Chapter 19
Everybody in the room stared at the monitor. Beep, beep, beep, beep. Kate sobbed "She's back... Sinus rhythm" The medical team started applauding. Lindsey let out a sob on the ground, "Thank you... Thank you" She realized that she had wet herself without knowing somewhere in the last few minutes. Erin finally let go of Lindsey and fell back against the wall breathing heavily, for the first time she let go of her emotions... She started shaking. Sonia sunk to her knees next to Lindsey and pulled her close "She's back Linds, she's back"
"Let's move, she's still unstable, we meed to get her to the OR before she crashes again" yelled Kate. They wheeled Tegan's bed out of the room quickly. Erin forced herself onto her unstable feet. She walked out of the room and stopped outside. She leaned onto a wall to stabilize herself. Tears spilled from her eyes. She started jogging towards the ladies room. She threw open the door and violently vomited into one of the toilets. She felt a hand on her back, another hand held her hair out of her face. "It's okay Erin..." Alex... Thank God Alex is here... She vomited again, Alex rubbed her back. He put his hands under her armpits and lifted her, he turned her around and pulled her close to him. Erin sobbed into his shoulder.
More than an hour later an exhausted looking Kate came out of the OR. She was still wearing her surgical cap and gown. She pulled off her gloves as she was walking over to the family. They all jumped up at once. Kate smiled and she could see them visibly relax for a second. She turned to Alex and hugged him hello as she stared speaking. "I've got good news guys! Surgery was a big success. We managed to successfully drain the excess fluid from the sack around Tegan's heart and the space around her lungs. We got her on ECMO without further complications. We're already seeing a massive improvement in her oxygen levels. Her kidneys seems to be responding well and we may only need limited dialysis. Her condition is still critical but she's stable. She's doing very well under the circumstances. We're very happy with her progress so far" Sonia started softly crying, tears of joy. Lindsey flung her arms around Kate's neck "Thank you Kate, thank you! Thank you!" she said. After another minute of conversation where Kate explained their expectations of ECMO she had a confused expression on her face, "Where's Sara?" she asked. "Dr Robbins sedated her when..." Erin trailed off and looked at the ground. Images and sounds of Sara wailing flashing back. "That's good, somebody should stay with her for when she wakes up, it should be in the next hour" said Kate "We're keeping Tegan in post op for another 30 minutes or so, you can see her once she's back in her room" everybody took turns giving Kate long hugs. Sonia was last. She pulled out of the hug after a few seconds and took Kate's tired face into both her hands "Thank you Kate, I don't know how I can ever thank you enough" she said looking into Kate's kind eyes. "Just doing my job..." said Kate shyly. "I think we all know you did way more than just your job, you fought with everything in you. You saved her" said Lindsey. Kate bit her bottom lip, fighting her tears. "She's not out of the woods just yet, but she's getting there! She's got a map and a torch now!"
Phew! That was sooo close, but things seem to finally be looking up for Tegan!