CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE – Cardiac Arrest Duo
"What's the blood pressure?" the lead doctor in the ER ordered. He and a team of nurses were working on a male patient who received a severe blow to the back of the head causing bleeding from the ear.
"168/86, pulse steady," replied a nurse.
"Ok, get an MRI on the head to check for any bleeding. How's the other one?" he asked a nurse. He was referring to the other patient on the other side of the room; the two had been brought in together. The second person also had a team of nurses and doctors working on her after they'd done xrays and an MRI.
"Dr. Mason, we need you! We're losing her!" a nurse cried out from the other patient's gurney.
Dr. Mason rushed over and frantically worked on reviving her. He started checking certain areas of her midsection to ascertain whether there was internal bleeding in any major organs.
"Get some more O positive in here, NOW! We've got to stop this bleeding."
"Dr. Mason, all the blood we've been giving her just comes out somewhere else!" a nurse commented as she readjusted the oxygen tubes that were in her nostrils.
Dr. Mason worked frantically on the woman who'd now gone into cardiac arrest from all the blood loss. Once a heart beat was established and her stats were back to normal the doctor asked, "Is the surgical team ready? We need to find the bleed or she'll bleed to death."
HOUSE MD HOUSE MD HOUSE MD
An hour later, Drs. Cuddy and Wilson stood in the observation booth overlooking the surgery being performed on Kathi Gilmore.
"Do you think she'll make it?" Cuddy asked worriedly.
"I don't know. The knife wound was pretty deep and her spinal cord was damaged from the blow to her lower back. If she does make it, she'll be a paraplegic."
"I heard House is doing fine. He has a concussion but …" Cuddy's words were cut off by the sudden high pitched whine of the heart monitor indicating she was in b-fib.
"PADDLES, NOW!" screamed the surgeon. A second later he barked, 'CLEAR!' He shocked her heart for the second time but with no immediate change in sinus rhythm.
"AGAIN! CLEAR!" Again her heart was shocked.
"AGAIN, DAMNIT!" Heart shocked.
"AGAIN - 350!" Heart shocked.
Dr. Cuddy held her breath. Dr. Wilson was silent as he watched the scene below. 'Come on, Kathi. Don't do this to House. I think he likes you…" he thought to himself.
HOUSE MD HOUSE MD HOUSE MD
Kathi oddly enough became increasingly more aware of the pressure being placed on her chest, over her heart, and the shocks that reverberated through her entire body. But the thing is there was no pain - anywhere, including her lower back. Her back really hurt before. It felt like her spinal column was an accordion and the Spine Gods were playing an evil demon tune of Death. But now there was no pain at all. Her body felt light, almost tingly and numb, but not to the point of pain. Her shoulders were so relaxed she swore they were left on the table …
'Table? What table? Where am I? What happened?' Shetried to scream but nothing came out.
Suddenly she saw something that chilled her to the bone: she was looking down on an operating table where a doctor was attempting to bring back a woman from cardiac arrest by a deliberator. She was shocked four, five, six times with no result. She heard the whine of the heart monitor in that monotone whistle and it dawned on her.
'No, no. This isn't happening. No way. I can't be…dead.'
She looked up in the corner of the room and saw a man and a woman, whom she didn't know, practically glued to the glass of the observation deck.
'HEY! I'm over here! Do something! Bring me back! I don't want to die!!!'
No such luck, none whatsoever.
A soft, deep, sexily familiar voice brought her attention to a spot high up on the ceiling. "Don't worry, Kathi. Follow me." His voice was chilling, yet almost heavenly, like an angel singing with 100 flutes as accompaniment.
"It's okay, Kathi. You won't feel any pain anymore. I don't. Follow me," he said.
In another part of the hospital, as if there was a giant vacuum cleaner on the table where his body was, House was sucked back into his body, his own body that was lying on the gurney still in the ER.
'Kathi…Kathi!! Where did you go?!' Kathi??!!'
"He's back!" he heard someone say.
Soon the voices disappeared as he slipped into unconsciousness.
Up in the observation deck, Wilson's pager went off. He quickly grabbed it and panicked as he read the message to Cuddy. "They just brought House back from cardiac arrest. Same as … Kathi." He said that last word with major relief as he looked at her on the table.
And sure enough, her heartbeat was regulating and the surgeon was able to find and stop the bleed.
House, on the other hand, continued to have blood build up in his brain at a dangerous rate.
"Damnit! Let's get him in surgery before he's a vegetable!" Screamed Dr. Mason. "We've got to stop that bleeding!"