"What's wrong doctor?" Karen asked, obviously distressed by the situation.
"I think Lucas' is having an allergic reaction to the new drugs we started him on yesterday" The doctor kept looking at Lucas' heart monitor hoping his stats would improve. "Stats are 85 on 100 oxygen" a nurse said quietly to the doctor.
"Ok, if his stats don't improve in 5 minutes we are going to have to intubate" "What does that mean?" Brooke asked, tears streaming down her face.
"We are going to have to put a tube down his throat to help him breath." The doctor informed them.
"Will he be okay"
"He should be. We've caught this early enough. I hope"
"Stats are up to 87 on 100" The nurse told the doctor.
"Good okay, things are looking up." The doctor said to Karen, "But his condition is still serious. I think the best thing to do would be to intubate him and give his heart a chance to recover."
Brooke and Karen were asked to leave. Brooke was in bits. Tears were still flowing down her face. Karen was still in a state of shock at how quickly Lucas had deteriorated. Brooke looked up to see Nathan and Haley walking down the hallway. She called out to Haley, Haley looked up, and on seeing Brooke's face ran to see what was wrong. Nathan wasn't far behind.
"What happened?" Haley questioned worriedly.
"Lucas had an allergic reaction to the drugs they gave him yesterday. He isn't doing so well" Karen said rubbing Brooke's back soothingly.
"Is he gonna be okay?" Nathan asked, putting a comforting arm around Haley.
"The doctors said he should be fine but that his condition is still serious, I guess we'll just have to wait and see." With that Karen broke down in tears. She had held it together for as long as possible. Haley hugged her tightly.
"I can't lose him" Karen kept repeating.
"You aren't going to lose him. Lucas is tough. We know that!" Nathan reassured Karen and then led her to the waiting room to sit down.
About half and hour later the doctor came out to speak to Karen.
"Ms Roe?" He got her attention quickly.
"Yes?" Karen stood up eager to hear news of her son, "How is he"
"He is still in a serious condition but he is stable. We are going to leave the tube in his throat for a couple of days. It is just a waiting game, but he is improving"
"What happened? Why was the onset so quick"
"We gave him new medication yesterday. He had quite a severe allergic reaction to it. We have him on different meds now"
"So this shouldn't happen again?" Karen looked up worriedly at the doctor.
"No, it shouldn't. Lucas condition is definitely improving. Would you like to see him"
"Of course" Karen followed the doctor.
"Can I see him too?" Brooke asked quietly
"Sure, only 2 at a time though." The doctor replied over his shoulder.
Brooke entered Luke's room after Karen. It was like deja vu seeing Lucas with all the tubes and wires coming out of him. She sat by his bed and took a hold of his hand. Karen sat on the other side of the bed and began stroking his hair gently. She was glad to feel his forehead was considerably cooler and beeping of the machines was more consistent. Brooke suddenly felt exhausted. She lay her head on the bed beside Lucas' hand and fell asleep to the rise and fall of his chest, comforted to know that he was going to be okay. Karen wasn't comforted by the doctor's words. The doctor had said Lucas was going to be okay 3 days previous and then this happened. Karen wasn't going to be able to rest easy until Lucas was out of the hospital.