Chapter 259
"Listen up! For those of you who haven't met her, this Dr Saxon Sinclair. She'll be with us for the next couple of weeks or so. She's one of the best trauma surgeons and specialists in the world. She's here to help. I trust that you'll give her your cooperation and make her feel at home. She has full privileges and she'll be evaluating and reviewing the trauma procedures for the medical board" said the hospital's chief of staff to the team standing next to Tegan's bed.
"I will? That's news" Sax thought to herself but remained quiet. It must have been one of Richard's bargaining chips to allow her in with privileges at all.
"This is Dr Craig Smith, the lead on the case. I'll leave you to it" said the chief and left the room.
"Dr Sinclair, it's a privilege" said Craig.
"Nice to meet you. How's she doing?" said Sax looking at Tegan.
"Still pretty unstable. Temps going up but her lungs are wet and she has major cardiac irritability. BPs low but its holding" said Craig.
Sax put her stethoscope on Tegan's chest and listened for a few minutes.
"Can I see her scans and labs please" she said before prying open Tegan's eyelids one by one to shine a light in them.
People were scramming around Sax to get her exactly what she wanted.
"Here are her medical records. I've been trying to get a hold of her primary doctor down in LA but she's not getting back to me" said Craig.
"She's not getting back to you because she's unconscious in the ICU upstairs" said Sax sounding annoyed.
"Oh… um… I didn't put two and two together. Sorry"
"You've had your hands full. Your residents on the other hand should have figured out that little puzzle long ago. Anyway… call Dr Altman or Dr Karev if you have questions. I'm more or less familiar with the case too" said Sax. Kate had discussed Tegan's case with her at length on the phone when she was in hospital.
"How are the hands? Expected tissue loss?" asked Sax.
"I'm hoping we can avoid it. Her hands and feet seem to be perfusing slowly. Time will tell" said the plastic surgeon.
Sax took the iPad with Tegan's scans and lab results from a resident.
"Oh Tegan… I'm so sorry" Sax whispered to herself and shook her head.
"Sorry Dr Sinclair?" said Craig.
"Nothing. Let's focus on rewarming so we can get her to surgery to avoid nerve damage. I want to do an echo of the heart in the meantime. I'm not liking that rhythm" said Sax.
Sax's words weren't even cold when one of Tegan's monitors started screaming.
"She's bradying down. Heart rate just dipped to 40" said a resident.
Sax barked some drug orders.
"Come on Tegan… stay with us" Sax mumbled with her stethoscope back on Tegan's chest.
"She's not responding" said somebody sounding petrified.
"We need to pace her. Get the pads ready. What's her temp?" said Sax calmly.
"89.4. Pulse down to 30" said somebody.
"That's good enough, get the pads on" said Sax.
The team put the large defibrillator pads on Tegan's chest.
"Pulse down to 26" said a resident.
"Let's start pacing at 10 and see how she goes" said Sax.
A nurse turned the dial and Tegan twitched slightly, she twitched again and again. At a rate of 70 times per minute in fact.
"Not capturing" said Craig.
"Up it to 20" said Sax.
Tegan jumped a bit more for a few seconds.
"Nope, come on Tegan capture" said Craig looking stressed.
"30" said Sax calmly.
The current was turned up again.
"We have capture, pulse is holding steady at 70" said a resident. Tegan continued jumping.
"Okay, we'll need transvenous pacing if we can't wean her off in 10 minutes. Get the kit ready I'll do it down here" said Sax.
Sonia was led into the room by a nurse. She put her hands over her face when she saw her eldest.
"Oh my god" she cried. Doctors were crowding around Tegan, desperately trying to stabilize her.
"Teegsie…. My baby" she cried and stepped closer.
"Sonia just give us a couple of minutes please" said Sax.
"What's going on, why is she jumping like that?" exclaimed Sonia.
"Her heart was beating too slowly so we're beating it for her" said Sax.
"Oh god" said Sonia before her legs completely gave out under her.
"Mom's going down!" shouted Sax.
"I've got you" said a resident that caught Sonia.
"Okay sweetie let's get you out of here" said a heavy set African-American nurse helping Sonia into a wheelchair.
"No please… I want to see her" said Sonia. She took a deep breath and forced herself up. She walked to Tegan's head and softly touched her hair.
"Tegan… its mommy honey. You're going to be okay. Just hang in there, you're going to be fine. I love you so, so much. They're taking such good care of you, you just fight now. I know it's so hard Tee but you can do this alright. I love you" said Sonia and burst into tears.
Sax put her arm around Sonia's shoulder and led her away.
"We've got her Sonia. It's okay. We're probably going to insert a transvenous pacer in the next few minutes to correct her heart rhythm" she said softly.
"Her lungs? She's got a history of lung problems" said Sonia.
"They're aware of those issues and they're treating her accordingly. I promise I'll make sure she gets the very best care Sonia"
"Thank you Dr Sinclair… I really appreciate you being here"
"Wouldn't want to be anywhere else. And you know to call me Sax" she smiled.
"Right now, you're my daughters doctor"
"Fair enough Mrs Clement" said Sax. Sonia gave her a brief hug.
"Take care of my baby" said Sonia and squeezed Sax's hand.