Chapter 263
Sax spent the next six hours in the ICU next to Kate, Tegan and Sara. The three beds were next to each other, each with a vast array of monitors, ventilators and IV regulators next to it.
None of the girls had moved yet but they remained more or less stable. The room was quiet except for the beeping or heart monitors and the hissing of ventilators.
Sax had her stethoscope on Tegan's chest and Lindsey caught her eye. "Is she okay? Will she be okay?" she begged, voice straining.
"She's doing well under the circumstances Lindsey. Keep your chin up" Sax smiled.
"She's so cold… her skin is so cold" said Lindsey.
"She's okay Lindsey, the little bit of cold is helping her right now. We'll take her back up to normal temperature in about 12 hours"
Lindsey felt as if she had acid in her guts.
Sax moved on to Kate. She frowned as she looked at the monitors.
"What's wrong?" asked Alex, his voice thick with emotion.
"Her heart rate is increasing and her blood pressure is down. Nurse, get me another full blood panel please" said Sax.
"Oh god… Kate hang in there!" said Alex and held Kate's hand tight.
The team was struggling for hours to keep both Kate and Tegan stable. Sara was doing okay but was still sedated and intubated. Kate's parents had arrived and so had both Stephen and Bruce. Only two people at a time were allowed with every patient but it worked out okay that they all could somehow stay with the patients.
It was night time again and Sax came into the room followed by Dr Smith and Dr Delany after a lengthy discussion on the other side of the glass.
"Hi, we just wanted to give you an update. It seems as if all three patients are finally stable. They're obviously still all in a serious condition but they're holding their own and we're positive. We'll try to extubate Sara tomorrow morning and wake her up. Kate and Tegan will however stay sedated and intubated. They're simply not strong enough yet. Tegan still has fluid on her lungs and Kate's diaphragm needs a bit more time before going it on its own" said Sax.
Kate's dad had about a million medical questions that Sax answered with patience and confidence.
-0-
The next morning.
Sara became aware of pain first… pain and sounds. Beeping, hushed whispers, whooshing air in and out. She felt fuzzy and confused, everything hurt. She slowly opened her eyelids and squinted as light flooded into her pupils.
"Hi sweetie… its mommy. You're okay. You're in the hospital but everything's fine, just relax"
Sara felt something in the back of her throat and tried to cough, she weakly picked up her hand and tried to pull it out. Somebody gently restrained her hand.
"Don't try and talk sweetie there's a tube down your throat" said Sonia stroking Sara's hair.
Sara tried to cough again. "Where the fuck am I?" she thought as somebody put a sucking tube into her mouth.
"Okay sweetheart cough on three for me" she heard somebody say.
She didn't really register much and on three she felt the tube slide out of her throat. She started coughing weakly for a couple of seconds.
"Mom" she mumbled, her voice hardly audible.
"I'm here honey… shhhh"
"Can you tell me your name?" said a doctor.
"Um… S… Sara" she whispered still looking out of it.
"That's it Sara. Do you know where you are right now?"
"I don't know… it hurts… um… what happened?"
"Do you know who the president is Sara?"
"That… guy… um… what's his name…. Obama" said Sara.
"Good!"
"What happened? she mumbled again.
"We'll fill you in soon just follow the light with my finger"
Sara did as instructed. She had the headache from hell and her vision blurred. She felt confused and very sore.
"Do you remember what happened Sara?"
"Um" Sara grunted and closed her eyes to try and remember.
It suddenly came back to her and hit her like a ton of bricks. She gasped and suddenly tried to sit up but groaned when she did.
"Where's… Kate… Tegan…. Are they okay? Where are they?" she muttered, her voice raspy.
"You remember what happened?" asked a doctor.
"I remember! Where are they?" said Sara agitated, mad that somebody tried to push her down again.
"Sara just calm down, relax for me"
"Get off me" said Sara weakly and tried to push people away.
Behind the curtain Tegan's heart monitor started to race.
"Dr Smith I need you" said a nurse behind the curtain.
"What is going on here?" said Craig perplexed and put his stethoscope on Tegan's chest.
"She just suddenly went tachycardic" said the nurse.
Craig ordered drugs to slow Tegan's heart down.
"Pulse pressure is narrowing" said the nurse.
"Come on Tegan… work with me" he mumbled looking at the monitor screen as the nurse pushed the drugs in.
-0-
"Oh my god they're dead… they're dead aren't they… nooo" Sara started wailing weakly. The monitors at the end of the bed went haywire.
"Sara they're not dead, they're here. They're hurt but they're being taken care of" said Sonia, desperate to calm Sara down.
"Where are they? Are they okay? Let me… see them" Sara sobbed before dry hurling.
"Get some sedation ready please" said Sax calmly.
"No no… I'm okay" Sara said weakly.
"Where are they? Are they okay?"
"Sara they're right next to you. Just calm down" said Sonia.
"She's not responding doctor, pulse still around 150" said the nurse next to Tegan's bed.
Craig tried a different drug. Tegan's pulse slowed down a bit but not enough.
Sara blinked to clear her vision and took a few deep breaths. She was shaking.
"Sats are dropping, up her oxygen please" said Sax and tried to put an oxygen mask on Sara. Sara weakly pulled it off again.
"Where are they… please" Sara begged weakly. She felt like vomiting again even though there was nothing in her stomach.
"Okay… here goes…" said Sax and pulled open the curtain between Sara and Kate. Sara gasped audibly.
"Baby… Katy!" said Sara as loudly as she could.
"She's sedated right now Sara. She's stable" said Sax with her fingers on Sara's forearm.
"Really?" asked Sara sounding close to tears.
"Well, she's obviously badly injured but she's hanging in there. We're doing everything we can for her" said Sax.
"Tegan… did they find Tegan? Where is she? Is she… hurt?" said Sara out of breath. She half expected Tegan to walk into the room and give her a gummy grin.
Sonia opened the other curtain.
"Oh god… Oh… Oh" said Sara shocked, trying to catch her breath. Tegan was obviously badly hurt, just like Kate. Medical personnel were working on her. Her world was just tugged out from under her in one swift swoop.
"Teetee… Tegan… is she okay? What's going on? What happened? What's wrong?" said Sara trying her best to sit up but not having much luck. Pain and exhaustion forced her back down.
"She's hurt Sara but she's okay… she's alright. They're taking good care of her" said Sonia.
"I can't… this is a dream… what… are they… can they… I don't know" Sara mumbled and started to hyperventilate. She tried so sit up again and was pulling at wires and tubes.
"I'm going to sedate her, this isn't helping her at all" said Sax and plunged the syringe into Sara's IV port.
"It's okay, everything will be okay… Just rest now sweetie" Sonia cooed.
Sara felt darkness creep over her and five seconds later she was out.
"Vitals stabilising" said the nurse next to Tegan's bed.
"That was… weird" said Craig.
"They have this thing… this twin thing… Where the one feels when the other's in trouble. Never used to have it but they do now, after Tegan's illness two years ago.
"Ma'am, Tegan is heavily sedated right now. I don't think there's any way she would have known what's going on" said Craig.
"Uh huh… believe what you want" said Sonia shrugging.
"Is she stable now?" asked Sax walking over to Tegan's bed. She listened to her heart and lungs.
"She's stable" said Craig.
"Do you know anything more about her fingers and toes?" asked Sonia.
"They're getting blood flow. Things are looking good. We don't expect tissue loss or permanent nerve damage" said Sax.
"Permanent? So there is nerve damage?"
"Well… I expect that she'll have some numbness and tingling for a while. The important thing is that the tissue is alive"
"Thank god" mumbled Lindsey looking pale.
"Lindsey… I really think you should try and get some sleep now. You've been awake forever" said Sax.
"So have you"
"I don't sleep much… but I do plan on getting a bit of rest now. We need to take care of ourselves if we want to be there for them"
"Every time I close my eyes… I imagine the horror… the horror they must have gone through"
"I know, I know it's hard" said Sax crouching down on her haunches.
"Please just… fix them" said Lindsey and tears started coming again.
"I plan on doing that… stay strong" Sax smiled softly and patted Lindsey's knee.
A/N: Must be so hard for Sara to wake up and not know what's going on. Keep the comment coming please.