Chapter 8
As Kayla woke she was in pain. As she became more aware of her surroundings the pain got worse. A nurse entered at that moment and immediately paged her doctor who was in the room in seconds. "Kayla, you need to calm down."
"Should I get a sedative doctor?"
"When's the last time she had pain meds?"
Looking at the chart she was shocked, "Oh my, last dose was over ten hours ago"
"Shit, get the meds"
"Right away" In seconds, the nurse returned with the meds and Kayla was calming down.
"Kayla, can you open your eyes for me?" They were rewarded with her half-opened still pain-filled eyes.
"Kayla, how are you feeling?"
"Sore, what's going on?"
"Someone didn't give you your pain meds and you got very agitated"
"Tell me that's why my chest is hurting"
Listening to her lungs, he spoke "Ok, your lungs are getting very overworked, we'll get you on a mask but if this doesn't settle down I'll have to put you back on the ventilator"
"Can you do it now?" She said breathlessly.
Turning to the nurse, "All right, push the meds" Within minutes Kayla was back on the ventilator and Peter was headed back to the ER to inform everyone on the turn in Kayla's condition. When he left the elevator he went to the desk, he asked for Luka.
"Kovac, I wanted to inform you that I had to place Kayla back on the ventilator."
"What, Why?!"
"Someone up there didn't give her the pain meds and her body was overworked and she was in a lot of pain."
"How long until she will be able to go home now?"
"Depends on how her lungs respond to the ventilator"
"All right, I'll let Dave know"
"I've set up the PCA for her so this doesn't happen again. She should be awake as I have her on a muscle relaxant instead of a sedative"
"All right, I'll check on her before I go home"
Kayla's Hospital Room
Kayla was awake when Luka entered her hospital room. "Kayla, how are you feeling?"
'A lot better' she wrote out on her white board that the nurse had given her so she could communicate if she needed to.
"That's good. I guess you'll be here for a while longer huh?"
'Guess so'
"Well, get some rest and I'll see you tomorrow"
'Night' before she fell asleep she pushed the PCA button to relieve her pain.
Before he left he moved the clipboard to where it was more securely on her bed and she could still reach it.