Disclaimer: I do not own Chicago PD or any of the characters linked to the series. They belong to Dick Wolf and Matt Ormstead. I also do not own any of the Chicago Fire, Chicago Med or SVU Characters that might appear.
Gianna Marino - Rachael Taylor
Chapter Three: First Priority Life.
"Incoming. Rhodes. Marino." Maggie called getting off the phone, the news of the latest patient to be admitted to the ED ringing in her ears and she had no doubts that this was going to be a difficult one. It was a high-speed RTC where a young woman had come off her motorbike, she was being brought in rapidly and from what Maggie had been told there was no time to spare; the young woman would need the best of treatment. Gianna stepped away from where she had been talking with April about another of her patients, one that could be discharged and sent home for something minor that had been quick and easily treated.
"It's a Code Red. Rolling in any moment now," Maggie told them when she was approached by the doctors, she looked between the two of them knowing that they needed to be prepared for such a thing. Already she was ringing the blood bank so that they could be booked in for whatever the patient needed; if they were Code Red then they had lost a lot of blood and were critically unwell.
"Never a dull moment in the ED," Connor said to Gianna, both of them prepping for the moment that their patient arrived; not wanting to leave anything to chance with a Code Red. It could be a matter of minutes that could decide whether their patient survived this accident or they would become just another name that neither of them would be able to shake.
"Major trauma haemorrhage protocol, blood bank are aware, defrosted FFTs are here," Maggie said recounting the check list, the ED seemed to be on high alert and she had no doubts that if needed that any help would come if Connor and Gianna asked for it. The paramedics hit the ED, Maggie looked back at the two surgeons knowing that this would be a bad one and she was almost thankful that she did not have to walk a mile in their shoes for a case like this. In the ambulance gurney, there lay a young woman covered in what appeared to be her own blood; her eyes staring almost lifelessly at the ceiling but it was her legs that caught both Gianna's and Connor's attention.
"Twenty-nine-year-old. Kerry Smith. High speed motorcycle crash. Came off the road, cause unknown. Hit a wire holding a pole, skeletoned her right lower leg. Leg was found 20 feet away from where she landed," Sylvie Brett announced not wanting to even mention the scramble they'd had to find the missing limb that had been torn clean off.
Moving into the treatment room that Maggie had directed them to, no time was wasted moving Kerry from the ambulance gurney to hospital bed and they quickly set about making sure she was stable. Losing a limb in such a way could lead to serious haemorrhaging, the priority was to save Kerry's life then they would worry about trying to save Kerry's leg if that were even possible.
"She has been tachycardic, sweaty and pale, right from the beginning. She has had 1 gram of GXA, she's had 1.2 grams of Vente, the last dose of Rockironia was 30 milligrams just given five minutes back," Sylvie told the two doctors. It had been a bad accident and getting her with the patient had been nothing short of a nightmare, the accident had backed up traffic and there had been moments where she had thought they would not make it. The team moved quickly not wanting to risk having Kerry go into cardiac arrest because she had lost quite a lot of blood which could prevent them from reviving her.
"April get some blood from her so we can cross match," Connor instructed, his eyes drifting to the limb that had been brought in wrapped in a blanket and wondering if it would be even possible to reattach it with Kerry being so poorly. He could not even imagine what the wound site looked like especially if it had been ripped off in such a way; he was almost thankful that she was unconscious and unable to feel pain.
"C spine is immobilised, the trachea is central, SATS are 98, can't get a radial pulse," Gianna stated looking over to the monitor where Kerry's vitals were now displayed; the feeling that bubbled away in her stomach almost made her want to run away and cry for Kerry. She moved to check over Kerry's abdomen, they needed to be sure that she was not bleeding internally and losing more blood than they realised.
"Abdomen is soft, is non-distended." Gianna stated moving slowly to pull away the wrapping that had protected Kerry on her journey into the hospital and seeing what damage had been done to the left leg. She offered a glance to Connor who was working on fluids and ensuring that they were getting all the right information for Kerry, they could leave nothing left to chance especially if it meant a chance to save Kerry.
"No obvious deformity to the left lower limb, obvious deformity, and external haemorrhage to the right. There's a traumatic below-knee amputation which is complete," Gianna continued, partially relieved to see that there was no damage that she could see to the lower left leg even if she had lost the right. There would be a chance if she survived this, that if they could not save her right leg that she might walk again; she would be able to carry on even if it were with a prosthetic leg.
Connor nodded at Gianna's assessment, moving away for a moment to take a look at the leg so they knew if it was salvageable; they needed to know just what they were working with and their options. They needed to stabilise Kerry before they could send her for a CT scan, they needed to know just what they were dealing with and that the amputation was the only issue that they were dealing with.
"Blood pressure is 90 systolic." One of the nurses informed the doctors while Gianna worked to try and stabilise the flow of blood from the leg. They could not move her or send her for any important tests until she was completely stable and they would not have to worry about her bleeding out while she was in the CT scan.
"That's probably because of the Propofol," Connor stated knowing that they needed to keep an eye on that, the last thing that they wanted right now was for Kerry to crash; it would be unlikely that they would be able to revive her successful. Once they started to get on top of the situation, Connor felt confident enough to ask for an X-ray that could be done here without having to move her from the room. Stepping aside so that they could do the X-ray, Gianna took a moment to catch her breath and share a look with Connor; this would be touch and go, there was no denying that.
"There's no obvious flail chest. I think there's surgical emphysema on the left," Connor stated eyeing the X-ray when it came back, he frowned knowing that this was the least of their problems by the look of the pelvic X-ray. It looked like Kerry had an opened up left SI joint on the right-hand side, it meant more work that could potentially put her in a more dangerous position especially after losing her leg.
"Lungs are inflated, lets warm her up," Gianna stated pleased, she could breathe on her own and that was a good sign; though the look on Kerry's face made her feel a little unnerved. No matter how long she worked in the ED, she doubted she would ever get used to that look on people's faces; she prayed that she would never see that look on her own relatives faces. It might have been a peaceful look to some people but Gianna could not help but link it to the dead, it was like there was no one home and despite breathing she often felt like those who did this had passed on.
"She's relatively stable, she's on proform now. We should be okay to go," Connor stated once they wrapped the Bair Hugger on her so that she could be kept warm while they prepared her for more tests. Making sure that all the machines and drips were ready to go with her, Gianna prayed for good news on this case; it had all the signs that it could go either way and with no sign of the family arriving yet, she hoped they would be here in time.
Sending Kerry off for more tests, Gianna took a step back and watched as Kerry was whisked away; her heart pounding in her chest as her mind went back to the day that Michael had bought a motorbike. He had convinced her to take a trip once but she'd been terrified the entire time, she had sworn never to get on it again especially considering how many injuries she saw from motorbike accidents.
"Poor girl," Maggie whispered approaching Gianna, they would have to keep an eye out for the family when they arrived; there was no telling what that would be like or what they had been told. The situation was a difficult one and they would be upset, no matter the outcome there would be consequences for the crash that Kerry had and there was no telling how this might end. Gianna nodded and took a deep breath, the only thing she could do right now was wait while Connor took Kerry for a CT scan.
Staring at the CT scan results, Gianna chewed on her thumb nail while she tried to work out the next step for them to take with Kerry; her eyes taking every inch of the scan and knowing that in the two hours since the accident that things were becoming more defined. The decision had already been made for them to operate on her leg to give Kerry the best possible outcome; Gianna was ready to go and was just waiting for Connor to arrive.
Being up on the theatre ward, Gianna felt a sense of peace about what she was about to do; she was going to do her best for her patient, they would give Kerry every possible advantage that they could. They were going to fight for Kerry, give her the best treatment that they could and Gianna knew that at the end of the day that was all any of them could really do.
"Dr. Marino?" Connor asked snapping Gianna from her thoughts, he stood behind her a little awkwardly having changed into his surgical rotation scrubs and he was pleased to see that she had done the same. The objective was set out before them and the course had been agreed on, they could no delay any further and Connor was hopeful that they would be able to make this work.
"You can just call be Gianna? Or Gia if you prefer?" Gianna told him moving to look at Connor who had appeared behind her, they would operate together and she was a little nervous to operate alongside Dr. Connor Rhodes. There was no denying that the man was being pushed forward as a rising star at Chicago Gaffney, especially in the wake of the loss of Dr. Downey which had lost the hospital several high-end patients.
"Gianna. Are you ready?" Connor asked with a smile, this would be the first surgery that the two of them would do together and he was hopeful that it went well. It always seemed like a bonus to him to expand upon what doctors, he worked with in the operating theatre; it meant that he got to learn from each of them and see how well he could work with others. Though he would not deny that things had been a little awkward between him and his new teaching doctor; he had found it hard to adapt to Dr. Latham's style.
"I think so," Gianna replied getting up from the chair, she offered him a smile before they started to make their way towards the operating theatre; a silence settling over the two of them as they thought about what they were about to do. Moving to scrub in for the surgery, Gianna stared through the glass at the operating theatre that held Kerry; her eyes focused on the woman that had been unconscious since she arrived and knew that they could do this.
"We're both agreed on what needs to be done?" Connor checked wanting to make sure they were on the same page, they did not need anyone playing hero here and trying to do something that might endanger their patient. Kerry had been through enough and Connor was not sure how long they would be able to keep her sedated to operate on her without putting too much stress on her body and heart.
"Of course, we can't save the leg… too much time has elapsed since the amputation and it would be too dangerous for Kerry to even attempt such a thing," Gianna said looking at Connor, there was no doubt that they were on the same page and it would be too risky to even attempt to reattach the leg. The best they could do for her now was clean up the amputation site and make sure that the leg was perhaps suitable for her to have one day a prosthetic leg fitted.
This would mean shaving down the snapped bone where Kerry's leg had been torn away and ensure there was enough viable tissue to be used to form a stump. Nodding his head, Connor took a step away from the sink and moved to step into the operating theatre; putting on his operating gown and gloves before making his way over to the patient.
Gianna watched him leave for a moment, her eyes following his movements before she turned off the tap with her elbow and nodded to herself; they were doing the right thing and she was sure that while it would be a sudden change for Kerry that she would be able to overcome this. It might take some time and it would be a huge adjustment but Gianna was more than confident that this would not be the end for Kerry; she could come back stronger than this and she would have the best support they could offer. Moving into the theatre, the next couple of hours would determine Kerry's future and Gianna knew she could not have been in better hands than she was right now.
"Surgery went well. We were unable to reattach the leg and have created a stump that perhaps in time, Kerry will be able to use a prosthetic on," Gianna explained to Kerry's mother and grandparents, who had been eagerly awaiting news about her. the surgery had taken three hours and Gianna was pleased with the results as was Connor, they had managed to create a stump and minimalize the scarring as best as they could.
"She'll walk again?" the grandfather asked hopefully, memories of how active his only grandchild had been before this accident and all that she had planned causing tears to fill his eyes. When they had gotten the call that Kerry had crashed her motorbike, they had been shaken; they had not even wanted her to have the wretched thing but Kerry would not be told otherwise.
Kerry had just come back from traveling and had moved in with her grandparents to help them out around the house; they had just finished dinner when she had announced she was going out for a ride. Now she was lying in a hospital bed, she had lost her leg and they were unsure just what the future would hold for her; this was not how they had expected her return to Chicago to go.
"That is our hope," Connor agreed nodding his head, he glanced at Gianna knowing that this was the hard part; talking with the family was never easy especially in cases like this. Kerry's life would likely never be the same and she had several months of physical therapy ahead of her, she would have to fight for it and have to get used to the limitations that would be placed upon her.
"When will she wake up?" Kerry's mother asked turning to look at her daughter while she slept on in room that she had been placed in after surgery, she had feared the worst when she had heard that Kerry had come off her bike. Losing a leg was minor compared to what Kerry's mother had imagined when the call had come in about the accident; she had thought she would be coming here to be told that her daughter had died.
"She's still under the effects of the anaesthesia but we are hopeful that she should wake up soon," Gianna told them, though they would be keeping a close eye on Kerry in case there was any issues with her coming around. She had been unconscious since she had been brought in and so far, they had not seen any signs that she had a brain injury; they were confident that her helmet had done its job and protected her head.
Both Connor and Gianna offered the family a reassuring smile before taking a step back and allowing them to return to Kerry's side; the two of them moving to the nurses station while they watched the scene before them. Neither spoke for a moment, they just watched as Kerry's family gathered around her and waited for her to wake up; the loss of the leg meaning little when they had Kerry alive.
"Do you think she'll be alright?" Gianna asked knowing that while nothing had stood out when they had done tests, they would not know for sure until Kerry woke up and they were able to see if she was mentally intact. There was a good chance that Kerry had been incredibly lucky and her helmet had protected her head; that the only thing that she would have to contend with was the amputation.
"She should be, there is no reason that she won't make a full recovery from this," Connor murmured moving around the counter to type up some notes, it had been a long day and he was sure that the worse was behind them. It was nice to be in this position where they knew just what to expect and he had no doubts that Kerry would wake up when she was ready.
Looking at Gianna, Connor had to admit that it had been nice working with her and a refreshing change to the surgeries that he had done recently especially if he was stepping into the operating theatre with Dr. Latham. He found it hard to work with the guy and he was a little odd, despite the fact that he seemed to be well admired here at the hospital; he liked to do things his way more often than not.
The sound of her phone ringing snapped Gianna from her thoughts and she pulled it out of her pocket, only to frown at the sight of the caller ID and disconnect the call. She felt bad about ignoring the call but she was at work and she knew that Julia would just complain about her decision to move to Chicago; she was eager to have her join her in California where Julia lived with her family. If Julia had her way then Gianna would have moved there the second that the funeral was over, she wanted to take care of her.
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