er - carter/megan - to the sea - rated PG
title: to the sea
fandom: ER
pairing: carter/megan (ofc)
letter: n for nightmare - table # 4, for a_to_z_prompts
summary: Megan's inclusion in the season 6 episode, All In The Family, where Carter is stabbed.
rating: PG.
word count: 3474
warnings/spoilers: none really ;)
a/n: Dr. Megan Riley is an original character of mine who I'm pairing with Carter for my fic's in this challenge. You'll get to know more about her as you read :) ER timeline wise for this one, season 6.
disclaimer: I do not own the characters of ER. This is purely written for entertainment only.
The Valentine’s Day party was going strong in the ER. Music was playing, people were dancing and laughing. It was one of the better days Megan had had at work. She and Malucci even put aside whatever remaining unresolved issues there were between them from their grand total of one month of a relationship, and had a bit of a dance. That was until Kerry came in for the start of her shift and seemed to kill everyone’s buzz.
“Oh, hi Chief! You on?” Dave asked Kerry.
“All night.” She confirmed, her tight lips pulled into that no-nonsense expression she seemed attached to. “I see someone went overboard with the hearts.” She gestured to the decorations.
“What's wrong with them?” Amira asked pointedly, clearly not happy that apparently she had done yet another thing wrong in her new job.
“Nothing.” Kerry muttered.
“Want some pizza?” Chuny offered, flicking her curled, wavy brown ponytail off her shoulder. As well as being an impeccable nurse, Chuny was also stunningly beautiful and always helped lighten the mood.
“No thanks.” Kerry waved her away.
“I’ll take it.” Megan spoke up taking the slice.
“Wait, isn't Mark still on?” Kerry asked as she scanned the party for him.
“Uh, he left at eight.” Megan recalled, remembering seeing him leave with Elizabeth. “Double date.”
“I'm on till nine,” Dave spoke up as he walked past Megan. “Mighty fine.” He winked.
Megan rolled her eyes at him and gnawed at her pizza, humming a sudden tune that came into her head.
“We've slowed down.” Luka told Kerry. “No one's waiting to be seen, and I took over the board.”
“Ok, everyone.” Kerry announced. “Another 5 minutes, and then back to work. All right?” she took off her scarf and headed for the break room.
“Alright, I’m outta here.” Carol said as she slid off her chair, tucking her wild mane of black tendril curls under a wool hat. “See you guys tomorrow.”
“Happy Valentine’s Day.” Luka called after her, his eyes lingering just a moment longer than necessary.
Thinking she’d shared the pizza with Carter and Lucy, Megan looked around for them. “Luka, has Carter been by?” Megan asked the handsome Croat when she didn’t see either of them in the crowd.
“Haven’t seen him.” Luka replied as he picked at a bowl of candy hearts on the bench.
Dave came through to grab a file and once he was gone, Chuny came over and nudged Megan. “What’s the deal with you two?” she asked with a wry grin.
“Yeah,” Conni seconded from Megan’s other side. Even though Megan was half her age and Conni was a sweet but tough African-American mother of three who was always up for a little ER Gossip.“You still together?”
“Ladies, that was like six months ago.” Megan reminded them. “And we weren’t even dating exactly.” She continued. Truth was it had pretty much just been a fortnight of sex and bad conversations. There was nothing between Dave and Megan except sexual chemistry. And since they’d extinguished that fire, they got bored of each other pretty quickly. Of course, Megan’s feelings for John at that point had been so scattered she’d really only been with Dave to make him jealous. Ahh, the downfall of that little plan. She’d told John she loved him, he didn’t return the gesture and that pretty much screwed up their six-year friendship. They were still trying to get back on track.
“Oh, I hear that.” Chuny patted Megan’s shoulder reassuringly.
“Yeah, that’s how she and Alex got started.” Conni raised her eyebrows at Chuny.
“Oh, no, girl, Alex and I broke up.” Chuny corrected her.
“What happened? I thought he was the man.” Conni asked, laying on some attitude.
“Yeah, so did my neighbour.” Chuny muttered.
“Ouch.” Yosh, the adorable second of two male nurses who just happened to be gay, added.
“Luka, do you have anybody you need to hand off?” Kerry asked as she came back out of the break room.
“Hey Pablo!” Megan greeted the man Haleh was bringing into the ER. Pablo was a very sweet homeless man who used to come into the ER once a week for Haleh to give him a bath. He was from El Salvador and a little on the crazy side, but he was completely harmless. “We missed you, where’ve you been?
“They put me on a bus!” Pablo smiled at Megan.
“Sounds good.” Megan nodded and started to get her stuff together to go check some patients.
“I need a bath.” Pablo replied.
“We need to look at your foot first.” Haleh told him as she wheeled him down the hall.
“Pablo, you're alive, huh?” Kerry greeted him as she followed Haleh down the hall to her patient.
“Oh yeah, I'm alive.” Pablo told her.
“Luka, where’s Lucy?” Megan asked as she found some chest films for one of Lucy’s patients on top of a pile of her own charts.
“Waiting on a psych consult, I think.” Luka replied as he continued to fiddle with the candy hearts. “Have you had these? They are quite disgusting.”
“Yeah; they’re sorta like potpourri.” Megan told him. “To be looked at but not eaten.”
“What is potpourri?” Luka asked with a confused face.
“Dried, dead flowers in a bowl.” Conni explained.
“I do not understand this country.” Luka said with a smile.
Megan smirked. “Well, don’t-” she was cut off as Kerry’s horrified scream rang out through the whole ER. Everyone at the front desk dropped what they were doing and hurried down the hall.
“Kerry?!” Luka called as they ran.
“Carter and Lucy!” Kerry called back. “Get two gurney’s in here! Now!”
Megan’s heart stopped as she reached the doorway. On the floor of the room both surrounded in pools of blood were an unconscious Carter and Lucy. “Oh God!!!” Megan screamed, dropping to her knees and crawling to John’s side. “Carter? Can you hear me? Carter?”
Malucci sprinted into the room with Chuny and Conni at his heels, the three of them helped Kerry with Lucy as Megan and Luka tended to Carter. “We have to lift him.” Luka told Megan as Chen and Abby came scurrying into the room. The group managed to get both Lucy and Carter onto gurney’s without incident and wheel them into the trauma rooms. Megan stayed right beside John the whole time.
“John! John can you hear me?” Megan was saying, running her hand over Carter’s forehead, trying to get a reaction.
“Airway looks clear.” Luka said as he checked Carter’s throat.
“John, open your eyes!” Megan ordered him. But he didn’t respond.
“No response to command.” Luka noted. “Glasgow Coma scale seven.”
“How long do you think they were lying there?” Abby asked.
“Long enough to lose a couple of litres.” Chen muttered with a stunned shake of her head.
“I can't believe nobody saw anything.” Lydia mumbled tearfully.
“Let's talk about it later.” Luka told them, noticing the fear on Megan’s face. “I need to see his back. Let’s roll him on three, ok?” He waited until everyone had a good enough grip on Carter to move him straight. “One, two, three,” They rolled him up onto his side. “Ok, two stab wounds to the left flank. First one is at L2, 4 centimetres of the midline. Second one is L5, in the midscapular line.”
“He hit the spinal cord?” Abby asked.
“It depends on the angle.” Luka replied.
“BP's 70 over 50, pulse is 120.” Lydia informed Luka.
“Squeeze in two litres and prepare for a sub-clavian.” Luka told her.
“Good breath sounds bilaterally.” Chen spoke up, her normally sparkling almond shaped eyes blinking back tears as she surged on
“Pulse ox 93.” Abby alerted them.
“Should we intubate?” Lydia asked fearfully.
“No, 10 litres by mask for now.” Luka ordered. “Send a trauma panel, type and cross for 4, and get X-ray in here for a chest. And a one shot IVP.”
“I was just talking to him.” Abby mumbled loud enough for Megan to hear.
All of a sudden Dr. Peter Benton came storming into the trauma room, sweat beading off his chocolate brown skin. “Is he conscious?” he demanded immediately. “Is he conscious!?!?”
“No, but he's responding to fluid resuscitation!” Megan yelled back at him.
“It was some psych patient.” Chen told Peter. “Got Lucy too, pretty bad.” She nodded her head to the next trauma room. Megan dared to peer over her shoulder and saw young Lucy, shock white and frail with her clothes ripped open and blood oozing down her sides.
Benton kept them on task. “Roll him, let me see.” They rolled Carter again. “Oh, man.” Benton breathed when he caught sight of the wound. “Why wasn't he in restraints?” He asked Chen angrily.
“I don't know.” She replied bitterly, not liking his accusatory tone.
“Where's the foley?” Benton asked.
“That's next.” Luka told him. “Megan, either help or get out of the way.” He told her as Lydia bumped into her.
Megan shook her head a few times to set right everything that seemed to have come loose.“Alright, um, Babinski's reflex.” She announced as she made her way to Carter’s foot and stroked the outside of it from heel to toe with her pen. Carter’s toes moved down. She sighed with relief. “Toes are down, no spinal injury!” She yelled over the commotion
“Dr. Benton?” Haleh called, sticking her head in from Lucy’s trauma room.
“Hold on.” Benton made her wait.
Hang the next two units on the infuser.” He ordered Lydia.
“Hold on, it's not set up.” Lydia said hurriedly. Her hands were shaking.
“Get it set up!” Luka insisted.
“I got it.” Abby offered as she exited the room.
Benton listened to Carter’s abdomen with his stethoscope. “Absent bowel sounds, probably got the descending colon.”
“Peter, Dr. Weaver needs you right now!” Haleh called again. “She has to trach Lucy.”
Everyone in the room fell silent and looked up at her. A tracheotomy was always the last resort to help a patient to breathe as it involved cutting directly into their throat and feeding a tube into the airway.
Peter headed towards Lucy. “Book an O.R. Get ready to send Carter up.” He said as he left. “Where's the foley?”
“I'm working on it!” Chen called after him.
“Got it!” Abby’s voice came from the front of Carter’s trauma room as she entered with the infuser kit and handed it to Chen.
“Pressure's up to 100 systolic.” Lydia told them, moving aside so Megan could check John’s pupil activity.
“Give a gram of Cotetan.” Luka nudged Lydia.
“Right pupil is 5 millimetres and reactive,” Megan informed Luka. “Left is…” Carter suddenly shifted, seeing her. “John?” he started to shake and struggle, obviously waking up. Megan reached for his hand and gripped it tightly. “Carter?”
His eyes flickered open. “Megs?” he said in a strangled voice, his face showing all the pain he was feeling.
“Hey, yeah, it’s me.” Megan told him, smoothing his hair of his sweating forehead. “Look at me; do you know where you are?”
“My back…” He answered with pained tears in his eyes.
“You were stabbed.” Megan let terrified tears fall from her eyes. “We've got your pressure up. You’re gonna be fine, ok? I promise.”
“Lucy?” He asked through rasping gasps of oxygen.
A police officer entered and leant over Megan to see John. “John, I'm Officer Benini. Did you see the man that stabbed you?”
Carter shook his head and tried to look around the room. Megan shoved the officer back. “Do we need to do this right now?!”
“It's better if I can secure a statement.” The officer told her.
“We’re a little busy in here.” Chen spoke up, pulling the officer away from John. “You'll have to wait, I'm sorry.”
“What?” Carter asked, desperate for news on Lucy.
“Nothing, looks like he missed your spinal cord.” Luka told him.
Carter screamed in pain as the Foley was inserted and turned his head. Megan tried to obstruct his view but he saw past her. “Is that Lucy?” he could see someone in a white coat on the bed in the next room.
“Yes, she's alive.” Megan told him with a brave smile.
“Dr. Kovac.” Chen said warningly from the end of Carter’s bed. Her tone made everyone look. Instead of saying what was wrong out of fear of scaring Carter, she simply held up the Foley bag which said all that was needed. The bag, meant for collecting urine, was full of blood.
“What? What is it?” Carter asked, unable to see what was happening.
“Get Benton, he needs to go up now!” Luka screamed at Chen. She disappeared next door.
“Megs?” Carter squeezed her hand.
Megan, who had been looking into Lucy’s room to see how bad she was, looked back to John. “Yeah?”
“Don’t go.” He pleaded with his eyes.
“I’m not going anywhere, ok?” Megan assured him with a shaking voice. “I promise. I’ll be with you the whole time.” Her voice broke. She kissed John’s temple as Luka staunched the bleeding as best he could.
“Ok; OR, now!” Luka said, lifting up the sides of the bed. Everyone helped him wheel John out into the hall and towards the elevator. Benton joined them as they moved.
“You have to stay awake, John, alright?” Megan warned him as she trotted beside the bed bent right down beside his face. “You stay awake ‘til we get upstairs, you hear me?”
“Do you want FFP?” Abby asked Benton.
“Yeah, 2 units.” Benton told her. Then he took over from Luka and pushed Carter towards the elevator. “Come on Carter, stay with me man.”
Elizabeth and Mark suddenly ran up to them, both still dressed from their double date. “How is he?” Elizabeth asked, her normally serene face full of concern.
“Stab wound with renal laceration, he's hypertensive, we're redlining him to the OR.” Benton informed her.
“Whoa, a patient did this?” Mark asked.
“Yeah, they're still looking for him.” Abby nodded.
“What's his pressure?” Elizabeth asked, preparing to come upstairs with them.
“I've got it Elizabeth, Kerry needs you. Go, Go!” He told her. She hurried off as Megan and Benton pushed Carter into the elevator.
Megan could see Carter’s eyes darting around. She moved so she was leaning directly over him. “Carter look at me, stay looking at me, ok? I’m gonna stay right here but you have to keep awake, alright?” He didn’t answer, but he did look at her. Megan kissed his hand which was still firmly gripped in her own.
Benton and Megan were silent as they took Carter upstairs to the pre-op room. They wheeled him in but had to wait for the anaesthesiologist. Megan pulled up a stool right beside Carter’s bed and kept a tight hold on his hand. Benton was on the other side of the bed making sure everything was precise. Megan shouldn’t have been in there, family wasn’t normally allowed in the pre-op room, but no way was Megan going anywhere and as long as she wasn’t in his way, Benton wasn’t going to make her move. Peter hung another bag of blood on the IV stand.
“How many units is that?” Carter asked.
“Ah, five,” Benton answered. “But you shouldn't be counting.”
“It's bad isn't it?” Carter asked quietly.
Megan took over. “Well, we're having problems keeping your crit up,” She admitted in a soft voice. “But uh, I think that's from the renal lac.” No way was she gonna BS another doctor, let alone Carter.
“I'm gonna give you a couple of Veresed to relax you a little before I intubate, ok?” The nurse told Carter gently.
He nodded to her. “It could be the aorta.” He then said to Benton.
“Or the Vena Cava, or the mesentery vessels.” Benton tried to assure him.
“Mmm, God.” Carter breathed, nervous tears filling his eyes.
“Carter, don't worry, I'm gonna explore the abdomen. And I'm gonna check out everything, ok?” Benton said firmly.
“I'm glad it's you.” Carter told him tearfully.
“Hey, I'm getting you through this man.” Benton assured him. Then he looked up at Megan. “’Bout a minute ‘til the Veresed sets in; then we’re taking him next door.” He jeered his head back towards the operating room.
“Ok.” Megan nodded. She knew he was trying to tell her that it was time to leave. “John?” She held their still clasped hands up to her chin. “I’m gonna be right outside, ok? The whole time.”
“Megan,” He said tiredly. “I’m glad you’re here.” He told her as one of his terrified tears slipped down his cheek from the corner of his eye. “I love you.”
Megan tried to contain her sobs and ended up shaking. “I love you, too.” She managed to force out of her mouth as John’s eyes began to close. “Carter.” But he was out cold. Megan let out a loud sob and held his hand to her cheek.
“Ok, ready to intubate.” The nurse said to Peter.
“Let's prep him for a midline incision.” Peter told her. “I want to be able to cut in two minutes. I mean it.”
“You got it.” The nurse nodded.
“Megan, you gotta go.” Benton told her.
“Ok,” Megan got to her feet and kissed Carter warmly on the forehead. “I’ll see you soon.” She whispered to him. Then she followed Peter out into the hall. “I wanna scrub in.” She told him.
“You’re not a surgeon, you can’t.”
“I don’t want to operate, I’ll just stand there!” She pleaded. “Please?!”
“I know you’re worried about Carter; so am I.” Benton levelled with her. “But I can’t have you in there when I need to focus on him, you got it?”
Megan nodded fiercely as fresh tears appeared in her eyes. She covered her mouth with her hand. “I wanna watch.” She told Benton firmly.
He sighed. “Partition only.” He agreed, motioning to the area where surgical students watch procedures.
So that’s where Megan sat. She stared at the operation for hours while they worked on her best friend. She ignored her pager and barely registered whenever someone came to speak to her. The one time she did listen was when Dr. Elizabeth Corday came in; her scrubs coated in blood, and told her Lucy had died from her injuries. It was clear she had been crying, Megan was crying anyway. Even after Benton came to find her, post Carter’s surgery, to tell her he was extubated and in recovery, she didn’t really react.
It wasn’t until an hour later, when she finally made it to the recovery ward to see John was awake, tired, but awake, that she let herself feel relieved. He held his hand up towards her and with a tearfully relieved smile; Megan grasped it and pulled a chair up right beside his bed. Benton was testing Carter’s legs to check for spinal injuries, but John was more concerned with how his surgery had gone rather than his recovery.
Benton answered all his questions out of respect. “You were lucky, Carter.” He mumbled.
“My back is killing me.” Carter winced through obvious pain.
“Yeah, I know. Hematoma around the lumbar plex.” Benton explained, making a note on his chart. “I'll give you some morphine. I want you up and walking in 12 hours, ok?” He said this to Megan, calling on her to make sure John did what was necessary. She smiled a little and nodded in agreement, and then Benton left. With him gone, Megan climbed up onto John’s bed and slipped in parallel beside him, slightly elevated so she could loop her arm around his neck. He didn’t object to her hug, but he didn’t reciprocate.
After a moment, his clouded face tilted up to meet Megan’s. “Lucy's dead, isn't she?”
Megan didn’t want to respond, and that action in itself gave John the answer. His face flushed with more sadness and he turned away from her, but his left arm reached up and clung to her left hand, which he squeezed tight until the morphine took over and he fell into a calm sleep.
And it was while he slept, and only then, when she was alone, and Megan sang to him; the song that had been running through her head all day. “Come with me...” She whispered, with barely a tune to her voice. “My love... to the sea.... the sea of love...I want to tell you,” She breathed in deep as tears slid from her eyes. “How much I love you...” She rested her chin atop John’s head and stroked his hair away from his face. “Do you remember, when we met... that’s the day... I knew you were my pet... I wanna tell you,” She kissed his crown. “How much I love you...”
---
fandom: ER
pairing: carter/megan (ofc)
letter: n for nightmare - table # 4, for a_to_z_prompts
summary: Megan's inclusion in the season 6 episode, All In The Family, where Carter is stabbed.
rating: PG.
word count: 3474
warnings/spoilers: none really ;)
a/n: Dr. Megan Riley is an original character of mine who I'm pairing with Carter for my fic's in this challenge. You'll get to know more about her as you read :) ER timeline wise for this one, season 6.
disclaimer: I do not own the characters of ER. This is purely written for entertainment only.
The Valentine’s Day party was going strong in the ER. Music was playing, people were dancing and laughing. It was one of the better days Megan had had at work. She and Malucci even put aside whatever remaining unresolved issues there were between them from their grand total of one month of a relationship, and had a bit of a dance. That was until Kerry came in for the start of her shift and seemed to kill everyone’s buzz.
“Oh, hi Chief! You on?” Dave asked Kerry.
“All night.” She confirmed, her tight lips pulled into that no-nonsense expression she seemed attached to. “I see someone went overboard with the hearts.” She gestured to the decorations.
“What's wrong with them?” Amira asked pointedly, clearly not happy that apparently she had done yet another thing wrong in her new job.
“Nothing.” Kerry muttered.
“Want some pizza?” Chuny offered, flicking her curled, wavy brown ponytail off her shoulder. As well as being an impeccable nurse, Chuny was also stunningly beautiful and always helped lighten the mood.
“No thanks.” Kerry waved her away.
“I’ll take it.” Megan spoke up taking the slice.
“Wait, isn't Mark still on?” Kerry asked as she scanned the party for him.
“Uh, he left at eight.” Megan recalled, remembering seeing him leave with Elizabeth. “Double date.”
“I'm on till nine,” Dave spoke up as he walked past Megan. “Mighty fine.” He winked.
Megan rolled her eyes at him and gnawed at her pizza, humming a sudden tune that came into her head.
“We've slowed down.” Luka told Kerry. “No one's waiting to be seen, and I took over the board.”
“Ok, everyone.” Kerry announced. “Another 5 minutes, and then back to work. All right?” she took off her scarf and headed for the break room.
“Alright, I’m outta here.” Carol said as she slid off her chair, tucking her wild mane of black tendril curls under a wool hat. “See you guys tomorrow.”
“Happy Valentine’s Day.” Luka called after her, his eyes lingering just a moment longer than necessary.
Thinking she’d shared the pizza with Carter and Lucy, Megan looked around for them. “Luka, has Carter been by?” Megan asked the handsome Croat when she didn’t see either of them in the crowd.
“Haven’t seen him.” Luka replied as he picked at a bowl of candy hearts on the bench.
Dave came through to grab a file and once he was gone, Chuny came over and nudged Megan. “What’s the deal with you two?” she asked with a wry grin.
“Yeah,” Conni seconded from Megan’s other side. Even though Megan was half her age and Conni was a sweet but tough African-American mother of three who was always up for a little ER Gossip.“You still together?”
“Ladies, that was like six months ago.” Megan reminded them. “And we weren’t even dating exactly.” She continued. Truth was it had pretty much just been a fortnight of sex and bad conversations. There was nothing between Dave and Megan except sexual chemistry. And since they’d extinguished that fire, they got bored of each other pretty quickly. Of course, Megan’s feelings for John at that point had been so scattered she’d really only been with Dave to make him jealous. Ahh, the downfall of that little plan. She’d told John she loved him, he didn’t return the gesture and that pretty much screwed up their six-year friendship. They were still trying to get back on track.
“Oh, I hear that.” Chuny patted Megan’s shoulder reassuringly.
“Yeah, that’s how she and Alex got started.” Conni raised her eyebrows at Chuny.
“Oh, no, girl, Alex and I broke up.” Chuny corrected her.
“What happened? I thought he was the man.” Conni asked, laying on some attitude.
“Yeah, so did my neighbour.” Chuny muttered.
“Ouch.” Yosh, the adorable second of two male nurses who just happened to be gay, added.
“Luka, do you have anybody you need to hand off?” Kerry asked as she came back out of the break room.
“Hey Pablo!” Megan greeted the man Haleh was bringing into the ER. Pablo was a very sweet homeless man who used to come into the ER once a week for Haleh to give him a bath. He was from El Salvador and a little on the crazy side, but he was completely harmless. “We missed you, where’ve you been?
“They put me on a bus!” Pablo smiled at Megan.
“Sounds good.” Megan nodded and started to get her stuff together to go check some patients.
“I need a bath.” Pablo replied.
“We need to look at your foot first.” Haleh told him as she wheeled him down the hall.
“Pablo, you're alive, huh?” Kerry greeted him as she followed Haleh down the hall to her patient.
“Oh yeah, I'm alive.” Pablo told her.
“Luka, where’s Lucy?” Megan asked as she found some chest films for one of Lucy’s patients on top of a pile of her own charts.
“Waiting on a psych consult, I think.” Luka replied as he continued to fiddle with the candy hearts. “Have you had these? They are quite disgusting.”
“Yeah; they’re sorta like potpourri.” Megan told him. “To be looked at but not eaten.”
“What is potpourri?” Luka asked with a confused face.
“Dried, dead flowers in a bowl.” Conni explained.
“I do not understand this country.” Luka said with a smile.
Megan smirked. “Well, don’t-” she was cut off as Kerry’s horrified scream rang out through the whole ER. Everyone at the front desk dropped what they were doing and hurried down the hall.
“Kerry?!” Luka called as they ran.
“Carter and Lucy!” Kerry called back. “Get two gurney’s in here! Now!”
Megan’s heart stopped as she reached the doorway. On the floor of the room both surrounded in pools of blood were an unconscious Carter and Lucy. “Oh God!!!” Megan screamed, dropping to her knees and crawling to John’s side. “Carter? Can you hear me? Carter?”
Malucci sprinted into the room with Chuny and Conni at his heels, the three of them helped Kerry with Lucy as Megan and Luka tended to Carter. “We have to lift him.” Luka told Megan as Chen and Abby came scurrying into the room. The group managed to get both Lucy and Carter onto gurney’s without incident and wheel them into the trauma rooms. Megan stayed right beside John the whole time.
“John! John can you hear me?” Megan was saying, running her hand over Carter’s forehead, trying to get a reaction.
“Airway looks clear.” Luka said as he checked Carter’s throat.
“John, open your eyes!” Megan ordered him. But he didn’t respond.
“No response to command.” Luka noted. “Glasgow Coma scale seven.”
“How long do you think they were lying there?” Abby asked.
“Long enough to lose a couple of litres.” Chen muttered with a stunned shake of her head.
“I can't believe nobody saw anything.” Lydia mumbled tearfully.
“Let's talk about it later.” Luka told them, noticing the fear on Megan’s face. “I need to see his back. Let’s roll him on three, ok?” He waited until everyone had a good enough grip on Carter to move him straight. “One, two, three,” They rolled him up onto his side. “Ok, two stab wounds to the left flank. First one is at L2, 4 centimetres of the midline. Second one is L5, in the midscapular line.”
“He hit the spinal cord?” Abby asked.
“It depends on the angle.” Luka replied.
“BP's 70 over 50, pulse is 120.” Lydia informed Luka.
“Squeeze in two litres and prepare for a sub-clavian.” Luka told her.
“Good breath sounds bilaterally.” Chen spoke up, her normally sparkling almond shaped eyes blinking back tears as she surged on
“Pulse ox 93.” Abby alerted them.
“Should we intubate?” Lydia asked fearfully.
“No, 10 litres by mask for now.” Luka ordered. “Send a trauma panel, type and cross for 4, and get X-ray in here for a chest. And a one shot IVP.”
“I was just talking to him.” Abby mumbled loud enough for Megan to hear.
All of a sudden Dr. Peter Benton came storming into the trauma room, sweat beading off his chocolate brown skin. “Is he conscious?” he demanded immediately. “Is he conscious!?!?”
“No, but he's responding to fluid resuscitation!” Megan yelled back at him.
“It was some psych patient.” Chen told Peter. “Got Lucy too, pretty bad.” She nodded her head to the next trauma room. Megan dared to peer over her shoulder and saw young Lucy, shock white and frail with her clothes ripped open and blood oozing down her sides.
Benton kept them on task. “Roll him, let me see.” They rolled Carter again. “Oh, man.” Benton breathed when he caught sight of the wound. “Why wasn't he in restraints?” He asked Chen angrily.
“I don't know.” She replied bitterly, not liking his accusatory tone.
“Where's the foley?” Benton asked.
“That's next.” Luka told him. “Megan, either help or get out of the way.” He told her as Lydia bumped into her.
Megan shook her head a few times to set right everything that seemed to have come loose.“Alright, um, Babinski's reflex.” She announced as she made her way to Carter’s foot and stroked the outside of it from heel to toe with her pen. Carter’s toes moved down. She sighed with relief. “Toes are down, no spinal injury!” She yelled over the commotion
“Dr. Benton?” Haleh called, sticking her head in from Lucy’s trauma room.
“Hold on.” Benton made her wait.
Hang the next two units on the infuser.” He ordered Lydia.
“Hold on, it's not set up.” Lydia said hurriedly. Her hands were shaking.
“Get it set up!” Luka insisted.
“I got it.” Abby offered as she exited the room.
Benton listened to Carter’s abdomen with his stethoscope. “Absent bowel sounds, probably got the descending colon.”
“Peter, Dr. Weaver needs you right now!” Haleh called again. “She has to trach Lucy.”
Everyone in the room fell silent and looked up at her. A tracheotomy was always the last resort to help a patient to breathe as it involved cutting directly into their throat and feeding a tube into the airway.
Peter headed towards Lucy. “Book an O.R. Get ready to send Carter up.” He said as he left. “Where's the foley?”
“I'm working on it!” Chen called after him.
“Got it!” Abby’s voice came from the front of Carter’s trauma room as she entered with the infuser kit and handed it to Chen.
“Pressure's up to 100 systolic.” Lydia told them, moving aside so Megan could check John’s pupil activity.
“Give a gram of Cotetan.” Luka nudged Lydia.
“Right pupil is 5 millimetres and reactive,” Megan informed Luka. “Left is…” Carter suddenly shifted, seeing her. “John?” he started to shake and struggle, obviously waking up. Megan reached for his hand and gripped it tightly. “Carter?”
His eyes flickered open. “Megs?” he said in a strangled voice, his face showing all the pain he was feeling.
“Hey, yeah, it’s me.” Megan told him, smoothing his hair of his sweating forehead. “Look at me; do you know where you are?”
“My back…” He answered with pained tears in his eyes.
“You were stabbed.” Megan let terrified tears fall from her eyes. “We've got your pressure up. You’re gonna be fine, ok? I promise.”
“Lucy?” He asked through rasping gasps of oxygen.
A police officer entered and leant over Megan to see John. “John, I'm Officer Benini. Did you see the man that stabbed you?”
Carter shook his head and tried to look around the room. Megan shoved the officer back. “Do we need to do this right now?!”
“It's better if I can secure a statement.” The officer told her.
“We’re a little busy in here.” Chen spoke up, pulling the officer away from John. “You'll have to wait, I'm sorry.”
“What?” Carter asked, desperate for news on Lucy.
“Nothing, looks like he missed your spinal cord.” Luka told him.
Carter screamed in pain as the Foley was inserted and turned his head. Megan tried to obstruct his view but he saw past her. “Is that Lucy?” he could see someone in a white coat on the bed in the next room.
“Yes, she's alive.” Megan told him with a brave smile.
“Dr. Kovac.” Chen said warningly from the end of Carter’s bed. Her tone made everyone look. Instead of saying what was wrong out of fear of scaring Carter, she simply held up the Foley bag which said all that was needed. The bag, meant for collecting urine, was full of blood.
“What? What is it?” Carter asked, unable to see what was happening.
“Get Benton, he needs to go up now!” Luka screamed at Chen. She disappeared next door.
“Megs?” Carter squeezed her hand.
Megan, who had been looking into Lucy’s room to see how bad she was, looked back to John. “Yeah?”
“Don’t go.” He pleaded with his eyes.
“I’m not going anywhere, ok?” Megan assured him with a shaking voice. “I promise. I’ll be with you the whole time.” Her voice broke. She kissed John’s temple as Luka staunched the bleeding as best he could.
“Ok; OR, now!” Luka said, lifting up the sides of the bed. Everyone helped him wheel John out into the hall and towards the elevator. Benton joined them as they moved.
“You have to stay awake, John, alright?” Megan warned him as she trotted beside the bed bent right down beside his face. “You stay awake ‘til we get upstairs, you hear me?”
“Do you want FFP?” Abby asked Benton.
“Yeah, 2 units.” Benton told her. Then he took over from Luka and pushed Carter towards the elevator. “Come on Carter, stay with me man.”
Elizabeth and Mark suddenly ran up to them, both still dressed from their double date. “How is he?” Elizabeth asked, her normally serene face full of concern.
“Stab wound with renal laceration, he's hypertensive, we're redlining him to the OR.” Benton informed her.
“Whoa, a patient did this?” Mark asked.
“Yeah, they're still looking for him.” Abby nodded.
“What's his pressure?” Elizabeth asked, preparing to come upstairs with them.
“I've got it Elizabeth, Kerry needs you. Go, Go!” He told her. She hurried off as Megan and Benton pushed Carter into the elevator.
Megan could see Carter’s eyes darting around. She moved so she was leaning directly over him. “Carter look at me, stay looking at me, ok? I’m gonna stay right here but you have to keep awake, alright?” He didn’t answer, but he did look at her. Megan kissed his hand which was still firmly gripped in her own.
Benton and Megan were silent as they took Carter upstairs to the pre-op room. They wheeled him in but had to wait for the anaesthesiologist. Megan pulled up a stool right beside Carter’s bed and kept a tight hold on his hand. Benton was on the other side of the bed making sure everything was precise. Megan shouldn’t have been in there, family wasn’t normally allowed in the pre-op room, but no way was Megan going anywhere and as long as she wasn’t in his way, Benton wasn’t going to make her move. Peter hung another bag of blood on the IV stand.
“How many units is that?” Carter asked.
“Ah, five,” Benton answered. “But you shouldn't be counting.”
“It's bad isn't it?” Carter asked quietly.
Megan took over. “Well, we're having problems keeping your crit up,” She admitted in a soft voice. “But uh, I think that's from the renal lac.” No way was she gonna BS another doctor, let alone Carter.
“I'm gonna give you a couple of Veresed to relax you a little before I intubate, ok?” The nurse told Carter gently.
He nodded to her. “It could be the aorta.” He then said to Benton.
“Or the Vena Cava, or the mesentery vessels.” Benton tried to assure him.
“Mmm, God.” Carter breathed, nervous tears filling his eyes.
“Carter, don't worry, I'm gonna explore the abdomen. And I'm gonna check out everything, ok?” Benton said firmly.
“I'm glad it's you.” Carter told him tearfully.
“Hey, I'm getting you through this man.” Benton assured him. Then he looked up at Megan. “’Bout a minute ‘til the Veresed sets in; then we’re taking him next door.” He jeered his head back towards the operating room.
“Ok.” Megan nodded. She knew he was trying to tell her that it was time to leave. “John?” She held their still clasped hands up to her chin. “I’m gonna be right outside, ok? The whole time.”
“Megan,” He said tiredly. “I’m glad you’re here.” He told her as one of his terrified tears slipped down his cheek from the corner of his eye. “I love you.”
Megan tried to contain her sobs and ended up shaking. “I love you, too.” She managed to force out of her mouth as John’s eyes began to close. “Carter.” But he was out cold. Megan let out a loud sob and held his hand to her cheek.
“Ok, ready to intubate.” The nurse said to Peter.
“Let's prep him for a midline incision.” Peter told her. “I want to be able to cut in two minutes. I mean it.”
“You got it.” The nurse nodded.
“Megan, you gotta go.” Benton told her.
“Ok,” Megan got to her feet and kissed Carter warmly on the forehead. “I’ll see you soon.” She whispered to him. Then she followed Peter out into the hall. “I wanna scrub in.” She told him.
“You’re not a surgeon, you can’t.”
“I don’t want to operate, I’ll just stand there!” She pleaded. “Please?!”
“I know you’re worried about Carter; so am I.” Benton levelled with her. “But I can’t have you in there when I need to focus on him, you got it?”
Megan nodded fiercely as fresh tears appeared in her eyes. She covered her mouth with her hand. “I wanna watch.” She told Benton firmly.
He sighed. “Partition only.” He agreed, motioning to the area where surgical students watch procedures.
So that’s where Megan sat. She stared at the operation for hours while they worked on her best friend. She ignored her pager and barely registered whenever someone came to speak to her. The one time she did listen was when Dr. Elizabeth Corday came in; her scrubs coated in blood, and told her Lucy had died from her injuries. It was clear she had been crying, Megan was crying anyway. Even after Benton came to find her, post Carter’s surgery, to tell her he was extubated and in recovery, she didn’t really react.
It wasn’t until an hour later, when she finally made it to the recovery ward to see John was awake, tired, but awake, that she let herself feel relieved. He held his hand up towards her and with a tearfully relieved smile; Megan grasped it and pulled a chair up right beside his bed. Benton was testing Carter’s legs to check for spinal injuries, but John was more concerned with how his surgery had gone rather than his recovery.
Benton answered all his questions out of respect. “You were lucky, Carter.” He mumbled.
“My back is killing me.” Carter winced through obvious pain.
“Yeah, I know. Hematoma around the lumbar plex.” Benton explained, making a note on his chart. “I'll give you some morphine. I want you up and walking in 12 hours, ok?” He said this to Megan, calling on her to make sure John did what was necessary. She smiled a little and nodded in agreement, and then Benton left. With him gone, Megan climbed up onto John’s bed and slipped in parallel beside him, slightly elevated so she could loop her arm around his neck. He didn’t object to her hug, but he didn’t reciprocate.
After a moment, his clouded face tilted up to meet Megan’s. “Lucy's dead, isn't she?”
Megan didn’t want to respond, and that action in itself gave John the answer. His face flushed with more sadness and he turned away from her, but his left arm reached up and clung to her left hand, which he squeezed tight until the morphine took over and he fell into a calm sleep.
And it was while he slept, and only then, when she was alone, and Megan sang to him; the song that had been running through her head all day. “Come with me...” She whispered, with barely a tune to her voice. “My love... to the sea.... the sea of love...I want to tell you,” She breathed in deep as tears slid from her eyes. “How much I love you...” She rested her chin atop John’s head and stroked his hair away from his face. “Do you remember, when we met... that’s the day... I knew you were my pet... I wanna tell you,” She kissed his crown. “How much I love you...”
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