Surgeon Heart

Chapter Six - Heartbeat

Drew left the lunch room to start on the next floor she needed to clean. As she was walking down the hall, her phone buzzed. She pulled out her phone to see it was her father’s nurse calling her.

“Hello?” She answered on the fifth ring.

“Drew, I think something is wrong,” came the voice of Ms. Clare, her dad’s day nurse.

“Why do you say that?” Drew asked, a pit forming in the pit of her stomach.

“I came to the apartment to the front door having been forced open and your father gone,” she continued the panic in her voice. “One of your neighbors said there was an ambulance that took someone away.”

“Okay, Ms. Clare. If anything he is here, I will check around with the E.R. and see what I can find out.” Her heart was racing but she kept herself calm and focused.

“Okay Drew, keep me updated if you will.” Drew could hear the worry in the ladies voice as she answered back.

“I will Ms. Clare, talk to you soon.” Drew ended the conversation and started back to the office so she could let her boss know where she was headed and the situation. As she walked everything that could have happened came to mind but when she really thought about it the main worry was her dad having a heart attack, his heart was already weak as is. She came to a halt in front of the office and headed in.

Sebastian

The sweat beaded up under Sebastian’s surgical cap as he finished clearing the issue with the left ventricle on his patient, he gave the clear to start taking the patient down from the bypass. He held his breath to see if the patient stayed steady or bottomed out.

Sebastian cursed under his breath as the monitor went wild, the man’s heart was already too weak when they went in and the heart struggled to maintain proper rhythm. He motioned for the crash cart, they had to try their best at least. It was important that way when they talked to the family they were completely honest when they said they tried everything that they could to keep their loved one alive.

He warmed up the paddles, waited for the count and went in. He did this with a grim look on his face as he kept this up for three more rounds. The monitor continued to beep with stark clarity as the operating room went silent. He looked up at the time.

“Time of death is 2:02 p.m. in the afternoon.” Sebastion announced to be recorded down on the patient's chart.

He took his gloves and gown off and turned to a tech as he turned to leave. “Did anyone find his family?”

“Yeah, his daughter….she is waiting in the emergency waiting room.” He told him.

Sebastian left the room and headed to the elevator on the operating floor to head down to the E.R. This was always the hard part for any doctor. Medicine was more understood but being able to show the appropriate emotions when telling a family member about their loved one passing on was something else entirely. Good news is always easier to break than bad news.

He hopped on to the elevator and pressed the button that would take him down to the E.R.

The elevator ride seemed to take forever as he waited for the stop to come up. The doors opened and he entered the E.R. He went to the nurses' station and waited for the nurse with graying hair behind the counter to look up.

“I am looking for a family member for the patient I just took up to the operating room.” Sebastian asked, knowing she was the same nurse that took down the patient's vitals upon arrival to the E.R.

She scanned over her computer for a moment and then looked out into the waiting area. “She is over there, her name is Drew.” the nurse answered, knowing that he was about to bring Drew some bad news.

“Thank you,” he said and turned towards the area that the nurse pointed at. His heart stopped almost as he realized that the Drew she was referring to was the same Drew that he had been mixed up with previously. Sebastian took a deep breath as he came to stop in front of Drew who was busy texting on her phone with a worried expression on her beautiful face. This was the last thing he wanted to have to tell her. Despite being embarrassed by the situation the day before.

Before he could even say anything, she asked “Were you my dads doctor?”

“Yes and I am sorry to say that his heart was too weak as is, he had a blockage after the initial heart attack and while we cleared the blockage, his heart was too weak to withstand the procedure.” He answered her, shaking his head. “I am truly sorry for your loss, we can take you back to see him when you are ready.”

She looked angry, this wasn’t going well. Though he did not really expect it to in all reality. Before he could offer any more consoling words, she spoke her voice taking on an angry tone and one of disbelief, “You mean to tell me that you are the greatest cardiac surgeon yet, you did not catch that his heart was weak to begin with. If I hadn’t had to care for my father, I would have been done with my internship and would have saved him.”

“I promise you Drew, we did everything that we could.” He tried to reassure, somewhat taken aback, she would have been done with her internship?

She huffed, obviously not really hearing him. “I have some calls to make, I’ll talk to the nurse when I am ready to see him.” She waved him off dismissively.

“Is there anything else I can do for you?” He asked, already recognizing he was being waved off and dismissed but not wanting to just leave her.

“No, I think you have done enough Sebastian,” she turned away, putting her phone to her ear. Her sudden coldness was so strange to him that he just stood there looking at her for a second before turning away and making his way back to the elevators, he needed a moment himself. He took one more glance back before hopping into the elevator and heading up to the locker room to change out of his now dirty scrubs. He wished there was something he could do, but he knew all too well that losing a parent was something you felt down in your soul.