Leaving Normal (Chapter 3)
THE NEXT DAY
"Nathan, sweetie, wake up," Deb Scott said to her son. Nathan yawned and opened his eyes slowly. She smiled at him.
"Mom?" he asked. Deb nodded.
"I'm here too, Nate," Dan Scott said. Nathan slowly moved his head, ignoring the pain, and saw his father on the other side of his bed. He slowly moved his good arm and rubbed his forehead.
"What time is it?" he asked.
"It's about eight at night," Deb replied softly.
"How are you feeling?" Dan asked. Nathan stopped for a minute. That was kind of a stupid question to ask someone who had just been in a serious car accident. The fact that he had to stop and think about the answer should tell them a little about how he was feeling. His head was pounding. The pain was the equivalent as if someone had used his head as a basketball. They had dribbled it a few times, then dunked it and then he winced as he thought about how it would feel if his head had actually hit the floor after being dunked. He was about to answer, but then everything went black.
Haley walked to where Mathew was to give him some medicine. "Nurse, come quick!" a man exclaimed. Haley put the needles down on the counter out of Mathew's reach and ran to the room. She looked around and was shocked when she realized it was Nathan's room. He was unconscious and monitors were going off.
"What are you doing here?" Dan demanded. Haley ignored him and walked over to Nathan's bedside. She looked at him. She pushed the panic button on Nathan's bed and opened Nathan's eyes. They were unresponsive to the light.
"Haley, is he ok?" Deb asked. Haley was about to answer when Dr. Shane and two other nurses came running in.
"What happened?" he asked. Dan took this time to speak.
"He just woke up. He started talking to us. He asked what time it was, I asked him how he was feeling and then he was unconscious," Dan said, rambling a bunch of things that didn't really matter. Dr. Shane started to examine him. Then, the heart monitor started a long, sustaining beep. Haley looked up and gasped.
"He's flat-lined," she said.
"BP's dropping. 50 over 10," Haley said, looking at the monitor. The other nurses came with the crash cart and paddles.
"Charge to 280," Dr. Shane said.
"Charging," a nurse said.
"What are you doing to my son?" Deb demanded. They shocked Nathan twice.
"Haley, get them out of here," Dr. Shane said. Haley shook her head.
"Deb, Dan, you're going to have to wait outside," Haley said. Deb and Dan remained firm.
"We're not going anywhere," Dan said.
"Charge to 300," Dr. Shane commanded. "Clear," Dr. Shane said. Haley looked at the monitor and sighed with relief as it returned to a normal heart pattern.
"Pulse is back and climbing," Haley said. Everyone breathed out hard and Dr. Shane took off the yellow cover.
"Okay. Push five milligrams of epinephrine and keep an eye on him," Dr. Shane said. Him and the other two nurses left. Haley walked over to the cabinet and grabbed a syringe and epinephrine. She poked a hole through the lid and drew five milligrams. She walked over to Nathan and removed his IV from the liquid bag. She pushed the epinephrine into the tube that was connected to his arm. Then, she removed the old tubing and hooked new tubing up to the bag. Haley looked at Deb and Dan sympathetically. Dan looked a little confused and Deb looked worried and extremely upset. She walked over to them. Deb looked at her pleadingly.
"Is Nathan going to be ok?" Deb asked. Haley hesitated.
"I'm just a nurse, not a doctor," Haley said. Deb looked at her.
"But you must have experience with this type of thing, Haley. You've obviously been working here for a while," Dan said.
"Three years," Haley said. Deb looked at her. "A lot of things can happen from a car accident. This could be a reaction to medicine or something else," Haley said. She grabbed the chart from the bed and looked at it.
"Dr. Shane has scheduled a CT Scan and X-rays for later tonight to find out what's going on," Haley said.
"I think I want a doctor who's a little older and has more experience to oversee my son," Dan said firmly. Haley shook her head.
"He is one of the best doctors here," Haley said. Dan scoffed.
"That's like a company line," Dan said. Haley shook her head.
"If I were in a car accident, he's the doctor that I'd want to work on me. He has an extensive background in surgery and he's been working in the ER for six years. He knows what he's doing," Haley assured him.
AN HOUR LATER
Haley walked into Nathan's room and smiled when she saw Marie putting the bed back. "Did you just take him up for X-rays?" Haley asked. Marie nodded.
"And the CT," she replied.
"How did it go?" Haley asked. Marie smiled. That meant that the results aren't back yet. "Um, Dr. Raiser wants you in exam one," Haley said. Marie looked back at what she was doing.
"I'll handle this," Haley promised. Marie smiled. She started to walk towards the door.
"I'm sure he's going to be fine, Haley," Marie said, gesturing to Nathan. Haley smiled.
"Thanks," she said. Marie nodded. Haley walked over to Nathan and noticed that the chart was on the floor. She sighed. She picked it up and noticed that blood tests were being ordered. Marie obviously hadn't gotten around to getting the blood yet. She started getting the vials ready to get the blood, but a voice stopped her.
"Haley?" Nathan asked weakly. She walked over to him and smiled.
"Yeah, it's me," she said.
"What's going on? What happened? What are you doing here?" he asked.
"You went into a-fib," Haley said. He looked at her in confusion.
"What does that mean?" he asked. Haley smirked.
"Atrial fibrillation," she replied. He looked at her. "I don't know everything, but, basically, the heart beats in a pretty normal pattern. A change in this pattern is known as an arrhythmia. The most common type is atrial fibrillation. What happens is that the atria vibrate rather than contract normally because of irregular electrical signals in the heart. The result is an abnormally fast heartbeat as the chaotic signals travel to the ventricles, which are the heart's main pumping chambers," Haley explained.
"So, my heart stopped beating?" he asked. Haley shook her head.
"No, it was beating too fast," she replied.
"And I had to be shocked back?" he asked. Haley nodded. "Is this because of the car accident?" he asked. Haley shrugged.
"That's why we're running all these tests. By the way, I need some of your blood," Haley said. He looked up at her warningly.
"No needles," he said. Haley laughed. Nathan had always hated needles.
"How do you expect me to get the blood, with my fingers?" Haley asked, smirking. Nathan realized what she meant and smiled.
"I don't like needles," he reminded her.
"Oh, don't be such a baby. It won't hurt a bit, I promise," she said. She brought the needle up to his arm and searched for a vein. She squeezed his skin to make the vein come to the surface. Then she looked at him.
"So, what team are you playing for these days?" she asked.
"California State's team," he replied. Haley nodded.
"How many points did you score in the last game?" she asked.
"21 points, 8 assists," he replied almost as if it were a mechanic jerk.
"Still kicking butt, I see," she said. Then she pulled the needle out.
"I hold my own," he said. Haley smirked at his modesty.
"All done," she said. He looked at her and noticed the three vials of blood.
"How…" he asked, but stopped.
"You're not the only person who hates needles. I find that if you talk to a person about something that interests them, they're not concentrating on the needle," Haley said.
"Something you picked up in nursing school?" he asked. Haley smiled.
"No. Experience," she replied.
"By the way, I'm glad you're still playing basketball," she said.
"You are?" he asked doubtfully.
"Yeah. I know how much it means to you. You deserve to be happy," she said. His face grew serious.
"You didn't seem to care when you first saw me here or the last time we spoke," he said. Haley sighed.
"Nathan, I wanted to apologize for that," she said.
"Which?" he asked.
"Both. At the divorce signing, I said a lot of things that I didn't mean and the last thing I said was horrible. And what I said earlier about not caring about what was going on in your life isn't true," she said. He grabbed her hand to stop her from talking.
"Don't apologize to me, Hales. It's ok and I understand," he said. She looked up at him in disbelief. He was smiling at her.
"Thanks for taking such good care of me while I'm here," he said. She smirked. "And thanks for worrying about me," he added. Haley looked at him.
"You were awake then?" she asked, referring to her brief conversation with Marie. He nodded.
"I wonder if that doctor actually wanted to see her," he said. Haley smiled as she shrugged.
"Well, this is an ER. She probably ran into someone who needed her on her way to the room. She'll forget all about it," Haley said.
"Just wanted to get me alone," he said, smiling and laughing. Haley's eyes widened in surprise. She was about to untie the elastic that she had put around his arm to make it so she could collect blood. Instead, she put her finger in between his skin and the elastic, pulled it away from his body and then let it snap against his arm. "Ow!" he said.
"That's what you get for being arrogant," she said, laughing. She untied the elastic and threw it in the garbage.
"I think I want a new nurse," he said. Haley laughed.
"Sorry, but there's a nurse shortage as it is. You're stuck with me," she said smiling.