“How’s the OR?” Jade said stepping up beside Lillian to make her own cup of coffee, though she wasn’t really sure she needed one.
“We’ve had two more come in for deep lacerations,” Lillian said, keeping her chin in the air as she added sugar and cream to her paper cup. “Nothing major though, neither one took more than a few minutes.”
“And the Howard man?” Jade asked moving alongside Lillian as her coffee brewed.
“He’s out of surgery, no complications,” Lillian said, her voice almost clinical, but Jade could feel the tension in it. Lillianleaned back against the counter and Jade positioned herself next to her. Jade fought off a smile; there was no way Lillian could ignore the static in the air. Thunder rumbled overhead and both women’s eyes turned toward the ceiling. When they looked back down Lillian almost jumped at their proximity. They were close enough to touch, and Jade had to resist the urge to run her fingers down the lapel of Lillian’s lab coat.
Jade’s phone pinged in her pocket, and she was surprised at the disappointment that flashed through her at their interrupted moment. She looked down at the notification.
“This can’t be good,” Jade murmured and looked up at Lillian.
“What is it?” Lillian asked, her eyes tightening.
“There’s a multi-car pile up on the interstate,” Jade pressed her lips together. “Come on, I’m sure we are going to need you for this one.” Jade tapped her phone a few more times. “This is going to block off Johnston Mercy for even longer, hopefully they are rerouting some of them in the opposite direction.”
Lillian nodded and turned toward the door. Jade watched her go. She turned her sharp eyes on Jade as she pulled the door open.
“Well, are you coming?” Lillian asked, as flash of something in her eyes.
Jade’s face broke into a grin. “Of course,” she said and lifted herself from the counter. “We have lives to save.”
3
Lillian
Walking slightly behind Jade, Lillian found her eyes drawn down to the sway of her hips as the Chief of Medicine moved purposefully down the hall. Scrubs were never flattering, yet she couldn’t help but notice the alluring curve of Jade’s waist and hips, the slight muscle definition of her thighs through the linen material. Lillian shook her head; Jade had to be doing that on purpose, and the slight smirk Jade tossed over her shoulder as they entered the emergency department only confirmed it.
Lillian’s cheeks heated having been caught ogling Jade’s ass, but she lifted her chin in defiance. They both moved to the trauma station and donned the yellow gowns to wait at the doors for injuries to come rolling in. Shouts sounded through the room as the first wave came through, the first few patients looked like they were in pain but nothing too serious. Some lacerations, a couple of fractures, maybe a concussion.
Jade latched on to the next patient who was pushed through the doors. It was a youngish woman, twenty-nine according to the report, with a serious head injury, but that wasn’t whatLillian immediately reacted to—it was the foot-long stretch of rebar sticking out of her chest. Lillian’s eyes grew wide as Jade waved her over.
“We are going to need to tag-team this one,” Jade said without leaving room for argument. “I need to get this bar out of her, but there is a real possibility of a cerebral edema. We need to relieve that pressure.”
Lillian nodded and turned to the nursing staff. “Have her prepped and get her to OR six as fast as possible.” She turned to Jade.
“I’ll let her family know,” Jade said and turned to walk away. “Go scrub up.”
Lillian headed toward the OR, her long strides eating up the corridor’s distance. She wanted to be ready to go as soon as they brought the patient into the sterile field. By the time she made it to the operating room, it was already in a flurry of activity. Nurses and techs had already scrubbed and were in the operating room preparing for what was going to likely be a grueling surgery.
She quickly tied her hair up and slipped on the cap that covered her head, then tied the mask around her neck. She adjusted the top and tied it around her head, checking her dim reflection in the window. Her eyes were bright, focused. She would not let this woman die.
Lillian checked the timer that sat just above the sink and started scrubbing her hands and arms with the sterilizing soap. As she scrubbed, she mentally went through the steps to relief pressure from a cerebral edema. She had noticed that the woman had long hair, but the prep nurses would likely shave the top of her head for Lillian to drill.
As the timer counted down the last minute of scrubbing, Jade entered the room, her hair had been pulled up into a cap and the mask draped around her chest. Her dark eyes sparkledwith something akin to excitement. This was a challenging surgery, to be sure, but not the first time Jade had performed something like this. Lillian knew she had both military and civilian experience in trauma-related injuries, and as much as Jade bothered her professionally, there was no one she would rather have assisting on a surgery like this one.
Lillian used her forearm to cut the flow of water and slung the water from her hands into the sink before lifting them into the air. Jade was tying off her mask, making her eyes that much more intense.
“Ready?” Jade asked, the smile on her face visible through her eyes.
“Ready,” Lillian answered with a nod and pushed through the doors with her shoulder. A nurse dried her hands and put on her gloves while another tied the surgical gown around her back. They rolled the patient in as Lillian adjusted the tools on her table.
“Name?” Lillian asked.
“Stephanie Sanderson,” a nurse answered holding her chart.
“Stats?”
“Twenty-nine-year-old female with a penetrating wound in the upper right chest, clear signs of a concussion and high risk for cerebral edema,” the nurse continued.
