CHAPTER 2
1875 Words
Chapter 2
Dr. Harvey's word alongside Vanessa's demand for a successful surgery made Regina's heart race.
The memories of her past opened like a page and echoed in her ear.
Her father disappeared from home while she was ten. No one ever knew which planet he resided on. Her mother died two weeks into her inauguration as junior resdent a past that took her years to heal
At thirty, she was one of the youngest senior attendants of the cardiothoracic surgeon in Los Angeles memorial— an achievement earned through years of effort and dedication.
She wouldn't allow anyone to distract her, not even the arrogant handsome jerk lying grey and unconscious right before her eyes.
“I don't need to be nervous” she sighed deeply and began her work.
The Operating room hummed with the sound of a beeping monitor, the clinking of instruments arranged on the sterile tray, the hiss of oxygen.
Andy's chest bumps up and down with each mechanical breath from the ventilator. The OR team surrounded him, their eyes tracing the desperate rhythm on the screen.
Regina's scrub nurse– Ella, held out for the gown. Regina slipped it over her arm, tied it at the back, then pulled on the size six and half gloves.
She turned to her team.
“Get the scalpel on the table. Retractors ready. Suction checked. Bypass team stand by.”
She stepped forward to the table, her hands held Andy's unstable chest.
“Prepare him”, She said
Ella moves closer and paints Andy's chest with Betadine. Another nurse draped him leaving alone the vertical stripes of his chest open.
“Scapel”, Regina held out her hand. Ella placed it in her palm.
Regina positioned the scalpel at the top of Andy's sternum, just below the hollow of his throat.
She drew the blade down, parting Andy's chest. The electrocautery smoked, the smell of burning tissue filled the air.
The anaesthesiologist behind her called out vitals.
“Pressure holding at 80 over 50. Heart rate 120”
“Sternal saw”
Ella handed it over. Regina positioned the blade and within minutes Andy's chest opened like a book.
Opening the sac surrounding his heart, she could see the problem. Dark, thick blood filling the space where there should have been none.
Regina’s eyes settled. It was a problem she could relate with.
“Aortic Dissection.Type A. Extending from the root, I need to go on bypass now”
“Cannulas ready”, the perfusionist informed
“Get me the….. “
The monitor interrupted with a scream.
Regina raised his head. The rhyme on the screen meant only one thing. The heart was quivering. Not beating again.
“BP dropping. He is arresting” the anesthesiologist shouted.
Regina hands moved before her brain finished calculating, she wrapped her hand around Andy's heart and squeezed
Compress. Release. Compress. Release
“Someone get me epinephrine, others should start the internal message”
“Come on!!” Regina whispered.
Compress. Release. Compress. Release
“Come alive, You don't get to die on my table!!”
*****
Vanessa, Julian and some other medical trainee watched the scene with full interest from the gallery
“You have to save him or face the consequences. I'm not done with him yet, he must pay for every wound he caused”
Vanessa muttered under her breath. Her eyes glued at the life or death scene
Julian walked up to her. “ Hey! It's been awhile.” his thick voice echoed through the glass.
Vanessa turned. Her cold eyes met Julian.
“Seems so”
“Are you sure he will survive?” Julian asked
Vanessa tucked her hand in her gown.
“He is in good hands. He may live if he has some days unused” she replied coldly
“I see,” Julain nodded. “Anyways, I will need you on something important, and that's if eventually he survived”
Vanessa's eyes widened.
“Pardon! What would you need me for?”
“You get to know after he survived” Julian replied bluntly
“I bet it won't be something silly” Vanessa shrugged.
“Maybe not.” Julain smirked. “But in case it ends up being silly, get your price ready. I will pay you handsomely.” Julain replied.
******
Regina's hands ached from compressing, her lung itched from holding her breath. The squeezing had gone on for minutes, but now she felt it.
He is trying.
Compress. Release. Compress. Release.
The monitor beeped. Stopped. Beeped again
A rhythm followed, still weak and irregular but the one that flickered hope
“BP coming up, Fifty over palp, Sixty, Seventy.” the anaesthesiologist announced.
Regina raises her head at the monitor, the rhythm tracing its shaky lines.
She could feel the heart in her hands. Beating and alive
Her eyes brightened. She just saved a silly heart
‘BP 90 over 70 and climbing. He is stabilizing.”
Regina nodded.
“Continue bypass cannulation, I need to repair the dissection immediately”
Two hours later, Regina placed the last sutures.
The aorta now reconstructed, the repair completed, Andy's heart now filled with warm blood, beating on its own.
Regina watched him for a moment. The patient that almost slipped out on her table.
“Close him and move to the intensive care unit (ICU) ” She ordered and walked out of the room.
The hallway was quiet, Regina leaned against the wall, her shoulders ached. The weight of holding a man's life for hours.
“He finally survived. I'm happy he didn't die on me.” She whispered gently.
Andy's face hovered around her eyes. She smiled.
“But why is he so handsome, despite being on his way to death? Always arrogant.”
She closed her eyes. Sighed deeply.
“No… no, I need to snap out of this.” She tapped her head twice. “He is just a patient, and I have no concern about his handsomeness. Maybe…”
“Amazing performance”, Vanessa's voice echoed, her heel clicking on the tiles.
Regina stared at her with no response.
“I mean it” Vannesa walked over and stood beside her.
She continued.
“You are talented, firm, and confident. I can see why you were given the task. Fifteen successful operations in three months. Seems like a sure bet”
“I was given the task because he was dying.” Regina protested.
“Really? Vanesa eyes rolled “There are other residents who also knew he was dying. I guess he was just another rich, handsome billionaire who needed to be saved by the prettiest surgeon in town.”
“And what exactly do you want, Dr Vanessa? Regina shouted. Her voice had exhausted but audible.
“I want to give you some advice,” Vanessa said and moved closer to Regina.
“Andy Harrison is not your type, neither is he in your future”
“What?” Regina's eyes widened. “Where is this coming from? Did I ever say he was.”
“You didn't have to, but I saw everything,” Vanessa replied firmly
She tapped Regina softly on her shoulder.
“I had known Andy for twelve years. I married him, I divorced him. I had observed him get along with as many women that came close. Then…”
She stared at Regina who seemed to be interested in the story.
“He destroyed and dumped them.”
Regina stared at her with no response
Vanessa smiled softly and continued.
“Andy is capable of infatuation. He is capable of obsession. But love?” She shook her head. “He doesn't understand what it meant”
“And why are you telling me all these folktales?” Regina's expression darkened.
Vanessa met her eyes.
“Because I saw it from the gallery. The way you had looked at him. It already began. But whatever this is, I am telling you to end it before it ends you.”
She turned and walked away,
Regina stood and watched her disappear. Maybe confused. Maybe surprised. She couldn't explain herself yet
She couldn't believe what Vannesa had just spilled, but the words lodged heavier in her chest.
“Dr Harvey sent for you” a nurse returned her to earth.
“Ooh… okay. Thank you” she replied and walked away
*****
“That was an impressive achievement, Dr Regina. You did a great job” Dr Harvey nodded with a bright smile
“I did my job. Although he is yet to open her eyes” Regina replied calmly
“He will for sure. The previous patients open theirs”
“Thank you…” Regina whispered
Dr Harvey leaned forward.
“Dr. Regina, it's my pleasure to announce that the board are pleased to consider you for a promotion after Andy Harrinson successful surgery. Congratulations in advance.”
“Oh my God!” Regina shouted, his eyes brightened.
“Thank you so much…” her heart filled with joy
Her dreams are beginning to align.
*****
8 PM. Regina was back from work. The apartment was quiet and calm.
She had eaten. She had showered.
She jumped on her bed and stared at the ceiling if perhaps the angel of sleep will favour her.
She thought about the board considering her for a promotion. She thought about the new post she will handle.
Then his eyes appeared. Warm and kind. Not the cold eyes that had escaped death.
“Who are you?” His voice was calm and charming
“I'm your surgeon” Regina whispered to the dark with a warm smile.
The next seconds, Vanessa appeared before her eye's. Her words echoed in the dark.
“Andy is not capable of love.”
Regina sighed deeply.
“Maybe Vannesa was right. Maybe Andy was just another rich guy, who took what he wanted and move on” her heart pondered heavily
She has been there before, the charming lawyer she always dreamt a brighter future with. The deception, the cheating, the breakdown that followed. The years it took her to heal.
“I won't let this happen again. Andy will only be my patient and nothing more” She squeezed her pillow tightly, and forced her eyes to sleep.
In the middle of a dreamless and heavy sleep. A sound interrupted what was meant to be a favoured achievement.
Regina opened her eyes gently, her brain trying to calculate the chaos.
“Oh my God! that's my phone ringing.”
She turned and grabbed it immediately.
“Regina… It's Ella” the voice was tight. The one doctors use when things are out of hands
“Andy Harrison, your post-ops from today, He is crashing. We need you here immediately.”
“Oh my God! Report his current state” Regina jumped out of bed.
“BP dropping, 02 sat dropping, Tachycardia, fluid building up again”
“Get him to the OR immediately, page the team, I will be there ten minutes down.”
She hung the call.
“You dare not die on me”
She reached for a dress. Grabbed her keys and stormed out of the building.
- Writer
