What happened in Vegas: Didn't Stay In Vegas! (22 page)

We got to the
Emergency doors and waited for the ambulance to show. It was cloudy
and raining. My body was running on adrenaline and my thoughts were
coming fast and furious, I was trying to figure out if the weather
could have been a cause to Nick
’
s
accident.

The ambulance
pulled up and the cab doors opened with both driver and passenger
jumping out to open the back doors so the patient could be brought
into the General. This was too surreal for me. How come it was so
different when you didn
’
t know the person? My
heart was pounding through my chest and all I could feel was
fear.

The first
attendant jumped inside and the second attendant started pulling
the patient out. I wasn
’
t close and
couldn
’
t see who it was. Dr. Morden and I were standing there
waiting, wearing our stethoscopes. I called out is that Nick Ward?
The first ambulance attendant nodded yes. When the stretcher was
completely out the wheels dropped down.

I sucked much needed air into my lungs, not
even noticing I was holding my breath. Salty tears stung my eyes
once the attendant confirmed it was him. Oh my God, I thought my
legs were going to give way. I was starting to feel dizzy and my
first feeling was a wave of nausea.

He was buckled down on the stretcher with an
intravenous bag of normal saline infusing into his right arm and
100% non-rebreather oxygen mask covering his face. He looked
horrible.

The driver
started giving report to me but Bradley appeared from nowhere. I
was so shocked and upset, I had no idea how long he was standing
next to me. Everything was moving fast, but in slow motion. I know
it doesn
’
t make sense but that
’
s how I
felt.

Bradley told
the attendant,
“
I
’
m taking
this case.
”
He turned to me and said,
“
You
’
re too close,
you
’
re not to working on him. I will do everything I can
for him, I promise.
”
That was it; I was suddenly a
powerless observer, tears sprung from my eyes.

The attendant
spoke as he pushed the stretcher,
“
Thirty-five year old
male was driving alone in a vehicle on the 401, and his car was
witnessed to have driven down into a ditch approximately ten feet
deep at full speed. No other cars were involved. Witnesses said it
didn
’
t appear that he was cut off. Police are still at the
scene investigating. There
’
s nothing left of the
car. When we got to the scene we had to use the Jaws of Life to cut
him out. Airbags deployed.

Vital signs at the scene were heart rate 145
beats per minute, blood pressure 72/45, respirations 6, 02
saturation 80 and dropping. We put a hundred percent non-rebreather
on him, gave him a bolus of 500 ml of normal saline.

The attendants and two nurses transferred
Nick onto a hospital stretcher. There were two nurses and the two
doctors, Bradley, and Shelly who were going to be the ones working
on him.

Bradley looked
at Shelly and under his breath I heard him say,
“
He looks
like he
’
s going to code.
”
He spoke orders very
calmly to the nurses, Place him on a heart monitor, insert another
intravenous into him 18 gage, bolus another liter of normal saline
wide open, have x-ray come down and do a stat one-view of his chest
and then intubate him. Bring him to C.T. for a full body without
contrast dye looking for any bleeds. Page me when
he
’
s back.

“We
’
ll go down with him
to C.T, in case something happens down there.
”
Shelly
volunteered. One nurse started putting a second intravenous in
Nick
’
s arm while the other one placed a heart monitor on
his chest. He was in sinus tachycardia with a heart rate of 150
beats per minute. When the nurse was finished inserting the
intravenous in his arm she hung another bag of normal saline to
bring his blood pressure up.

We started walking quickly to the C.T. scan
area. There were several people waiting in front of Nick but due to
his acuity, he was taken first. It was the first chance I got to
see him up close. The ambu-bag covered his nose and mouth and one
of the nurses was squeezing oxygen into him with it. The rest of
his face was all pale and bruises were starting to appear.

He looked like he was going into shock. His
hemoglobin must have been really low, and I suspected he was
bleeding internally. I knew I would feel better once they found the
bleed. The stress I felt was unbelievable.

The C.T. scan
took several minutes but it felt like several hours. I was glad
that Shelly was with us. She paged a colleague and asked him to
cover for her while she was with me and Nick. It
didn
’
t matter to anyone if I wasn
’
t working but it
did if Shelly wasn
’
t. Looking at Shelly
or Bradley one would never have guessed how scared they were, but
that
’
s because we were trained in hiding our
fear.

The nurses were
waiting for us when we got back. We were all in sync. He came right
away. The nurses told the respiratory therapist he needed to secure
Nick
’
s airway with intubation. Once the airway was secured,
the second nurse paged Bradley. Bradley came back and called the
radiologist for a verbal report of his C.T. scan results and chest
x-ray.

Bradley
didn
’
t have to say anything to us. We already knew what was
happening by his side of the conversation. He hung up the phone
immediately and called locating to page the general surgeon on call
stat. He then hung up and called the operating room confirming the
use of the room.

The surgeon
called on another line and the unit clerk picked up immediately, we
heard Bradley
’
s side of the
conversation,
“
We have a 35 year old
medical resident who was involved in an MVA. He
’
s intubated
in critical condition. He has two bleeds, a small one in his head
and a larger one in his abdominal cavity. The Operating room is
booked. I
’
ll have the nurses bring him down to you stat.
Dr. Morden will be there in case he codes while you are working on
him. Thanks Bill.
”

Shelly and I
followed his stretcher to the Operating Room. That was when Shelly
turned to me and said,
“
I want you to wait
outside for this part. I need to not worry about you when
I
’
m inside there worrying about him, sorry Chanel.
I
’
ll page you the second we
’
re
finished.
”

I tried to say okay but instead a sob
escaped me unexpectedly. I started to cry again my emotions
overcoming me. I was losing my composure and control. I turned away
from Shelly, and as she had no time to spare she followed Nick into
the operating room.

I headed for
the exit needing air. When I got through the doors outside I sat on
the closest covered bench. Nick would always take me there to have
a cigarette and talk to me. The bench was wet from the rain but I
didn
’
t care. That
’
s when I really broke
down. The rain hid my tears. I began to cry really hard. I was so
scared Nick was going to die. People were starting to look at me; I
didn
’
t care.

I started
searching my pockets for my phone, when I found it I called Aria.
She picked up on the second ring,
“
Aria, its
Nick
”
and that
’
s when my voice
started breaking,
“
He got in a car
accident, you have to come to the hospital when you can. Drive
safe. Call me when you get here.
”
It was hard just
sitting there waiting. We hung up and I found myself motionless on
the bench staring through whatever was in my line of
vision.

I got the page
two hours later. Aria still hadn
’
t shown up yet. I
went back to Emergency to find out Nick wasn
’
t there. I
called the extension on the pager and Shelly answered,
“
Hi Chanel, He
’
s out of surgery.
Bill found the bleed in his abdomen and removed his spleen. He is
more stable now. I
’
ve ordered a second
C.T. scan of his head tomorrow.

We
’
re starting to wonder if he had a cardiac event
when he was driving, his rhythms keep changing. At first his heart
was fast and then it went really slow and he became bradycardic. He
pops into first and second degree blocks. I
’
m thinking he
needs a pacemaker or better yet an AICD so if he goes into
ventricular tachycardia he can get shocked internally.

“Bradley
admitted him and they
’
re settling him right
now in the Intensive Care Unit. You should be able to see him in
the next few minutes or so. Is there anyone to sign consent? I have
to go back to work now. I
’
m sorry about your
friend Chanel. I hope he
’
s going to be
okay.
”

“Thanks
’
Shelly, His parents live in the
Ukraine, I guess I would be his substitute decision
maker.
”
I squeaked.

Aria had just
walked in looking all disheveled she gave me a hug and spoke into
my hair,
“
What happened? Where is he?
”

“They
’
re taking good care
of him. Dr. Morden thinks it was his heart. I just know there were
no other cars involved. He had a C.T. scan and they operated on him
fixing a bleed in his stomach and they removed his spleen. He also
has a small bleed in his brain. They transferred him to I.C.U. I
was so scared Aria.
”

I took her hand
and led her to the Intensive Care Unit. We introduced ourselves to
the nurses
’
station asking what room Nick was in.
An attractive blond haired nurse came up to us and introduced
herself,
“
Hi, I
’
m Bridgette,
Nick
’
s nurse. How are you related to
Nick?
”

“I
’
m his best friend and I guess the closest thing
he has to a substitute decision maker. His parents live in the
Ukraine; he has no brothers or sisters. This is Aria his new
girlfriend. Either one of us would be more than happy to sign the
consent form for his AICD.
”

She smiled
warmly at us, but I saw the pity in her eyes,
“
That would
be great, you can sign it.
”

Aria turned to
me,
“
What
’
s an
AICD?
”

I explained to
Aria,
“
It
’
s an Automatic
Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator, It will act like a
pacemaker regulating his heart rate and it has a secondary function
giving a shock if the heart goes into a lethal
rhythm.
”
She grabbed his chart and gave me the paper to
sign. Then she pointed to the room, he
’
s in room
9.

The ICU had a
one nurse to one patient ratio. Each room had a small work station
outside it for the nurse to do her charting. Room 9 had a sliding
door with a white curtain. The curtain was drawn, so you
couldn
’
t see him until you went into his room. He looked so
vulnerable. He was on a ventilator, which made a loud rhythmic
noise for every inspiration and expiration his body was supposed to
make on its own.

He was getting
a unit of blood and he had five electrodes on his chest that was
hooked up to a heart monitor. The ventilator broke the silence of
the room and the rhythm of Nick
’
s heart on the heart
monitor made beep noises. His face was becoming more bruised and
swollen and as Aria walked up to his bed she gasped at the sight of
him.

The room appeared sterile like any other
Intensive Care room. He had two chairs by the bedside. I planted
myself in one and stared at Nick. Aria took the chair closer to him
and held the hand that had a pulse oximeter attached to it.

I felt like I was intruding on them by being
there, so I suggested we alternate our stay with him around the
clock. She would do days and I would do nights. We were both scared
to be left alone with him, but we also knew that we were both going
to need sleep. My greatest fear was that I would leave his room and
possibly never see him alive again. We both wanted to be there in
case there was an emergency, but Aria now had more right than I did
to be there. He was dating her.