Chapter 244
"Kate… Kate open your eyes! There's three IV bags in here! Kate!" Tegan yelled excitedly.
"Huh" Kate groaned.
"Check it out… saline" said Tegan.
"Good... good" said Kate. She tried to think and formulate a sentence but her vision was cloudy and her head spinning. It hurt like fuck to breathe.
"Tegan… find… is there… Epi pen" mumbled Kate.
Tegan searched for a few seconds before finding it. She knew Kate carried around at least one epi pen after what happened to Amelia a couple of months ago.
"Yes, got it!"
"In my thigh"
"You want me to inject it in your thigh?"
Kate nodded with her eyes closed.
Her breathing was becoming labored again and Tegan quickly opened the valve on the syringe in Kate's chest, releasing more trapped air.
Kate took an automatic, deeper breath. Her chest screamed in pain. Her vision was blurry and black around the edges and her hearing seemed to come and go.
Tegan quickly checked the instructions on the standard Epi pen used for allergic reactions to beestings, food etc. She plunged it into Kate's thigh through her cotton chinos and held it down for the auto injector to work.
Tegan watched the numbers on the pulse ox closely. Kate's pulse shot up from a slow 45 to over 80 in a matter of seconds. She pressed the BP button again. Kate gasped and opened her eyes.
"That's it bud… pulse is up, BPs… yeah it's up 80 over 60"
Kate felt the results of the Epi injection almost immediately. She seemed to come around a bit.
"Better?"
"Yeah… it's not… gonna last... Tegan… listen to me… I'm bleeding internally…. Slowly I think… but I'm bleeding…. Whatever you do… don't remove... this metal. Then…. you need to… get this IV in me…. And one in Sara… Sara fist… it needs to run slowly" Kate stopped to catch her breath.
"I need to do it?"
"I can't Tegan… I'm shaking… going into shock… you've seen them… do it so… many times… you can do it"
"If I lose… consciousness… um… just keep my airway open… do you have... more epi in there?"
"Umm… yeah I do. Not an epi pen though just this vial"
"Okay good…. If Sara's pulse… or mine… if it drops… under 50... or if BPs… top number goes… under 60 pull up… point 5 and… inject it into the IV line"
"Okay… I can do this"
"We need to do the IVs…. then the leg … then go find your… oxygen concentrator"
Tegan suddenly remembered her oxygen concentrator was on board. She hated the fucking thing and she never even needed it anymore but suddenly she was ecstatic that Kate forced her to take it with her when she travelled. She was just as happy that Kate played it safe and took her medical bag with. After Amelia's anaphylaxis following the bee stings Kate seemed paranoid about having the bag with her or at least nearby. She gave her shit for it but she knew it made Kate felt safer and right now it was a godsend to have it.
"I forgot about the oxygen… How did I forget about… hold on… I know where it is" Tegan jumped up and found the cupboard where the flight attendant put the oxygen concentrator immediately. Miraculously it was still where she put it. The door hung open on one hinge. The concentrator was pushed into the front, against the wall. "Please work"
"Found it!" yelled Tegan and zipped it open as she fell down on her knees next to Kate again.
"Let me do it…. Help Kate with the IV" said Sara. Sara groaned as she pushed herself into a seated position.
"What are you doing… lie still" said Tegan.
"No... I need to help" said Sara through gritted teeth.
Tegan grabbed some pillows she found in the cupboard and put it behind Sara's back.
"I'm here baby… Katy… we're gonna take care of you alright… just stay with me okay" said Sara as she assembled the lithium battery operated oxygen concentrator.
"Kate, I need a bit of guidance here bud… I have the IV and I think this is the cannula but I have no idea how to do this"
"You've seen them do this… you can do this Tee" said Sara.
"Yeah that's it … Just tie the... tourniquet… around my arm… tap… wait for the vein"
Tegan did as instructed.
"I can't see it… I just… can't" said Tegan a few minutes later. She started tapping Kate's arm again.
"Tee… help…. Chest" Kate gasped trying to reach the needled in her chest.
"Okay just relax… its okay" said Tegan as she released the air build-up. She started tapping again.
"Massage a bit" whispered Kate. Tegan massaged the inside of the elbow with her thumb where she expected to find a vein.
"No… there's nothing Kate I can't see it" said Tegan starting to panic. Kate's blood pressure was obviously very low.
"Try the top… of my hand" said Kate.
"Oh yeah much better" said Tegan a minute later. She opened the needle and handed it to Kate.
"You do it…. I'll hold your hand"
"Uh… I'll try" said Kate as Tegan held her hand in front of her face. She painfully brought her other hand up and brought the needle closer. Her vision was cloudy, she couldn't see the vein and her hands were shaking profusely.
"I can't… can't" said Kate weakly.
"Dammit" Sara cursed and slapped the oxygen concentrator a few times.
"What?" said Tegan looking up.
"It's not working"
"Check the battery" said Tegan.
"Yes, it's working" said Sara after realigning the battery. She almost cried with relief.
Sara moved to put the oxygen mask on Kate's face.
"Check her sats" said Sara.
"82" said Tegan.
"Okay baby, just breathe as deeply as you can now alright" said Sara.
Kate nodded. The world was spinning and her pain was increasing by the minute.
"Tegan get that IV running!" said Sara through gritted teeth.
"Okay… I'm going to give it a go" said Tegan. She closed her eyes and tried to see all the times she'd been cannulated in her mind's eye.
The world was going darker for Kate and she could feel herself slip.
"Tegan come on, her pulse is through the roof!" said Sara and looked at Kate's face.
"Baby… Kate! Tegan she's lost consciousness! Do something!" Sara yelled.
Tegan put the needle down and tilted Kate's head back. She listened to her breathing. Fast and shallow with gargling noises. She remembered seeing an oral airway somewhere in the bag.
Tegan found the airway a few seconds later and ripped it open. She carefully put it into Kate's mouth, over her tongue to keep it in place. She put the oxygen mask back over her mouth and nose.
"There… I think it's in" said Tegan and wiped her brow again. She focussed again on the IV.
"Come on… you can do this Tegan" she muttered to herself. Kate's hand was limp in hers. The needle broke the skin and Tegan advanced it slowly. A flash of blood escaped the needle.
"I think I'm in Sara" said Tegan excitedly.
"How do you know?"
"I don't, but I think it's in… it feels right. There was a flash of blood" said Tegan advancing the cannula. She pulled the needle out of the cannula and gave a sob of relief before opening the Saline IV bag, letting it run through the tube and attaching it to the cannula. She secured the line with a plaster and taped the bag to the seat above Kate.
"Okay Kate come on…. You can do this… come on wake up" said Tegan holding Kate's hand.
"Baby please…. Wake up… baby please, wake up" Sata cried.
"It may take some time. I'm going to splint your leg Sara"
"I don't give a fuck about my leg… just help her" Sara shouted.
"I don't know what else to do" said Tegan.
"Cover her up more, it's freezing in here" said Sara. Tegan had been running around so much she hadn't noticed the cold.
"We don't have anything else right now. I should put this under her legs" said Tegan holding a pillow.
"I have no idea what to do" said Sara.
Tegan repositioned the blankets and jackets over Sara and Kate, careful not to hurt them or move the piece of metal. She gently lifted Kate's legs onto a pillow
Sara was still shaking when Tegan tore the cardboard box she picked up outside open and rummaged through the bag again. Tegan carefully folded the cardboard and gently slid it under Sara's calve. Sara moaned. Tegan folded it carefully around the leg and started taping it together with a roll of plaster she found in the bag. Sara whimpered in pain. She looked pale and sweaty despite the fact that she told Tegan she was cold.
Tegan sat back on her heels and looked at her handiwork. "There we go… one new boot" she mumbled before turning back to Kate. She checked her pulse ox and her breathing again and opened the valve in her chest again to let the air escape.
"She okay?" asked Sara weakly.
"I don't know Sar… Her blood pressure is very low. Still around 60 over 40"
"Open the drip wider" said Sara gripping Kate's hand tight.
"God she feels so cold" said Sara.
"I don't know if this is right but I've opened the drip up wide" said Tegan. She took some antibacterial swabs out of the bag and started gently cleaning the cuts and scrapes on Kate's face, she didn't know what else to do. She carefully packed new gauze around the piece of metal sticking out of Kate's abdomen.
"How's that bleeding?" asked Sara.
"It seems contained. God knows what's going on inside though"
Tegan cleaned Sara's cuts too and checked what else she could find in the bag.