Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“Just me…” Marissa trailed off with a pained gasp as we revealed her torso. “Fuck. It hurts to breathe. Why does it hurt to breathe?”
I didn’t like the panic in her tone or how her skin had paled further. “Where is the pain?”
“Mountain. No.” Frowning, she licked her lip and then tried again. “Left. Left side.”
Confusion. That was a bad, bad sign, as was the pain being localized to her left side. I touched her rib cage, and she groaned. Spleen. I’d seen it enough times, and it was never good. Had to hope it was bruised, not rupturing, but I moved with more purpose, as did the rest of the room.
“Blood pressure’s dropping.” The nurse who had helped me cut Marissa’s clothes off pointed to the monitor.
Fuck. A rupture was a definite possibility, or other internal bleeding.
“Stay with us, Marissa,” I urged as she shut her eyes. “Tell me about the baby?”
“There’s a baby?” She frowned, voice going high and thready. “Where?”
More confusion. Her blood pressure continued to dip as her heart rate increased. Yeah, we had a bleeder somewhere.
“She’s crashing,” I called out. “Where’s Munson? We need an OR stat.”
“Working on it,” a nurse called back. “Munson’s evaluating the other patient, and we’re waiting on anesthesia.”
“We need an E-FAST.” There was no time for an ultrasound or CT scan to check for rupture, but the rapid portable sonograph to look for free fluid was standard in cases where we suspected internal bleeding. “Prepare for transfusion as well.”
Transfusion would only get us so far, but it might buy us enough time until a surgeon could get in here.
“Blood pressure still dropping.”
“Heart rate unstable.”
The room descended into a controlled storm of activity as we worked to stabilize Marissa as a team.
“Come on, Marissa.” My voice was more strident now. “Stay with us.”
Time was running out, and lord, where was that surgeon? My own heart rate was sky-high and sweat ran down my back.
“Elroy’s here.” One of the other nurses announced the arrival of an anesthesiologist I thought had retired with Munson fast behind him.
“We need to intubate.” Munson nodded at me with razor-sharp brown eyes as he took an immediate assessment of the situation. “Assist?”
“Ready.” I didn’t do a lot of intubations, but as an emergency nurse practitioner, I was trained and able to help Munson and Elroy get the patient prepped for surgery in record time.
“Let’s roll.” Munson didn’t waste a second in directing the team toward the OR, gurney racing through the hall, and I’d never been more relieved to leave a patient in surgery as the OR team took over. It would likely be a few hours before we knew more, but at least Marissa had a chance if Munson could stop the bleeding in time.
I needed a minute or twenty. Breathing hard, I headed toward the locker room, only to almost collide with Eric.
“She gonna make it?” he asked. From the concern in his eyes, he’d evidently heard some of what had happened with Marissa.
“God, I hope she makes it.” I let out a whistle, talking in a low voice. “Destabilized in a hurry. Internal bleeding, likely ruptured spleen.”
Eric took a long breath. “She seems like a fighter. Scrappy.”
“I know.” Some patients wiggled under our skin more than others, and Marissa was definitely in that memorable category. “What are you still doing here?”
“Paperwork.” Eric made a sour face. “Electronic reporting system is down because of the storm.”
“Ugh.” I made a sympathetic noise. “Was Sean on the call too?”
“No, thank God. He handled dinner at the house. I’m sure he’s already worried enough about Declan back in Arizona.”
“Yeah.” I tried for a neutral expression but apparently failed as Eric gave me a pointed look.
“As are you.”
I held up my hands. “We’re friends.”
“And you miss your friend.” Eric’s sympathetic but curious tone said he’d be open to hearing a confession, but I couldn’t. Which sucked because I could have really used an ear right then, but I couldn’t risk others finding out.
“I do.” I offered a little sliver of the truth. “No one else at the house gets my corny jokes or likes my mystery books.”
“Nice someone does.” Eric smiled broadly and jostled my shoulder. It was nice to see him smiling more these days, traces of his old humor back.
“Speaking of the house, don’t worry. I should be out of here in time to help with school in the morning.”
“Lifesaver. John and Rowan can usually handle mornings on their own, but I appreciate knowing Wren had something other than milk and microwaved bacon for breakfast.” Eric shook his head fondly. “Don’t know what our family would do without you.”
Our family. Eric’s words lingered even after we said goodbye and my shift continued. Eric appreciated me, no doubt. And the kids loved me. I was an honorary uncle, but I’d always be adjacent to the nuclear family. And hopefully someday, Eric would find a new partner, and I’d be the old bachelor uncle, pining for the boyfriend no one could know about.