The tech had hooked him up to a fluid bag, thank goodness.
I wheeled over the anesthetic machine to provide the dog flow-by oxygen.My breaths came in choppy spurts.I grabbed my phone and dialed Sarah.
She answered on the second ring and sounded agitated.
“I need help,” I said rapidly.
“What kind of help?The kind where I drive six hundred miles and bring a shovel?”
“That sounds nice, but no.Put that promise on hold for the moment.I might need it.Dog has an arrow through its chest.Moderately shocky.Not started on appropriate stabilization.That guy…Josh just twisted my arm into doing the surgery.I’ve got Josh and one tech whose skills are unclear.”I glared at the tech who shot me an evil glare of her own.“Help.”
“Stop freaking out,” Sarah ordered.“Is the surgery possible?I need stats on if you think you can do it.”
My choppy breaths stopped.“He’s got a fifty percent chance.Looks like it passed clean through both sides.Could use a blood transfusion, but that’s probably not an option.”
“Go find materials to scrub in.Find the supplies to do the surgery and place a chest tube.Do your breathing exercises.Hand the phone to this Josh guy.What’s his last name?”
“Hurst.”
“Hand me over to Mr.Hotass Hurst.”She giggled after she said it.
“I did not call him that.It’s Dr.Hurst.”
“Hand me over.”She laughed hard.
ChapterNine
JOSH
“Who is it?”I took the phone from Erika.
She waved the phone at me.“Talk to her.That’s Sarah—my work wife.She’s the only reason I survive situations like this at the hospital.I’ve got to—” She stopped, suddenly turning in a slow circle like she’d been dropped into a foreign country.“Do you evenhavesterile gloves in a size close to mine?Size seven.”
“Maybe in the back,” I said.
“Youdohave sterilized gowns, right?”Erika asked, already judging the shelf of surgical supplies like it had personally disappointed her.
“Up on the right.”I waved.
She drifted off, scavenging stuff off the shelves.
I heard a voice in the phone screaming when I put it to my ear.“Dr.Hurst?Are you there, Dr.Hurst?Answer me, damn it!I don’t have all day and neither does the patient.”
“I’m here.And you are?”
“This is Sarah Wells.I’m the best goddamned ER tech you’ll ever meet.You need to listen very carefully, Dr.Hurst.For starters, I don’t know what kind of history you have with my girl, but that’s shit you’ll have to work out some other time.I don’t know your skills which means I’m going to assume you’re as good as a noob out of school.”
I opened my mouth to tell her what I could do but she didn’t let me speak.
“I don’t care what you think you can do.I’m going to lay down some facts.Then we’re going to discuss the patient.I’ll talk you through this surgery.Dr.Chomping is the most incredible emergency surgeon I’ve ever worked with.I’ve worked with a lot.She can do things that are impossible.Like, beyond comprehension mind-blowing.I need you to understand that.You still with me?”
“Yes.”
“Can you confirm she’s gathering supplies and doing some weird breathing exercises, please?”
I pushed my glasses up into my hair.They were more for reading than long-distance vision.She’d pulled her hair up and was putting on a surgical bonnet.
“Yes.”
