She has an infection.
It's causing her kidney to fail
We need to start her on antibiotics and dialysis
She has to be put into isolation until it clears up.
Isolation. That was what was really bothering me She was in a medically induced coma, injured, sick and worst of all alone in a tiny glass room exposed to the world. I was only allowed to visit for half an hour, then I had to wait another hour before I could return. When I was allowed to visit I had to scrub myself raw then wrap myself in sterile plastic. Sure I did the same thing to scrub in for surgery but this just seemed unnatural. After completing this ritual as fast as I possibly could, a nurse helped me into a disposable plastic gown and hair net. This wasn't like the OR where I could wear a scrub cap and get away with a few loose hairs. I had to wear a light blue hair net that we made surgical patients wear. I could practically hear Meredith laughing at how ridiculous I looked. Cristina and Lexie had already taken pictures to show her. After I donned gloves, a mask and shoe covers, I stepped into the air stream that blew off all the germs. Then I stepped into the sterile isolation ward and the clock was ticking. The isolation ward was a part of the hospital I rarely visited. Most of the patients were immunocompromised, here to avoid getting an infection. My patients rarely were in such a condition when they were in my care. The isolation ward was a long hallway that ended in a nurses station with 5 rooms on either side of the hallway. Meredith's room was the second one in on the left. The door slid open silently and out of my peripheral vision, I saw the nurse start the clock. Sterile rooms were basic. Pushed up against the center of the left wall was to hospital bed, with any and all necessary machines beside it. On the opposite wall were emergency medical supplies such as a crash cart, medications and bandages. Beside the bed there was a flimsy plastic chair that I sat down in.
"Hey" I whispered quietly to her still from. "I'm back" I took note of all the changes. Or in this case, lack there of. There were still ice packs on her shoulders and under armpits to help lower her body temperature. If those were still there, that meant the one between her legs was still there. I shivered at the thought. As a doctor I knew that it helped keep the femoral artery cold to lower her body temperature. But as her husband, no one should be between her legs but me. not even a qualified, female nurse. Her hair is still damp from the sterile bath they gave her before she was admitted to isolation. There was still sweat on her brow and her complexion was flushed. Her heartbeat plodded along at the same 60 beats per minute and she was still completely dependant on the ventilator. Nothing changed in an hour. The room is still to quiet. The heart monitor beeps and the ventilator hums but it's all rather erie. So to fill the silence, I began talking.
"So Bailey said your white count is dropping and that the antibiotics are working. And your temperature is dropping; it was at 103.5 last time the nurse checked. Once you're below 103 the ice packs can come off. I'd imagine those are kind of uncomfortable. And once you're white count is within a safe limit we can wake you up and hopefully you can go back to the ICU. No more tricks though. Zola needs a healthy Mommy..." My voice caught and I gripped her hand firmly. I desperately wanted her to squeeze my hand back or just wiggle her fingers but I got nothing. Suddenly an idea struck me. I quickly rooted through the drawers and pulled out a sterile medical towel. It was already damp from the packaging so I simply stood at Meredith's bedside and used the towel to wipe the sweat of her forehead. I was extra careful of the yellowing bruises on her face. I gently ran the towel over them wishing that the water could wash it all away. I moved to her hands and scraped all the excess crap out from under her nails. I ran the towel under her toes, or what I could see of her toes that were peeking out of the cast on her left leg. I marveled at how she could have such a high fever and such cold feet. She looked a little more human and I wanted to do more, maybe brush her hair or something but the nurse tapped on the glass of Meredith's room and my time was up. I slowly made my way to destabilization.
I had yet o leave the waiting area outside of isolation for reasons other than to see Meredith. I sat in the rock hard chairs and stared at the blank white walls or aimlessly flipped through the provided trashy magazines. In that moment I was engaged in the former when a well dressed figure appeared in front of me. I looked up to find Janet staring back down at me. I sat up a little straighter.
"Janet" I smiled "What bring you here?" She gave me a small sympathetic look.
"I came to see how Dr. Grey is doing." I nodded grimly.
"She's...getting there. She woke up from the accident in decent shape and she was doing better but she contracted an infection and it got out of control so she needed to be isolated so she didn't run the risk of catching anything else." Janet nodded before taking a seat next to me.
"I'm sorry to hear that." She said with some sympathy. I didn't feel real though. I didn't want sympathy from the person who had taken my daughter.
"How's Zola?" I asked quietly. Janet smiled and I could sense a practiced speech coming on.
"Legally I can't say much but the case has been sent to the judge and he has reviewed the circumstances. Now it's just a matter of waiting for the subpoena process and a ruling. Don't give up yet and I can assure you she's in good care." Janet smiled once again and I want to tell her to not give me that bullshit and be honest but that would get me nowhere. She stood and turned to me. "We'll be in touch Dr. Shepherd." And with that she walked away leaving me to wait for the next 38 minutes to pass.
Time always moved slower out here.
A/N That update took longer than expected but I wanted it to be really good for you guys. I hope you enjoyed and I do realize that this is probably not what would happen in real life medically speaking, but it makes great drama. I appreciate your reviews and feed back and don't forget to leave a review. Also check out my other stories because that would make me happy. Have a fabulous day.