Battle
The door to the Resurgam break room opened with a bang. A nurse stood in the doorway, breathless. “Dr. Müller! We have three emergency endoscopies, all Rosalia!”
“In a row?”
“Yes! Everyone else is busy and your mom already has five.”
Hana sighed. “Okay fine. I’ll prep and be there in 10 minutes.”
The nurse nodded and left the room. Hana stood up and closed her Japanese book, leaving the room. She washed and prepped for surgery, before walking into the OR. As she scanned the room, she did a double take as she realised who was assisting.
“Dr. Müller! You’re here!”
“Uhhhh...”
“I helped your mom loads in the past okay?” Maria Torres stood opposite the patient, face set confidently.
“Dr. Torres...I wasn’t expecting you...”
“I’m assisting, don’t think about it.”
“What about Dr. Cunningham?”
“God, you sound so like your mom! And uh, I think he’s helping the Kid and B-V in another surgery. I don’t know, don’t really care.”
A nurse cleared her throat. “Vitals are dropping, Dr. Müller.”
“Right!” Hana administered some stabiliser through a syringe. Maria prepped the endoscope, and passed it to Hana.
“The affected area for this patient is the upper intestine. Please keep an eye on the vitals and any new internal bleeds.“
“Understood, Dr. Torres. Beginning the endoscopy.”
Hana furrowed her brow as she manipulated the endoscope. Even after a few years of practice and tips from her mom, it hadn’t gotten any easier. She traveled down the digestive tract and into the intestine. As soon as she entered the intestine, she could see the affected area.
“Okay, I’m injecting the antiviral,” Hana carefully sprayed the drug until the red colour on the tumour disappeared. “Now I’m injecting the fluids.”
“Be careful not to inject too much. Causing the virus colony to explode is a bad idea,” Maria said. Ever so eloquent with her choice of words.
“Thank you Dr. Torres,” The OR went silent as Hana focused. Once she had excised the tumour, Maria breathed a sigh of relief.
“Good job Tom-Hana. Good job.”
“Don’t relax just yet, Dr. Torres,” Hanna continued searching and nearly instantly found a giant colony. “This is gonna be a long one. Spraying the antiviral.”
***
Juliet ran into the lift. Her dad called her and Kitty to the OR for an emergency. Apparently there had been another outbreak at a school and a lot of students required treatment. It was a small school, specifically for children with immuno-deficiency diseases. This already made them more susceptible to illnesses and for someone to accidentally come in with a Rosalia....well, it wasn’t pretty. The kids had been transferred to Resurgam and required immediate treatment.
The doors pinged open and she shot out, running down the corridors. Nurses and doctors skirted to the side as she sped past. Juliet slowed to a stop outside the OR, catching her breath before stepping in. Her dad was already operating. She scrubbed in and entered the double doors.
“Ah, Juliet,” Hank’s eyes creased into a smile as he glanced up.
“Dad,” Juliet joined her father at the operating table. “What’s the case?”
“Rosalia tumours located on the patient’s deltoid tuberosity.”
“Pre-existing condition?”
“SCID,” Kitty answered. Hank grunted as he found something.
“Chisel,” Kitty passed him the instrument, and he began excising the tumour. “This is going to be tricky. There are more on the other arm; Juliet, can you handle it?”
Juliet nodded. “Of course.”
She picked up the scalpel and opened the patient’s arm. Once she had a clear view of the field, she saw the small, flower-like bone tumour.
“That’s what’s making the patient so ill?!”
Hank looked up, frowning at his daughter. “Like Nurse Peck said, Julie: the patient has SCID. Everything’s more severe, and this virus is incredibly agressive in patients with good immune systems. Please treat it, Dr. Freebird.”
Juliet did a double take at her father calling her ‘Dr. Freebird’ but did as he asked. She took the second chisel that Kitty prepped and began chiselling away at the bone surrounding the tumour. Every so often, she paused and took a breath. It was tedious, but that’s why she picked the specialty. The steadiness required was a talent few people owned.
“Okay, I’ve removed the tumour,” Juliet said as the last piece of the tumour was removed. “May I have the synthetic bone please?”
Kitty passed the already cut synthetic replacement to Juliet. She carefully took it, and placed it on the area.
***
Harry watched Chief Müller from the observatory room. His hands flew across the patient. Harry was in awe of the older surgeon, of his confidence and how his hands automatically moved to the correct places. He knew the treatment for Rosalia like the back of his hand.
Halfway through Chief Müller’s third operation, one of the surgeons began to cough violently. Erhard looked up at him.
“Leave. Now.”
The surgeon looked up at him in fear. “I’m fine, really-”
Erhard shook his head. “Leave. Get Dr. Blaylock-Vaughn to run the Rosalia tests on you.”
The surgeon nodded and left the room. Harry pressed the speaker and cleared his throat. “Chief?”
The attending in the room looked up at him. “Dr. Blaylock-Vaughn? How long have you been there?”
Harry blushed, embarrassed. “A while. Would you like me to come and assist?”
Erhard looked at Tomoe who nodded. “Yes. Quickly please, Dr. Blaylock-Vaughn.”
Harry nodded and left, trembling slightly. Not only was he in the same room as Erhard Müller while he was in the lead, he was assisting. Sure, Chief Müller had helped Harry before, but he’d never actually been operating. He’d just been the spare pair of hands when needed. Harry quickly scrubbed up and entered the OR. Dr. Müller gestured to him.
“I need you to hold the drain while I operate. We’ve had quite a lot of bleeding and it’s messing with the view of the field.”
Harry nodded, taking the drain. “Understood sir.”