DISCLAIMER: I do not own Chicago Med or any of the characters. Reviews welcomed!
Allison Grace, skin covered in tiny red dots, lay on her bed, sweaty, feverish, and crying. Her stats were low and they set up an oxygen mask to help her breath, yet her shivering seemed to increase and heart rhythm was slow.
"She's all alone in there," Rhodes remarked, "she must be scared out of her mind."
"Only a limited number of CDC members are allowed in," Dr. Charles answered, "trust me, I tried."
"They're not doing anything," Rhodes said, looking at her chart, "they're leaving her isolated until this virus eats her up and leaves her dead. Its much easier to burn the body then waste the time, effort, and resources to try and help cure the disease."
"Maybe you should try talking to her," Dr. Charles recommended, "comfort her."
Rhodes hesitantly pressed the call button in front of him and his authoritative yet soothing voice sounded in the isolation room.
"Hi Allison, my name is Dr. Rhodes, and I was on your case when you were first brought in yesterday afternoon," Connor began, Allison looking up at the ceiling in confusion, "You collapsed at a cafe when the paramedics brought you in and your breathing was irregular. Can you tell me anything else you remember?"
Allison, still hysterical, spoke, her voice resonating in the booth outside, "I-I really don't even remember feeling that sick," she sobbed, "just a s-small headache, and I thought maybe a little sun and reading time at the cafe would help."
"No, good Allison. That's really good," Rhodes continued, gently, "Now did you notice any red dots or rashes that morning?"
"I was a l-little itchy," Allison confessed, crying, "but I thought it was nothing to worry about."
"Perfect, now when we brought you in you were unconscious and sporadically having seizures. You did go into cardiac arrest, but we managed to get you back and diagnose you," Dr. Rhodes explained, Dr. Charles surprised at his soft tone.
"My heart..stopped?" she sobbed.
"That's the very question were wondering, Allison. Now, you're sure you didn't travel or anything recently? Any ideas on how you could've been exposed to the virus?"
"I-" Allison stammered, "I-, oww.."
"Are you in pain, Allison?"
"Uh-huh," she managed weakly.
"Where, Allison?" Connor asked forcefully, slightly tense.
"My.. head," she mumbled, "and….chest."
Rhodes checked her chart and was furious to find no order of morphine at all during her stay.
"Dr. Charles, call the CDC officer in here," Rhodes said, anger painting his command.
Dr. Muller entered himself and said, "Ah, Dr. Rhodes. Thought you would take the day off."
"Why hasn't Allison been put on a morphine drip yet? She's probably half delusional from the pain," he said in dangerous, low voice.
"Ms. Grace is in a dangerous situation and we don't want any pain medication interfering with the antibiotics we're trying to save her life with," Dr. Muller explained, tensions rising.
"I am the trauma fellow who saw her through when she first came in, my medical opinion is the one you all should be following," Rhodes spat.
Before things got any uglier, Dr. Charles cut in, "Before we ruffle anymore feathers, why don't we take a step back, huh? All of our goals is to save the young Ms. Grace over here, so let's calm down and get back to work. Dr. Rhodes, will you accompany me outside, please?"
Rhodes gave a nasty glare at Dr. Muller on the way out and followed Dr. Charles out of the isolation rooms.
"Connor, let's just slow it down in there, okay?" Dr. Charles began, "I know were all feeling anxious and a little extra snappy but he isn't head of the CDC for nothing. Hear each other out."
Rhodes didn't respond, just kept walking until Halstead, Maggie, and April, in fresh scrubs, came into sight by the conference room. Too angry to socialize, he kept walking to the locker rooms, leaving Dr. Charles to chat with their friends.
"What let the cat out of the bag?" Halstead asked, staring after Rhodes.
"Testosterone," Dr. Charles replied, sighing.
"How's Allison?" Maggie asked.
"Not good, Rhodes got a little information out of her. When he puts his mind to it, the guy actually has a soft spot."
Halstead scoffed.
"She still doesn't know how she might have caught it? April asked, desperately.
"Nothing yet-" Dr. Charles paused when he saw Rhodes walking fast down a hallway adjacent to them, heading for the isolation rooms.
"I'll be right back.." Dr. Charles said, Maggie and April following his eyes.
"Oh no," Maggie sighed.
"Look, Natalie's out of her ultrasound by now, I'll catch up with you all later," Halstead said, walking to the elevator, "keep me posted!"
None answered as they tried to hurry after Rhodes' fast pace, who was already in the room with Doctor Muller.
When they entered, they heard Rhodes' stern voice saying, "Look, this drug has been tested and proved to work! Cefotaxime is used to treat meningitis cases around the world and I'm just wondering why Allison isn't hooked up to an IV yet!"
"Dr. Rhodes," Dr. Muller tried to keep his voice calm, but was failing, "I am a certified CDC member and have seen meningitis cases before! They don't always end well, but the ones that do send me a fruit cake every year in thanks!"
"How many?" Rhodes asked, eyes flaming.
"How many what?"
"How many meningitis cases have you cured?"
"3."
"Out of?"
"10 that I've seen in my career."
"So you're telling me she has no shot of living in you care," Rhodes stated, harshly, "I hope you enjoy the fruitcake."
Rhodes turned away from Dr. Muller and talked to the nurse attending to Allison, "Start her on Cefotaxime, keep me posted on her stats every hour and raise her morphine dosage. Keep the antibiotics flowing."
"Dr. Rhodes, I am calling your supervisor and explaining to them how you are interfering with a Center for Disease Control Case!" Muller finally erupted, "I will have your license taken away!"
"Tell them what? That I actually tried to save a patient? Good luck," he retorted, writing in her chart.
Muller was turning a dangerous shade of red and Maggie was worried for Connor's safety at the moment.
"Rhodes! Out here, now!" she ordered.
He pridefully walked past Muller, glaring, and stepped outside, following April, Maggie, and Dr. Charles.
"Remind me never to be locked in a room with you," Dr. Charles remarked.
"He was killing her and just sitting there enjoying the show. She's young and strong, she can overcome this with the right treatment," Connor tried to defend his claim.
"And honey, I believe you," Maggie agreed, "but you can't get all up in the man's business for doing his job!"
"I will…try," Rhodes hesitantly confessed, "to listen to whatever logic Muller's thinking, doesn't mean I'll stand by and watch her die."
Dr. Charles chuckled while Rhodes excused himself, walking towards the elevators.
…..
Connor was on the roof, the Chicago wind helped clear his head and calm him down. The nurse obeyed and gave Allison's stats every hour, her fever decreasing but stats still lower than he'd like. Her pain improved a little, but that had to be from the increase in morphine.
He read through her file like a book, trying to catch some indication of a method of treatment they could use. The drug was working, but not well enough yet.
He flipped through a few textbooks he brought up with him, searching for a cure in the lines. He was rereading a paragraph about treatments for the fifth time when his pager went haywire, glancing at it, he sprinted down the stairs to the isolation chambers.
…
"What happened?" Rhodes demanded as he walked in.
The nurse he spoke with before answered frantically, "She's having some kind of a late allergic reaction to the drug, her airway's closing!"
"Where's the CDC?!" he yelled.
Allison was seizing in her bed, choking as she shook uncontrollably. Her blue eyes rolled to the back of her head and her blond hair lay in tangles all around her. The only members of the CDC were in the next room, testing blood cultures, and ignorant of the situation going on in the soundproof room.
"Hey!" Rhodes shouted, waving his arms, trying to get their attention.
With no response, Rhodes took a deep breath and said, "Screw it", running towards the security door and entering the room Allison was dying in, unprotected.
"Dr. Rhodes!" the nurse yelled, hysterical.
She pressed a button that sounded an alarm, but Connor was too wrapped up in saving Allison's life that he didn't notice. Her airway was almost completely closed and he was unable to intubate. Cursing, he grabbed a scalpel and cut two lines into the rugged part of Allison's esophagus, slipping in the tube through there. Rhodes managed to secure the airway, attaching a bag valve mask to the needle and let the air flow. He added saline to her IV in order to wash out the drug she reacted to from her system and checked her stats, momentarily forgetting he was exposed to a contagious disease. Her heart monitor suddenly sounded alarmingly, her heartbeat erratic. Rhodes grabbed the paddles and charged them, shocking her pale chest and checked for a pulse. After a few tries, he was able to restore a normal heart rhythm and finally looked up. It wasn't a pretty sight.
The booth outside was soundproof, but Dr. Muller was inside screaming and shouting at Mrs. Goodwin, who was trying to calm him down. CDC members were getting sanitized and secure in hazmat suits, preparing to enter but Rhodes knew it was too late. He was with her long enough to have been exposed to the disease this late in its development. Dr. Charles, Maggie, and April entered quickly after, staring in awe and horror at their colleague trapped behind the wall, unprotected. Sarah Reese even walked in, eyes widening and looking confusingly at Dr. Charles and Maggie whose hands were covering her mouth in terror. The door opened and the CDC members entered the isolation room, an extra suit in their hands.
"You must wear this, Dr. Rhodes," one of them said, "you've been exposed to the virus in the last stage of its development and must take precaution as quickly as possible. We will move you to a new isolation chamber."
Rhodes denied the protective gear, talking to the people outside, "Look Sharon, I couldn't let her just die in here, it was my choice to put her on the drug. But, frankly, Dr. Muller, while your staff was busy testing sputum samples in the next room, I got to her and saved her. You need a certified and trained doctor with her at all times and I'm already exposed, so what's there to lose."
"What's there to lose?!" Muller's face still red, "Your life! That's what!"
"Dr. Rhodes, I will not have any of this nonsense," Sharon said authoritatively, "you need to be moved to an isolation chamber and start treatment since we still have a chance to fight the virus. Now."
"So you're giving up on her," Rhodes said aggressively, not moving, "Allison will die without me here, and I sure as hell can't work in a hazmat suit."
Dr. Charles silently spoke to Sharon, her expression furious and horrified.
Mrs. Goodwin spoke to Dr. Muller, but Rhodes couldn't hear anything since the microphone wasn't on. All he saw was the head CDC member's face go bright red and begin shouting and throwing papers. Everyone cleared the way to the exit as he left in a flurry, hands waving.
Mrs. Goodwin shook her head and picked the mic up, saying, "Dr. Rhodes, you have authorization to stay with Ms. Allison Grace for the time being, but your report will reflect badly on your impotence and impulsive, putting your life in the balance. Medication will be administered every hour and for god's sake, put the damn suit on."
...