Chapter 3 – Twice the Trauma
Back at County General, Sam, Alex and Luka have been brought into the ER. There is a tense hush in the halls as some staff stare through the panes of the doors to the trauma room where Luka is being worked on. A few hover around the room with Sam and Alex and everywhere else, the rest of the staff try to continue working, hoping and praying for them to survive.
"On my count ... one, two, three! Okay, get a couple large bore IV's going ... ah ...18 gauge. I want a blood gas ... four units of O neg, portable CT and ultrasound. Get him on a controlled vent ... Luka? Luka? Luka, it's Susan. You're in the ER. You were in an accident and we're taking care of you so stay with us, okay? Luka? ... "
"He's stirring Dr, Lewis," Conni sounded hopeful as she watched Luka respond to pain.
"God, he's bleeding everywhere ... Lily, order 2 more units of O neg; type and cross matched. He needs a massive transfusion so make sure we have 1 to 2 units of frozen plasma for every five units of blood," said Susan. "Keep checking for a response, Conni and Shelly, give him 10mg of morphine, IV push. Neela, what about his resps?" she asked, taking a look at his abdomen.
"Diminished breath sounds on the right, Dr Lewis" Neela replied.
"Lung's collapsed. Alright ...Someone, I need a thoracotomy tray. Abby, what've you got?"
"Open fracture of the right tibia among other things. I'm trying to clamp a posterior tibial hemorrhage,"
"You okay with that?" asked Susan.
Abby swallowed hard and continued to work on the bleeder with shaky hands.
"Abby?" Susan asked again.
"Dr. Lockhart?" Shelly looked at her with concern.
"Ah, yeah Susan,"
Abby felt a hand lightly touch her shoulder. "Are you alright, Dr. Lockhart?"
"I'm good Shelly. I'm alright," Stopping for a second she took a breath, steadied her nerves and attempted once more. This was harder than she'd ever imagined. Her hands were in his leg squeezing an artery. It was supposed to be just a leg but this was her friend, Luka. At one time her Luka and now here he was lying before her as she and the people who helped him save lives everyday were trying to save his.
"Okay ... I've just ... about .. got it," said Abby, quietly. She quickly tried to glance at his face. She could barely see it. His head and neck were immobilized and the tube and hose from the ventilator hid his mouth and chin. "Hang in there, Luka," she thought, wondering if he felt any pain. Susan ordered some morphine but with the amount of injuries he'd sustained Abby was certain no amount of painkillers would be enough. Gently touching his hand, she tried to smile but she could feel the tears stinging her eyes. She snapped her mind back to the task at hand and proceeded to treat Luka's multiple fractures while Susan worked on stabilizing his respiration.
"Okay, let's see what I can do for this lung. Come on, come on, come on ... got it! There we go," Susan waited to see if and how well the blood was draining from his lungs. In a few seconds she was pleased with what she had seen then asked "Sound better now, Neela?"
"Yes, Dr. Lewis,"
"And his pulse?" asked Susan.
"Pulse 60, BP's dropped 80/50, heart rate 140, sats at 80%," said Conni. Not great news. Susan examined Luka's abdomen. It was rigid and purple. The ultrasound and the results of the DPL confirmed her worst suspicions.
"Shit, I've gotta go in. Lydia get me a 10 blade and suction,"
She made her incision and put the spreader in place.
"God, what a mess," Susan was barely audible, not wanting to risk Luka overhearing her. "How fast was that car going?"
"Dr. Lewis, he's crashing!" said Neela. "Vitals are deteriorating. BP's 70/34 and falling! ... He's out!"
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In the other trauma room Dr. Chen, Cooper, Malik and Chuney were working on Alex.
"Okay, Listen up. Malik, establish IV access and administer oxygen. Someone monitor, and administer IV crystalloids; I want to keep the SBP greater than 90 mms,"
"Turn him; he's vomiting," called out Cooper. "He's coming around. Hey, Alex? Alex? Do you know where you are?" Alex's eyes darted about the room.
"Mm ... ow ...ah ... mm ... mom ...," he sobbed.
"I'm right here, hon," Sam rushed to his side to comfort him. Alex's blinked several times rapidly but he could not see. "Mm .. mom, I ... can't see, ... can't see," Sam clutched his hand.
"I'm right here kiddo. You've hurt your head and it's really hard for you to see right now but it'll get better once the doctors take care of you. I promise," Sam looked anxiously at Dr. Chen as she examined his eyes.
"Pupils are responding to light. I suspect hematoma and once the fluid is drained and it'll relieve the pressure on the optic nerve," she said. "Are his vitals still stable?" Someone confirmed that they were and Deb was relieved. Sam looked worried enough as it was. She refused treatment anxiously awaiting the outcome of her son and Luka.
"Here are the CT and his labs Dr. Chen," said Chuney, rushing into the room. Alex's scan confirmed Dr. Chen's suspicions and he did have an epidural hematoma.
"Good, spine's cleared. Chuney, elevate his head 30 degrees. I'd like to increase venous drainage,"
There was a collection of blood over a cerebral hemisphere and he was being sent up to the OR to have a surgeon perform a burr hole to relieve the pressure. Alex's lab's showed a marked drop in his blood sugar which concerned Dr. Chen.
"Okay, they're ready for him upstairs," Malik said.
"Alex, you're going to the OR now and they are going to help you feel better," Sam told him.
"Op .. per ... ra ... "
"Yeah. You have to have an operation so that you can see again and fix that broken head of yours ... there's a lot of gross stuff they've gotta clear out of there so you can get better,"
"S ..scared ... Head ... hurts ... His speech was slurring a little and Sam knew he was going unconscious.
"I'm coming with you and I'll be there when you wake up, okay?"
"Lu... Luk ... hurt?"
"Don't worry. Luka's going to be fine. Now you just relax. I'm right here,"
"Sam, he should go now," Deb's heart went out to Sam. The two people she loved were critically injured; one teetering on death's door.
"He's good to go. Malik, make sure they see his labs regarding his blood sugar," Turning to Sam she said, "I think he's going to be okay. His cervical spine evaluation shows no injury to his neck. He's a strong kid, Sam. He should rebound fast. He was lucky Luka was there tonight. Might have been much worse," Deb tried to be as re-assuring as she could but Sam was still worried about her son and torn to leave Luka behind.
"I ... um ... I'm going with Alex ... Are you going to Luka now?" she asked, meekly. She pointed to the trauma room where Luka lay motionless among all the bodies moving about him as they tried to save his life.
"Yeah, Susan needs my help. He's one of us, Sam. We're not going to quit on him," Seeing the activity level in the adjacent room increase, Deb decided that this was a good time to get Sam out of the room. "Go on now, Sam. We'll take care of Luka. Go on with Alex,"
Sam left with Alex, Malik and Cooper and Deb burst into the room next door. Alarms were going off like crazy. Luka was in v-tach and Susan was about to shock him. It was eerie watching his body lurch upward and thud onto the gurney.
"Okay, charge to 200! Clear!"
"No change, Susan," said Abby.
"Give me 300! Come on Luka, we don't have time for this shit now, you're bleeding everywhere! Clear!"
"Okay, give him the Epi! ..... Come onnn! ........ Charge to 360! ...... Clear! ... Shit! .... Okay, 1.5 of Lidocaine IV push! ......Okay, this is the one. 360 ... Clear!"
"Normal sinus rhythm," said Conni calmly. There was a sense of temporary relief in the room.
"Alright, deep breath everybody. Let's see if we can fix these bleeders,"
"What can I do?" asked Deb.
"Abby, what's up with the fractures and the lacs?"
"I've controlled the tibial bleeder and I suspect a femur fracture as well. He needs to go to x-ray; there're too many other fractures that need to be assessed," she replied.
"He's not going to make it there if we can't stop this bleeding. Deb, I need help clamping this bleeder in the small intestine," The two women worked diligently on their colleague and got the bleeder under control.
"Where's the rest of the blood's coming from?" Deb asked, a little shocked at the sight.
"Did a lavage and the ultrasound showed a liver laceration and ruptured spleen. Ribs 11 and 12 and 5 on the left and 7 and 9 on the right are the culprits. There's kidney trauma on the right and there's a bleeder somewhere near there I'd like to find,"
"I just sent Alex to the OR and Malik said they were minutes away from wheeling out a GSW up there so let's do it so he has a chance to make it up there," said Deb. The two women carefully searched the flank area then Deb found it.
"There it is. It's the renal vein. As long as his vitals hold steady we can do this," she said confidently. She and Susan were able to clamp off the bleeder so that they could get him up to surgery where they could do the rest.
Dr. Corday came into the room to be briefed. As Susan spoke she quickly looked over what they had done.
"Great work, you three. Your team has given him a chance. Abby, I'll speak to Ortho about the remaining fractures. They'd want to know what you gave him for anti-infectants,"
"Cephalothan. I put it on the chart,"
"Great. It's me, Anspaugh and Dean and Robinson. Wish us luck. Who's coming up?" Elizabeth looked at Abby who quickly looked away. She wasn't sure if she could handle watching if something went wrong. She put her hand to her forehead then it dropped to her mouth as she began to sob.
"Abby, stay with Susan. I'll go and I'll keep you posted," said Deb.
Neela, Lydia, Connie and the rest of the team slumped on the chairs and against the walls. Abby and Susan ripped off their gloves and embraced.
"You did well with the bleeders Susan. He was lucky to have had you and Deb in the room,"
"Well, we did what we could. We just have to hope now. What did the secondary show?"
"More like what it didn't," replied Abby. "Ahh... Suspected fracture right femur; dislocated right knee and I guess the truck hit him on the right and he landed on his left because the humerus and the radius on the right are broken and so's the collar bone. He's a wreck,"
"And head trauma?" asked Susan
"Oh, that's the good news. The portable showed indications of a small, simple fracture which didn't surprise me," Abby said drying her eyes.
"Why?" asked Susan
"Well, he managed to break everything else, but like on our first date, when the mugger hit him over the head with a pipe, his head's fine. Luka has the hardest head, I swear," she said as they laughed between the tears.
"Man, there was a lot of damage. He landed hard and he's a big guy. Surgery's going to be long. God! I feel like I'm having a nightmare. I still can't believe tonight!" said Susan.
"I'd like to know what the fuck really happened to them," muttered Abby. He was going to meet them and bring them back after she'd been gone what? ... Two weeks? No phone call, no explanation. She just up and leaves her job and Luka behind without warning and when she finally gets in touch with him he drops everything only to get run over by a truck ... and Alex too? And what's with her cuts and bruises? Was she hit too?"
"Don't think so. It looks like she was attacked,"
"It's just one big fucking mess and Luka got caught up in it. I just hope he ... you know ... that Elizabeth and Anspaugh could ..." Abby couldn't finish the sentence. Susan hugged her again.
"I know Abby, I'm hoping for the same thing,"
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The rest of the night was eerily slow and the staff anxiously awaited news on Luka and Alex. The elevators opened and never sounded louder. It was Deb. She had come down from the OR and her expression was grim.
"Deb? What's happening up there?" asked Abby
"Alex is out of surgery. It went well and they're just waiting for him to regain consciousness,"
"And Luka?" asked Susan.
"He's ah ... It's not good. He had some complications. His heart stopped but they got him back and they still have at least 4 more hours to go. Everyone there's hoping he hangs on until they're through. Sam's a wreck. She's with Alex then she runs back to the OR to check on Luka ... I finally convinced her to just sit with Alex and that someone will tell her if anything happens with Luka. I thought I could sit through the rest of the surgery but ... I couldn't stay. After they got back a sinus rhythm I just had to get out of there ... It was just ... It's Luka, you know. It's hard to watch them almost lose him like that ... I couldn't stay,"
"He's one of us Deb. It is hard to watch. You feel so helpless,"
Their conversation was interrupted by elevator doors opening up again. A puffy eyed Sam approached the desk.
"They said it was no use for me to wait around. That ... I should ah ... get fixed up before the cuts get infected,"
"I'll help you," Abby sounded cold and Susan stood there watching her walk away with Sam, wondering just what Abby was going to say. So quietly, she followed them. In the suture room Abby wasted no time letting Sam know her feelings.
"What happened tonight Sam?" asked Abby.
"They were hit by a truck," replied Sam sullenly, as she put on a gown so Abby could clean her wounds.
"Just some truck?"
"Why the inquisition? I already gave my statement to the police. I don't need to explain anything to you,"
"Yes you do! My friend is brought in here crushed by a truck, bleeding to death and who's with him? The woman whom he thought cared for him comes in sliced up and her kid is strapped to a back board! It wasn't just some truck, Sam! What really happened?"
"Abby!" Susan interrupted "I'm going to take care of Sam,"
"No, I can do it!" Abby snapped back.
"I said I'm doing it. Now go check on your patient Mr. Lassater in curtain 6,"
Abby flashed Susan a glare and stormed out. Susan pulled up a chair in front of Sam and began cleaning her cuts and bruises.
"You've clotted nicely, I'm just going to use butterfly bandages for all of these except this one on your forearm," Susan said calmly as Sam nodded and wiped her tears.
"They're just friends, you know ... Good friends. In fact, we all are and we're just worried about him. He was badly injured and he's very sick. If we have to call his family we're going to need to know what to tell them,"
"I know. It's .... It's my fault you know,"
"Why do you say that?"
"Because I'm an idiot! I should have just come clean and told him the truth about Steve instead of running again,"
"Steve?" asked Susan puzzled.
"My ex. Alex's father. He tracks us down everywhere we go and sticks around for about a week or so then takes off for months ... sometimes for a whole year and I'd had enough this time; so we took off, ah-gain when he unexpectedly showed up where we were staying. I realized then he was following us. I should have just stayed here. Alex was a complete pain in the ass the whole time I was gone because Steve filled his head with all sorts of crazy ideas and empty promises. So, I decided to head back. At least here, I thought I could beg Weaver to hire me again, save up some money and get a restraining order, go to court ... Whatever I needed to do,"
"But it didn't work out that way," said Susan.
"Ouch,"
"Sorry," said Susan. "This really stings,"
"No, it didn't. I called Luka to apologize for freaking out and just taking off like that, especially since he felt it was because of something he did," explained Sam.
"You really hurt him, Sam. He was stunned, hurt and really sad. He worked every day for two weeks straight hoping you'd just show up," Susan said, trying not to sound like she was scolding her.
"I know and I'm not proud of that. I called him and we had this great talk and I told him I was going to get my car fixed and drive back tomorrow but he told me he'd come get us. He wasn't even angry. He just wanted us back,"
"What happened then?"
"When he showed up, Steve was in our motel room and he was trying to make us go with him. Alex was willing until Steve lost his nerve and took out this knife and threatened to hurt us. Luka came in behind him and Steve grabbed me and started cutting me. Then Luka just walked up to him, hit the knife out of his hand and pummeled him. Alex starts screaming and yelling so Luka stops and Steve took off,"
"That sounds like Luka," Susan sighed with a nod.
"He checks on me and gets me some towels for my arm and then he starts taking our stuff to his car. After he was gone, Alex decides to bolt and I yelled to Luka to grab him because I didn't want him to do anything dumb, like following Steve. I ran out to the balcony to see if Luka got him and that's when Steve drove his truck directly towards them. I think he was aiming for Luka but when he picked up Alex in the headlights he swerved. Luka threw Alex out of the way and Steve hit him. He went flying into this wooden fence; went straight through it. We were up a bit above the main entrance and he landed on the driveway below. He fell about 15 feet. I rushed down there, got to Alex, got to Luka, ran to the pay phone and called it in and told them what happened and that we needed an airlift to County. Now I'm here, waiting,"
"You're not alone. We're all waiting with you. Whatever happens, you're not alone,"
"The two men I love are unconscious upstairs and if I loose them ...I just don't know ..."
"You know what; I don't think that'll happen. Alex is going to be fine and Luka is a survivor and I know you know what I mean. He was supposed to be dead a few times and I'm not talking just about the war or the Congo. Maybe he survived all that he did to be with you and Alex. Think about that,"
"You know,Dr. Lewis, you're alright,"
"Susan ... and yeah, I am," giggled Susan. "Abby is too. She's close to Luka and she's scared, just like all of us,"
"Yeah. Well, I'd better head back.... See if Alex is awake; check up on Luka,"
"I'll come up later to see them,"
Sam left and Susan exhaled forcefully, wondering what the early morning hours would bring.
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Back at County General, Sam, Alex and Luka have been brought into the ER. There is a tense hush in the halls as some staff stare through the panes of the doors to the trauma room where Luka is being worked on. A few hover around the room with Sam and Alex and everywhere else, the rest of the staff try to continue working, hoping and praying for them to survive.
"On my count ... one, two, three! Okay, get a couple large bore IV's going ... ah ...18 gauge. I want a blood gas ... four units of O neg, portable CT and ultrasound. Get him on a controlled vent ... Luka? Luka? Luka, it's Susan. You're in the ER. You were in an accident and we're taking care of you so stay with us, okay? Luka? ... "
"He's stirring Dr, Lewis," Conni sounded hopeful as she watched Luka respond to pain.
"God, he's bleeding everywhere ... Lily, order 2 more units of O neg; type and cross matched. He needs a massive transfusion so make sure we have 1 to 2 units of frozen plasma for every five units of blood," said Susan. "Keep checking for a response, Conni and Shelly, give him 10mg of morphine, IV push. Neela, what about his resps?" she asked, taking a look at his abdomen.
"Diminished breath sounds on the right, Dr Lewis" Neela replied.
"Lung's collapsed. Alright ...Someone, I need a thoracotomy tray. Abby, what've you got?"
"Open fracture of the right tibia among other things. I'm trying to clamp a posterior tibial hemorrhage,"
"You okay with that?" asked Susan.
Abby swallowed hard and continued to work on the bleeder with shaky hands.
"Abby?" Susan asked again.
"Dr. Lockhart?" Shelly looked at her with concern.
"Ah, yeah Susan,"
Abby felt a hand lightly touch her shoulder. "Are you alright, Dr. Lockhart?"
"I'm good Shelly. I'm alright," Stopping for a second she took a breath, steadied her nerves and attempted once more. This was harder than she'd ever imagined. Her hands were in his leg squeezing an artery. It was supposed to be just a leg but this was her friend, Luka. At one time her Luka and now here he was lying before her as she and the people who helped him save lives everyday were trying to save his.
"Okay ... I've just ... about .. got it," said Abby, quietly. She quickly tried to glance at his face. She could barely see it. His head and neck were immobilized and the tube and hose from the ventilator hid his mouth and chin. "Hang in there, Luka," she thought, wondering if he felt any pain. Susan ordered some morphine but with the amount of injuries he'd sustained Abby was certain no amount of painkillers would be enough. Gently touching his hand, she tried to smile but she could feel the tears stinging her eyes. She snapped her mind back to the task at hand and proceeded to treat Luka's multiple fractures while Susan worked on stabilizing his respiration.
"Okay, let's see what I can do for this lung. Come on, come on, come on ... got it! There we go," Susan waited to see if and how well the blood was draining from his lungs. In a few seconds she was pleased with what she had seen then asked "Sound better now, Neela?"
"Yes, Dr. Lewis,"
"And his pulse?" asked Susan.
"Pulse 60, BP's dropped 80/50, heart rate 140, sats at 80%," said Conni. Not great news. Susan examined Luka's abdomen. It was rigid and purple. The ultrasound and the results of the DPL confirmed her worst suspicions.
"Shit, I've gotta go in. Lydia get me a 10 blade and suction,"
She made her incision and put the spreader in place.
"God, what a mess," Susan was barely audible, not wanting to risk Luka overhearing her. "How fast was that car going?"
"Dr. Lewis, he's crashing!" said Neela. "Vitals are deteriorating. BP's 70/34 and falling! ... He's out!"
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In the other trauma room Dr. Chen, Cooper, Malik and Chuney were working on Alex.
"Okay, Listen up. Malik, establish IV access and administer oxygen. Someone monitor, and administer IV crystalloids; I want to keep the SBP greater than 90 mms,"
"Turn him; he's vomiting," called out Cooper. "He's coming around. Hey, Alex? Alex? Do you know where you are?" Alex's eyes darted about the room.
"Mm ... ow ...ah ... mm ... mom ...," he sobbed.
"I'm right here, hon," Sam rushed to his side to comfort him. Alex's blinked several times rapidly but he could not see. "Mm .. mom, I ... can't see, ... can't see," Sam clutched his hand.
"I'm right here kiddo. You've hurt your head and it's really hard for you to see right now but it'll get better once the doctors take care of you. I promise," Sam looked anxiously at Dr. Chen as she examined his eyes.
"Pupils are responding to light. I suspect hematoma and once the fluid is drained and it'll relieve the pressure on the optic nerve," she said. "Are his vitals still stable?" Someone confirmed that they were and Deb was relieved. Sam looked worried enough as it was. She refused treatment anxiously awaiting the outcome of her son and Luka.
"Here are the CT and his labs Dr. Chen," said Chuney, rushing into the room. Alex's scan confirmed Dr. Chen's suspicions and he did have an epidural hematoma.
"Good, spine's cleared. Chuney, elevate his head 30 degrees. I'd like to increase venous drainage,"
There was a collection of blood over a cerebral hemisphere and he was being sent up to the OR to have a surgeon perform a burr hole to relieve the pressure. Alex's lab's showed a marked drop in his blood sugar which concerned Dr. Chen.
"Okay, they're ready for him upstairs," Malik said.
"Alex, you're going to the OR now and they are going to help you feel better," Sam told him.
"Op .. per ... ra ... "
"Yeah. You have to have an operation so that you can see again and fix that broken head of yours ... there's a lot of gross stuff they've gotta clear out of there so you can get better,"
"S ..scared ... Head ... hurts ... His speech was slurring a little and Sam knew he was going unconscious.
"I'm coming with you and I'll be there when you wake up, okay?"
"Lu... Luk ... hurt?"
"Don't worry. Luka's going to be fine. Now you just relax. I'm right here,"
"Sam, he should go now," Deb's heart went out to Sam. The two people she loved were critically injured; one teetering on death's door.
"He's good to go. Malik, make sure they see his labs regarding his blood sugar," Turning to Sam she said, "I think he's going to be okay. His cervical spine evaluation shows no injury to his neck. He's a strong kid, Sam. He should rebound fast. He was lucky Luka was there tonight. Might have been much worse," Deb tried to be as re-assuring as she could but Sam was still worried about her son and torn to leave Luka behind.
"I ... um ... I'm going with Alex ... Are you going to Luka now?" she asked, meekly. She pointed to the trauma room where Luka lay motionless among all the bodies moving about him as they tried to save his life.
"Yeah, Susan needs my help. He's one of us, Sam. We're not going to quit on him," Seeing the activity level in the adjacent room increase, Deb decided that this was a good time to get Sam out of the room. "Go on now, Sam. We'll take care of Luka. Go on with Alex,"
Sam left with Alex, Malik and Cooper and Deb burst into the room next door. Alarms were going off like crazy. Luka was in v-tach and Susan was about to shock him. It was eerie watching his body lurch upward and thud onto the gurney.
"Okay, charge to 200! Clear!"
"No change, Susan," said Abby.
"Give me 300! Come on Luka, we don't have time for this shit now, you're bleeding everywhere! Clear!"
"Okay, give him the Epi! ..... Come onnn! ........ Charge to 360! ...... Clear! ... Shit! .... Okay, 1.5 of Lidocaine IV push! ......Okay, this is the one. 360 ... Clear!"
"Normal sinus rhythm," said Conni calmly. There was a sense of temporary relief in the room.
"Alright, deep breath everybody. Let's see if we can fix these bleeders,"
"What can I do?" asked Deb.
"Abby, what's up with the fractures and the lacs?"
"I've controlled the tibial bleeder and I suspect a femur fracture as well. He needs to go to x-ray; there're too many other fractures that need to be assessed," she replied.
"He's not going to make it there if we can't stop this bleeding. Deb, I need help clamping this bleeder in the small intestine," The two women worked diligently on their colleague and got the bleeder under control.
"Where's the rest of the blood's coming from?" Deb asked, a little shocked at the sight.
"Did a lavage and the ultrasound showed a liver laceration and ruptured spleen. Ribs 11 and 12 and 5 on the left and 7 and 9 on the right are the culprits. There's kidney trauma on the right and there's a bleeder somewhere near there I'd like to find,"
"I just sent Alex to the OR and Malik said they were minutes away from wheeling out a GSW up there so let's do it so he has a chance to make it up there," said Deb. The two women carefully searched the flank area then Deb found it.
"There it is. It's the renal vein. As long as his vitals hold steady we can do this," she said confidently. She and Susan were able to clamp off the bleeder so that they could get him up to surgery where they could do the rest.
Dr. Corday came into the room to be briefed. As Susan spoke she quickly looked over what they had done.
"Great work, you three. Your team has given him a chance. Abby, I'll speak to Ortho about the remaining fractures. They'd want to know what you gave him for anti-infectants,"
"Cephalothan. I put it on the chart,"
"Great. It's me, Anspaugh and Dean and Robinson. Wish us luck. Who's coming up?" Elizabeth looked at Abby who quickly looked away. She wasn't sure if she could handle watching if something went wrong. She put her hand to her forehead then it dropped to her mouth as she began to sob.
"Abby, stay with Susan. I'll go and I'll keep you posted," said Deb.
Neela, Lydia, Connie and the rest of the team slumped on the chairs and against the walls. Abby and Susan ripped off their gloves and embraced.
"You did well with the bleeders Susan. He was lucky to have had you and Deb in the room,"
"Well, we did what we could. We just have to hope now. What did the secondary show?"
"More like what it didn't," replied Abby. "Ahh... Suspected fracture right femur; dislocated right knee and I guess the truck hit him on the right and he landed on his left because the humerus and the radius on the right are broken and so's the collar bone. He's a wreck,"
"And head trauma?" asked Susan
"Oh, that's the good news. The portable showed indications of a small, simple fracture which didn't surprise me," Abby said drying her eyes.
"Why?" asked Susan
"Well, he managed to break everything else, but like on our first date, when the mugger hit him over the head with a pipe, his head's fine. Luka has the hardest head, I swear," she said as they laughed between the tears.
"Man, there was a lot of damage. He landed hard and he's a big guy. Surgery's going to be long. God! I feel like I'm having a nightmare. I still can't believe tonight!" said Susan.
"I'd like to know what the fuck really happened to them," muttered Abby. He was going to meet them and bring them back after she'd been gone what? ... Two weeks? No phone call, no explanation. She just up and leaves her job and Luka behind without warning and when she finally gets in touch with him he drops everything only to get run over by a truck ... and Alex too? And what's with her cuts and bruises? Was she hit too?"
"Don't think so. It looks like she was attacked,"
"It's just one big fucking mess and Luka got caught up in it. I just hope he ... you know ... that Elizabeth and Anspaugh could ..." Abby couldn't finish the sentence. Susan hugged her again.
"I know Abby, I'm hoping for the same thing,"
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The rest of the night was eerily slow and the staff anxiously awaited news on Luka and Alex. The elevators opened and never sounded louder. It was Deb. She had come down from the OR and her expression was grim.
"Deb? What's happening up there?" asked Abby
"Alex is out of surgery. It went well and they're just waiting for him to regain consciousness,"
"And Luka?" asked Susan.
"He's ah ... It's not good. He had some complications. His heart stopped but they got him back and they still have at least 4 more hours to go. Everyone there's hoping he hangs on until they're through. Sam's a wreck. She's with Alex then she runs back to the OR to check on Luka ... I finally convinced her to just sit with Alex and that someone will tell her if anything happens with Luka. I thought I could sit through the rest of the surgery but ... I couldn't stay. After they got back a sinus rhythm I just had to get out of there ... It was just ... It's Luka, you know. It's hard to watch them almost lose him like that ... I couldn't stay,"
"He's one of us Deb. It is hard to watch. You feel so helpless,"
Their conversation was interrupted by elevator doors opening up again. A puffy eyed Sam approached the desk.
"They said it was no use for me to wait around. That ... I should ah ... get fixed up before the cuts get infected,"
"I'll help you," Abby sounded cold and Susan stood there watching her walk away with Sam, wondering just what Abby was going to say. So quietly, she followed them. In the suture room Abby wasted no time letting Sam know her feelings.
"What happened tonight Sam?" asked Abby.
"They were hit by a truck," replied Sam sullenly, as she put on a gown so Abby could clean her wounds.
"Just some truck?"
"Why the inquisition? I already gave my statement to the police. I don't need to explain anything to you,"
"Yes you do! My friend is brought in here crushed by a truck, bleeding to death and who's with him? The woman whom he thought cared for him comes in sliced up and her kid is strapped to a back board! It wasn't just some truck, Sam! What really happened?"
"Abby!" Susan interrupted "I'm going to take care of Sam,"
"No, I can do it!" Abby snapped back.
"I said I'm doing it. Now go check on your patient Mr. Lassater in curtain 6,"
Abby flashed Susan a glare and stormed out. Susan pulled up a chair in front of Sam and began cleaning her cuts and bruises.
"You've clotted nicely, I'm just going to use butterfly bandages for all of these except this one on your forearm," Susan said calmly as Sam nodded and wiped her tears.
"They're just friends, you know ... Good friends. In fact, we all are and we're just worried about him. He was badly injured and he's very sick. If we have to call his family we're going to need to know what to tell them,"
"I know. It's .... It's my fault you know,"
"Why do you say that?"
"Because I'm an idiot! I should have just come clean and told him the truth about Steve instead of running again,"
"Steve?" asked Susan puzzled.
"My ex. Alex's father. He tracks us down everywhere we go and sticks around for about a week or so then takes off for months ... sometimes for a whole year and I'd had enough this time; so we took off, ah-gain when he unexpectedly showed up where we were staying. I realized then he was following us. I should have just stayed here. Alex was a complete pain in the ass the whole time I was gone because Steve filled his head with all sorts of crazy ideas and empty promises. So, I decided to head back. At least here, I thought I could beg Weaver to hire me again, save up some money and get a restraining order, go to court ... Whatever I needed to do,"
"But it didn't work out that way," said Susan.
"Ouch,"
"Sorry," said Susan. "This really stings,"
"No, it didn't. I called Luka to apologize for freaking out and just taking off like that, especially since he felt it was because of something he did," explained Sam.
"You really hurt him, Sam. He was stunned, hurt and really sad. He worked every day for two weeks straight hoping you'd just show up," Susan said, trying not to sound like she was scolding her.
"I know and I'm not proud of that. I called him and we had this great talk and I told him I was going to get my car fixed and drive back tomorrow but he told me he'd come get us. He wasn't even angry. He just wanted us back,"
"What happened then?"
"When he showed up, Steve was in our motel room and he was trying to make us go with him. Alex was willing until Steve lost his nerve and took out this knife and threatened to hurt us. Luka came in behind him and Steve grabbed me and started cutting me. Then Luka just walked up to him, hit the knife out of his hand and pummeled him. Alex starts screaming and yelling so Luka stops and Steve took off,"
"That sounds like Luka," Susan sighed with a nod.
"He checks on me and gets me some towels for my arm and then he starts taking our stuff to his car. After he was gone, Alex decides to bolt and I yelled to Luka to grab him because I didn't want him to do anything dumb, like following Steve. I ran out to the balcony to see if Luka got him and that's when Steve drove his truck directly towards them. I think he was aiming for Luka but when he picked up Alex in the headlights he swerved. Luka threw Alex out of the way and Steve hit him. He went flying into this wooden fence; went straight through it. We were up a bit above the main entrance and he landed on the driveway below. He fell about 15 feet. I rushed down there, got to Alex, got to Luka, ran to the pay phone and called it in and told them what happened and that we needed an airlift to County. Now I'm here, waiting,"
"You're not alone. We're all waiting with you. Whatever happens, you're not alone,"
"The two men I love are unconscious upstairs and if I loose them ...I just don't know ..."
"You know what; I don't think that'll happen. Alex is going to be fine and Luka is a survivor and I know you know what I mean. He was supposed to be dead a few times and I'm not talking just about the war or the Congo. Maybe he survived all that he did to be with you and Alex. Think about that,"
"You know,Dr. Lewis, you're alright,"
"Susan ... and yeah, I am," giggled Susan. "Abby is too. She's close to Luka and she's scared, just like all of us,"
"Yeah. Well, I'd better head back.... See if Alex is awake; check up on Luka,"
"I'll come up later to see them,"
Sam left and Susan exhaled forcefully, wondering what the early morning hours would bring.
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