Tessa gave a small wave as the facsimile of a smile played on her lips.
“Nurse Luis is the head nurse of the Emergency Unit. She is a remarkable employee and very hands-on,” the director turned to say to a gentleman standing just behind him. “As I was saying, Mr. Justin Myers is our new head of trauma, and he comes highly recommended. He was the head of thoracic surgery back in Boston and was the recipient of the Lasker Award.”
Tessa’s eyes widened, and her lips parted slightly as she listened to the many accolades of their new head of trauma.
“Thank you, Mark. It is truly an honor to be here, and I hope that my contributions will be for the upliftment of this hospital. I look forward to learning from all of you as well,” Dr. Myers responded as he moved from behind their director.
Tessa’s breath caught in her chest when she finally got a good look at him. The first thing she noticed was how tall he was. He towered over Mark, so he had to be over six feet. His thick brown hair was combed back from his forehead, and the temples of his head were beginning to show signs of graying. His peppered beard and goatee did a good job of framing his angular face. She had to admit he was a handsome gentleman. The thing about him that really got her attention was his eyes— they were gray. Even though he was several feet away from her, his eyes reminded her of winter.
After his speech, Mark began introducing Dr. Myers to the ER staff, but just as they got to her, the intercom came on.
“All emergency staff personnel, please report to the ER. We have a code yellow.”
Tessa turned with everyone and made her way toward the ER. A code yellow meant they would have multiple victims coming in, possibly from an accident. She quickly rushed to the washstand and scrubbed her hands with water and soap before drying them and slapping on a pair of gloves.
“Okay, ladies and gentlemen, we will be dealing with victims from a multiple-vehicle collision,” Dr. Myers was saying when she made her way to the ER entrance. “We’re only dealing with level one and two trauma patients. Anything else, send it over to outpatient care.”
Tessa’s brows scrunched up in concern. “Excuse me, Dr. Myers.”
The man turned his steel-gray eyes in her direction. Just then, the sirens of the ambulances could be heard, and Tessa’s question died in her throat when three emergency vehicles lined up at the entrance and their doors flung open to reveal patients on stretchers and some seated and looking dazed.
“Let’s get active, people,” Dr. Myers called again.
As stretchers rolled out of the ambulances, Tessa helped assess the victims’ severity. In the end, they ended up with three seriously injured patients. Two had broken either their leg or arm. Her heart plummeted to the bottom of her chest at the sight of the last patient. A thick, long piece of metal protruded from his chest, and his face was bloody. An EMT held an ambulance resuscitator over his face as they wheeled him toward the entrance.
Dr. Myers sprang into action immediately, taking the resuscitator from the EMT as they explained the care they’d already administered to the man. “Dr. Gregory, Dr. Cornwall, Nurse Luis, Nurse Campbell, and Gerard, you’re with me,” he instructed. “Which room?” He directed the question to her as they pushed the stretcher through the double doors into the ER, which was now a flurry of activity as the medical teams treated the victims.
“Room two,” she answered. Dr. Myers nodded.
“All right, people, the patient is losing a lot of blood and will go into hypovolemic shock soon. How’re his vitals?”
“Blood pressure 80/56, oxygen saturation 92 percent, heart rate 48, temperature 99,” Tessa replied.
Dr. Myles nodded while using scissors to remove the patient’s shirt and examine the object in his chest. “Okay, we need to slow the bleeding and stabilize his vitals before removing this.” He touched the metal. “We need a portable ultrasound machine in here now. I need a better look at this.”
“We’ve managed to slow the bleeding, but his vitals are still choppy.”
“Here’s the machine.”
“Okay, there’s nothing obstructed. It’s clear, but we don’t have much time. We have to do this now. Gerard, I need you to hold the base while I pull. Luis, prepare to suction,” Dr. Myers instructed.
“Stats are dropping eighty-four, eighty-three,” Tessa spoke urgently as the monitor beeped rapidly.
“If we don't pack him up quickly, he'll bleed to death, and we won't be able to save him,” Dr. Myers informed his team as he began suturing.
“He’s coding.”
“Get the paddles,” Dr. Campbell instructed one of the nurses.
“Clear!”
“Clear!”
After the third shock, the machine started to beep once more.
“Push one cc epi.”
Tessa’s eyes widened in surprise at the command from her superior. “That could kill him.” The words were out of her mouth before she could think about what she was saying.
