Authors: Glyn Gardner
“It means the air that was trapped in her chest and keeping her lung collapsed is gone,” explained the nurse. “It means that we’re on the road to recovery.”
She took her flashlight out, and shined it in the child’s eyes as she held the lids open. Both pupils responded to the light. She then drove a knuckle into the middle of the girl’s chest. This was euphemistically called a sternal rub. The girl arms came to her chest as she moaned; another good sign. Satisfied that the girl’s neurological status was not deteriorating, Jen told Theresa that she was officially relieved.
SSgt Brown walked into the room as the teen was leaving. “How’s our patient doing this morning?” he asked.
“Better,” she replied. “It sounds like that lung has re-inflated. She’s still unconscious, but doesn’t seem to be deteriorating.”
“Good. Did you sleep well,” he asked with a mischievous grin.
“Oh, I get it. You were in on it too weren’t you?”
“I may have suggested Kerry to stay on an extra hour,” he said.
“Well, thank you Sergeant. You guys were right. I was too tired and stressed to see it.”
“That’s my job ma’am. I get to see when people aren’t making good decisions, and fix them. You were easy. At least I could reason with you.” He turned on his heels and left the room.
Several hours later, the rest of the survivors were awake. Jen could hear people sitting around talking in the reception area. Mike walked in with a cup of hot coffee.
“You ok this morning?” he asked.
“Why does everybody keep asking me that?”
“You had a rough day yesterday,” he replied. “We’re just worried about you”
“I’m fine,” she answered curtly. “I know I was stressed, but I’m good.”
“Are you really,” he asked. “You ready for something like this to happen again? You know it’s gonna happen. Next time it might be worse. Next time might be something you can’t fix. You gonna be able to deal with that?”
“I don’t know,” she replied meekly. “I don’t want this. I don’t want to be the doctor for this traveling circus. I just want to get to safety. I really don’t want to be responsible for these people.”
“I know sweetheart,” he replied pulling her to his chest. “None of us asked for this. But, it is what it is. You have a tougher choice than the rest of us. You have to decide if you can stand by and let someone die, or if you’re going to do what you can to save them.”
She felt the tears welling up. She wiped them on her sleeve.
“Whichever decision you make affects people,” he continued. “If you choose to help, you take the responsibility; but if you don’t do anything, it also affects them. You can’t just bury your head in the sand.”
She knew he was right. Hell, she knew it three days ago. She just didn’t know if she could handle it.
“So,” he went on. “Now is the time you need to just accept the situation. What was that prayer you always told me I should learn? You know the prayer for peacefulness or serenity or something?”
“The serenity prayer,” she replied as she wiped the last of the tears from her cheeks. “I see you never learned it did you?”
“God, grant me the serenity to accept those things I cannot change…” he began.
“The courage to change the things I can. And the wisdom to know the difference” she added quietly.
“Baby, we can’t change what’s happened,” he whispered quietly. “We can only control how we deal with it.
“You’re right,” she finally admitted. “I guess I wasn’t finished with my pity party.” She took the cup of coffee from her husband. Maybe that was part of the problem. She usually had two cups of coffee by this time of the morning.
Father Albright walked into the treatment room. Jen could tell immediately that he didn’t feel good. He was pale, and his eyes were sunken.
“Jesus Father, you look like hell,” Mike blurted.
“Mike,” Jen admonished. “Sorry about that Father. My husband can be a bit rude. But, he is right; you look like you don’t feel well.”
“I don’t,” he croaked. “I woke up this morning feeling a little, well maybe a lot, under the weather.”
“Mike, this is the part when you let me do my job.” She shooed him away. “Ok Father, tell me what seems to be the problem?”
“I woke this morning feeling nauseous, with a terrible headache, sore throat, and I’m having trouble catching my breath.”
Jen could see that the priest was short of breath. She asked him to take his shirt off, and sit down on the table in the next room. At first, she figured this was going to be a case of bronchitis. His lungs sounded more like a very bad case of pneumonia. His heart rate was 45. This was very unusual, especially since he had a fever of 104.5. His blood pressure was also low. To an experienced ER nurse, this closely resembled septic shock. Not good.
“Ok, Father,” she began. “I think you’re right. You’re sick. I’m going to get an IV in your arm and give you some antibiotics. I’m thinking you have pneumonia. I think you also need some IV fluids.”
“Ok,” he replied. He lay down on his back. She quickly found the supplies she needed, and returned. She inserted the IV, and hung both the fluids, and antibiotics. She also found some Tylenol in her backpack. He swallowed several of the little white pills.
She now had two patients to care for, and neither one was in great shape. She was surprised she didn’t realize the priest was sick. Let alone this sick. She’d seen people this sick, and they usually ended up in the hospital for several days on strong antibiotics. She hoped she was wrong.
A little while later, SSgt Brown returned. “I hear we have another casualty.”
“Kind of,” she replied. “It seems our new spiritual leader has developed a nasty pneumonia. I think. Can’t tell without an X-ray, but his lungs sound like shit and it looks like he’s in septic shock.”
“Septic shock,” he interjected. “How the hell is he in shock? He was fine last night.”
“I know,” she replied. “That’s the problem. Whatever bug he has is aggressive. I’m going to pump him full of antibiotics and see if I can’t get ahead of this thing.”
“So how long,” he asked.
“No way to tell,” she replied.
“Shit! I’ll go let the El-Tee know.” He turned and left the nurse to her charges.
“El-Tee,” he started.
“I already know,” the officer interrupted.
“What, about the priest?”
“Yup,” he replied. “I saw him this morning. He looked like death warmed over. How bad is he?”
“Jen says he’s septic,” the NCO replied. “She says it sounds like pneumonia. She’s hitting up with fluids and antibiotics.”
“Did she say how long this one’s going to keep us stuck here?”
“No sir,” replied SSgt Brown.
“Just fucking great,” Lt Cruzan cursed. He waived SSgt Brown to leave.
SSgt Brown found Sgt Procell in the kennel area. He and several of the children were busy rigging a ladder to the skylight. He saw SSgt Brown walk in. “Take a break guys.”
“How’s it going Procell?”
“Just fine Sergeant. These kids are great. Did you know they were a science club? They got some real budding engineers in this group.”
“Good. How much longer before we get the ladder up?”
“Not too long. Had some problem mounting it to the frame, but I think we got it figured out.”
“Good. How about getting the girl out?”
“Well,” The younger NCO began. “I thought about it. We really don’t have enough rope to make a harness. So, we’d put her in one of our LBV’s if need be; then we’d carry her by the carry handle. I wish we had more stuff, but I figure it will work in a pinch.”
“You better make that two LBV’s,” replied SSgt Brown. “It looks like the priest is sick too.”
“How sick?” Sgt Procell asked.
“It looks like he’s got a bad case of pneumonia.”
“I’ve heard a couple of the kids with pretty nasty coughs,” Sgt Procell reported. “Maybe I should have Jen check them out.”
“Probably a good idea,” SSgt Brown agreed. “Finish this first. I’ll tell Jen to expect a few coughing kids.” He left the room, as the young NCO got the kids back to work.
Jen was not pleased. The priest’s fever had not come down at all. His breathing had become labored, and his pulse remained dangerously low. She could now hear the rattling in his chest without the help of a stethoscope.
Sgt Procell knocked on the door jam. “Hey Jen,” he began. “SSgt Brown said to come by with a couple of the kids.”
“Yeah,” she replied. “He told me you were coming. How many you got?”
“Three,” he replied. “The rest are ok, but I thought these three ought to be looked at.”
“Sure,” she said. “Let’s take them into the surgical area, one at a time.”
She checked out the three children one at a time. All three were running fevers. The highest was a girl with a 101.4 degree temperature. They all had some mild wheezing upon exhalation. All had normal vital signs with the exception of the fevers.
Jen concluded that these children most likely had bronchitis. This was no surprise. She understood that they had all been exposed to the elements with little or no food for several days. It wouldn’t take these kids long for malnutrition and dehydration to set them up for some kind of infection.
She found several bottles of oral antibiotics. Some were strictly medications used for animals, but some names she recognized from the human world. She hoped that the dosages she was giving the kids would be appropriate. Without a Nurse’s Drug Reference, she was just guessing. She gave each child a baggie with the pills and told them to rest and to drink plenty of water. The children did as they were told and left for the living area.
She found Kerry in the treatment room with the young accident victim. “How’s she doing this morning?” the younger woman asked.
“Better. I think her lung re-expanded overnight.” She let Kerry listen over the base of the lungs. “Hear the air moving?”
“Yes,” the girl replied. “That the only way to tell if the lung is inflated?”
“No,” Jen replied. “If we had a working x-ray machine, we’d be able to see it.”
“So now we’re just waiting for her to wake up right?”
“Not exactly,” replied Jen. “We have another patient.”
“Oh?”
“The priest came in this morning looking like death warmed over. It looks like he has a nasty pneumonia: High fever, low B/P, low heart rate, and piss poor respiratory status.”
“Wow,” replied the red-head. “How’d he get that sick so fast?”
“I don’t know,” the nurse replied. “C’mon, let’s go give him the once over.” The two walked into the priest’s room. Jen thought that he looked worse now than he did thirty minutes ago. Kerry thought she could tell right then that he was dying. She let out a slight gasp.
“Why is he so grey,” asked the girl. Jen ignored the girl’s question. She was in full nurse mode.
“Father,” she called out.
He did not seem to hear her. She gave him the same kind of sternal rub she had used on the little girl earlier. The priest’s eyes opened. He let out a low moan as he turned towards her. He began to talk rapidly and incoherently. Jen knew this was very bad. She touched his head. He was still burning up with fever. She didn’t dare place a glass thermometer in his mouth to determine how high it was.
He began to convulse. Shit, Jen thought, he’s seizing.
“Get on the other side of him,” she barked. “Don’t let him fall off the table.” She’d never wished for a good old fashioned hospital bed before in her life, but now she needed one.
“Mike! Sergeant Brown!” she yelled. “We need some help in here!” The two came barreling into the room, followed by several others.
“He’s having a febrile seizure,” she announced to the group. “I need you guys to keep him from falling off the table. I’ll be right back.” The soldiers surrounded the table and helped keep the priest on his table, while Jen ran into the drug storage area. She knew the type of drug she wanted would be locked up. But where the hell would it be? She couldn’t find any of the controlled drugs anywhere. Finally she decided to look in the veterinarian’s office. She found a small refrigerator with a lock on it. Above it was a small locked cabinet. She knew the refrigerator would be warm inside.
“Mike!” she yelled. “Bring me one of those pick axes or a crowbar.” He and SSgt Brown ran into the room. Mike was holding a pick axe, SSgt Brown a shovel.
“See if you can’t knock those locks off,” she ordered. “Is he still seizing?”
“Yes,” SSgt Brown answered as he knocked open one of the locks with the shovel. He quickly dispatched the other lock.
Jen began rifling through the refrigerator first. She wasn’t sure if Lorazepam was a medicine commonly used by veterinarians, but it was her drug of choice for seizures. She did not find any in the refrigerator. She did find Valium, a relative of Lorazepam, in the locked cabinet. Not her first choice, but it would have to work.
She grabbed a syringe, and drew up what she thought would be an appropriate dose. She ran into the room with the seizing priest, asked God to make sure the antibiotic and Valium were compatible, then unceremoniously shoved the needle into the port in the IV tubing and slammed the down on the plunger.