"What do you mean you're going to do the surgery down here?" Elmer
demanded as he stared at Hook in shock. Oh, great. Wasn't this just his
luck? Here he had found help only to have it turn out that Hook had lost
his mind. They couldn't just do an operation any place!
"We don't have a choice, Elmer." Hook said with a shake of his head as he stood and hurried into the lab with Chris at his side. "The way that we came is definitely blocked and who knows how long it might take us to find another way out. Lona's loosing too much blood internally. She doesn't have the time it might take to try to find a way out. We don't get in there and get that bleeding stopped fast, she won't make it."
"But...." Elmer looked down at Lona with fear in his eyes. He had known that she had been hurt badly, of course, but there was something about Hook confirming the seriousness of the situation that made things feel a million times worse. If he was just relying on his own ability to diagnose, then he could halfway convince himself that he was probably just panicking and making things seem worse than they really were.
"Elmer, it's going to be okay." Hook said gently as he and Chris drug the mattress back in and set it down at Lona's side. Okay, it probably wasn't the best they could do for a stretcher but they would have to work with what they had. Speed was of the essence right now. "Just think of the morgue as another operating room. They just usually operate on dead people down there."
Operate on dead people. Now that stirred yet another worry with Elmer as between the three of them, they lifted Lona onto the mattress,
making sure that the tube in her chest stayed correctly positioned as they moved her. "What about an anesthetic?" Elmer demanded. "How likely is it that they're going to have an anesthetic down in the morgue since most of the people they work on certainly aren't going to be in need of pain killers?"
"We'll figure that out when we have to." Hook said, trying to hide the fact he wasn't exactly sure what they could do for anesthetic. Without the proper equipment he was a bit hesitant to try to put Lona under but at the same time he knew that some sort of pain killer would definitely be in order. He reached out, gripping the top of the mattress. "Okay, Elmer,
you get the bottom. Chris, I need you to keep an eye on that chest tube,
okay, and make sure it stays in place. We loose that and we will have a situation on our hands."
Chris nodded, looking at Hook with worry in her eyes as the two men lifted the mattress. It dipped slightly in the middle with Lona's weight as they started towards the door with Chris walking along side. She reached out and took her friend's hand, keeping one eye on the chest tube as she did so. Chris agreed with Hook that they definitely had to do something to stop that bleeding and the sooner the better but she still wasn't one hundred percent convinced that trying to do the surgery down here was the smartest thing. Okay, the morgue was equipped for an operation in theory but since they mainly operated on dead people..... What other choice did they have, though? Chris couldn't even feel a pulse in Lona's wrist anymore and her breathing was extremely slow and shallow. She bit her lip, trying to keep the fear from showing. She wasn't even sure if Lona could last long enough for them to get her into the morgue and get set up to operate.
As they approached the morgue doors, they suddenly heard a voice call out, "Is someone out there?"
"Dad?" Elmer called back. That had sounded like his father but....
"Elmer?" Yes, it was definitely Louis. Elmer could tell that now.
"What's going on out there?"
"Another earthquake." Hook said with a shake of his head. They really were going to have to consult with Mrs. Druse soon to figure out what they could do to stop these quakes. If they got much stronger.
"Louis, can you hold the door open for us? We've got a bit of an emergency on our hands."
"What happened?" Louis demanded as he pushed the door open,
peering closely at the group as they entered.
"Over there. We'll explain in a minute." Hook said as the carried the makeshift stretcher over to the nearest morgue table and sat it down on the floor beside it. He knelt down, feeling Lona's slowly fading pulse for a moment before surveying the room to see what supplies they had to work with. "Okay, first things first. There should be blood in here. We need to get an IV in and get that started fast."
"What's going on?" Louis demanded again as he approached. Hook looked up, his eyes suddenly widening a bit. Instead of taking a direct path to them, Louis had reached them by edging along the wall and then along the morgue table as well. Suddenly, Hook had a suspicion that they might have two patients on their hands instead of one.
"Part of the ceiling in the sleep lab collapsed on Lona and she got hit by a pipe." Elmer said as he looked up at his father for a minute before turning his attention back to Lona once more. The movement from the lab down to the morgue had definitely weakened her. Could she actually handle the surgery now? He frantically struggled to push aside the images of Lona dying despite their best efforts.
Hook reached out for a moment, laying a comforting hand on Elmer's shoulder before standing. "We're going to fix this, Elmer." he said in a gentle tone before motioning for Chris to join him. "Just stay there and keep an eye on her. Make sure that tube doesn't slip."
"What do you want me to do?" Chris asked as she joined Hook.
"Get the blood and an IV set up." Hook said, his mind running over what they needed, even as he watched Louis carefully. "There should be a crash cart in here. That ought to have most of the drugs that we need.
Scapels, clamps. The basics for surgery or as close as you can come to them."
As Chris scurried around the room, Hook approached Louis. "What happened?" he asked in a quiet tone so that Elmer couldn't hear.
"One of the lights came down and I got hit on the head." Louis said as he peered anxiously in the direction of his son. "Everything's basically a blur." He paused for a moment before continuing to speak.
"Don't tell Elmer. If Lona's as bad as you're saying, he doesn't need anything else to worry about."
"We don't have a choice, Elmer." Hook said with a shake of his head as he stood and hurried into the lab with Chris at his side. "The way that we came is definitely blocked and who knows how long it might take us to find another way out. Lona's loosing too much blood internally. She doesn't have the time it might take to try to find a way out. We don't get in there and get that bleeding stopped fast, she won't make it."
"But...." Elmer looked down at Lona with fear in his eyes. He had known that she had been hurt badly, of course, but there was something about Hook confirming the seriousness of the situation that made things feel a million times worse. If he was just relying on his own ability to diagnose, then he could halfway convince himself that he was probably just panicking and making things seem worse than they really were.
"Elmer, it's going to be okay." Hook said gently as he and Chris drug the mattress back in and set it down at Lona's side. Okay, it probably wasn't the best they could do for a stretcher but they would have to work with what they had. Speed was of the essence right now. "Just think of the morgue as another operating room. They just usually operate on dead people down there."
Operate on dead people. Now that stirred yet another worry with Elmer as between the three of them, they lifted Lona onto the mattress,
making sure that the tube in her chest stayed correctly positioned as they moved her. "What about an anesthetic?" Elmer demanded. "How likely is it that they're going to have an anesthetic down in the morgue since most of the people they work on certainly aren't going to be in need of pain killers?"
"We'll figure that out when we have to." Hook said, trying to hide the fact he wasn't exactly sure what they could do for anesthetic. Without the proper equipment he was a bit hesitant to try to put Lona under but at the same time he knew that some sort of pain killer would definitely be in order. He reached out, gripping the top of the mattress. "Okay, Elmer,
you get the bottom. Chris, I need you to keep an eye on that chest tube,
okay, and make sure it stays in place. We loose that and we will have a situation on our hands."
Chris nodded, looking at Hook with worry in her eyes as the two men lifted the mattress. It dipped slightly in the middle with Lona's weight as they started towards the door with Chris walking along side. She reached out and took her friend's hand, keeping one eye on the chest tube as she did so. Chris agreed with Hook that they definitely had to do something to stop that bleeding and the sooner the better but she still wasn't one hundred percent convinced that trying to do the surgery down here was the smartest thing. Okay, the morgue was equipped for an operation in theory but since they mainly operated on dead people..... What other choice did they have, though? Chris couldn't even feel a pulse in Lona's wrist anymore and her breathing was extremely slow and shallow. She bit her lip, trying to keep the fear from showing. She wasn't even sure if Lona could last long enough for them to get her into the morgue and get set up to operate.
As they approached the morgue doors, they suddenly heard a voice call out, "Is someone out there?"
"Dad?" Elmer called back. That had sounded like his father but....
"Elmer?" Yes, it was definitely Louis. Elmer could tell that now.
"What's going on out there?"
"Another earthquake." Hook said with a shake of his head. They really were going to have to consult with Mrs. Druse soon to figure out what they could do to stop these quakes. If they got much stronger.
"Louis, can you hold the door open for us? We've got a bit of an emergency on our hands."
"What happened?" Louis demanded as he pushed the door open,
peering closely at the group as they entered.
"Over there. We'll explain in a minute." Hook said as the carried the makeshift stretcher over to the nearest morgue table and sat it down on the floor beside it. He knelt down, feeling Lona's slowly fading pulse for a moment before surveying the room to see what supplies they had to work with. "Okay, first things first. There should be blood in here. We need to get an IV in and get that started fast."
"What's going on?" Louis demanded again as he approached. Hook looked up, his eyes suddenly widening a bit. Instead of taking a direct path to them, Louis had reached them by edging along the wall and then along the morgue table as well. Suddenly, Hook had a suspicion that they might have two patients on their hands instead of one.
"Part of the ceiling in the sleep lab collapsed on Lona and she got hit by a pipe." Elmer said as he looked up at his father for a minute before turning his attention back to Lona once more. The movement from the lab down to the morgue had definitely weakened her. Could she actually handle the surgery now? He frantically struggled to push aside the images of Lona dying despite their best efforts.
Hook reached out for a moment, laying a comforting hand on Elmer's shoulder before standing. "We're going to fix this, Elmer." he said in a gentle tone before motioning for Chris to join him. "Just stay there and keep an eye on her. Make sure that tube doesn't slip."
"What do you want me to do?" Chris asked as she joined Hook.
"Get the blood and an IV set up." Hook said, his mind running over what they needed, even as he watched Louis carefully. "There should be a crash cart in here. That ought to have most of the drugs that we need.
Scapels, clamps. The basics for surgery or as close as you can come to them."
As Chris scurried around the room, Hook approached Louis. "What happened?" he asked in a quiet tone so that Elmer couldn't hear.
"One of the lights came down and I got hit on the head." Louis said as he peered anxiously in the direction of his son. "Everything's basically a blur." He paused for a moment before continuing to speak.
"Don't tell Elmer. If Lona's as bad as you're saying, he doesn't need anything else to worry about."