Chapter 1: Trauma
Hi Dolls, welcome back! If you are new here, this is the sequel to My Protector. You can find that by clicking on my profile. 😉
“Doc, we just got a GSW in room 26 and need you in there ASAP!” One of my favorite nurses called out.
I apologized to the patient that I was rounding on and quietly exited the room, sprinting down to the emergency department as soon as I shut the door behind me.
“There she is!” Gabe grinned as he saw me walk into the room. Laying on the stretcher was a young man gripping onto his leg, groaning out in pain.
“Whats the story?” I asked as one of the paramedics walked up to me.
“Thirty-one year old male who was at the bar tonight, apparently got into a fight with another male who then shot him in the right thigh. Vitals stable initially but he quickly became hypotensive, we think it may have hit an artery as he’s been losing quite a bit of blood. No allergies, no past medical history. Pretty healthy guy it seems like.” The paramedic gave me the patient’s story as the nurses prepared the patient for evaluation.
I looked at the gentleman who was writhing in pain on the bed, squeezing his eyes shut in an attempt to block out his pain.
“Hi sir, I’m Dr. Richards, I’ll be taking care of you tonight. Don’t worry about telling me about what happened, I already know the story. Can you tell me, do you hurt anywhere else other than your leg?” I asked as I started my physical exam, pressing on every inch of his body looking for a pain response.
I heard a familiar beep on the monitor above him, his blood pressure was dropping. A sure sign that he was losing quite a bit of blood.
“Alright guys let’s hurry and get him to CT and then up to the OR. We need to control this bleeding!”
I stepped out of the room as the patient was wheeled off to get his images.
“Looks like you’ve got this under control yourself” Gabe smiled as he sat beside me.
“When do I not” I flashed a smile back and winked.
Gabe was one of my favorite fellow Trauma Surgeons here at New York Presbyterian. Not only was he my mentor but he was also a good friend. He was a few years ahead of me in medical school and was my mentor back as Harvard as well. We clicked instantly and have been close friends since then.
I tapped impatiently on the desk as I waited for the patients scans to pop up onto the screen. Eventually the black screen was replaced with an image of the patient’s femur, a pointed metallic object remaining in the tissue beside it.
“Well,” I started as I stood from my seat. “There’s the culprit” I pointed at the bullet that was embedded in the poor man’s leg.
“We better get to it then!” Gabe stood from his chair beside me.
“We?” I cocked my head to the side and raised an eyebrow. “What, you don’t think I can do this myself?”
Gabe raised his eyebrows as if I were challenging him. “Never said that Dr. Richards, but remember, I’m the one here who took an extra year studying vascular surgery.”
“Ugh, fine” I jokingly rolled my eyes and walked past him. The two of us rushed down to the OR and scrubbed in. On the operating table was our patient, the anesthesiologist beside him holding a mask up to his face. I watched as his eyes shut and his body became limp, succumbing to the paralytics.
“Ready?” I asked Gabe as I tied his gown shut.
“As long as I have you by my side” He responded and I turned so that he could tie mine.
We walked next to the table and down at the patient who’s vitals were still declining from the blood loss.
“Alright everybody, we need to work quickly and carefully here. The CT shows some arterial damage from the bullet which is still located inside of the tissue.” I continued to tell everybody my plan of approach and eventually took the scalpel from the nurses hand and started the procedure.
A few hours later Gabe and I were closing the patients leg up after a successful surgery.
“Nice work everybody” I smiled behind the mask and tossed my surgical gown into the basket beside the door.
“You hungry?” Gabe asked as we walked through the hall. Suddenly my stomach grumbled as we turned the corner. I didn’t even realize that I was hungry until he said something. Now that I think of it, I hadn’t had anything to eat since eleven hours ago.
Gabe must have heard my stomach grumble as he immediately grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hall towards the cafeteria.
“Ugh not cafeteria food” I groaned as we approached the dimly lit room. The cafeteria had closed for the night but doctors could still come in the middle of the night to get something to eat.
“What, you have something better in mind?”
“That 24 hour diner just down the street!” I grinned from ear to ear knowing how much he hated that place.
“Ugh, you mean the one where the waitress is always eyeballing me like I’m a stack of their pancakes??” He groaned and I laughed.
“Yes, that one.” I confirmed as we walked back to our office space. Once we transferred the care of our patients over to the oncoming group of docs, Gabe and I made our way to the diner.
“So, hows the hubby?” I asked him, trying to make sure the waitress was close enough to hear me.
“He’s good, grumpy as always” He joked.
When I had first met Gabe, he was dating his now husband, Allen. Allen was fashion major and worked for a local department store. Currently he was in France for Paris fashion week.
“And you?” Gabe asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
“We’re good” I smiled and thankfully at this point the waitress had made her way up to our table to take our order.
I ordered their famous chocolate chip pancakes with a side of fruit while Gabe ordered his usual, the cowboy omelette. Once our stomachs were painfully full, we departed from the diner and separated to our ways home.
I opened the door to my apartment and immediately the smell of freshly brewed coffee hit me in the face. I walked into the room and found Ethan sitting at the kitchen island, typing something up on his laptop. He raised his blue eyes from the screen when he heard me walk in and a smile grew on his face.
“Hi babe” he greeted me and I walked over to give him a kiss.
“How was work?” He asked as he wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me towards his bare chest..
“Tiring” I sighed as I looked down at the steaming cup of coffee that sat next to him. “You’re up early” I observed.
“Yeah, I had a lot of work to do” Ethan let his arm drop from his waist and shrugged. Dark bags laid under his ocean eyes, partially hidden by his brown glasses. His sandy hair was still ruffled from the previous night’s sleep and he wore nothing but a pair of grey sweatpants.
“I wish you didn’t have to go to work” I mumbled, imagining being held as I fell asleep.
“I know, but todays a big day.”
I smiled and nodded my head before heading to the bedroom alone.
***
Welcome back Doll’s. :)
xx
