CHAPTER 7 : stop breathing
This was the hardest scene to watch for Gabby. Kelly was almost on Matt's chest, trying to revive him, Hermann was on his face and was blowing air in his mouth to fill his lungs. Totaly panicked, she passed trough the hole and came in front of Kelly. Ferraris passed the medical trousers to Hermann and Gabby passed to paramedic mode in no time.
"Time?"
But nobody answered. She put two fingers on his carotid and asked again.
"HOW MUCH TIME!"
Severide couldn't answered. He didn't hear anything, didn't see anything. He was just massing Matt's chest, mumbling without understanding.
"Hermann, time?"
Hermann, still in shocked, looked at his watch, but saw it was broken.
"I-I... I don't know... I really don't know. The tank was almost red and... And he stopped breathing shortly before it was empty. We put him on it just after the last contact with Tony."
Tony checked his watch. It was functionnal.
"Gabby? Seven minutes."
Gabby's face darkened, and she searched on the aid kit. She took out a large dose of epinephrine, while Hermann took the balloon and put it on Matt's face.
"Come on lieutenant, come on..."
Severide was continuing CPR, even if Gabby needed him to stop it to inject epinephrine on Matt's body.
"Kelly... KELLY! STOP!"
He startled and continued while looking at Gabby. She showed him the syringe and he understood. He painfully stopped and placed his shaking hands on his knees and watched Gabby work. She palpated the arean then inserted the needle directly in his heart and injected epinephrine. With one hand, she continued CPR and put again his fingers on his carotid.
"Come on Matt, come on..." she whispered.
But nothing. Nothing at all. Hermann was continuing to bulge, Severide to shiver and to stay still, Gabby to do a CPR with one hand.
"Kelly, take your place again."
He wiped the tears coming down his cheeks and worked on Matt's chest again.
""Come on Matt, please..."
She took another dose and injected it again in his heart, and Severide continued CPR again.
"MATT COME ON! PLEASE! COME BACK!"
Gabby and Seveirde couldn't held their thears, not anymore. This was too hard for them. After what their experiences, this was unfair.
"Matt, don't leave me, please. I can't raise our child without you! This would be too hard..."
She closed her eyes, inspected his carotid again to find a pulse, but still nothing.
"Gabby..." Hermann began.
"No!"
She shook her head, took another dose of epinephrine and did the same process again.
"Come on Matt, come on! DAMN COME ON!"
Tears flew freely. This couldn't be true. Not Matt, not HER Matt, not the future dad of her child... And suddently, it was just weak, but Gabby felt something under her fingers. It was weak, but it was there.
"Got a pulse!"
Kelly and Hermann let escape a breathe of revief. Matt still didn't move, but at least he was alive.
"Stop Hermann."
Gabby wanted to know if he could breathe without help, but she heard no spontaneous breaths, even with the stetoscope.
"Ok, do it again. He's no breathing."
"You'll intubate?"
Gabby shook her head.
"No, if we wakes up and he has a tube down his throat, he will panick and worsen his injuries. We can't take the risk."
Hermann nodded, put the balloon on Matt's face again and began to pump air in his lungs. She checked his injuries while Kelly looked at her without a word.
"Femoral fracture, broken ribs, bleeding from the ear... You noticed something else?"
"Uh yeah... He... He coughed blood and... He couldn't feel his legs", Kelly said clenching his hands on his stomach.
"Kelly you okay?"
"Uh..."
"He complained about his stomach earlier. He has a broken arm and he was impaled in an iron bar, right flank."
Severide launched a dark gaze to Hermann.
"You... Complained about your chest... And I don't talk about it."
"ENOUGH! BOTH OF YOU!"
Hermann and Severide startled because of her voise. She was angry.
"Hermann, continue your job but stay calm. You", she said, pointing Kelly, "you lay down here and let me do my job or I put midazolam on your system. Got it?"
Kelly looked at her from head to toe. She was trembling with feat and anger. He nodded and laid down slowly, caring to not worsen his pains.
"Tell me."
"Uh... It started on the right flank... And now it's all over my stomach."
Gabby took some clean gloves and lifted his shirt.
"Careful with your arm."
He nodded and put his arm down the ground.
"Okay, first you will clenched a little your legs. Just a little, it will relieve the pain."
He obeyed and clenched his legs until Gabby said to stop.
"You let me do this, and you tell me when it hurts okay?"
"No problem."
He closed his eyes, felt a cold thing on his stomach, the cold of the gloves. She began on the left side, then came in progress on the left side.
"Woah, WOAH!"
Kelly whirled in pain, and Gabby tried to avoid him to move.
"Kelly, the more you move the more the pain is huge!"
He stopped, eyes still closed.
"What the hell was that?!"
"Kelly, when it hurted, it was when I pressed or when I released?"
He opened his eyes slowly and locked his gaze on Gabby's. He sighed.
"Released."
Gabby inhaled deeply.
"It's a bouncing pain. The iron bar entered on how many inches?"
"I don't know... I didn't pay attention."
"Around three inches" Hermann answered.
Gabby seemed to think about something.
"Gabby? What is it?"
"Kelly, you have peritonitis."
Kelly's eyebrows rose.
"What?"
"To resume, it's inflammation of your whole abdomen. There are several causes of peritonitis, but for you, it seems to be this iron bar on the right flank."
"So... I'm okay?"
"No Kelly, you're not! it's a vital emergency, it can kill you!"
She looked up and grabbed her radio.
"Tony? Go on the gallery and see if Borelli suceeded to have a contact with outside. Iff so, tell them the news."
"Copy."
Gabby turned to Kelly.
"I'll set an IV and give you morphine. It will calm to pain the time to get you out."
She did this, and took her attention on Hermann.
"Kelly, come near Matt. I need you to take the balloon and pump air in his lungs. And if he wakes up, he won't panick with you."
He smiled, came near his brother. He took the balloon and continued the job.
"Okay, you will do what Kelly did, you're going to lay down and let me do my job."
He obeyed.
"It's nothing, just a few broken ribs."
"Maybe you're right, but I want to be sure."
Hermann complained for a few seconds then had to let her do it.
On the other side Jimmy was outside. There was a cool wind, the sun was shining in his skin, he felt good. But something was more important.
"What do you need Jimmy?"
"I don't know really well. Uh... Maybe two other medical trousers, and oxygen tanks? The time to be free, it will be out of air inside. And with the smoke and fires, it's not easy. And some K12 disks too. We're out of it. Just in case."
"Okay. We'll give you them. But before, how are my men?"
"I don't have contact with them, but Dawson and Ferraris was breking the slab, because I heard the K12."
Everyone continued their job while Jimmy passed again through the hole and someone passed him the material. He made his road to the air pocket and was surprised to see Ferraris out of breath. He took his radio.
"Chief? Ferraris is here."
He also took his radio.
"How is it possible? I couldn't reach you sooner, even in here!"
"We made a tiny hole to pass a camera and a micro. So the signal can pass now. How are the news?"
He shook his head from left to right and continued to talk.
"Yeah sorry. According to Dawson, I'm burned on my back but nothing else."
"And the... Three Muskeeters?"
Tony turned to Borelli, who shrugged. That made him smile.
"Severide has peritonitis, a broken arm and an iron bar was on his right side. Hermann has chest pain. And Casey..."
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
"His heart stopped during a few minutes but Gabby took him back when we reached them. Broken ribs and femoral, bleeding from his ears and he coughed blood. And if we don't stabilize the structure where they are, a slab will collapse on them."
During a few seconds, nobody talked.
"Jimmy will come back outside to grab to material for the structure okay? By now, take the stuffs he grabbed and join the others."
"Copy that chief."