Till Death Do Us Part (completed)

Till Death Do Us Part

Till Death Do Us Part

I've always wanted to be a doctor. I've known since I was a little girl. Saving lives is always what I've dreamed of. I never thought that would change. I could not imagine doing anything else, much less not being able to even look at my stethoscope again. But this all changed. I never should of gone into work that day.
The day started like any other day. Joking with my friends, treating patients and discharging them. No major cases have happened yet, and I was ready to leave early and go home. My daughter begged me to come to her career day at school, but I had a big surgery scheduled and I told her I'd go next year. Little did I know that the surgery would of been rescheduled for the next day.
After lunch things were perfectly normal, no major tramas, at least not yet. That's when my pager buzzed, along with everyone else's. We bolted to the trama doors and waited patiently for the first ambulance to arrive. We were talking nervously of what this trauma may be.
"What if it was a head-on collision?" An intern asked hopefully.
"No way, it's gotta be like a stampede." A resident said.
"No it can't be either of those! It has be a multi-car collision on the expressway!" An intern said, craning his head to try and catch site of an ambulance that was not yet there.
"I bet you guys ten bucks that it's just another gas leak." An older attending said, unamused by the excitement.
"It can't just be a gas leak, they wouldn't have called all of us down here. Anyways, they called plastics, it has to involve a fire." I said just as the sirens came closer and closer to the trauma bay.
Soon at least ten ambulances were in the trauma bay, with paramedics quickly unloading patients. I ran up and got a patient as the paramedic loaded them off.
"What happened?" I asked nervously as we ran into a treatment room.
"Science experiment gone wrong at Laurens Elementary. Caught the whole school on fire, this little one got burned beyond recognition. Estimated to be about 5-6 years old, female." The paramedic rattled off as we transferred Jane Doe onto the bed.
"Alright, we've got her from here thanks."  I called out as the nurse hooked her up to the heart monitor.
I had no time to react to that news. I had to react, as I always did in the face of a trauma patient. I had to devote all my focus to saving this little girl's life.
"She's not breathing! I need to intubate!" I shouted almost immediately.
A nurse handed me the plastic tube as I tilted her head back. I started slowly sliding the tube into her trachea, hoping I wouldn'tmiss. However as I kept trying to get down further I realized her trachea was completely swollen shut. I knew at that moment how much trouble the little girl was in.
"I can't get in, her throat is completely swollen shut. I need to perform a cricothyrotomy. Scalpel!" I shouted as I removed the tube from her trachea.
I grabbed the scalpel from the nurse and slowly tried to find where I needed to make the cut. Once I found the spot I quickly made the cut and inserted the tube into her trachea. Once the tube was in I connected it to a bag so we could bag her and keep her oxygenated.
"We need an MRI, she's probably been without oxygen for a while. We need to make sure she doesn't have a brain bleed." I said.
We quickly rushed her up and got her in. While she was having the MRI done I finally allowed myself to get upset. The fire was at Laurens Elementary. That's my daughter's school. All I could think about at that moment was if she was okay. I needed to know if she was okay.
"Hey, Dr. Murphy, if you see my daughter can you let me know?" I asked Dr. Murphy as he passed by.
"Of course, I'm sure she's fine Dr. Carroll, Amanda is a smart girl." He said, trying to calm me down.
I slowly nodded and continued waiting for the young girl. When they wheeled her out I brought her into a room in the ICU. While the radiologist handed a nurse her scans, Jane Doe started to have a seizure.
"She's having a seizure!" I shouted, "Turn her on her left side! Push 5 milligrams of Ativan!"
Once her seizures had calmed down she opened her eyes. I'll never forget how scared she looked. When her eyes landed on me I saw something, almost relief. Her eyes were a beautiful hazel color and despite her pain they showed an odd sense of comfort. I put my hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her. I couldn't even imagine what she was thinking. She was alone in the hospital, without her parents.
"Dr. Carroll? Her scans." A nurse said while she handed me the scans.
I looked them over and almost started crying. Her brain was swollen, and had a brain bleed. I knew at that moment she wasn't going to make it. Her burns covered her whole entire body and I could see the life slowly leaving her eyes. Even with the ventilator she was struggling to breath.
"Book an OR, we need to try and alleviate the pressure immediately or else she isn't going to make it." I told the nearest nurse.
Once we had gotten her in the OR we hooked her up to the brain activity monitor. When it turned on I notice that she already had very low brain activity. I knew she wouldn't make it if we didn't start surgery immediately.
"Scalpel." I said once the anesthesiologist had placed her under.
When I had finally exposed her brain I couldn't immediately see the bleed. Luckily the swelling had gone down at that point, but I knew if I didn't find the bleed soon she'd have no chance of survival.
However, just as I saw the bleed the heart monitor started beeping faster, then it just let out one long beep. She had flatlined. I quickly put the scalpel down and started CPR. I knew she was gone, I knew I couldn't save her. But part of me must of known what was about to happen.
"Time of death: 14:01." I said in defeat after doing CPR for 20 minutes.
She never had a chance I remember telling myself. As we walked out of the OR, away from the young girl I had lost, I noticed Dr. Murphy rushing towards me with a look of horror on his face.
"Dr. Murphy! What's wrong?" I asked him.
"The teachers just helped identify all the victims."
"What about Amanda? Is she okay?"
"Dr. Carroll, Amanda... she's your Jane Doe."