Striding over to the operating table, the surgeon snapped her gloves into place. "What’s going on, Rob? What can I do to help?"


"She’s bleeding out." His speech was fast and frank. "For every piece of the tear that I get sewn up, another area rips more." He quickly glanced over at Garrett. "I’m losing ground here," he confided.


"Hemostats! Suture!" The instruments were promptly placed into her outstretched hand as she entered into the life or death battle allied with Dr. Kreger.


The screams of anguish heard earlier were now turning into whimpers of discomfort as the medication began to take effect. Having thoroughly examined the man and ascertaining that his only apparent injuries were indeed the multiple fracture sights of both his legs, Dr. Potter felt obligated to ease the patient’s pain. A thought brought a smile to the freckled face of the physician, ‘I wonder if I gave him that to relieve his pain or more to relieve the pain we are experiencing from listening to his screaming.’ Much to the pleasure of all concerned, the medication was doing its job. A quiet peace was once again coming to the trauma hallway and the staff that still remained with the patient in Trauma Room #3.


Jamie stepped outside of the room to look at the X-rays that had already been done. She cued the viewer and began studying the routine films that were part of the trauma protocol. Having seen nothing to alarm or concern her on the cervical spine, chest or abdomen films, she felt good about her choice in pain control for the patient. Her job was just about done, and now it would clearly be an orthopedic case. Still, with the severity of the accident and knowing the fact that one person had been killed at the scene, she thought that it would be best to at least get a CT Scan of his abdomen, just to be on the safe side. She pondered only momentarily the wrath that she might incur from the tall, gorgeous, and demanding trauma surgeon if she didn’t.


"Lori, call CT and tell them we’ll need an abdomen scan for this patient," she said leaning into the doorway of the trauma room.


"Sure thing, Dr. Potter." The insecure nurse was beginning to regain her composure. Her shyness was something that she had trouble with all of her life. She loved being a nurse, but felt at times somewhat overwhelmed by the emotional demands of her patients. Her conservatively styled blonde hair and tall shapely body made her look older, but when she smiled, the illusion was gone in an instant as the youthful appearance of braces glistened in the light.


Jamie was now watching, as the X-rays of the lower extremities were becoming available. Shaking her head at the multiple fractures that were very evident on the X-rays, she advised the young nurse, "It may be a while until Ortho has all of the splinting done. You may want to let them know in CT."


The nurse reached for the phone and did the doctor’s bidding. Hanging up, she informed the physician, "They’re just finishing up that second trauma now, so whenever we are ready will be all right with them."


"Good, and here comes Ortho now." She waited for the tall, lanky form to come closer to her before addressing him. "Hi! I don’t believe that I’ve met you," she held out her hand to him.


His large hand was gentle at the touch of the handshake. "I’m Dr. Armand Selep, I’m covering for your regulars tonight." His eyes held her in his gaze.


"Jamie Potter, E.R. Attending." She smiled pleasantly at him, her hand lingering in his grasp.


The young nurse looked at the two, feeling embarrassed by her intrusion on the intimate moment, she nervously coughed trying to bring them back to the realization of where they were. "Dr. Potter," Lori spoke softly. "CT Scan is waiting for the patient," she reminded her.


Surprised at her reactions to the tall dark-haired man, the physician could feel her face begin to flush. Trying as hard as she might to subdue her inner feelings, she quickly started rattling off a brief report of the patient’s mode of trauma and her findings. "Thirty year old male, unrestrained driver of a tractor trailer that was involved in a head-on crash with an SUV. Obvious deformity to the right leg and ankle, complaining of severe pain in both lower extremities." She pointed to the viewer where the X-rays of his legs were displayed. Clearing her throat, she continued. "There was a reported death in the SUV. We would like to have those legs splinted before he goes to CT Scan to check out his abdomen."


The tall doctor stood with his hand rubbing his face and the barely visible growth of beard, studying the X-rays. Blinking several times as he compared one view of the leg to the other, he began to shake his head. "Those are some pretty bad fractures." He paused and looked into the trauma room at the patient. "Seems pretty quiet for the likes of those injuries," he mused.


"Well, you should have been here when he first came in." Jamie chuckled, "We snowed him pretty good. He was disturbing the entire E.R. with his screaming."


"Yeah, I bet." Armand smiled down at the physician. "Let me get started splinting then," he said. "While he’s in the scanner, I’ll notify my attending. I’m sure he’ll want to take him to the O.R. tonight."


"All right, then." The red-haired doctor nodded in agreement. Adjusting her glasses on her face, Jamie watched as the orthopedic surgeon assembled his supplies to splint the legs.


The long, eerie-toned note was all that was heard, as the surgical team stood transfixed to the electronic monitoring devices. Garrett sniffed as she looked over to the large clock on the wall, "Time of death, 2113."


The anesthesiologist slowly turned off his monitoring devices. Suddenly the room became deafeningly loud with the silence.


She stepped back from the lifeless body on the operating table, snapping her gloves as she ripped them off of her hands and threw them into the waste bucket on the floor. She pulled at the mask on her face, ripping the ties with a strong yank of her hand. She spat into the waste bucket, using the mask to wipe her mouth and discarded it. Death always left a bad taste in her mouth, even if there was nothing she could do to prevent it.


Rob Kreger let his eyes fall into the gaping chest cavity that had been his center of attention for the last hour or so. He let his mind go over his actions and questioned the patient’s outcome. Perhaps he should have called sooner for the talented surgeon to assist him. Would that have made a difference? Had he allowed himself to become arrogant in thinking that he could do the job himself? Alone?


Slowly his hands busied themselves with the task of removing the rib spreaders that were used to gain access to the chest cavity and its contents. The draping was being removed from the face of the woman and he felt compelled to look at her features. He studied them intently, so as to burn them into his memory. This was the face of his first patient lost during an operation that he would call to mind during the rest of his career. He owed it to her and to all the patients he would treat in his lifetime. The lesson being to keep him humble, never denying to ask for help not for him but for his patient.


Long dark hair moved gently with the breeze as the tall form stood staring at the landing sight for the helicopter. The marker lights in the darkening twilight hours illuminated the helipad. Her back faced the trauma doors to the emergency area of the hospital, but she could somehow feel the presence of another human walking towards her. Sensing no danger, she remained absorbed in her thoughts.


The small hand reached out to touch her arm. "Gar…I mean, Dr. Trivoli,


Mom told me you were out here," Danni used her most comforting tone of voice.


"You were right the first time. I don’t much feel like a doctor right about now." She nodded absent-mindedly to herself.


"I’m sorry."


"No need to be, Danni." The surgeon turned to face her friend. "Some things just happen. We all tried the best we could." She shrugged her shoulders, "It just wasn’t meant to be."


Danni looked off into the distance, "I know that, but it’s hard knowing that you lost two from the same vehicle."


The surgeon cleared her throat, "Ah… actually it was all three that were in the same vehicle."


Danni’s head snapped around peering into the blue eyes of her roommate, "What do you mean, all three?"


"The driver of the vehicle was the one dead on the scene. The last flight crew showed me a Polaroid of him." She licked her teeth, making a dissatisfied expression, "It looked like a classic traumatic asphyxiation. He was dead before he knew what hit him."


"Oh," was all that the petite woman said, nodding her head knowingly. Her gaze fell to the ground as she stood there, pondering the results of the catastrophic accident. Her gentle nature was always thinking about the victim or the effect that the trauma would befall the survivors. She closed her eyes and prayed for strength to carry her through until morning when her shift would end.


Garrett broke the silence, "Any word yet on family?"


"No, but Alex said that she would let us know."


"She’ll notify C.O.R.E. then, when she finds out?"


The nurse nodded, "Yes, she thought that would be the best. Just in case there is no one with the authority to deal with the situation."