Loving A Firefighter (Loving Series) (13 page)

Carrie rushed into her mother’s waiting arms.  “Oh Mom…I’m so glad you made it.  I w
as hoping you could get a cover.  I really need you with me.”

A nurse and an orderly came in. both wearing scrubs.  “
It’s time to go.  After we get him ready, two of you can come back to pre-op and stay until he goes into the OR.  I’ll come get you.  Can you move to the stretcher or do you need help?”

Chip said, “I can do it, but first I want to kiss my girl good bye.”  He kissed Laurie with a soft lingering kiss.  Then he turned and hugged his family and Mrs. Evans.  They rolled him down the hall toward the swinging doors that led to the pre-op space.

Carrie hugged her mother tightly.  “Mom, I’m so scared, Mom.  I couldn’t stand it if anything went wrong.”

“I know sugar, but he’s in good hands.  They don’t come any better than
Dr. Walters.”

Ten minutes later, the nurse came back. 
“It’s pretty quiet back there.  All of you can come with me.  She led them through the swinging doors and to an area with twenty stretchers separated by curtains that could be drawn around the bed for privacy.  Chip was dressed in one of the revealing hospital gowns; his clothes were now in a clear plastic bag and were under the bed.  There was an IV in a vein in his left hand, dripping a saline solution.

“Stand up.  I want to see your gown in back,” said Laurie. 

“In your dreams, sis.”

Carrie went to the other side of the bed and was held his hand, slowly massaging it.

The anesthesiologist came and explained the procedure to Chip, “I will give you a shot to relax you and it will probably make you a bit sleepy.  In the OR, you will be transferred to the operating table.  A mask will be put over your nose and mouth to put you to sleep.  You’ll wake up in the recovery room and it will all be over.” 

Dr. Walter
s came in and greeted everyone.  Are you ready for this?  We’re going to be using the da Vinci Robot with a Robo snake.  It sounds weird but it is really very effective.  You’ll only have one incision in the chest so your recovery will be fairly rapid. I’ll see you in the OR and we’ll get you all fixed up.”

“He makes it sound like a walk in the park doesn’t he?” said Carrie. 

“He certainly sounded confident about it., came from Mrs. Reynolds.

Carrie’s mother said, “He should be.  He usually does several of these each weak.  He’s very competent and an outstanding surgeon.  We’re
really lucky to have him here on staff.”

A
n OR orderly came for Chip and rolled him to the operating suite, leaving behind a worried family and fiancé.

They moved to the Cardiac Surgical Waiting Room and sat,
not knowing how long the wait would be.  There was a small amount of conversation, all were worried and were reluctant to discuss openly the extent of their concern.

A report was given each hour by a nurse from the OR.  The first two reports carried no real information.  The surgery was
proceeding; the patient is doing fine and so on.  The third report indicated the patient was on cardio pulmonary by-pass, the robotic penetration had been achieved.  The doctor was proceeding with the capture of the foreign object.  The fourth report was more of the same, the doctor was proceeding.  The next report said capture was achieved and the robosnake would pull the bullet out and da Vinci would remove it.  The sixth report said everything was complete.  The doctor would be out to talk with them as soon as monitoring of the heart performance indicated stability.

It was another hour before Doctor Walters came out.  Chip’s mother and dad were to go in with the doctor, but they asked if Carrie could come in also. 
Dr. Walters said, “Chip had tolerated the procedure well.  He should be taken to recovery fairly soon.  They would be able to see him as before in CICU, two at a time.  The prognosis was optimistic for full recovery.

Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds thanked
him; Carrie asked if she could hug him.  He held his arms and she hugged him tightly.  “Thank you doctor.  This is twice you have saved his life and mine at the same time.”

He said, “It will be a minimum of an hour before he goes to ICU, so I’d suggest you get something to eat and unwind.”  Thanks came from
all and he left the room.  The much relieved family and Carrie returned to the waiting area to relate what the doctor had told them.

They left word with the desk they would be in the cafeteria.  Mrs. Evans identified herself as a nurse from the ER and gave her pager number so she could be paged if anything of consequence came up.

The relieved group got on the elevator to go to the cafeteria.  The conversation was more animated and excited than prior to the surgery.  It was as if a big gray elephant had been removed from her shoulders.  As they left the elevator, her mother placed her arm on her shoulders and said, “I’m so happy for you baby.  Maybe your life can return to some semblance of normal.”

“Thanks Mom and thanks again for being here.  It helped me tolerate the procedure too.”  They both laughed.

After eating, the group made their way back to the waiting area and informed the attendant they were
back in the area.

Ninety minutes after they had talked with the doctor, they were informed that Chip was in the CICU and two of them would be able to see him.  As he had previously, Mr. Reynolds deferred to Carrie and his wife.  After
they left for the CICU, Carrie’s mother sat next to Chip’s dad and said, “That is most unselfish of you to allow Carrie to go in.  It means a lot to her and I know she appreciates your offer.  Thank you for it.”

Laurie said, “He’s always been that way.  He never thinks of himself first.  Chip is a lot like Dad in that respect. 

“You’re a lucky girl to have such a dad.  I wish Carrie had.”

Carrie and Mrs. Reynolds were prepared for what they would see when they were gowned, gloved and led to the bedside.  There
were not nearly as many tubes and lines as the first surgery.  They had known the robotic surgery only required a single incision and provided for quick healing and significantly less risk of infection.

They approached the bed, where Chip lay dozing.  Carrie took a hand in her gloved hand and began massaging it.  His eyes came open
and  looked around.  Carrie smiled and said “You came through all right, darling.  It’s all over.”  She squeezed his hand and received a return squeeze.  “Your mother is on the other side.” 

He rolled his eyes in his mother’s direction and said a raspy “Hi Mom.”

She answered with a great deal of emotion in her voice, “Hello son.”  She took his other hand, carefully avoiding the IV and clasped it in both her hands.  “You did great, son.  Your dad and sister are outside and both are so relieved.  We were all worried.”

She made a motion with her head as a signal to Carrie to talk with him.  Carrie smiled her thanks and said
, “All through it I could feel myself in the room with you.  I knew you were all right and were coming back to me.”

He smiled and squeezed her hand.  His eyes drifted shut.  They left the room to wait their next visiting opportunity.

* * *

“Mrs. Reynolds, I’m going to check in the morning, and if he is still doing well, I think I’ll go back to work.”

“That sounds fine, dear.  Listen, we have to come up with something else for you to call me.  Mrs. Reynolds sounds so formal.  Would you call me Ellie?”

“If you like but I’d prefer something that shows more respect. 
How about Miss Ellie.”

“You never saw
Dallas did you?”

“Oh, you mean the TV show.  If I did, I don’t remember it.”

“JR’s mother was called Miss Ellie.”

“How about Mrs. R?”

“That will work.  It also solves what you should call Tom.”

“Hey how about that?
  Now, what’s our next obstacle?”

“Are you sure you still want to
have anything to do with this star-crossed family?”

“More than ever.”
 

“You’re going to fit right in.  We like to tease and I’ve seen evidence that you are the same way.”

“Yes ma’am, sometimes my mouth gets me in trouble.  Some of the things pop out with my even thinking about it.  Mom’s not good at it.  She doesn’t know if I’m serious or joking.”

“Mom’s not good at what?”

“You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that.  You’re not good at teasing.”

“I have to admit to that.  Sometimes, I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Mom, if Chip is okay in the morning, I’m going back to work.  Mrs. Tomkins told me to take as long as I need, but if he’s okay, I’d just as soon get back at it.  You or Mrs. R can let me know if everything is okay.”

“Carrie!  You shouldn’t call her that.  I’m ashamed of you.”

“Don’t be”, said Mrs. Reynolds.  We just agreed on that.  She wanted to call me Miss Ellie.”

“Carrie, you didn’t.”

“Yes I did, I didn’t see anything wrong with it until she told me about Dallas and JR.”

“I’m glad you ruled that out, Ellie.”

“Chip and Tom would have gotten a laugh out of it.  They both watched Dallas.”

Tom and Laurie came back in from their ten minute visit.  “Was he awake?” Ellie asked.

“Off and on,” Laurie said.  The nurse told us he would probably move to a regular room tomorrow unless something unexpected happens.  She said da Vinci patients that have heart surgery usually are dismissed in four to seven days.  That’s incredible.”

Cheryl Evans said, “Since there was only one incision and they didn’t have to crack the chest, recovery is much faster.  If they had d
one open heart, it would have been three to six weeks with a long healing time.  The surgeons really like da Vinci.  They’ve been using it for by-passes for some time now.”

“We really live in marvelous times,” Laurie said.

“That we do,” replied Tom.

* * *

At seven the next morning, Carrie called the CICU.  She identified herself as Cheryl Evans’s daughter and Chip’s fiancé said, “I left last night about nine.  How is he doing this morning?.”

“Just a minute, sugar, I’ll check.” A pause followed.

“He had a good night.  The anesthetic hasn’t fully worn off, so he is still sleeping most of the time.  His signs are good. 

Is your mother working today?”

“Yes, she’s already left for work.  She took yesterday off to stay with me while we waited through the surgery.”

“Thank you.  I was calling to see whether he had a good night.  Since he did, I’m going on to work.  His mother is going to keep me posted.  Mom has my number also. Thank you for the information.”

“You’re welcome.  We’ll let you know of any changes.”

***

When Carrie walked into the station, Mrs. Tompkins said, “We didn’t expect to see you today.  How’s he doing?”

“He’s doing really well.  I talked to the CICU earlier and they said he had a restful night and the vital signs are good.  He had the da Vinci robotic surgery.  I think that would make a good story.  They took the bullet out with what they call a robosnake attached to one of the robot’s arms.  He should be dismissed in four days unless there’s an unexpected setback.  It’s pretty amazing.”

“Write me a synopsis and we’ll run it by the producer.  Good thinking, Carrie.  We might be able to do a segment.”

“Thank you.” 

Carrie and her cameraman pulled two assignments, both of which made the evening news.  She had a call from her mother, who told her all was well at the hospital and Chip was moving into a private room on the cardiac floor. 

When she was through for the day, she went to the hospital without changing clothes.  She
obtained his room number from the nurse and went in.  She found a really tired Mrs. Reynolds asleep in a chair and Mr. Reynolds in the recliner, with his head tilted back and mouth wide open.

She walked to the bed and found Chip asleep also.  She stood there for a minute and decided to get a sandwich and salad from the cafeteria.  When she returned, Mrs. Reynolds was awake.  “Mrs. R, you look worn out.  I’ll be here for the rest of the evening.  Why don’t you and Mr. R go home and get some sleep?  You’ll never get any rest in that chair.  I’ll call you if there are any changes.”

“Thank you, Carrie.  I’ll take you up on that.  We’ve been here since six.  He seems to be doing well.  I’m so pleased.  It feels as if a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.”

She woke her husband, and said, “Come on, Tom.  Carrie’s here and she’ll call us if there are any changes.”

Carrie walked over and gave her future father-in-law a kiss on the cheek.  The bristles from the beard stubble had a stiff feeling to her skin.  “You two go on home and be sure to get a hot meal.  Hospitals are infamous for their unappetizing food.”

“Where did you get what you’re having, dear?”

“I’m going to take the 5
th
on that one Mrs. R.”

Chip’s mother kissed him on the cheek and said
“We’ll see you later son.”  He stirred but did not awaken.  Carrie was alone with her fiancé…and the nurses that popped in on a regular basis.