Seeking Relief

Complications

Emmett was leaned forward with his forearms on his knees with his head hanging. It was now midday and her surgery was taking twice as long as what was predicted. He was a realistic man, he knew that something must have gone wrong if she was in OR this long.

He also knew that his anxiety was going haywire.

He was gripping his phone like it was his only tie to the ground.

A doctor came down the hall calling Emmett’s name. Emmett’s head snapped up.

“Could I talk to you for a second? There were some complications with her anesthesia during her surgery.”

Emmett’s eyes widened at the revelation.

“Do you mind if I call the others and patch them on a conference call and have them on speaker?”

“No, go for it. One of my nurses is already paging Dr. Kincaid.” He paused pulling out his phone to look at an app. “Yup. He’s on his way. If you wouldn’t mind following me real quick to a room and we can have this discussion in private.”

******************************************

Adam’s coat flared out behind him as he ran into the drizzle and raced the block down the sidewalk to the surgery center. He felt like his breaths were out of control and he couldn’t get enough oxygen sucked in.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Mitch.

******************************************  

Jake was sitting at a table in the food court in the conference center that his workshop certifications were being held for their break. His phone buzzed in his pocket, and it continued buzzing. He pulled it out and looked at the ID.

“Hey.” He answered.

“Jade just finished surgery, but there were complications. I’m talking to the doc now.” Emmett said on the other end.

Jake stood up so fast, he knocked over his chair. He grabbed his bookbag off the floor and ran to the instructor.

“Hey, I have a bit of a family emergency. I got to go.”

“No problem. Just know you may have to retake the whole course later.”

“Yup, I know. Thanks, man. I’ll see you later.” He said dashing through the doors, bringing the phone back up to his ear.

****************************************** 

Mitch picked his phone up off the desk as it started vibrating.

“What’s wrong?” He answered.

“There were complications. I’m on break. I’m on my way over there now.”

“f**k!” Mitch cursed. He stood up, grabbed his jacket and keys. He went to his supervisor’s desk, told him he’s taking a lunch break and running to the surgery center, but that he’s planning on being back. He’ll keep in touch.

Then Mitch rushed past the front desks to the door and out to his car.

Mitch resisted to put on his lights on his way to the surgery center. It helped that people seemed to give him a wide girth on the road. He made quick work pulling into the parking lot and jogging to the entrance. He recognized the lobby and which way to the elevators from when he brought Jade this morning. He dashed to the elevators and punched a button. He waited all of one second before turning to the stairwell door and pushing through it.

When he came through the door on the next floor up, Jake emerged out of the elevator at the same time.

Any other day they would have joked about it.

But right now worry and concern creased their faces.

Together they hurried up to the reception desk and asked where Emmett and Adam were. They were led down a side hall and to a small conference room.

Emmett’s and Adam’s heads turned towards the door. They stood up and grasped their friends.

Jake was quick to notice Emmett’s change in his demeanor. He realized that Emmett’s anxiety was emerging and close to crippling him. He sat next to his partner and put his hand on his back.

Emmett looked at him with a grateful smile for the offered comfort.

They turned and listened to Adam as he filled them in.

They haven’t had much information prior to their arrival. The doctor had to leave for something shortly after Adam’s arrival, he said he’d be back shortly.

“What did he mean complications?” Mitch asked.

“They said there were complications with her anesthesia.”

“Her status stayed at ‘in operation’ for twice as long as it should have been.” Emmett said.

“Is she okay right now?” Mitch asked.

“Well. That’s just it. He didn’t give us a straight answer.” Emmett said.

******************************************    

 Jade’s body looked small in the hospital bed. Hooked up to a variety of machines with wires measuring her metabolic state and iv feeding into her arm.

Her eyes were dark and her skin seemed so pale.

Jake stepped forward first and brushed his fingers across her hand. He saw the flit of her eyeballs under her eyelids, but that was the most movement he got from her.

Emmett came to stand next to her on her other side. Then sunk down to his knees and he buried his face in her shoulder, grasping her hospital gown. Jake went to stand up and help him, but Mitch strode over to his side and sunk down next to him. He draped his arm across Emmett’s broad shoulders and lightly grasped Jade’s leg through the blankets.

Jake looked back at Jade’s face. His vision started to blur and he blinked, tears spilled out and down his face. He quickly swiped at them with his shirtsleeve.

An arm came around his shoulder and he turned to see Adam at his side. He reached and put an arm around his friend’s torso.

Together they formed their circle around this woman again. Together they fervently prayed this was just a hiccup, that they weren’t losing her as soon as they got her.

The doctor had told them the surgery was grueling. Not because of her injury, which in itself wasn’t the most simple fix, but her tolerance to the anesthesia.

She kept coming to during the surgery, her heart rate would be all over the place, they’d get everything down again, then she’d come out of it again. Her heart rate would increase, she’d move, and a couple times she tried screaming around the breathing tube.

He was able to successfully repair her broken bones with hardware and was confident she’d heal, but the experience with her reaction to anesthesia was unnerving. It definitely left the whole staff unsettled.

And now she won’t wake up, the doctor said.

She was awake momentarily afterwards and asked for a coffee, the guys had chuckled tearily at this comment. But the humor was short lived since they were scared for her.

Was she going to be okay? They had asked.

The doctor said they’re admitting her to the hospital. They want to give her a few hours to see if she comes to from the anesthesia effects and make sure there weren’t any lasting abnormalities to her vitals. The doctor also admitted his concern that she won’t have any pain control.

“But the main reason we want to keep her for observation is making sure she won’t have any PTSD from this.”

“What do you mean?” Mitch asked.

“If she was aware during those times she came to, and then remembers them, we need to address that immediately, so she doesn’t have PTSD. It’s extremely rare, but I don’t want to take any risks.”

“You think she may remember? Are you saying she came completely awake?” Emmett asked in a shaky voice.

“Yes.” The doctor bluntly told them.

The men sat back in their chairs in shock.

“And it is a little distressing that she now won’t wake.” He finished.

“Where is she?” Jake asked in a whisper.

“She’s currently being settled in at the hospital.”

The men had rushed over as soon as they finished their conversation with the orthopedic surgeon.

But when the men came to her hospital room door they stopped in their tracks. They were reminded of when she was in a hospital bed not too long ago.

They stayed hunched around her form for some time. But Mitch and Adam had to leave and return to their shifts. When they left, they leaned in and gave Jade a kiss on her cheek and embraced their friends.

Jake and Emmett pulled up chairs and stayed on either side of Jade’s bed holding her hand. They were the ones who were had her the first two nights of her recovery since they weren’t scheduled. They both agreed that at the moment since they didn’t need to be getting anywhere, they’d stay by her side.