Saving Forever - Part 5 (Saving Forever #5) (4 page)

Elijah’s phone began beeping and as he reached for it out of his pocket, Charity’s phone vibrated against her hip. She pulled her cell out to look at it.

“Multi-vehicle accident,” Elijah said. “Five minutes out.” He tapped the first-floor button of the elevator trying to make it go faster.

Charity sent a text to Mandy, double-checking that she received the update. “Guess we’ll be hanging around each other a little longer.” She glanced at Elijah and teasingly shrugged. It could be worse.

The gentleman on the elevator with them stepped back to let them get off first. “Good luck,” he said as they rushed past him when the doors slid open.

They race walked side by side to the Emergency department.

“Aren’t you supposed to be finishing a twenty-hour shift?” Charity asked as she grabbed latex gloves from a box on the wall and began putting them on. She handed the extra pair to Elijah.

“Duty calls.” He pulled a thin yellow gown overtop of his hospital garb and stepped ahead of Charity. “Can you tie this, please?”

“Sure.” She tied the two strings at the top and by his waist as they continued down the hall.

“I hope my wife doesn’t mind I may have to cancel out on her again.”

“She’ll understand. What else are you going to do? It’s part of the job.” Charity shrugged.

“You’re probably right. I was just really looking forward to an evening with her in our bed.” His eyebrows raised.

“You’ll make it up to her, I’m sure.” She winked at him. They neared the bustle of activity of the medical staff. “Where do I need to be?”

Elijah glanced around. “Right by me.” He pointed to the sliding doors where a pair of paramedics were bringing in a gurney. “Who do we have here?”

The female paramedic handed Charity a wallet. “This is Peter Michaels. We the first?”

Elijah nodded as they pulled the gurney inside. “What happened?”

“Peter was in the front seat. His buddy was driving and texting. There're two girls from the back seat coming in as well, and the driver.” She said it all in one fast breath. “Peter injured his back. He’s alert and in a lot of pain. We’ve stabilized his neck and spine, but he doesn’t have any feeling in the lower limbs.” She rambled on about the injuries and issues as Charity and Elijah pushed him into Emergency.

“Thanks. We’ll take it from here.” He leaned down. “Peter? This is Dr. Bennet. You’re at Scott Thompson Hospital. I need you to do something for me. Can you wiggle your toes?” He dropped his head down to Peter’s feet. “Do you hear me, Peter? Can you wiggle your toes?”

“I’m trying!” Peter whispered hoarsely.

Elijah straightened. “It’s okay, Peter.” He turned to Charity. “You need to book a CT, MRI – and make sure there’s a myelography prior to the scans so we can check everything out.”

“Okay.” Charity grabbed a tablet and began scheduling the procedures.

“We need to book an OR now, if there’s a spinal injury that isn’t just swelling. We can’t wait.”

“Okay. Who do you need with you?”

“You. Find Dr. Fulton and tell him you’re with me now. Get a hold of your father and make sure he knows we need top priority at the moment.”

“Will do.” She didn't know if her father would listen to her, but she wasn’t about to voice her concerns to Elijah at the moment. She rushed off to get the rooms booked.

Two hours later she stood beside Mandy scrubbing for surgery. Elijah had suggested Charity ask anther resident to help, citing the surgery would be an excellent learning experience.

“I can’t believe you got me in on this surgery!” Mandy bounced on the balls of her feet and water splashed everywhere. “Sorry. I’m a little excited.”

“I don’t know how much hands-on we are actually going to get to do.” Charity had seen the scans and Peter had maybe a ten percent chance of being able to walk again.

“I don’t care! We get to watch Dr. Bennet in action. That’s a better learning tool than anything we'll get to see today.” Mandy stepped back to let Charity finish.

Elijah motioned for them to come into the surgery already in progress. “Alrighty,” he said and pointed to a CT scan up on the large screen in front of him. “Peter’s an athlete. He’s on a full ride at the University of Gatica. He needs his legs back. Charity, what do we know so far about his injury?” He turned his focus to Peter, who was lying prone on the operating table.

Charity glanced at all the monitors to see if his vitals were stable. “When Peter arrived, he couldn’t move his legs. His chances of walking are less than ten percent.”

“Why do you say that?” Elijah asked.

Charity made a circle with her finger around the injury indicated on the CT scan. “Because of the injury here and the compression on the spinal cord.”

“Right.” Elijah began using a drill that looked like an electric nail filer. “That makes the surgery very delicate and extremely complex.” He motioned her to come and stand on the other side of Peter. “But because Peter’s young and athletic, he has a better chance of recovery. He’s going to be one of the lucky ones.”

“Did he lose spinal fluid?” Mandy asked, coming beside Charity to look over her shoulder.

“Some.” Elijah nodded to the tray by him. “Titanium rods. We are going to decompress the spinal cord by realigning the spine. We’ll use titanium rods around his spine to hold it in place.” He shot a glance at Charity. “Reach in and hold that stick there. Yes, right there. What am I going to do next? Walk me through it.”

Charity glanced down at Peter’s back. The injury seemed localized, but she could see his spine had been displaced from the impact of the car crash. “You’re going to screw the rods into his vertebrae. It looks like the spine’s been dislocated, so they’ll stabilize it. They’ll also allow the spinal cord to recover from the injury. We hope.”

“We’re not going to hope. We are going to be confident. Peter’s going to walk again. I’ll make sure of it.” Elijah continued to work. Then stepped back. “Okay, we need a navigating MRI to check everything is in place.” He turned to the nurse behind him. “Call the radiologist in.” He shot Charity a look. “You can leave now. Mandy you stay.”

Charity blinked in surprise. What had she done to get kicked out? She’d done everything right. “Can’t I stay?” She stepped back as Mandy squeezed into her spot and the nurse pulled an enormous machine over to set up above Peter’s back.

“No.” Elijah’s head bent forward as he spoke with the anesthesiologist. He straightened when the radiologist came in and then blinked in surprise when he saw his wife still in the room. “Charity, you need to leave. Now.”

She sighed loudly as she ripped off her gloves and threw them in the correct garbage bin and headed out the door. She stood behind the glass and watched. Elijah was too busy focussing on his patient to notice. He made everyone in the room step back against a wall as the radiologist in his heavy gray outfit stepped forward.

“Shit!” she mumbled when she realized why he had kicked her out. He didn’t want the baby to be exposed to the radiation in the room from the navigating machine. She had been so caught up in the excitement of the surgery she had completely forgotten about the baby in her tummy. Elijah knew she didn’t want people to know yet and had simply opted for getting her to leave. She exhaled a long breath. Maybe it was time to start telling people. She couldn’t risk this happening again with another Neurosurgeon or doctor who didn’t know her situation, especially if she couldn’t even remember it herself.

When the radiologist finished, he came out to where Charity stood waiting and began loading the information onto the large screens in the operating room. “Dr. Bennet said you can go back in now.” He grabbed a sheet of paper off the printer and handed it to Charity. “Can you bring him this?”

“Sure.” She forced a smile and slipped through the door. She tried to appear as nothing had happened. That it was completely normal to be sent out of a surgery and to walk back in again. She ignored the questioning look Mandy shot her as she approached Elijah. “The uh, radiologist wanted me to give this to you.” She scrunched her nose when she realized she hadn’t bothered to ask his name or check his badge.

“Thanks.” Elijah gave her a quick glance before looking down at the printout. He moved to one of the large touch screens and began sliding through the new scans. “The new scans are showing we’ve realigned the spine. Titanium rods can now be tightened. We—”

“How do you know the surgery is successful? If he’s regained feeling in his legs?” Mandy asked, interrupting Elijah.

Elijah pursed his lips. “Dr. Thompson-Bennet, do you know the answer?”

Charity watched his mouth as she ran scenarios through her head. “You can’t really run a test. You’d have to ask him.”

Elijah stared at her and then snapped his fingers. “That’s what we’ll do.” He turned to the anesthesiologist. “Wake him up.”

“What?” the anesthesiologist asked.

“Wake him up. Just long enough so we can ask him. Then put him back under and we’ll finish what we need to.”

“Dr. Bennet—”

“Just do it, Carter.” Elijah put his hand on the anesthesiologist’s shoulder and then dropped down to see Peter’s face below the table. “Dr. Thompson-Bennet, you run the test on his foot.”

Carter counted down, “Ten… nine… eight…”

When he reached four, Elijah began softly talking. “Peter. Peter. This is Doctor Bennet. You are in surgery. Just blink your eyes if you hear me.”

Charity couldn’t see Peter’s face from her position by his feet. When Elijah gave her a thumb’s up, she set her feet shoulder width apart and turned her focus on Peter’s toes.

Elijah ducked back down. “Okay. Peter, I need you to wiggle your toes. Can you do that for me?”

Charity tilted her head to get a better view. She shook her head when Elijah popped his head up again.

“Peter, can you try again?” Elijah held a finger up to warn the others in the room to wait. “Keep your body still, just try to wiggle your toes.”

Charity chewed her lower lip.
Come on, Peter. You can do it. Get those digits moving!
She tapped her sneaker soundlessly against the floor as she stared hard at his feet.

A small flicker in his right toe made her heart thunder against her chest. It moved again as she stared at it. Peter’s left toes curled. She smiled and jumped. “Yup! Movement. In both of them.”

Elijah grinned and pressed his finger to his lip.

“Oh yeah, sorry. I got excited,” Charity whispered.

“Great job, Peter.” Elijah motioned to Carter to put Peter under again. He straightened. “Let’s finish up.”

A nurse came in the room. “Dr. Bennet? Dr. Fulton is wondering when he can have his interns back.”

Elijah shook his head. “You two go. We can finish up here. Just note that when I finish here, we’ll get Peter into a room and I’ll speak with his parents. He isn’t out of the woods, and it’s a long road to recovery but he’s one very lucky kid. That needs to be explained to the parents. You let them know he’s alive and prepare them for the road ahead. Sometimes the primary focus is to let them know he’s okay. Other times parents want more information or specific details. It’s a shame I can’t have you come with me, but I’m glad you were able to be here for the surgery.”

“Me, too.” Mandy pulled her gloves off. “That was absofreakinlutely awesome! Thanks, Dr. Bennet for letting me in on it too.” She winked at Charity. “Guess I owe you one now, ‘eh?”

Elijah laughed. “Get out of here.” He met Charity’s gaze. “Let me know when you’re finished. Text me.” He didn’t wait for her to respond, instead turning his attention back to Peter.

Charity followed Mandy out of the room and pulled her over-attire off and tossed it into the appropriate bin.

Mandy copied her and as they washed their hands, she babbled on excitedly. “I can’t believe you got me in on this. That was incredible! So freakin’ cool!” She shook her hands and dried them on her pants. “Why did Dr. Bennet kick you out of the room? Were you guys fighting?” She scratched her head. “But then he let you back in. Or did you just walk back in? That’s so ballsy.” She leaned back. “I couldn’t have done it. I’d have hidden behind the door and hoped he forgot he’d kicked me out.”

“He didn’t kick me out.” Charity swore she felt a butterfly or some kind of bubbles in her belly. “He just asked me to wait outside the room during the navigator.” She hesitated, waiting for the light to click on and Mandy realize why she had actually left. It seemed so obvious.

“Whatever.” Mandy laughed. “What do you think Dr. Fulton wants us for now? Sutures? Band-aid applying? After this morning’s heart surgery and this afternoon’s spinal fiasco, there is nothing that is going to seem even remotely attractive.” She checked her phone. “I wonder where he even is.”

Charity let Mandy lead the way. She couldn’t believe Mandy hadn’t figured out why Elijah had asked her to leave. It wasn’t rocket science. Probably everyone in the ER room had figured it out and the rumors would be flying before she even left the hospital tonight. So much for waiting until Elijah’s mother arrived. She probably should find her father at one point today and let him know. With her luck, he’d probably have another coronary if he found out by some nurse or via a memo.