used to lower raised temperatures. I'm going to give Martin a dosage of it. Hopefully it can bring down his fever. But we need to start on the surgery as soon as possible. I'm going to check my files to see if we have a match for Martin's blood transfusion, and as soon as we do we can start the procedure. But once again I need you all to leave. The doctors need as much room as possible in order to work. I'll be right back."
Eve left the room, as everyone went out in the hall.
"What's a blood trans—trans—," Little Ethan fumbled.
"Transfusion?" Fox helped him out. "It's when someone who has lost a lot of blood, needs someone else's blood in order to help them stay strong. But the problem is they need to find a person who has the same type of blood, as the person that's sick, or else everything won't work."
"Do any of us have the same type of blood as Martin?" Little Ethan asked.
"That's a good question." Fox turned to Luis and Beth. "Do you guys know Martin's blood type?"
"No, he's never been in the situation where he needed a blood transfusion, so we're not sure." Luis rubbed his temples. "Damn it! This is so frustrating!"
"Hey Luis, don't worry ok? I'm sure everything will be fine. We just have to keep praying." Ethan comforted him.
Alright everyone," Eve returned. "I just checked over Martin's files and it seems that he has a very rare blood type, Rh positive. This can be a very difficult blood type to match."
"Don't any of us have a match?" Theresa worriedly asked.
"Well so far I've checked Luis's, Beth's, Ethan's, Gwen's and even yours Theresa, but none of you match with Martin. I have one of the nurses checking everyone else's to see if we can find one."
"And what if we can't find one?" Luis nervously asked.
"Well then we may have to delay the surgery, and put Martin on a waiting list."
"But that could take forever!" Beth cried.
"Yes, but we cannot go through with the surgery in hopes that he doesn't lose a lot of blood. The results can be fatal. We have to be completely sure. I have given him the dosage and his fever has calmed down so right now he is stable. But we cannot do anything until we have that match.
"Dr Russell," Nurse Linda suddenly appeared. "I checked everyone else's files like you asked and no one has a match---"
"Damn it!" Luis cursed, interrupting her.
"Wait, you didn't let me finish." The nurse continued." No one has a match except for Sheridan."
Every pair of eyes stared at Sheridan.
"Me?" she asked surprised.
Nooo!!! Beth nervously thought to herself. Now everyone will know that Sheridan is Martin's real mother!
"It's all over Bethie," Ms Wallace whispered to her daughter. "It is all over!"