The surgeon’s eyebrow edged upward into her hairline as her eyes narrowed. If looks could indeed kill, the cold steel color of her eyes would have penetrated his heart, and this man in front of her would be the next trauma page going off on her beeper. She tugged at her hand, not wanting him to think that she was actually enjoying his attempt at flirting with her.
"I believe you said that the family was here?" Garrett was professional in her manner as she addressed Alex. She withdrew her hand, placing it in her lab coat pocket, trying as she might to position it in such a way as to allow the absorbent material to erase the moisture of his kiss. "Yes, the only family member that we could find is here." Alex turned to face Garrett directly. "I found out the man that was DOA was David Morgan, the woman who died in the O.R. was his wife, Rita."
"The boy in ICU now, was he related to them?" Crawford was obviously edgy, waiting for her reply.
"Their son, Bradley," was all that she said seeing the disappointment in his face.
"How old was he? Did he have a driver’s license on him?" His only concern was that the young man had checked off the Organ Donor box on his driver’s license.
"Sorry, he isn’t old enough to even have a learner’s permit," Alex said apologetically.
"Hmmm! Is it a grandparent then?" His tone was insistent.
Tired of the interrogation that the social worker was under, Dr. Trivoli spoke up. "Why don’t you introduce me to the family member. I’d like to discuss my patient’s," she paused to correct herself, "Bradley’s condition with them."
Alex was appreciative for the intrusion in the line of questioning. "Allow me to do that right now. Dr. Kreger, Dr. Trivoli, if you would come with me." She purposely ushered them to the door of the Family Room, leaving a disappointed but still hopeful Mark Crawford standing alone.
Garrett looked through the narrow panel of glass in the door viewing the occupants of the Family Room. There was a woman, whom she guessed to be in her early forties, and two teenage girls.
With her hand on the doorknob, Alex looked at Garrett, then at Rob; "You ready for this?"
Rob’s eyes flashed to his mentor. Seeing the calmness in her, he nodded his head. The surgeon inhaled deeply and nodded saying, "As ready as I’ll ever be."
The door opened and the three walked single file into the small room.
There was an incredible tenseness in the air as the hospital personnel formed a tight semi-circle in front of the three women. The emotionless faces were nothing but a mask for the pleading eyes of hopefulness that watched them intently, waiting for the deafening silence to be broken. The older woman rested her arm on the shoulder of the smaller teen while the other teen quickly flanked her on the opposite side.
Alex cleared her throat and began. "My name is Alexia, I’m the social worker that you spoke to on the phone. This is Dr.Trivoli and Dr. Kreger." She motioned to each as she said their name.
"Hello, I’m Marianne Gryphon," the older woman introduced herself. She gently touched the far teen with her hand saying, "This is my daughter, Kristen and her friend Diana Morgan."
Garrett studied the small teen. She couldn’t be any older than perhaps seventeen, her brown hair pulled back into a barrette accentuated the worried look on her face. She looked like the typical girl next door, young and full of life.
"When we took Diana home from the sleep-over last night, we found the message on the answering machine. We thought that it was kind of funny that the rest of the family wasn’t at home. Are they alright?" The woman was genuinely concerned.
"Are you a relative, Ms. Gryphon?" The social worker so desperately hoped that she was.
Sighing loudly, "No. No, I am not." She looked at the teen; "Diana is the only relative that I know of."
Struggling to control her emotions, Garrett blinked back a tear as she reached out to the small girl. ‘Rene, you owe me big time for this.’ "Diana, why don’t we have a seat over here." She moved them in the direction of the comfortable looking couch along the far wall. Once seated she continued, "Does your family own a sport utility vehicle?"
The young girl stared at her, "Yes." Her eyes were searching the doctor’s face for some indication of her loved ones’ condition. The build up of tears was like that of a dam ready to overflow.
Garrett glanced at her co-workers briefly before she took the young girl’s hand in hers. "Your parents and your brother were involved in a very serious motor vehicle accident last night. Your mother and brother were brought to this hospital by helicopter straight from the accident scene. Diana, the rescue workers at the scene, Dr. Kreger, and myself did everything that we possibly could to save your parents but their injuries were just too extensive to sustain life."
"NO!" The girl cried out in anguish. "They can’t be. They just haven’t come home yet. It’s not them!" She turned, pulling her hands away from Garrett’s and then balled them into fists. She lunged at the surgeon next to her while her arms flung wildly in denial. "You…you let them die!" The torment of her soul was evident. "You didn’t even try to help them, did you?"
Garrett backed away, her mind reeling from the sudden outburst of anger shown toward her. Ms. Gryphon came from behind Diana and tried to stop her emotional display. The sobbing soon took over the girl as her words became more garbled and unintelligible. Diana stood up. She turned into her friend’s mother and clung to her body for support. She needed to be comforted and by the intensity of the outburst in Garrett’s direction, that would not come from her. The surprised surgeon never liked doing the sensitive things connected with her job, but now, this was even worse. ‘I don’t know how to deal with this. I…I…’ she thought about all of the many times she had witnessed the rich flow of compassion oozing forth from Danni in the trauma suite or with the members of a family in the hallway. ‘God, I wish she was here doing this. She’d know how to handle this girl.’
Garrett was afraid that the situation would escalate into one of sheer hostility, all directed at her.
Diana stared into space, tears spilling over her eyelashes and rolling down her cheeks. After several moments, the words slowly came to her voice. "My brother, Brad, is he okay?" Her eyes now stared into the doctor’s, looking for the truth. "Or are you going to kill him, too?"
"Your brother is in the Neuro-ICU with head injuries. The assault on his brain from the impact of the vehicles has left him unable to breathe on his own. We are breathing for him with the help of a mechanical respirator." Garrett held her eye fixed to Diana’s as she allowed time for this information sink in. ‘She doesn’t trust me. I can see it in her eyes.’
"Will he get any better?" she asked, almost knowing what the answer would be.
The surgeon lowered her eyes to the ground and very quietly said, "No, we believe his injuries to be fatal in nature."
"Do all of the doctors believe this, or just you?" Her voice was like a venom spat in Garrett’s direction.
Rob Kreger now spoke up. "If you don’t think that Dr. Trivoli or myself gave every effort…"
Garrett turned abruptly, her eyes sending forth a message of complete control when they locked onto the vocal Chief Resident. "I’m sure if Ms. Morgan wants to talk to another Doctor, we can arrange that." Her eyes flashed her anger at her outspoken colleague. She was trying hard not to provoke any more confrontation than was necessary.