Chapter 254
"Subdural bleed has been evacuated. Neuro obs stable, you can proceed with the leg" said the neurosurgeon working on Sara.
"Keep an eye on her pressure please, that liver lac could start haemorrhaging. Have a general surgeon on standby please" said the orthopaedic surgeon as he started working on Sara's leg.
"Extensive soft tissue damage. Good thing somebody realigned this leg to keep it viable. This is going to be a challenge to save it as it is" said the other surgeon.
-0-
"Come on Kate, stay with me" said Saxon as she tried desperately to stem the bleeding in Kate's abdomen in the OR.
"Pressure's bottoming out" said the anaesthetist on the other side of the ether screen.
"Pump in more blood, platelets and FFP" Sax yelled.
"Where are you bleeding from?" she mumbled to herself.
Sax's eyes never left the surgical field.
"There it is, left renal artery tear and it's getting bigger. Clamp please"
Her talented hands started swiftly suturing the large artery closed.
"Pressure's holding… stabilising" said the anaesthesiologist.
Sax let out the breath she didn't realise she was holding and it puffed out her surgical mask as somebody wiped sweat from her brow.
-0-
Cam carefully straddled Tegan's hips and put her hand on the side of the basket next to Tegan's head.
"You ready Cam? Pulse is steady for now, I'm taking her off monitor" said Craig.
"Please keep beating Tegan… it's you and me baby, we're going all the way to the top" said Cam, she pulled her beanie lower over her ears.
Craig removed the electrode wires the second the cables were attached to the basket. Cam squeezed the bag rhythmically. Her heart was racing and her hand trembling. She was scared, no question, but she lived for this shit! The basket started moving up. The team on the ground steadied it until it was out of their reach. The first few meters were smooth sailing but as soon as they reached the top of the cliff wall the basket started swaying in the wind.
"Fuck me, its freezing" Cam muttered. The wind from the rotors were like knives cutting through her, stinging her eyes.
The basket swayed dangerously now and Cam lowered her body close to Tegan's to shift her centre of gravity, all the years of abdominal and upper arm exercises finally paid off. A couple of slow minutes later the team lifted the litter into the chopper. Craig Smith, the doctor was already being pulled up fast on the other side.
Cam ripped her glove off and put her fingers in Tegan's neck as a flight medic took over squeezing the ambubag.
"Come on Tegan… stay with me" she muttered.
Cam closed her eyes concentrating.
"Yes! I have a pulse but its weak" she yelled as Craig climbed into the chopper.
"Okay guys let's go, let's go. We have a critical patient here" Craig shouted after he pulled on his headphones. The doors slid closed insulating them from the freezing wind.
"Attaching the monitor now" said Cam on her knees next to Tegan.
Craig put a thermometer into Tegan's ear.
"Temps still falling, we're down to 80. We need those heat packs. Ventilate with 100% heated and humidified oxygen please" he roared.
"Craig she's having some weird arrhythmias" said Cam as the team placed heat packs on Tegan.
"Not much we can do medication wise here, we need to warm her up" said Craig.
"Temps not going up" said one of the flight medics two minutes later.
"Fuck this" said Cam and started undressing.
"Cam we're not quite there yet, anyway, you're freezing yourself" said Craig.
"I'm not, and we will be in a minute or two. I'm warmer than most of you, I've been working my ass off down there. She needs heat and this alone isn't going to do it. " yelled Cam pointing at a heat pack.
"Okay then, but be careful, we don't know the extent of her internal injuries" said Craig.
Cam stripped down to her underwear in no time. She didn't feel self-conscious in front of the guys. All she thought about was donating body heat to her patient. She carefully lowered herself onto Tegan, supporting her upper body with her arms elbows next to Tegan's neck.
"Well, this is the closest my body is ever going to get to Tegan Quin's so I guess I better enjoy it" she mumbled to herself.
"You know her?" somebody asked.
"Doesn't everybody? It's Tegan from Tegan and Sara you uneducated oaf" said Cam. She closed her eyes and tried not to think about the fact that her body, curves, breasts and all were moulded to Tegan Quin's.
"Fuck, she's freezing" said Cam.
"Keep those heat pads coming and squeeze in the heated saline through the rapid infuser" said Craig.
Cams triceps were starting to shake as she held herself up to not injure Tegan further.
"Hart, we're going to lift her out of the litter so you can lie next to her" said Craig.
A minute later Cam was on a blanket on the floor next to where Tegan was lying on a back board.
"Hold her tight Hart… oooh she's giving you the cold shoulder" mocked one of the flight crew and laughed.
"You think this is funny asshole" Cam snapped as she lay down next to Tegan on the side of less injured arm. She pulled her body as close as possible to Tegan's, she put her arm over her chest and her one leg over her body. Her cheek on Tegan's shoulder.
"Okay zip it or you're all getting reported. Tuck them in with the thermal blankets guys" said Craig.
"Come on Tegan, take in the heat" whispered Cam. Tegan was cold and stiff next to her. She could feel the cold transfer into her and hoped that the reverse was true and that her heat was penetrating Tegan.
"She's having multiple PVCs" said one of the medics.
"Hang on Tegan… hang the fuck on" said Cameron.
The flight to the hospital seemed to last forever.
"Temps moved up by one only" said a medic.
"Right now we just don't want to lose any more heat" said Craig.
"She's bradying down again. Pulse down to 28" said a medic.
"Pressure?" Craig barked and put his stethoscope under the covers on Tegan's chest.
"48 over 35" somebody reported.
"Dammit. I'm giving her a pulse dose of Epi. Slow push. Real slow. We can't give her more, it'll cause more arrhythmias. Are we maxed on oxygen? Her Sats are dropping again"" said Craig.
"Yeah, we're maxed on oxygen"
"Increase ventilations. You okay there Hart?" Craig asked as he injected the drug.
"I'm fucking cold but I'm okay" said Cam.
Cameron was starting to shiver under the thick blankets.
"Hang in there, we're almost there" said Craig.
A:N: It's looking bad for all three of them now. Let's hope they hang on. I might post a couple more chapters later today so check back (and remember to review as always)