Boarding Boys (BoyxBoy)

29 - CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

CHAPTER 29

(12,125 words)

C.A.Y.D.E.N

YOU ever got that feeling when you know things go from bad to worse? When shìts hit the fan? When panic sets in that you start to feel suffocated? That all you want to do is to run and get away from it all?

Well, that happened to me very quickly when two overworked and exhausted surgeons walked into the room.

They still were in scrubs; complete with robes and caps, and worry on their faces. Studying the room that had gone completely quiet, I quickly stood up, following others who'd done it before me.

"We're here for Natalie Kent's family members," the female surgeon spoke up first.

"That's us," Clarkie said. "I'm her son, Clarkson. And this is her husband, my dad, William," Clarkie told the surgeons as he grabbed Mr. Kent's shoulder. The female surgeon nodded.

"Are you all here for Natalie?" the female surgeon asked, sounding bewildered. We all nodded at her.

"That's right," Clarkie quickly confirmed.

"Okay," the female surgeon said. "We are the surgeons who've been working on Natalie. I'm Dr. Zoe Winthrop, General Surgeon. And this," she pointed to a male surgeon standing next to her, "is Dr. Kevin Grisham, the Trauma Surgeon."

"How's my wife?" Mr. Kent quickly asked the question we'd all been dying to ask.

Dr. Winthrop exhaled softly. "Natalie came in as an MVC Trauma case. Unfortunately, the worst injury was the severe bleeding in the right upper quadrant of her abdomen. The ultrasound and additional scans confirmed she was presented with a grade four liver lac. That was our biggest concern. We had to take her in immediately to the OR to stop the bleeding."

"Oh, god!" Mr. Kent croaked, and almost everybody else either kept quiet or gasped lowly. I just took it in. This was bad. Real bad.

"Right now your wife is stable, but very critical, sir," Dr. Grisham the trauma surgeon now spoke up. "We had to do a nephrectomy because her right kidney was essentially cracked. But, Natalie can live with one healthy kidney. However, because of the severe lacerations and bleeding caused by her liver, Natalie now needs a liver transplant because her liver can't be saved. She's gonna need a new one fast."

The room was stunned into silence. Clarkie was eerily quiet, and Mr. Kent was choking in sobs. Others like me just kept our mouths shut. After a few seconds, the doctors went on.

"We've already contacted UNOS. Natalie has been upgraded to Status 1-A and she's at the very top of the list. When we get the call that one liver is available, we'll retrieve it and she will receive the transplant," Dr. Winthrop added.

"How long?" Mr. Kent asked, his voice so broken. Clarkie, on the other hand, now presented with watery eyes. I, on the other hand, was cool as a cucumber.

"Your wife doesn't have much time, sir," Dr. Grisham now spoke up. "We were able to buy her some time. Not long enough, I'm afraid. The injury to her liver was severe. Eight, maybe twelve hours, give or take. I'm sorry."

"Oh, god!" Mr. Kent finally broke down; sobbing hard while being held by Captain Stein and Clarkie. Clarkie just looked shocked and his dams had finally burst that his tears were now streaming down his face.