Chapter 2
Chapter 2
“Nicky?”
Rio called out for the boys name. In any scenario, especially in a trauma scenario, rio always feels the adrenaline rush into her bloodstream. Fast. Like if her blood was suddenly on fire, her heartbeat pacing at an abnormal speed. Especially with kids. Yeah, she might be mean and treat them like adults mostly. Still, when they are in a crucial need and hanging in a fine line of life and death? She never likes that feeling.
Sure Rio has dealt with death. Seen a lot of it. Rio has never been scared of death really, not as long as she can remember. As she grew up, it even got to a point where she wanted to see the other side of death. What it feels like. How if she were to have her eyes close, and her body fall to no return, how her invisible soul would rise to the universe. How the final moments actually feel like. Peaceful and quiet? Loud and painful? Blank? The theory of nothing actually happening and everybody in this universe actually got bamboozled into thinking we served a bigger purpose on this land. What death is was Rios’ biggest question in this life of hers.
Nickys eyes abruptly open again. He can’t speak as a respirator mask is now on his small face. But nicky has this look in his eyes and she can tell he’s scared. I’m sorry nicky.
Rio suddenly felt more awake than ever as she transitioned into boss mode and no longer had spare room to be as calm as she usually is. She’s determined to not let this young boy in front of her die.
“He’s hemorrhaging” she hears a nurse call out.
No.
“What are his vitals?” Rio asks. By this point there was a good group of people. Nurses around doing what they can to adhere to rios calls, along with the paramedic that was with him. There was more primary doctors to call the shots, though they staggered around for the other two incoming gurneys that were incoming through the emergency doors that she feels really guilty for having jinxed.
“How are his vitals?”
“Last one was 80 over palp” The paramedic called out. “He’s lost a lot of blood.”
“Make sure he gets a lot of fluids” Rio calls out to the farthest nurse so the ones closest to her and nicky are all hands on deck. She needs all the help she can get.
“Hey nicky can you blink for me?” Rio begs for nicky to adhere to her request. And he does. Rio doesn’t forget about his chest injuries that she very desperately wants to clean up and get fixed.
“Okay, pupils are equal and reactive.”
“There’s a depressed skull fracture in here with probable bleed.” she hears someone call out.
“We check spine yet?”
“No obvious spinal deformities, lets keep c-spine steady and watched”.
A doctor that had entered and rushed to check his chest and rio was thankful for the staff around her being competent enough.
“No breath sounds on the right. Set up a chest tube” the doctor focused on his chest called out.
“Get CT ready now.” Rio commands and directs for another nurse on the right side of her to set up a chest tray. Rio continues to show off her skills and a certain confident ability that makes everyone secure everything is going to be okay. Rio continues her streak of calling out commands on this case.
“Someone call for an OR now!” after a only a quick couple minutes which felt like forever would they find they had a lot going on. The doctor who was focused on his chest had then called out for drapes to prep his chest. His temperature had been called out to low and a nurse had been instructed to start nicky on warm fluid so there was no chance of hypothermia. A chest tube was ordered and about to be inserted.
Little nickys’ hand had extended out, reaching out for Rios as she was working on examining his body back and forth, top to bottom. Rio locked eyes with nicky and her eyes fell to the small hand reaching out. There’s a call for help in his eyes. It’s intense, its begging. Nickys eyes were already dried with the previous tears and rio notices the new ones forming in and how nicky does not sustain the strength to hold them back any longer. Rio reaches out and squeezes his hand. He has a grip, man good grip for a little kid she thought. It doesn’t last long, as his hand slowly but quickly softens into hers. When she looks up to reach his eyes again. They’re closed again.
“V-fib, he’s crashing.” a nurse called out.
“Start bagging! Now!” Rio begins CPR, while another doctor who inserted himself into helping mode got the paddles charged.
“Charge to 200”
“Charged to 200”
“Clear”
“Sinus tach, he’s back.” Rios sense of relief comes back and the surgeons that had been called by nurses via rios orders have arrived.
“Let’s go” She hears her colleagues start initiating the next steps in saving nickys’ life. When rio takes a step in their direction, it noted that he is being taken to different departments. The ones in where she is not specialized in. “Yeah, you’re right I just-” rio responds to another nurse, Alice that happen to be a friend of hers as well. Different floors but they saw each other often. Rio hadn’t even noticed alice until she had been stopped by her.
“I know” Alice understood the unsaid words from rios mouth. Rio didn’t fully though. She’s dealt with kids before. These scenarios and the less traumatic ones. Her day to day was very much normalized around the appointment-based patients and walk-ins. This was unexpected to her. This was a kid, who had lost heartbeat right in front of her and she brought back to life. And now he is being put back together by other people, who yes she trusts but wishes she could return to give him that comfort he was looking for in her hand. “I’ll come back nicky” she thought to herself.
“Alice, do you know what happened to him?”
“I believe there was an accident, a car accident I believe. Details are still coming in.”
Rio stayed silent and wondered what happened that led a small boy to be near a close death experience. Well she still doesn’t know how he’s doing but she’s trying to stay optimistic. She needs a break. So they proceed to a spot near the waiting room to sit.
“There was another woman that came with him. Then another adult. There’s two kids being taken care of in the waiting room because I think that was their mom that came in. so maybe they might be waiting for their dad?” Alice gathered a lot of information very quickly. Rio turns her head and leans a little back to try to look for two small kids. She finds them. One is dark-haired and another blonde being accompanied by a nurse next to them. With two police officers a few feet away.
“No way, how’s the mom?” rio asked hopeful
“I believe she’s in better condition then poor little man was in here.”
“Nicky”.
“What?”
“His name is nicky.” Rio smiled and quickly faded when she realized the time. She lost. She lost the bet. “Shit”
“What?” alice now curious.
“I lost a bet and accidentally actually might’ve set up my friends since I was supposed to meet them” Rio looks at the time. “Now an hour ago”.
“Well you’re not making it now. Especially since you have most of your scrub shirt splattered with blood.”
“Oh, shit.”
Rio looked down and realized she was right. She had totally forgotten about how unprepared she was for this whole scenario. But not totally, she always carried an extra pair of scrubs in her trunk. Rio contemplated going home or staying. She felt this need to check on nicky. She doesn’t believe an extensive surgery was needed for Nicky. Or hoped.
Rio goes to her car, and comes back with her folded scrubs inside a clothes bag that she held close enough so it covered her bottom half scrub shirt. She managed to get cleaned up, looking brand new as before.
After getting cleaned up. Rio found Alice again in the first floor and questioned about the kids that were no longer in the lobby waiting room.
“Their dad came to pick them up. But im sure he’s coming back, I mean his wife is still in a room”.
Rio got the information about nickys’ room number and proceeded to make her way towards the second floor. As she entered the room, she looked at his small body laying on the bed. He had been situated only recently. Rio took in the small boys current state. His head is bandaged from the injuries. Its clean now and that makes her happy because the image she had before-yeah no. Minor scars on his face, a scrape that can be seen from his back ending as his small collarbone. Down to his chest where she knows there is now a bandage under his newly claimed gown. An hour passed by of her checking his vitals every now and then and her thoughts settled on how she would come back in the morning so if he woke up he wouldn’t be alone. Visitor hours were way past over at this point and she wondered where his parents were. If they had even got an idea. As she got up to leave and turned to start towards the door, she heard shuffling from the bed. And turned to kindly face the boys fluttering eyes.
“You-...you’re the lady” Nicky weakly suspends those words from his mouth. His eyes making eye contact.
“The lady?” Rio questions
“The lady, from my dream” and Nicky smiles softly, his face turning slightly to get a better look at her. Rio squints her eyebrows and tilts her head as well, because she genuinely wonders what dream she stems from, but she’s curious.
“Dream huh?” Rio playfully asks. Nicky just smiles. She makes eye contact with Nicky, walks closer to him just to stand beside him and examine his vitals while at it. Normal. Rio can tell Nicky is tired though, he’s been through a lot in the last twelve hours.
“How about you rest okay?” Rio continues after no response. The best thing right now is to gain strength, she thinks.
“You saved me.”
“You saved yourself little man.”
“I want mama.” At that Rio feels a sad smile creep up on her own face but she remembers her mom is also being taken care of.
“Your mom is also getting taken care of, little man. So how about you go to sleep and rest so you can be strong when your mom comes in okay?”
“Mama isn’t here”
Rio looks at him a tad confused. “Oh”
“Mama is in another city”.
That gave rio relief and also thinks he shouldv’e led with that instead of making rio stop in her tracks for a second. It’s okay Rio. He’s a kid. That’s kids, they like to freak you out.
“Then im sure she’s on her way, go to sleep little man”. Rio squeezes his unscratched hand and in unspoken conversation Nicky agrees and starts to close his eyes, fluttering them slowly.
“Can I tell you about my dream?” Nicky groggily blurts out.
“I’ll be here early tomorrow so you can tell me all about it”.
Rio does get there early the next day. Did she sleep her 8 hours? No. But the purpose was bigger than her obviously. Even then in rare moments when she did not have sufficient sleep she woke up in an even better mood. Her apartment was only ten minutes away so this wasn’t that bad. Rio picked up her coffee from the coffee stands outside the hospital on her way in past the cafeteria. The cafeteria where she just happened to swipe three jello packets, all different colors, well flavored, I guess. When Rio gets to Nickys room, he’s sitting on his bed with his eyes locked on the small television hung on the wall near the corner. With the window right next to that wall, showing off the nice sky full of oncoming color. Nicky is smiling and she almost doesn’t want to interrupt so that smile doesn’t go away, but maybe her gift will bring a bigger smile.
“Hey little man” rio steps into the room, bringing herself into nickys frame. “I brought you something” Rio takes out the three different colored jellos to her face to show them off. Rio was excited to have been able to bring this to him.
“Yes!” Nicky looks up at Rio and smiles, bigger than the one he had already and even lets out a little giggle escape from his lips.
“Hope you like them? They only had these flavors available.” Rio takes a seat on the chair beside nicky. Her back to the door and facing nicky and the television he is also watching.
“Thank you! Thank you!”
Rio hands him a spoon, and leans back to relax on the chair. Nicky looks ecstatic to begin to dig in to the sweet gelatin but then she freaks out.
“Wait, stop.” nicky stops like a deer in the headlights and gives her a confused look. “Have you ate breakfast yet?”
“Yes”
“Wait. really? Okay” rio gives the go ahead then and laughs at the interaction and how nicky proceeds with opening the jello packet.
“Why are you up so early, little man? Feeling okay?”
Rio decides to steal a jello packet from nicky.
“Hey!”
“Too much sugar right now, i’ll bring you another later, I promise”. Rio let’s out a laugh
“My aunt went to go get mama”
“Your mom is here?”
“That’s nice you must be excited!”
“Miss my mama. You would like her.”
“Your mom is only going to like me if you don’t tell her I brought you three jello packets.”
“So your aunt was the one that was with you last night?”
“Yes”
“Mama!” Nicky puts down the jello, the clattering of the spoon hitting the table. Nickys arms are extended up and back down into a small fist next to the big smile on his face. Rio twists her body around still in the chair, to finally meet nickys mother standing at the door. Rio finally turns and looks to make eye contact with a new face. Or familiar. No. way.
Agatha…