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Chapter Twelve
When Stella arrived home early the following afternoon, she didn't initially see Kelly anywhere. Stella called out to Kelly that she was home, but there was no response.
Then Stella heard a loud crash from the bedroom.
Stella ran to the bedroom as fast as her heavily pregnant form would allow her, already dialling 911 as she moved.
That's when Stella saw Kelly in the midst of a seizure in the bed, a side lamp had been knocked to the floor, but Stella merely stepped around it as she moved to Kelly's side. Stella knew not to touch him during the seizure, and as Kelly was relatively safe in the bed, she just adjusted some of the pillows to aid in protecting him while she anxiously waited for the 911 dispatcher to answer the call.
"9-1-1 dispatch. How may I help?" A comforting voice came through the phone line at that moment.
"This is Stella Kidd from firehouse 51, I'm an EMT and firefighter. I just got home and my husband's having a seizure. It's been going for at least a minute now. He's being treated for terminal lung cancer with multiple metastatic sites. Please send an ambulance urgently."
"Okay, Mrs Kidd. The ambulance is on its way. Is your husband somewhere safe?"
"Yes, he's in bed. I've put pillows around him ...wait a sec, I think it's stopping," Stella said uncertainly, but almost as quickly as she said it, Kelly went straight into another seizure. "Damn! Sorry. It looks like he's in status."
"Okay, so he's seizing again after a break?"
"Yes, yes. He is. How far out is the ambulance?"
"We're very busy tonight, Ms Kidd. But the ambulance should be at your residence in a few minutes. Is your husband breathing?"
"Yes, he is, but it's shallow."
"Okay. And how long since anyone would have seen him last? Do you know when the seizures may have started?"
"I called about two hours ago, but I thought he was just resting when he didn't answer."
"Alright, and he is still seizing currently?"
"Yes, do you know how far out the ambulance is?"
"We're sending one from another area, they will be there as soon as they possibly can. Just try to keep your partner from injuring himself during the seizures, and monitor his breathing. Let me know if anything changes, okay?"
"Okay."
Stella felt her knees go weak a moment later, as Sylvie Brett's familiar voice called out to her, while she and her new partner, Gianna Mackey, entered through the open front door.
"We're in the bedroom!" Stella called out, before quickly ending the 911 call. She looked to her old colleagues with fear in her eyes, as she reported everything she could on Kelly's condition.
Sylvie and Mackey worked as an efficient team, with Mackey accessing Kelly's Hickman line to push a cocktail of anti-seizure medications and start intravenous fluids, while Sylvie waited for the medications to take effect before placing a bag valve mask over Kelly's mouth and nose, and effectively took over breathing for him as his respiratory rate was dangerously low.
Just as they all thought that Kelly was out of danger though, he collapsed into yet another seizure.
After that, the orders were coming so fast that Stella had to step in to help treat her own husband, as Sylvie did her best to stabilise Kelly.
Eventually, the seizures stopped, but not before Kelly had to be sedated and intubated.
Sylvie drew a line at having their patient's pregnant wife, no matter how qualified, from helping them to move Kelly onto a backboard and then onto the gurney. While Sylvie refrained from comment, she could tell as they moved Kelly to the gurney that he must have lost a lot of muscle mass since becoming ill, as they could easily transfer him now without need for his former colleagues help, as they once would have.
"Are you going to ride with us, Stella?" Sylvie called out as they wheeled Kelly towards the apartment door.
Stella nodded shakily, grabbing her coat and gloves as she moved to lock up the apartment. She almost didn't notice the spilt pill on the kitchen floor, but then the shine of the capsule caught her eye. "Just a sec."
Stella went to the kitchen and picked up the pill. She recognised it immediately, now it all made sense. "It's his dilantin pill, I just found it on the floor. He hasn't had his seizure meds today. He was vomiting this morning, so it probably didn't stay down, and this should have been his noon dose. Why is it on the floor?" Stella murmured uncertainly. Was this her fault? Had she dropped the pill. No, Stella clearly remembered setting out all the pills that morning, or was that another morning?
"Okay, thanks Stella," Sylvie took a moment to look at her friend. Stella was shaking and looked absolutely exhausted. A part of Sylvie was worried that they were about to end up with two patients on their hands. "It's okay, Stella, these things happen. Now, we've got to move. Come on."
As Mackey drove the ambulance towards Med, Stella noticed that her phone was ringing. "Oh shit," Stella mumbled as she remembered the appointment that she was supposed to have with the palliative care nurse. She answered her phone quickly, using her opposite hand to block out the sound of the siren, "Hi Susan, I'm so sorry I didn't call you," Stella paused as Susan spoke up.
"Is that a siren I can hear? Is everything okay?"
"Yes, we're in an ambulance going to the hospital. Kelly's having seizures, I don't know how long they've been going for. He was in status when I got home."
"Which hospital are you going to?"
"Gaffney Chicago Medical Center."
"Alright, I'm going to meet you there if that's alright by you Stella?"
"That's fine. I'll see you soon."
To Be Continued…
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