For the first time in her life Candy was glad to have a large family. All four of her grandparents had been lonely only children, which meant that her father had four older sisters and a younger brother, and her mother had three older brothers and two older sisters, the youngest of which was nine years older than Candy's mother. As a result of this burst of enthusiastic procreation, Candy and her brother had thirty-seven first cousins, which made holidays and birthdays thoroughly overwhelming and taxing affairs. Because Candy's parents had been relatively late starting their family, all but six of those cousins were older. Candy silently thanked her grandparents as she walked toward the waiting room outside the ground floor emergency department and took a seat.
Among her thirty-one older cousins were a Cordon Bleu chef, a novelist, two vets, three teachers, four members of a punk band, five marines and three doctors and two nurses. It was Lucy Peters that Candy sat waiting for now, a registered nurse and a member of the ICU team. Thinking of her cousin reminded Candy of Sara's animals; she would have to go over there later and check on them.
…
Andrea Thistle glared at her patient with irritation.
"I love a challenge sir, I do indeed, but this isn't a challenge, this is a mess." Andrea studied the x-rays again and then went back to the mangled shoulder. The breaks were awkward and badly placed, but that she could deal with. Her main concern lay in the muscle and nerve damage that needed to be dealt with. "Zachary," she barked, swinging to look at her primary assistant, an orthopedic intern. Months ago the young man had quailed under her frosty glare; but many weeks of practice had thickened his skin, to the point where he could now actually meet her gaze.
"Yes ma'am?" he asked.
"Don't just stand there boy," she snapped, "You wanted to learn, so start learning." She jabbed a finger at the digital images of the broken bones. "Tell me what you see."
…
Jacob Fielding heaved a sigh of relief as the last stitched was set in his patient's abdomen. They had finally stopped the hemorrhage, but there was still an awfully long way to go. He turned to Natasha, his head nurse.
"Let's get an update on the baby," he suggested, hoping it would be good news. The tension of the room was palpable; the fight thus far had been long and hard, fraught with bad turns and problems. Jacob rolled his shoulders and twisted his neck and back from side to side, wincing at the resounding crackle.
…
Lucy Peters sat down next to her cousin and handed her a soda.
"Do you know how to contact their family?" she asked. "I spoke to the ER staff, and their personal effects only listed each other." Candy shook her head, trying to force trembling fingers to open the can. Gently, Lucy took it from her and performed the task herself before returning it. Candy sipped gratefully, the cold fizzy liquid clearing her mind a little.
"Sara hasn't got any family, and Gil's mother is on a twelve week study tour with a class from a Vegas Deaf university; somewhere in the South Pacific I think. I wouldn't know how to contact her anyway, and she doesn't know Sara is pregnant."
"Candy, you're not family," said Lucy gently.
"I know," sighed the girl, fighting back tears. "But Sara would tell me anyway, and if they have to stay here, I'll look after their animals and their home." Lucy winced at the if in her cousin's statement.
"Candy, there's no if," she told her. "They're not going to wake up and walk out of here." Candy's face went dead white, her chest ached fiercely and her eyes burned with unshed tears. Lucy reached out and put hands on her shoulders.
"I'm sorry," she said softly, "I should have phrased that differently. They're not dead, but they're a long way from being well." Candy nodded bleakly.
"Can you tell me anything?" she asked, her voice dull. Lucy sighed.
"They're both in surgery right now; I don't know the specifics of their injuries, but I do know that they are severe." Candy wiped her eyes on her sleeve, trying to hold onto any remaining positive feelings she could.
Shoes squeaked on the floor as the door opened and a head peered in.
"Excuse me," said a familiar voice, "I'm looking for the… Candy?" The girl looked up at her boss; Mary walked into the room properly, a file under her arm.
"Mary Goodwin," she said, offering her hand to Lucy. "Sara Grissom is my employee, and according to her file here, has made me her secondary emergency contact should her husband be unreachable." Candy stared at her; Mary winked and turned back to Lucy. "So, what can you tell us?"
…
Candy still stared as Mary settled next to her on the lumpy couch. Lucy had left to get a doctor to speak to them.
"About half an hour ago, it occurred to me that they probably wouldn't talk to you, and that Sara added me to her file because Gil occasionally takes students out on field trips. She told me he was worried he wouldn't get her call or a message if something happened."
"That sounds like Griss," smiled Candy, some of her gloom lifting. She had picked up on Gil's nickname from the side of a teasing phone call she had overheard. Sara had regaled her of Gruesome Grissom tales when asked, until the teenager was thoroughly green with horror.
"I was hoping, because I have three cousins that work here, and an aunt, that someone would find out something for me."
"I thought your cousins are in a band," commented Mary, leaning back into the corner of the couch so she could see Candy. She wanted to keep the girl talking and distracted as much as possible. Candy was a bit of a loner; she didn't have that many friends, and she tended to express herself through her art, and her love of animals, thus leaving a lot of time and tendency for introspection and internalization.
"That's Celeste, Joseph, Mark and James. Katie is a pediatric specialist here, and Henry is … um…" Candy searched her memory, thinking. "Oh, he's a thoracic surgeon. Katie's oldest brother, Edmund, is a doctor in the army, but I can't remember what he does. And Mary Jane is a nurse too, but she lives in Florida. She married a hippie surfer; it caused a major family upset! Her parents said she was throwing her life away for a lay about. I think she was a genius for getting away from them all."
"That's a lot of medicine in your family," remarked Mary, absently checking her phone. Candy rolled her eyes and played with a strand of hair.
"My aunt Theodora is a nurse on the OB/GYN ward, Misty and Rose are both vets, and Isabel is in her second year of vet school. Oh, and Conner wants to be a pathologist."
"Theodora?" asked Mary, searching for a topic to keep the girl going? "Isn't she the one that likes to take you shopping?" The entire rescue center knew about Theodora, thanks to an explosion of feelings on Candy's part, post an insistent phone call from her mother prior to one such trip.
"The very same," muttered Candy. "She has five sons, and they're all Marines. I once tried on a camouflage dress when she dragged me to the mall to see what she would say." Candy shook her head in amusement. "She actually sent her kids to charm school, to make sure they grew up to be perfect gentlemen. I think that's why they all enlisted after graduation; telling her all about boot camp in explicit gory detail was their method of payback."
Mary kept Candy talking about her lunatic family until Lucy returned with a tall, slender blonde doctor. He had dark blue eyes that held a great depth of compassion and composure.
"Hello," he said in soft, deep tones. "I'm Doctor Jacob Fielding." He gently shook hands with each of them. "I understand you're here about Mr. and Mrs. Grissom."
"Doctor and Doctor," said Candy absently as she tried to keep her mind from lurching through the dreadful scenarios it was conjuring.
"I'm sorry?" asked Jacob, confused. Candy looked up at him, blinking. As he sat opposite them she fumbled for the words she was looking for.
"Um… Griss- ah Gil, has a PhD in entomology. Sara has hers in forensic psychology. Dr. and Dr. Grissom, not Mr. and Mrs.," she finished. Jacob nodded, and smiled softly at her.
"Thank you, I'll remember," he promised.
"What's happening? Are they ok? Please tell me they are," begged Candy suddenly, abruptly losing her grip on herself control and feeling hot tears of fear and distress scald their way freely down her cheeks. Mary placed a comforting arm around the girl and pulled in a deep, calming breath.
"I don't know anything about Gil Grissom unfortunately, but I operated on Sara Grissom. I'm a trauma specialist and Sara came to me in critical condition and early in the third trimester of her pregnancy."
"She's thirty-one weeks today," sniffed Candy.
"Thank you for that," nodded Jacob, scribbling a note on the file resting on his lap. "She had a uterine rupture and severe hemorrhaging. I had no choice but to deliver the baby and perform an emergency hysterectomy to stop her from bleeding to death."
Mary unknowingly clenched her hand on Candy's shoulder as she felt her throat tighten.
"The baby?" she whispered.
"She went straight to neonatal intensive care; I had an update from Doctor Feather about half an hour ago to say that her condition is serious and somewhat unstable at present."
"She has Sara's birthday," murmured Candy, looking at Mary, who nodded slowly.
"What else can you tell us about Sara?" she asked Jacob. He sighed, and fiddled with his pen.
"Have you ever heard of damage control surgery?" he asked them. When they shook their heads he continued. "Sara has sustained several serious injuries, but because of the severe hemorrhaging from the uterine rupture and damage to her spleen, she is hypothermic and her blood isn't clotting properly. Right now, her body is in such a state of shock that it needs time to recover before we help her any more. So what my team and I did was stop the bleeding and then transfer her to intensive care. In a day or two, when her body has had time to recover somewhat and maintain homeostasis, she'll go back into surgery to deal with her other injuries. At the moment, she is being ventilated and kept warm while her blood pressure stabilizes and her ph. levels even out."
"She's not awake?" Candy's voice was raw, as though she'd spent hours screaming at someone or something. Jacob shook his head.
"She was unconscious when paramedics arrived at the scene and she arrested twice on the operating table. At the moment we are keeping her in an induced coma. It sounds harsh, but right now it's in her best interests to keep her calm, quiet and pain free. The sooner she is stable, the sooner we will be able to get her properly patched up and into injury specific care."
"What can you tell us about her other injuries?" asked Mary, running a shaky hand through her hair.
"She has multiple fractures to the right leg below the knee, the foot and the ankle. Right now, the leg is braced and splinted and protected from infection, but extensive surgery will be required. Our orthopedic team will talk to you at some point, and explain their methods to you."
Forgotten until now, Lucy stepped away from her perch on the corner coffee table.
"I don't know the reasons why, but Gil Grissom is in theatre right now with Thistle."
"He's in great hands then," said Jacob; turning back to Mary and Candy, he explained, "Andrea Thistle is a pioneer in her field. She's the best orthopedic surgeon in New England."
"Is there any way to find out about Gil's injuries?" asked Mary, trying to keep her concern in check.
"I'm sure Thistle will talk to you after she's finished," said Jacob. Lucy frowned, thinking.
"I'll go and see if the ER docs are still here. It's past shift change, but someone may still be here to talk you through it." As Candy thanked her, Lucy nodded and turned, walking out of the room.
"Is there anything else about Sara?" asked Candy hesitantly.
"She has a skull fracture from her head hitting the window; the area where she hit her head has glass fragments embedded in the skin, but those wounds are superficial. As of right now though, other than a bad concussion, there are no other complications relating to her head or brain. There may be some side effects from her arresting twice in theatre, but we maintained a good airway at all times and got her heart going again quickly both times as well. On that score, I am very optimistic," he assured them.
"So now we wait?" Candy's eyes were blurry with tears.
"We wait," agreed Jacob, "stabilization is the key at this point; I would say that providing no other issues arise and that there is no swelling or bleeding associated with the skull fracture, she'll probably be ready for orthopedics tomorrow afternoon or evening. I checked on her before I came down here, and she's registering improvement already."
"That's good," said Mary firmly, squeezing Candy's hand.
"It is," the doctor smiled at them both; "optimism is a great thing."
After a few more questions and a hefty dose of more reassurance, Jacob left them to get back to his patients. Candy and Mary sat quietly, taking in the news. They were startled from their respective worries and fleeting hopes when Lucy reappeared with two women in hospital scrubs.
Both Imelda Lane and Jessica Norse had been about to leave when Lucy arrived in the staff lounge, but when she'd asked if one of them would talk to the contacts for the husband and wife they had treated, they had simply put down their coats and asked her to lead the way.
Introductions were made and then Imelda went through Grissom's condition with them.
"He has three rib fractures, and a small pneumothorax, which is a pocket of air inside the chest cavity," Imelda watched their faces as she spoke, searching for understanding. When they nodded, she continued. "I inserted a drain and his breathing in now much better; he is much more stable than when he arrived."
"Is that it?" asked Candy, thinking hopefully that Gil appeared to come out of this much better than his wife.
"No," it was Jessica's turn to speak. "He has a serious concussion and abdominal bruising that we are monitoring because there is concern that the organs there may have sustained some trauma. At the moment, he's doing well and we're optimistic."
"Can we see him?" asked Mary, shifting uncomfortably in her seat.
"No," replied Imelda. "He's in surgery right now, which I expect will take quite some time. The impact of the crash was first on the driver's side. Gil's arm took a serious blow; his shoulder has multiple fractures, as does the lower arm, including the wrist. Right now he's with Doctor Thistle, an orthopedic surgeon. She'll be able to tell you more about the injury after she's finished."
"What about recovery?" asked Candy, wanting some concrete answers. Imelda pursed her lips, thinking.
"His arm will require physiotherapy after healing, but to what extent I can't tell you. Thistle will give you a much clearer picture of what to expect later on. The ribs should heal fine, until then he'll have some chest pain and be limited in his movements."
"The possible organ bruising is a serious concern, but right now he's not showing any signs of problems," continued Jess. "A concussion is always serious, and I would expect he will have some lingering headaches for a while after it heals. It's possible there will be side effects from it also, but until he wakes, we won't know anything. The other concern is the chest drain; an infection would be disastrous, but so far so good."
"I would like to stress that he's doing very well," Imelda put in, wanting to ease their stricken expressions. "His injuries are serious, but he's stable, he's in with the best bone doc in the region, and so far all is going well."
Mary heaved a deep breath and nodded, shaking tension from her shoulders. Candy leaned forward and put her head in her hands, pressing her face into her legs. She counted to ten, breathing slowly and calmly before she sat up again.
"Is there anything we can do?" she asked, looking for something to do, anything to make herself feel useful. Jess smiled sympathetically.
"My advice would be to go home and make any arrangements you need to, and get some rest," she told them. "I know it sounds wrong, but Gil will be in surgery for a while. I spoke to Doctor Fielding earlier, and Sara isn't up to visitors either. We'll definitely keep you informed if anything changes, but right now, staying rested and productive while you wait is the best thing to do."
"What about the baby?" Tears welled up in Candy's eyes yet again as she thought of Sara's little girl. Imelda brushed a hand through her already disheveled hair and rubbed her eyes tiredly.
"I called up to the NICU a little while ago and spoke to Doctor Feather. She's treating Baby Girl Grissom, and she told me that they're still working on stabilizing her."
The two doctors remained for a few more minutes, and then left, leaving Mary and Candy to give administration staff their contact details.
"What are you going to do now?" asked Mary.
"Get Sammie and go over to their house, check on the animals and all that," sighed Candy, fishing her keys out of her pocket and fighting back tears. Her eyes were red raw, and felt as though someone was grinding sand into the tender skin and irises. All she wanted right now was a cuddle with her dog in the hope that she would wake up to find this had all been a nightmare.
...
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I'm so sorry about the wait to get this posted; I've just started back for my final year of university, and I've had the most excruciating case of writer's block right in the middle of the technical stuff for this chapter. Every time I sat down to write I'd be lucky to get a sentence out, but the dam seems to have burst tonight. Ahh... it feels so good; Ethereal will be up soon, I'm making a few improvements to a very exciting chapter. Happy reading and writing, please R&R, pretty please...