Notes:
Thank you everyone! I am deeply touched by your latest reviews :) I hope to keep you entertained!
This chapter contains medical stuff related to the injury. Again, it may not be a hundred per cent accurate but I hope it's interesting enough to read! Please don't forget to review!
Chapter 7: Chasing Answers
The surgery is over and it took almost 5 hours. I can't even begin to imagine what must have taken place during the long surgery. I just hope there's some good news awaiting us. About 5 minutes later, we see Nurse Sandra walking towards us.
"Ms. Lisbon, Dr. Evans will meet you in a few minutes in his office."
"What about Jane? When can we see him?" I ask.
"He is currently being transferred to the SICU (Surgical Intensive Care Unit). The doctor will be able to advise when you could see him." She gives me a small courteous smile.
A few minutes later I am called in to meet the doctor. I don't feel like facing the doctor alone, so I ask if my team can come along. They agree only because this case involves a law enforcement officer. I am relieved. We make our way to the doctor's office in silence.
"Dr. Evans?"
"Yes, please come in. Take a seat." I sit down, but the others remain standing. The doctor's expressions are unreadable except for the fact that he looks a little tired. We are all tired and it's time we got our answers.
"Hello, I am Dr. Sean Evans and I performed the surgery on your colleague – Mr. Jane."
We nod and acknowledge.
"I am sorry, but it's been a really long day so let me get down straight to the facts. Mr. Jane was seriously injured and was in hypovolemic shock by the time he got to the ER. He had lost a lot of blood as a result of his injury, so he needed a blood transfusion during the surgery and will continue receiving it till his blood volume is back to normal."
I flinch at the information given by the doctor as I recall the ghastly images from a few hours ago. I have to almost force myself back into reality and pay attention to what the doctor is telling us.
"Is he going to be okay?"
"I won't lie to you , your colleague here is in an extremely critical condition due to the blood loss and the extent of the injury. If you take a look here (he draws our attention to a series of films of Jane's CT scan and shows us the trajectory of the bullet) you can see that the bullet entered his trachea (windpipe) from the left side, which then hit his right shoulder blade and broke into fragments; finally embedding itself in his right lung. This caused a traumatic pneumothorax, which means there was a build-up of air and blood in the pleural space"
I am stunned to receive this piece of information, and it takes a huge effort on my part to not break down in the doctor's office. Grace, who is standing beside me, keeps her hand on my shoulder. I understand what it means and I feel grateful for her presence.
I think the doctor understands how shocked we all look so he gives us a few moments to absorb this piece of information.
In a slightly shaky voice I ask him, "Have you been able to extract the bullet completely?
"Yes, we could and as this is a matter of a shooting, we have retrieved the bullet fragments for you. The nurse will hand it over to you as part of the police procedure."
"Thank you very much Dr. Evans." He gives us a nod.
"During the surgery we performed a tracheostomy to secure his airway. He will be on ventilator support for the first 12 hours at least. His neck wound has not yet been closed as it needs to be treated every day. His shoulder blade sustained a fracture due to the impact of the bullet, and we have been able to set it using a metal plate and screws. It should heal nicely by 7 weeks. The bullet fragment embedded in his lung caused his lung to collapse (traumatic pneumothorax), so we have put in a chest tube which will aid in removing trapped air, blood and other fluids from the pleural space. This will allow his lung to fill up with air and will help him breathe normally in due course of time."
"How will we know if the chest tube is working?" I ask.
"There will be some drainage from the tube for some days. Until there's no drainage of any sort, it's only then we can remove the chest tube."
All this information is too much for me to take in as I realize the extent of his injuries. I just don't want any more medical information. It's all so technical, even though his doctor has tried to explain it to us in a simple way. I just want to see him, see if he is breathing, see if he isn't in any pain, and tell him that we will bring the perpetrators to justice.
"Can we see him?" asks Cho, as he realizes that I look a bit lost.
"Yes, but one person at a time for not more than 5 minutes. The attending nurse will be able to show you to his room."
"Thank you very much doctor. Lastly, we need a guard to be posted outside Jane's room 24 hours a day as you know that this was an attempt on his life. Will that be an issue for the hospital?" I ask a little hesitantly.
"I don't see why it could be a problem? Until there's no hindrance to my staff, you may keep a guard posted."
"Right, and for security reasons we need to have a definite list of doctors and nurses who would be attending to his needs. Could you compile a list of the medical personnel for us? We need to have their complete information so that there's no security breach." adds Cho.
"Absolutely, I can give you the list by early morning with all the details. Until then we will take the necessary precautions. Nurse Sandra will be your first point of contact for any information that you might need until early morning. Please feel free to discuss any concerns regarding Mr. Jane's safety with her till I am able to give you the list of personnel."
"Sure, thank you again for your support Dr. Evans. We appreciate it." With a firm handshake, we take his leave.
We are all a bit pensive as we leave the doctor's room. Nurse Sandra finds us walking towards the lounge and asks us to follow her. We walk silently towards our destination. My heart is racing as we make our way to Jane's room. We reach the SICU before I can even think any further. She stops and faces us. Her voice turns a little serious as she prepares us to meet the person inside the room.
"As you enter the room, you will find a lot of beeping monitors and noisy machines. Please do not touch them. He is in a medically induced coma as there's a breathing tube inserted in his throat. It doesn't hurt him as he is on pain medication as well. Now it might look scary, but the neck wound as the doctor mentioned, is kept open for treating it. He will also have multiple IV's and catheters inserted in his body so it is extremely important to be mindful of these while going in the room."
We nod, and I ask the others to go in first. Cho goes in first, then Rigsby, then Van Pelt and now it's my turn. I push the cold steel door open and slowly walk in. I shiver a little due to the cold temperature in the room. All this information given by the doctor and the nurse hasn't really prepared me for what I see right in front of me. My partner is lying in his bed so still, pale and helpless. He's attached to the various contraptions in the room and isn't wearing a hospital gown as there's a tube sticking out of his chest, but there's a blanket covering him and keeping him warm.
I go near his bed and find a spot where I am not obstructing anything. I want to hold his hand in mine but I don't, as I fear I might displace something. I gently run my hand through this soft hair which is now a tangled mess. I try smoothing the tangles gently. As I am doing this I keep talking him very softly.
"You are going to be fine. We are here for you. You are safe here."
With this I make my way towards the door and turn to look at him one last time….
The last thing I hear coming out of my mouth is…."Stay strong, I need you partner."