Chapter
26
By Julie
Suddenly, the
room erupted into activity. Nurses and doctors burst in and hovered over Brian's
bed. One nurse approached Howie, AJ, and all of the families, who stood in the
room, staring in shock.
"You'll
have to wait in the hall," the nurse told them, gently, guiding them all
out into the hall. Then she rushed back into the room.
Howie choked
back sobs as he watched the activity in the room from the hall.
"His
pressure's dropping!" a nurse called, watching one of the wailing
monitors.
"What
caused this?" asked a doctor.
"I don't
know," replied another. "He seemed fine before."
"Must be
a complication from surgery," said the first doctor.
"He needs
blood right now!" called Dr. Collins, his voice carrying over the others.
A nurse ran out of the room. A minute later, she was back with the blood in an
IV bag. She attached another IV to Brian's arm and hooked it up to the blood.
"Pressure's
only 90/80!" a nurse cried.
"Go get a
crash cart!" a doctor cried. Another nurse ran out of the room and down
the hall to get a crash cart.
Dr. Collins
cut Brian's hospital gown down the middle, exposing his bandaged chest and
stomach. He cut at the bandages and pulled them away to reveal a large sutured
wound from the surgery.
"Would
someone hand me a scalpel please?" he asked. A nurse handed him one.
"Should
you be doing this here?" another doctor asked.
"We have
to see what is causing all this. He may still be bleeding internally. I don't
want to take him into surgery again until we're sure though," Dr. Collins
said, quickly slicing open Brian's stomach.
Luckily,
everyone in the hall couldn't see much from the hallway, for there were too
many doctors and nurses around the bed.
"His
abdomen is full of blood!" Dr. Collins cried in alarm. "We need to
get him to the OR right away. I don't know what could have happened!" A
nurse placed a sheet over Brian's open stomach.
Suddenly,
there was a loud whine from the heart monitor. The line that had been traveling
weakly up and down before had gone flat.
"He's in
cardiac arrest! Begin compressions!" Dr. Collins shouted. Another doctor
began CPR. Dr. Collins turned to a nurse. "Crash cart, quick!" he
yelled. The nurse wheeled the crash cart over to him. He grabbed the paddles.
"Charging to 200!" he cried. When they had charged, he leaned over
Brian. "Clear!" he cried and shocked Brian's chest. His whole body
jumped with the electric shock. But the line on the monitor stayed flat.
Out in the
hall, Howie saw Brian's mother, Jackie, cling to her husband, sobbing. Howie's
own tears spilled down his cheeks as he watched the horrible scene through the
window of the room.
He watched as
Dr. Collins charged up the paddles and shocked Brian again. Still, the line was
flat. Finally, on the third shock with the paddles, the line rose and fell
unsteadily.
"Alright,
let's get up to the OR, now!" Dr. Collins cried, wiping sweat off of his
forehead. They all grabbed onto the sides of Brian's bed and wheeled him out of
the room, past all of the families. Dr. Collins stayed back as the rest of the
doctors wheeled Brian away.
"Oh God,
is he going to be okay?" Brian's father, Harold, asked, grief stricken.
"I'm not
sure," Dr. Collins admitted. "We aren't sure what happened, but
somehow, he is still bleeding internally. He is being taken back up to surgery
now so the surgeons can fix him up."
"How long
will the surgery take?" AJ's mother, Denise, asked.
"It
depends on what is wrong. It could take a few hours. Why don't you all go back
and sit in the lounge. I'll be in to tell you how he's doing when I know
something," Dr. Collins assured him.
"Could we
see Nick first?" asked Jane, Nick's mother.
Dr. Collins
nodded. "Yes," he said, "but not all at once. Only two are
allowed at a time." They nodded, and it was automatically decided that
Nick's parents, Jane and Bob, would be allowed in to see their son first.
Howie, AJ, and
the rest of their families went back to the lounge with heavy hearts, praying
silently that Brian would survive.
***
