Rick listened to Dr. Rosewood about Kate's' condition. What surprised Rick is what the Doctor said next.
" Before we operate on any female patient we run a blood test to make sure what type of blood they are and to see if there are any underlying issues before surgery. When we ran Kate's blood we found that the one test we ran came back elevated.
"What was elevated? Rick asked?
" We test all females that come in the emergency room for HCG; or Human Chorionic Gonadotropin. Kate's HCG level was 25,000." Dr. Rosewood answered.
Rick is stunned at the news he just heard. Thinking was it before or after the case with the genie.
Dr. Rosewood continued his explanation:
So with this level we determine Kate is around 6 weeks pregnant. Now that being said the trauma that she endured during the shooting elevates the chance of a miscarriage. Now we had notified the on call obstetrician, Dr. Lily Pearce. She is one of the best high risk obstetricians in this hospital. Dr. Lily will be coming in to check on her periodically and when it becomes time when we start waking Kate up. Kate is also currently on medications that will help her heal and we made sure that it does no harm to the fetus. Do you have any questions or concerns at this time?"
"Would she have known she was pregnant? Alexis asked.
"Sometimes there are symptoms but it would be up the the woman to see the signs. Answered Dr. Rosewood.
Rick laying there his hospital bed shocked finding out that she was pregnant. "When will she wake up? When would we tell her that she is pregnant? How will the pregnancy affect her recovery time especially with the damage in her stomach?"
" We have begun to take her off the sedation, stated Dr. Rosewood. It is now up to her to wake up it could be hours could be days it all depends on Kate now. In regards to when we tell her that she is pregnant it would be best to tell her when she wakes up and explain everything to her. In regards, to her recovery, we will work with the physical therapist and Dr. Lily to find the best possible treatment to make sure that she heals properly."
"Thank you Dr. for everything that you did for Katie, but what about Rick, what type of recovery does he have ahead? Jim questioned.
"Well, Rick you were shot in the right upper chest cavity close range. Rick shook his head to agree with the Dr. As Rick continued to listen to the Dr. explain, the gunshot did puncture your chest cavity in result your lung did collapse, it also damaged muscle, and you have a couple broken ribs. During surgery you had 6 units of blood replaced, you had a chest tube inserted to reinflate your lung You will be going to physical therapy for breathing treatments. You will also start physical therapy to strengthen your muscle." We will have you and Kate say in the ICU until we see that you both have improved to go to the step down unit. If there are no other questions I will have a nurse come by with some liquid dinner for you Rick and your pain medicine. I will come check on you both in a couple hours. Let the nurses know if you need anything. As the Dr walked out the door in came in Javi and Kevin.