Susan checked her files again. She'd have to finish at home and made sure she had all the data she needed. Her assistant knocked on her door as she logged off her computer "Dr. Lewis? I'm sorry… Your family is in the ER…".
"Do you know any new pizza places? We're going out for dinner", she chirped distractedly, unware of Brenda's worried expression.
The other woman cleared her throat "I mean as patients…".
The sound that could wake her from a coma became increasingly clear. She felt squished and realized she was pressed against the airbag but her focus was on her children. Her doctor brain took over and she was glad they were crying: their airways weren't obstructed.
"Hey, hey… Mommy's here… We're gonna be okay…", she tried to untangle herself from her seatbelt but realized she was stuck. As soon as she freed her arms, she checked her own neck. It hurt but it was just whiplash. Her hand came back bloodied and she realized she must have some gash on her scalp.
She heard Mark crying in the background and spoke up "Tell me where it hurts, baby…".
The boy shook in sobs and yelped "My leg, there's blood!".
Abby tried to calm herself. It was her only option as she couldn't move.
"Remember how I taught you to keep pressure on wounds? I need you to press hard on the cut, okay baby? Now tell me if Joe is hurt, can you see him?", she tried to keep her tone as calm as possible but she was shaking inside.
"He isn't bleeding…" Mark assessed between tears and Abby sighed in relief.
As if trying to catch her attention, Joe started weeping "My tummy hurts! I want to get out of the car, mommy!".
"You have to sit very still, okay? Mommy's trying to get help", she tried to keep them calm but more importantly, to keep them alert. She knew the complications they could still have from the impact.
Her hands wandered around but she couldn't find her purse. She tried to force the door open but the position the car was in meant all her struggles were in vain.
Someone knocked on the windshield "Are you okay, can you talk?". Abby couldn't see the man but told him to call 911, he said he already did and that he was going to open her door. She felt the car shift a little.
"I'm stuck on my seatbelt, can you help me?", she shouted.
The man looked unsure "Lady, you shouldn't be moving… It's better if we wait for the ambulance…".
"I'm a doctor, I'm fine. I need to check on my kids!", she tried to rip away the seatbelt that had cut into the skin between her collarbone and her neck.
The man managed to free her from it and helped her out of the car. She felt a little dizzy and knew she shouldn't be standing up, but she wouldn't stop until she got the boys out of the car. She looked around for something to break the window as she saw an ambulance approaching.
The paramedics rushed to her side "Were you in the car, ma'am?", Abby nodded.
He shook his head at her and called out his partner to get him a C spine collar.
"It's okay, I'm a ER doc…", Abby replied while making sure she kept eye contact with her sons.
"Then you're just plain stupid! Lay down and let us work!", he barked at her and she felt the other paramedic hands leading her to a gurney.
Abby acquiesced, her eyes never leaving the car. She drew a relieved breath when she saw them taking Joe out. He had a few scrapes but nothing major. The paramedics laid him next to her and Abby enmeshed her fingers in her little boy's sandy hair.
"Does your tummy still hurt, sweetie?", she asked as she reached awkwardly for his right side and prodded with her fingers. He winced when she touched his left side and Abby hoped he wouldn't need surgery because it sure felt tender. She checked his vitals and was satisfied with his pulse and pupils.
The EMTs took Mark out and Abby could see his leg was rotated and it upset her to see her son in such agony. "Can you get him something for the pain?", she asked.
The paramedic nodded "After we check him".
Abby was dizzy from the action around her.
She hopped on the ambulance and remembered to sit with her back straight against the driver's seat, like they'd taught her on paramedic ridealongs.
The collar restricted her movements, so she leaned back the best way she could "I work at County, can you take us there?", she tried gently.
"Sorry, doc, Northwestern's closer", he shrugged and Abby sagged in defeat. The ambulance jerked and she grabbed the handles the best she could.
Abby knew the charade was over.
If they went to County she could at least try to coax one of her co-workers to misplace her blood sample.
No one at Northwestern's ER would risk pissing off the chief.
Mark was groggy from the nitro mask and Joe clutched her hand with such a tight grip that she didn't feel her fingers anymore.
She smiled at them with optimism but could see the fear in their eyes.
She was supposed to protect them from harm and she'd almost killed them.
The salt of her tears burned her eyes.
Abby never felt more disgusted at herself.
Susan punched the elevator buttons and decided to take the stairs instead. She could hear people greeting her as she ran past them but Brenda's words echoed in her head. She reached Trauma 1 in record time and pushed the doors open, the rattling sound of monitors and her staff working engulfed her immediately.
She froze at the picture before her: her little boy was being intubated. Her voice faltered in her throat "What's going on? Spencer?". She felt tears prickling her eyes and crouched next to her boy. He looked peacefully asleep.
"We sedated him. He needs to go up for an ex lap. Spleen lac", the other doctor spoke gently to let Susan take in the words.
"He's going to be fine, Dr Lewis", she reassured her.
Susan nodded and checked her boy's vitals. He was stable. She took the Sonosite and checked his abdomen. It sure was a spleen laceration and she heard as Spencer started presenting her the case.
She interrupted the younger doctor "Thank you, Spencer…". She trusted her staff.
Her eyes wandered and she saw Mark in the adjoined room. She went in and smiled at him, glad that he was conscious.
"Hey sweetie, mom's here... How are you?", she kissed his forehead and he curled his arms around her neck "I think I broke my leg...".
Susan glanced at his dislocated knee and smiled "It's just out of place, we'll have to put you to sleep to fix it, okay?". He nodded and Susan gave a nod to the doctors around him and they pushed the drug in. His green eyes fluttered close in seconds. She made sure they didn't mess up with the reduction and ordered an ortho consult and more extensive x-rays.
Susan's eyes searched for Abby. Someone had told her she was fine but she wanted to be sure. A nurse pointed knowingly to one of the exam rooms and Susan found the woman she loved perched on a gurney applying a bag of ice against her forehead.
"There you are...", Susan let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and they met in a desperate embrace.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry...", Abby cried repeatedly and the blonde soothed her with her lips whispering calming words against her hair.
They were interrupted by a surgeon peeking in "I'm sorry to interrupt... Susan, I'm taking him upstairs, do you want to observe?".
Susan nodded and he closed the door behind him.
"Joe needs an ex lap for his spleen... I'm going to make sure they don't remove his liver", she smiled as she leaned closer to her partner. Abby chuckled nervously between tears and nodded.
Susan cupped her face and kissed her gently "I'll be right back... Don't ever do this to me again".
When Joe went into recovery, Susan demanded that a note was put in his chart that he would only be extubated in her presence. She ran her fingers through his hair and thanked whatever higher forces there may be that the three of them were okay.
She couldn't imagine her life without any of them.
Susan went into the private room she ordered for Abby and Mark. Both were asleep when she came in and she watched them in content silence for a while.
She reached for Abby's chart and was glad her head CT came back clear.
Her eyes mapped her lab results and Susan felt a punch in her gut when she noticed Abby's blood alcohol levels, the numbers mocking her naivety.