Chapter 4
"Tegan, sit down!" yelled Kate as she saw Tegan standing, rocking. "Baby!" called Lindsey. "Tee?" said Sara loudly turning around. They all leapt forward but wasn't fast enough to catch Tegan as she collapsed to the floor. It happened in slow motion…. Tegan's eyes rolled in her head, she fell and she hit her head against the sharp corner of the coffee table going down. Her face hit the floor hard and her head bounced off the thin carpet.
"Tegan! Shit, Tegan! Nancy where's those medics!" shouted Kate while making her way to Tegan. "Tegan! O fuck…. Tegan….. Tee" screamed Sara while holding her head in her hands. "Baby! Tegan!" said Lindsey on her knees at Tegan's head. "Nance I need your help, let's turn her" asked Kate calmly. Kate held Tegan's head stable as they turned her onto her back. Kate lightly tapped Tegan's face. "Tegan, wake up for me Tee, come-on" Lindsey looked panicked. "Baby wake up" she said. Tegan didn't stir. Kate rubbed her knuckles over Tegan's sternum trying to get a response to pain...nothing. "Tegan, open your eyes, open your eyes buddy" said Kate sounding alarmed. Nancy had 2 fingers on Tegan's neck "Pulse is thready, I'm thinking we have a BP issue here" said Nancy calm and collected. Lindsey was becoming a bit hysterical. "Come on baby wake up please, please baby open your eyes". "Dammit Tegan, wake up!" exclaimed Sara. Kate turned to Sara "Sara, I'm going to need you to hold her feet up in the air okay, we're going to try and get her BP up. Can you do that for us? Jeremy can you co find those medics please!" Sara picked up Tegan's feet and held them up to her waist, they felt heavy and still in her arms. "Resps at about 22, they're shallow and labored but they're there" said Kate with her hand on Tegan's chest. "Her pupils are reactive and equal" reported Nancy. Kate took some water and spilled it carefully over Tegan's face "Come on buddy wake up for me, you need to wake up now. Sara, take her shoes off if you can" asked Kate. Tegan didn't move.
The crowd around Tegan was growing and was now filled with the band, roadies, the merch girl, the lighting director, the guitar tech. Everyone looked panicked. Kate looked up annoyed "Guys, let's give her some air please!" Nobody moved. "Okay everyone out! Out! Please, outside... now!" she screamed. Only Lindsey and Sara stayed. Lindsey continued to talk to Tegan. "Okay baby, wake up now! I'm right here okay, I'm not going anywhere" Tears were rolling down Sara's face as she stood with Tegan's feet clutched to her stomach. Kate put her first 2 fingers on Tegan's carotid artery in her neck and started rubbing it in a circular motion. She turned to Nancy "I suspect she's in supraventricular tachycardia" I'm going to massage the carotid sinus, let's see if it brings down her heart rate. Where's Tyler? She's burning up!" yelled Kate.
Tegan could hear voices, it sounded as if she was underwater. "Wake up…. Tegan…. Eyes…. Come-on…. Wake up… baby" She felt trapped and she tried to break the surface of the water smothering her... Finally she managed to open her eyes, it took all her willpower. "There we go" said Nancy relieved. "Thank God" muttered Sara and Lindsey kissed her forehead multiple times. Tegan saw so many panicked faces around her "What…. What happened" She felt a sharp, stinging pain on her forehead close to her hairline and picked up her hand to touch it. "Ahhh, motherfucker…" she breathed in pain. Kate couldn't help laughing….. Typical Tegan. Tegan's fingers were full of blood as she removed them from her head. "She's bleeding!" yelled Lindsey. "Okay, let me see" said Kate calmly. "There seems to be a laceration where she hit her head can somebody get me something to stop the bleeding, a cloth, a clean shirt?" reported Kate. Jeremy was back in the room and he handed Kate a band shirt. "Keep pressure on that wound Lindsey" instructed Nancy. Upon closer inspection Kate saw that there was in fact quite a lot of blood in Tegan's hair. Her long bangs just managed to hide the wound quite well. "Hey can you tell me your name please?" asked Kate gently. "Tegan Quin" answered Tegan confidently. "You know where you are right now Tegan?" she asked again. "Uh huh" grunted Tegan "LA". "That's right Tee... can you squeeze my hand Tegan?" asked Kate and picked up Tegan's hand with the blood on her fingers. Tegan squeezed her hand relatively firmly. "That's it, good job." she said to Tegan and gave her a pat on the shoulder. "GCS is 14" said Kate looking at Nancy. "Tegan, I'm going to need you to stay awake for me okay, stay awake! Lindsey you keep her awake okay! Sara you can put her legs on that stool over here if you want" said Kate. Sara felt as if she could faint any second herself so she gladly put Tegan's legs on the stool. Tegan's whole body seemed to now be shaking.
Tegan's chest screamed in pain, it felt as if a boa constrictor was crushing her chest…. her shoulder was now also throbbing after the fall. She was scared. "Mmm okay…. I'm…okay…" Tegan tried to sit up only to be pushed down almost forcefully by Kate. She crashed back down, wheezing. "Stay still Tegan, stay still!" exclaimed Kate looking into Tegan's eyes. Tegan didn't have the energy to fight and she didn't. She was freezing…. Why am I so cold…. it was so fucking hot earlier... she thought to herself. She had black spots in her vision and her hearing seemed to come and go. She tried her best to try and stay awake by staring into Lindsey's eyes. "I'm right here baby" murmured Lindsey. She was scared…. What's happening…. "Sss sss sso cold…. Cc cc Cold" croaked Tegan. "You have a fever Tegan, that's why you're feeling cold, you're not really cold. Just relax, we're going to take good care of you okay…." Said Kate reassuringly.
Tyler, one of LA's best medics came running in after Nancy with bags full of medical supplies. "Okay give me the bullet" he called out. Kate rattled off what they knew about Tegan's condition from the limited medical supplies they had to check. "Okay doc what do you need, you're running this" he asked. "Tyler I need a line stat. Nance can you get me a BP. Tyler I need your ears please" instructed Kate confidently. Kate took a pair of scissors from the bag and tore all the way through the front of Tegan's T-shirt revealing her simple black bra. She grabbed Tyler's stethoscope put it in her ears and then put it on Tegan's chest and moved it over her heart and lungs. Tegan was awake but barely hanging onto consciousness. "Stay with me Tee" said Sara, now also kneeling next to Tegan's head. "Okay her lungs are wet and I'm hearing a lot of crackles her we need to move on this" said Kate sounding concerned. "BP's 70 over 50 and falling. Pulse 140"said Nancy with an uneasy look on her face. "Dammit, her veins are rolling I'm having trouble starting a line" muttered Tyler. "I need that line Tyler! Nancy can you do an IO in the meantime I need some dopamine in her stat" said Kate. "Pulse ox only 83, fingertips and lips have blue tint, she's becoming hypoxic fast" said Nancy. "I'm starting her on 100% O2 on a non-rebreather mask, Tyler as soon as you can we need to nebulise her – let's keep an eye on those sats" instructed Kate. "Finger stick glucose is 55. Lindsey has she eaten anything today?" asked Nancy. "Not much, no. She tried but she vomited everything back up" said Lindsey. Kate took an in-ear thermometer and placed it in Tegan's ear for a few seconds "Whoa her temp's at 103.8 can somebody please try and get us some more ice"
Tegan could hardly move.. she felt them putting a mask on her face and she felt herself drifting in and out of consciousness. "Stay with me Tegan" Sara's call pulled her back… "look into my eyes baby, look right into my eyes okay" said Lindsey. Tegan felt nauseous again but not enough to throw up… She felt something tighten around her upper arm. Somebody was holding on to her other arm down and something was pricking her over and over. She felt something cold move over her chest and suddenly felt embarrassed to have her bra exposed to all these people.. She was scared, she was confused, so weak... She felt as if she was being smothered… Can't…. breath…. So … cold….
Nancy took something that looked like a drill out of one of Tyler's bags. She inserted a needle into the front. She took a pair of scissors and ripped Tegan's shirt open to uncover her shoulder. She rubbed an alcohol pad onto it and put the drill to the ball of Tegan's shoulder. "Tegan, just a little sting for 3 or 4 seconds ok…" The drill took about 3 seconds to drill through Tegan's humorous into her bone marrow. It didn't seem to hurt her too much. "OK IO's in – shall I start her on a dopamine bolus and hang a saline drip?" "Yes please - Tyler any luck with that IV?" "I Think I may have it now… yes, okay I'm in. Let's start a lidocane drip on that one, Nancy can you get me glucose and a repeat BP reading please" Kate put the stetoschope back to Tegan's tiny chest. "We're going to need that nebuliser guys….. albuterol with ipratropium please" Kate put her fingers under Tegan's jaw to feel her glands… they were both very swollen… she moved to her armpits and eventually unzipped her pants to feel the glands in her groin… "Glands are all super swollen guys, there's a lot of infection in her body" "Boone will be here with the backboard soon do you want me to do the C-collar?" "Yes please, she hit her head pretty hard I don't want to take chances with her neck" Kate was calm and collected as she took Tegan's confused and scared face into both her hands. "Tegan look at me, look at me" Tegan looked away from Lindsey and found Kate's calm and confident face - it was blurry and at times she saw double but Kate was there and it made her feel safe… "Tegan, you're going to be OKAY, we're going to take good care of you, just stay awake for me, we've got you okay" Tegan nodded… Kate moved on to check Tegan's BP again. "Sar... Sara" Tegan mumbled from underneath the oxygen mask that was now nebulising her and opening her airways with a lot of success. Tegan felt almost immediately better now that she could breathe again. Sara lifted the mask slightly allowing her to hear Tegan but still delivering enough air. "Sara….. will you ….. take care of things here…." She asked out of breath. "Yes, Tegan of course I will, shhhhh" said Sara stroking her hair. "We have that meet and greet don't we?" asked Tegan "Tegan shhh I'll take care of everything just relax…. Sshhhhhh" said Sara soothingly. Tyler moved Sara out of the way to put the C-collar on Tegan. "All right miss Quin – let's get you ready to roll….." "Pressure's going up nicely – 90 over 70" Boone, Tylers partner came rushing into the room with the stretcher, backboard and monitor "Sorry guys, we had a fight with some blood and a fainting fan to deal with – nothing serious though" he said. "Let's get her on that monitor first I want to see what her heart's doing" said Kate. Sara looked horrified where she was now standing holding the drips in the air. Lindsey was slightly hysterical herself but trying to keep Tegan calm. The med team attached some electrodes to Tegan's chest. Tegan was starting to feel better as the glucose, saline and dopamine combo started to kick in. She still felt so cold though and she could feel her body shivering uncontrollably. She felt the BP cuff tighten around her upper arm again. She just wanted to close her eyes for a few seconds but as soon as she did Lindsey freaked out and slapped her face and shook her shoulders. "Normal sinus with no ST-segment elevation or T-wave inversions, but it's weak and I'm worried let's get her to the ER stat" said Kate looking at the monitor.
They carefully rolled Tegan onto a backboard and lifted her onto a stretcher. Tegan felt semi-alert again for the first time since going off stage. "Do we have to go in an ambulance?" She tried her luck. "Yes!" said Kate and Nancy loudly in unison. "Tegan, just shut up and let them treat you" snapped Sara. "Still here aren't I?" said Tegan softly with a hint of sarcasm in her voice "I don't... don't want everyone to see me like this" she mumbled. "I've cleared the hallway and the entire path to the ambulance already"said Jeremy squeezing her hand. Tegan smiled and whispered "you know me well J.." They lifted the gurney and got ready to move Tegan who at this stage look more exhausted than scared, she was clinging to Lindsey's hand. As they started moving Tegan spoke "Sara... Sara?" She seemed to panic when she didn't see Her sister immediately. "Tegan I'm right here" said Sara. "Don't phone mom okay" Tegan said out of breath. "Tegan, I don' t know if…." "Just don't, please…. I don't want to worry her this late, please Sara" Tegan's speech was slower than usual but still quite desperate… "Okay Tegan, calm down I won't call mom … tonight" said Sara. Tegan relaxed. "I'm going to finish up here really, really quick and I'll come to the hospital as soon as I can okay, Lindsey's going with you. Kate and Nancy are going to take good care of you." said Sara. "Sara…. tell them I'm sorry…."
Tegan started to feel dizzy again as they pushed her into the back of the ambulance. "Lindsey, I still need you at her head – just try and keep her calm and awake okay!" said Nancy. Tyler and Boone got into the front of the ambulance knowing full well that Tegan was in the best possible hands with Kate and Nancy. "Take it easy going out Boone, no sirens I don't want a mass hysteria outside please" said Kate. The ambulance slowly started to exit the backstage area. Masses of fans were crowding the exit trying to see if they could get a glimpse of Tegan or Sara coming out. Most didn't pay attention to the ambulance leaving until one fan panicked and screamed "Is that Tegan in there, please don't let that be Tegan in there" The crowd was hysterical by the time the ambulance moved through. They had to be held back by security staff some tried to see into the ambulance. Tegan heard the commotion but concentrated on staying awake by looking into Lindsey's eyes. Lindsey continuously talked to her saying soothing things stroking her hair and face. Tegan's entire body, her skin and face felt so sensitive. The oxygen mask on her face stung her skin and the gurney straps abover her breasts, over her middle and legs holding her felt like knives although they were in reality quite loose. Kate listened to Tegan's chest again while looking at the monitor. "Increase the O2 back to 100% I'm not liking what I'm hearing" said Kate. "BP is dropping again – 70 over 40, I'm increasing the dopamine and opening the saline wide" said Nancy. "Dammit she's crashing" exclaimed Kate. Kate shone the penlight into each of Tegan's pupils again, Tegan's eyelids felt heavy…. So heavy…. She was so so tired… She felt herself slipping and tried desperately to hang on to consciousness. Lindsey was pleading again "Tegan stay awake, baby open your eyes" she pleaded. Lindsey was blurring and started to fade… to…. black...
Lindsey completely lost it when Tegan lost consciousness. "O fuck! Baby come on! Tegan!" she screamed. "Loss of consciousness" exclaimed Kate and shone the penlight into Tegan's pupils again. "BP down to 60 palp" said Nancy. "Tegan, oh god please Tegan!" Lindsey was sobbing. "Pulse back up to 140, resps shallow at 30, pulseox down to 80" said Kate. "Guys step on it, and we're going to need sirens please this is a P1 now" she shouted towards the front of the rig. The ambulance sped up fast and the sirens started screaming loudly. Tegan seemed to be getting more and more pale by the second. "Temp's up to 105" said Nancy. Kate removed the sheet from Tegan's body and switched the air-conditioning onto max and started putting ice packs under Tegan's arms and around her stomach. Tegan's near perfect stomach muscles were contracting causing a clear six pack on her stomach. Nancy was communicating with the ER team on a headset relaying vital signs and other information. A massive bruise was already forming on Tegan's right cheek bone where she hit her face fainting earlier. "Lindsey I need you to calm down okay, calm down, we've got this" said Kate reassuringly but Lindsey was frantic.
That's it for now - Will Tegan be okay? Check back soon!