Chapter Three

Claire and Dr. Lim get through the surgery successfully, not that it went off without a hitch.

The underlying tension for both of them as they went about their duties was knowing that Neil could be facing a serious medical situation. Were the scans right and he was more injured than he looked? Is it an easy fix? It hung over them like a heavy mist, not intruding on their focus, but always softly pushing against their awareness.

Thankfully, everything about Marta's surgery, save for the location and circumstances, begins in textbook fashion. They don't hit a snag until Marta's bleeding triggers blood transfusion protocols.

Maybe it's a lucky break that Claire had worked in plenty of bars during college. Or maybe it's the urgency for their patient with her wife standing beside them as they operate. Or possibly it's that cloud of anxiety about news on Neil, whether he's fine and filling in with triage in the ER or whether he's on an operating table fighting for his life himself due to internal bleeding they didn't quite catch in time. But when Claire feels the seconds ticking by as they either figure out a solution to their surgical impasse or wait for back-up blood transfusion equipment, she has an idea and disappears. She doesn't come back until she's offering up a way for them to both continue treating their patient and hurry things along so they can get back to the hospital.

A beer engine as a cell saver. Even Dr. Lim is impressed.

And it works. They pump Marta's own blood back into her, bypassing an outside transfusion in the process. She hears an audible sound of relief as Dr. Lim pulls the screw out and closes Marta up, handing over the souvenir to Noreen.

"Dr. Browne, help the EMTs get Marta back to transport and escort her to the hospital. They're short-handed and you can join the ER crew when you get her settled." Claire nods and collects their equipment as the EMTs prepare a stretcher for Marta.

"When will you know if she's going to be okay?" Noreen asks, still staring at the screw.

Claire smiles at her, hopefully offering some assurance. "When she wakes up. You can ride in the transport with me." The woman smiles tightly and gazes back down at her still sedated wife.

Lim and Claire strip off their surgical gear, Lim handing over her items for Claire to add to their medical waste collection. "There's still a risk of infection, so we'll monitor her closely." Now able to check her phone, Lim immediately scrolls through her messages and frowns as she turns to Claire. "Andrews says he found internal bleeding and took Melendez to surgery to investigate and repair. That was half an hour ago."

"I'll text you with news when I get there," Claire offers. Lim nods, eyes stressed but looking around to see what remains to be done. She'd told Claire about the other emergencies and had probably received updates on both Shaun's predicament and Park's fatal patient and needs to get back out there. "Tell Shaun to hang in there. I'll see him soon." She smiles at Lim, not her brightest but a sincere show of support. Lim offers her one back and then disappears into the frenzy of the rescue scene.

Claire doesn't want to rush the EMT's, but she's glad when they carefully move Martha to the stretcher and she can guide them to the transport. She and Lim made good time on the surgery. Hopefully, Neil's is equally as straightforward and successful.

On the way to the hospital, Claire tries to remain busy monitoring Marta's vitals – anything to instill a sense of calm for the patient's wife trying not to worry that Marta hasn't regained consciousness yet. "It's normal for her to still be sleeping. We'll get her settled and wait for her to come out of the anesthesia on her own."

"Thank you. For everything. No matter what happens, I know you've done all you can."

Staring down at Marta, who looks peaceful and content for someone who'd just had major surgery, Claire smiles. "I couldn't risk Dr. Melendez's disapproval for not taking care of her. I know he wanted to do that himself."

Noreen allows herself to relax a bit as she returns Claire's smile. "You two make a good team." Something about the way she says it gives Claire pause. Before either of them comment on that any further, they sense movement from in front of them.

Marta. She's waking up.

Claire and the EMT note her vitals with Claire conducting the first tests of whether the surgery worked. Noreen still grips Marta's hand and looks as if she's holding in this anticipatory breath for as long as it takes to bring the love of her life back to her whole and healthy.

"Marta?" Noreen calls out and sobs as their eyes meet.

Leaning over to assess Marta's awareness, Claire asks, "can you squeeze Noreen's hand?"

This is the real test, and Claire holds still, hoping for the best alongside the woman next to her. If she hadn't seen with her own eyes Marta's fingers wrapping around Noreen's in a strong grip, the smile on the women's faces would have told her everything she needs to know.

"We're almost to the hospital," Claire says, grinning at them both.

"My two warrior women doctors. Free beer for life. And Maybe Melendez, too," Marta drawls. They all chuckle as the ambulance pulls into the hospital entrance.

It's not until they get Marta out of the ambulance and to the entrance that the tremors start up again.

"Aftershock! Claire calls out. Hang on!" She grabs Marta's stretcher and braces against the side wall of the hospital's entryway. Even though the shaking only lasts for less than ten seconds, it's a tense stretch of time standing out in the open with a vulnerable patient to protect. The tremors subside and Claire does a quick check for injuries before resuming their path inside. "Alright, let's get her inside so she can get cleaned up."

Although a full ER greets her with nurse's running to and fro, it's not nearly as bad as it could have been. And with the aftershock, they're likely to get even more incoming soon. Claire spots Nurse Villanueva and rushes over. "Hey, I know it's crazy, but is there a room where we can admit a post-op patient?"

"Post-op?" She asks glancing at where the EMTs are transferring Marta to a regular bed from the stretcher. "You mean, you operated on her at the brewery?"

Claire smirks. "Not ideal, but what are you going to do, right?" Villanueva shrugs and grins back. "There should be a few beds upstairs. We haven't escalated many serious cases thankfully. Mostly treating here and sending along." She pauses a beat before continuing. "Dr. Melendez is still in surgery but may be done soon. Andrews had Hawks schedule the OR for someone else in the queue."

"Thanks, Dalisay," Claire says, softly. "I'll text Lim too. There are a few emergencies she's monitoring, but she should be back soon." She looks around. "Who the hell is in charge if Andrews and I assume Glassman are in surgery?"

Villanueva sighs and rolls her eyes, gesturing down the hall. Claire sees Morgan stomping toward them, looking stressed and holding her bandaged hands out in front of her. Claire doesn't know what to make of the scene at all.

"Don't ask," Villanueva says and scurries off in the opposite direction.

Claire turns back to Marta and Noreen, but Morgan runs in front of her. "Claire, thank god. I thought I was going to have to do this myself. There's a patient prepping for surgery with an ectopic pregnancy and it's about to rupture. Glassman and Andrews are still in surgery. You've gotta get in there."

"Morgan calm down—"

"—no time for calm, you need to scrub in. I'll take care of your patients."

"Okay, but I need to—"

"No. Ruptured fallopian tube imminent."

"Did you clear this with Glassman or Andrews?" Reznick squirms and Claire's lips purse in frustration.

When she looks back at Morgan, though, her annoyance subsides. Her co-resident is clearly stressed and probably feeling useless with her hands out of commission. That she's even trying to help is a good thing. Some of it is probably to get back into their bosses' good graces, yet deep down, Claire knows it's because she's as dedicated to treating patients as any of them.

"I'll check with Andrews." Morgan nods and pushes Claire toward the surgical wing, which irritates her. Rather than be prodded like a show horse, Claire backtracks to where Morgan is storming over to Marta and Noreen. She needs to troubleshoot the situation before Morgan can blow anything up with her manic bedside manner.

Claire steps in, gently pushing Morgan out of the way. "Marta, I'm needed for another surgery, so Dr. Reznick will get you situated and officially admitted. Don't mind her manner. She's an excellent doctor even when she's not down two hands. Thankfully, you won't need either for her to make sure you're comfortable and settled."

Turning to Morgan, she spends a minute explaining the surgery to her and the post-op needs to stave off infection setting in. When Claire finishes, she squeezes Marta's hand and Noreen's shoulder and heads off to check in with Andrews and prep for her new surgery.

It isn't until Claire rounds the corner of the surgical hallway, that she thinks about potentially seeing Neil cut open as she checks in with Andrews. It slows her footsteps for a moment, though she continues, cautious. It's too late now that she's here, and besides she needs to check-in with Andrews rather than proceed with a solo surgery without permission. That she'll get an update on Neil is a necessary side effect.

Except when she approaches the designated OR suite, she sees Andrews checking over paperwork and a skeleton team of staff sterilizing and cleaning up for the next patient.

Andrews looks up when Claire enters. "He's over in ICU. He had injuries to the SMA with minor damage to the celiac trunk that I repaired. We'll need to monitor his lactates regularly, but I think we got in there before peritonitis had a chance to do any irreparable damage." He pauses and fixes her with a gravely serious stare. "You probably saved his life. Or at least gave him a fighting chance. You and Lim both." Claire shakes her head. "He told me how it went down. If you hadn't thought fast and used that equipment malfunction as a chance to get a scan, he would have insisted he was fine, kept on treating patients. None of you would have known anything was wrong. Whether it was luck or," he pauses again, "something else, he owes you one."

"I, uh, that's good news," Claire finally says, awkwardly, but so relieved. "Thank you for telling me." She takes a deep breath, closes her eyes and lets it sink in that Neil is probably going to be okay. When she opens her eyes again, Andrews is grinning slightly.

"I actually came in here to say that Dr. Reznick flagged an ectopic pregnancy ready for surgery. No one's on hand so she said I'd have to do it. With two more patients in need of surgery, and only three of us until Lim gets back, I'm the only one available to do it. I've assisted on at least a dozen of these, the most recent one two weeks ago. And I know these aren't ideal conditions, but I just helped Lim remove a screw from someone's neck in the middle of a demolished brewery so I think I can handle this."

Claire feels her chest rise and fall rapidly with nerves and adrenaline as she makes her case, rambles it really. Andrews looks a bit speechless by her argument.

"Okay, Dr. Browne, proceed. Keep a line to me hot for consult just in case." He then moves around her and back out in the hallway to prepare for his next patient.

Claire lets out another deep breath and looks around the sparsely populated OR, everyone going about their business efficiently. She slowly retreats to begin reviewing her patient's file and scrub in.

He's okay. He's really going to be okay, she allows herself to accept. In the midst of all this chaos, it's the only thing she needs to keep moving forward.

TBC