"I wouldn’t worry about that one. You know she has a way of making things turn out right." Karen settled into her chair and started to view the monitor screen noticing a transfer patient from another hospital. "Looks like we’re going to get to see YOUR Garrett Trivoli in action again, Rosie."
"No way," the nurse cringed. It was just too soon. ‘Why did I call her that?’ Rosie knew that Mom wouldn’t let her possessiveness of the new trauma fellow just drop. It would have to wear off. Somehow she just knew that it would take more than a day or two at that. "Well, I don’t have to worry about impressing anyone now. What’s coming in?"
"Looks like a head trauma." The charge nurse was to the point. "Probably coming in about 20 minutes."
"Great! I hope Danni gets back in time. I don’t feel like jumping through hoops every second with that new Fellow."
***********
With her patient tucked nicely into his room, Garrett stopped by the nurses’ station on the orthopedic floor. She waited patiently for the verbal exchange of information to stop between Danni and the floor nurse before drawing the young blonde’s attention. The surgeon invited the nurse. "Care to share an elevator down?"
"Yeah, but I thought you were going to try for some sleep?"
"I can feel the vibes, there’s no sleep for me tonight." Her tone was authoritative as if she could sense something in the air. "Besides, I like talking to you. It’s been a long time since I was able to do that. I mean…just talk and not about patients or procedures. It…a…feels kind of nice." "Where did that come from? McMurray, what the hell are you doing to me?"
Danni was taken back by the surgeon’s candor. "Sure, what do you want to talk about?"
"Gee, tell me something about you, since you already know my life history." There, she thought, that should break the ice with this nurse. "McMurray, if you only knew what you are putting me through, listening to all of this dribble."
"Well, I’m a nurse. Surprised huh?"
The doctor smiled. "Come on, tell me something that I don’t know."
"Okay, I’m of French ancestry. My parents named me Danielle, I have two siblings, and that’s pretty much my story in a nutshell." The young blonde blushed slightly.
"You don’t like talking about yourself, do you?" "Thank the gods, that she is quiet at least about one subject."
She wrinkled her nose and looked up nervously at the elevator door as it opened. "No, I don’t."
The tall woman waited for Danni to enter the elevator first. She followed after standing silently until the doors closed. "Sorry." The surgeon feared that she was making the young woman uncomfortable. "I don’t mean to pry."
"I know. I just don’t think that I’m anything special to talk about. That’s all." Her eyes locked into the cool crisp blue of the surgeon’s eyes and Danni could feel herself being immersed into the gentle pools. "If you don’t have any plans for this Saturday, we’re having an E.R. outing at Schenley Park, Bar-B-Q and a softball game. If you’d like to come, I’m sure you could get to know some of the E.R. staff. What do you say, you could bring your family if you’d like."
"I…I don’t really have any family, Danni." The woman’s tone was cold and abrupt. "Nor do I want any now or in the future."
"Well, you could still come, or are you on call?"
"No, in fact, I’m off." ‘Damn, it was out before she could stop it.’ The surgeon thought momentarily. "I don’t know the city at all, and I don’t have a car…" She was trying to regain her sense of control, which was slipping right through her fingers. ‘McMurray!’ she screamed to herself, as if it would help.
"Then what else would you be doing? It’s settled. I’ll pick you up and take you with me. How’s that?" The young blonde nodding her head in approval.
"Well…if you insist. I guess that would be all right." Garrett was startled. How did this happen? Here she was in a new town, one day into a new job and already she had plans for the weekend with a new friend. She had never found it easy to make friends or to feel at ease so quickly in a new place. The gods knew that she had a lot of practice at new places. She usually accepted her solitude without trouble. But this, this was definitely not her norm. The fact that someone would want to be her friend was a little shocking. It wasn’t that she was bad or anything, it just wasn’t easy for her to get close to people. She had accepted that many years ago.
"Great!" The nurse was smiling, her teeth showing through the broad smile. There, she had made an offer of friendship and it was accepted.
The feeling of accomplishment suddenly faded with the shrill beeps of the trauma pager. Both women quickly turned sober faced reflecting the nature of their jobs. Socializing time was done and all matters turned immediately back to business.
"Trauma Team page…Trauma Team page. Level One Trauma Patient transfer form Uniontown Hospital via helicopter # 3. Twenty-year-old female assaulted with Baseball bats. Patient has sustained head trauma and is intubated. ETA is ten minutes. Level One Trauma Page."
Danni let a long noisy breath escape her. "Here we go again."
The Trauma Fellow rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I know." She silently thanked the gods for giving her something that would make her feel like she was in control again. She always felt that way every time she had a patient to worry about. The way she was feeling right now, she would be grateful for every trauma patient that came through the doors.
The elevator came to a stop and both women exited, making their way to the trauma suite. Danni silently offered a prayer for the patient’s safe keeping and quickly readied herself to assist in the patient’s care. Garrett gowned and prepared mentally for the next battle.
Rosie turned the corner of the hall and smiled silently to herself at the sight of both Danni and Garrett standing ready and waiting. ‘Way to go, Danni.’
"So, everything alright?" Rosie looked at the nurse as she donned her lead apron.
"Yeah, and you?" Danni returned the cryptic verbiage.
"I‘ll be okay. You know how fast I bounce back." Rosie winked at her co-worker.
Garrett cleared her throat, "Sorry about the gender confusion."
"Not your fault, doc." The nurse assumed her assigned position next to the Trauma Fellow. "I think the air will clear on this one."
Garrett smiled under her mask. She sniffed the air lightly and commented, "I think it smells pretty clear already." There was a glare to her eye and sarcasm in her voice.
"Well, you would have liked it if you were a guy. Trust me, doc." Rosie was being apologetic.
"Trauma in the Department…Trauma in the Department."
The atmosphere hurriedly became sober. Garrett surveyed the room and saw everyone at their stations as the stretcher was wheeled in. The peculiar shape of the young patient’s head grabbed the surgeon’s attention. It was apparent that the young woman had been the victim of an aggressive attack. The blood pooled in large clots underneath the short matted hair. It was impossible to ascertain it’s true color. The blood was oozing everywhere. The patient was transferred off of the helicopter stretcher on the long board that was underneath her and the Fellow gingerly started assessing the battered woman’s head. The skull felt soft and with no true form. The bone fragments were easily moved under her gentle touch. The surgeon swore under her breath at man’s savageness to his own kind. It was something that she would never understand.
"X-ray, get the chest and abdomen and a lateral C-spine. Karen call for Neurosurgery and alert CT Scan that we will need a very quick head." The surgeon snapped off her blood-covered gloves and reached for a new pair. The whole time, her eyes kept surveying the patient’s body for bruising or any evidence of further trauma. Seeing none, Garrett began to evaluate the woman’s body starting at the shoulders and working her way to the feet. The skilled hands swiftly felt for bony integrity while her eyes scanned the area for asymmetry. The surgeon slowed her assessment when she reached the abdominal area. This was her prime area of expertise. It was an area that could hide injury and she knew it all to well. The painstaking ritual of examining the abdomen for softness or rigidity or rebound tenderness was now addressed. Feeling no rigidity the surgeon sighed in relief. But the knowledge of protocol dictated that the patient would receive one of two courses of treatment, Diagnostic Peritoneal Lavage often referred to as DPL or exploratory laproscopy surgery while neurosurgery would operate on her brain and skull. Time was of the essence for this young patient. Trivoli chose appropriately to run to CT Scan for the head and do the exploratory surgery in the O.R.