Chapter 40 FIFTEEN HOURS UNDER THE LIGHTS
Chapter 40 FIFTEEN HOURS UNDER THE LIGHTS
“Give her the medicine,” Xavier ordered without looking up. “And hand me the suture. I’m not giving up on her.”
The assistants looked at each other.
“Sir… didn’t you say the medicine was experimental?”
Xavier nodded.
“It’s a localized solution, and it’s going to be temporary while we look for a permanent solution, but we need to give it to her now.”
Craig got close to Xavier.
“This is dangerous. I don’t know what kind of god you’re serving or what kind of miracle you expect to perform, but giving her drugs that are not registered and we know nothing of what their components are is a dangerous maneuver. Instead of getting a standing ovation, you’ll be arrested. You’ll be walking out from here and going into prison. You don’t want that kind of heat on you. How about we just call it a day…”
“No,” Xavier said, looking up with a glint in his eyes. His expression hardened. “I am not giving up on this woman. We started this, and we will finish it.”
“What if you fail?” Craig said as the assistants could see the heated discussion between the two doctors.
Xavier took in deep breaths, then looked at the woman.
“The suture. We need to fix the problem. And hand the drugs over. We need to make this work. The more we delay, the more she crashes.”
Craig sighed, then looked at the assistant before giving a nod.
“Administering the medicine now,” the assistant said as the two doctors went back to work.
Craig stared at Xavier silently beneath his mask.
For the first time in years, he had witnessed a doctor risk everything for a patient without caring about reputation, politics, or fear.
Outside in the hallway of the waiting room, Isabella was tired of sitting down, and she started to pace up and down with her heels making a clicking sound on the floor.
She soon sat down on the floor by a row of chairs with her hands together, crying quietly.
She was thinking of how this was going to be one of the last times she would see her mother, and she didn’t want this to be how her mother would go.
The elevator doors opened as Nathaniel walked out holding two cups of coffee, and he saw her on the floor. He quickly went over to sit down beside her.
“Hey, your name is Isabella, right?” Nathaniel said, gently offering her a cup. “You need to be calm and sit down on the chair.”
She looked up at him.
“I’m sorry, do I know you?”
He nodded.
“Well, I’m a doctor, you see.” He pointed to his chest to show his name on the coat he was wearing. “And I’m a friend of Alexander. And Alexander, before he entered the operation theater, he told me to get something for you. And, well, I haven’t been able to do that until now. I had rounds, so I’m giving you a cup of coffee and offering you a seat.”
She nodded, then looked at the name tag.
“Nathaniel?”
“Yes, that’s my name,” he smiled as she took the cup of coffee and got to her feet.
“It’s been 12 hours. 12 bloody hours. No one has come out. What if she’s… what if he can’t help her? What if she isn’t going to make it?”
“Listen to me,” Nathaniel said with a firm and reassuring voice. “Alexander knows what he’s doing. I’ve seen him in the ER before, even though it was mostly for teaching practice. But he doesn’t operate like a human being. He operates like a machine. If there’s a high chance of your mother surviving, he will find it. You have to trust him.”
She nodded and looked away from him before she sat down, taking a sip of the coffee. She then winced and dropped it down.
“This tastes horrible.”
He shrugged.
“Maybe to you, but to me it tastes amazing.”
“Well, you can have mine. I don’t think I want it. It seems like all you doctors have lost your sense of taste.”
He chuckled and nodded.
“Trust me, I’ve been working for more than 15 hours and I am waiting to clock out. But today’s a very busy day and I’m waiting for my pal, Alex, and I can’t just leave.”
She looked at him.
“Seems like you really like him.”
“As a friend, yes. He’s special.”
“Tell me about it,” she chuckled, staring into space before turning to him. “How long have you known him?”
“Well, the few weeks he has worked here. What about you?”
She couldn’t just say she met him at a bar, so she waved the question away.
“That’s not important. I just need my mother safe.”
He nodded and then got to his feet.
“Well, I have to get back to work, but whenever you need me, just go over to that nurse over there,” he pointed to the receptionist. “Tell her to call for Dr. Nathaniel and I’ll be here.”
“Thank you,” she smiled as he nodded.
Then he walked away, leaving her alone in the lobby.
After a couple of hours had passed, Xavier walked out slowly, pulling his mask down with trembling fingers. His surgical gown was stained and his eyes looked sunken from exhaustion. Fifteen hours under the operating lights had drained the color from his face.
“Alex,” she whispered, her hands shaking. “What happened?”
Before he could answer, she pulled out a pack of food and a bottle of water from her bag, which she had gotten for him, and held it out to him like an offering.
“Here. I know you’ve been starving. You’ve been in there for 15 hours and you need to drink something, eat something. Just tell me, what was the outcome? What are the chances of her survival?”
Xavier looked at the food and then at her desperate face. He didn’t take the food. He just shrugged in a casual way with his expression neutral.
“We stopped the bleeding and we reduced the swelling in the main areas,” he finally said in a flat and careful voice. “The valve has been repaired and the damage has been temporarily stabilized.”
She let out a loud cry.
“Oh, thank God. So she’s going to be okay?”
\[SURGERY STATUS: TEMPORARY SUCCESS\]
\[LONG-TERM SURVIVAL UNKNOWN\]
Xavier hesitated for a second before giving a reply. “She survived the surgery… but the real fight starts now.”