5. Care To Translate?
1052 Words
A/N: "Italics inside double quotes" = Italian
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The man was writhing on the bed, glaring at the resident who tried to look anywhere but at him fearing he would pee in his scrubs if he met his eyes.
"Why the f**k are you just standing there? Get the damn surgeon in charge, you son of a b***h!"
"Dr. Johnson!" The resident's eyes darted to his superior and he let out an audible sigh of relief.
I am here sucker, rest assured! Her inner voice grinned. River shook her head. She needed to get some sleep!
The man also turned to look at her. Glare at her. He had the most beautiful pair of caramel eyes and though his face was contorted in pain, they still held power, confidence and a will over others. An Alpha male species. And his eyes were so beautiful, his gaze intense, where had she seen them before?
SNAP OUT OF IT, RIVER!
"Are you the surgeon?" He said in his thick Italian accent, his voice dripping with venom though one could hear his pain seep through it. It was as if it was her who shot him.
River took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. Activating badass surgeon mode.
"I assume you don't speak English?" She asked as she checked the monitor. She knew he probably did and even if he didn't, that was kind of rude but it had slipped out of her tired unfiltered lips and she was going to ignore the fact that it was, indeed rude.
High blood pressure and heart rate. High heart rate, blood loss could explain it. But the blood pressure? It was supposed to be low. Not even normal. Why was it high?
Cocaine? Her inner voice gave her input. She might be a judgemental b***h but she was a judgemental b***h with a medical degree.
"Of course I-"
"We need a unit of blood." She cut him off and turned to the nurse who nodded and rushed away.
See, he does speak English.
"So how are you feeling?" River turned to the patient, smiling compassionately.
"Like I was shot in the f*****g thigh!" He growled out, glaring more daggers at her.
Pretty blunt. And what a potty mouth!
River made a mental note to not let this guy anywhere near her children in the unlikely event of them bumping into each other.
River nodded and turned to the resident, Dr. Josh Darrow. "We need nitroprusside infusion. You know what to do right?"
He nodded.
"No!" He said. "Don't inject anything!"
"Are you on coke?" River had to mentally scold herself for taking her sweet time. Honestly, she was simply waiting for him to pass out.
His face went blank for a second.
"Yes."
She turned to the doctor. "And why was I not informed?"
"We are waiting for blood reports."
"Great." She shrugged. "Get the blood pressure back to normal and keep it that way throughout the surgery. That's your task for the day."
"Does he even know what he is doing?" He growled, looking like he wanted to rip out her throat right then.
Not the first time I am seeing the murderous glint in my patient's eyes. The inner voice chuckled. And River agreed. Ah, the struggle!
"Nah, they are all paid actors." She rolled her eyes. "Of course they know what they are doing. I don't want to end up in jail!"
He glared at her again. "Then do it!"
"Care to translate?" She checked the monitor again. His heart beat was too fast, it wasn't helping the bleeding and ruptured artery on the thigh. He was probably hemorrhaging. He needed another unit of blood. How was he still awake?
"Then f*****g do it, woman!" He growled out, wheezing as he tried to endure the pain.
River nodded and turned to the nurses and started to bark orders.
"Prep him for the surgery."
"Bring another unit of blood. We need it transfused, stat."
"Is the OR and anesthesist ready?"
"Wait!" River's intern rushed in.
"He's cocaine positive. But it's non-toxic!"
"Come again?" River nodded to the screen.
The heart rate and blood pressure was coming down. But it was not normal.
"It's not non-toxic yet?" Dr. Eric Fentell grinned.
River felt like her head was about to explode.
Idiots! I am surrounded by idiots!
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The first hour was a struggle, with her trying to repair the ruptured artery – she could do it but it was not her area of expertise - and her intern asking her stupid questions she didn't have answers to. She really needed to go home and do some reading.
Dr. Erwin came in somewhere in between and she let him take over. But he had to leave her again and River had to take over again to remove the bullet. She dealt with the fractured bone and the whole surgery lasted approximately four hours.
That was thirty-seven hours for her. She could go home in another eight hours.
She made her way out of the operating room and changed into her usual scrubs and put on her smart watch.
Life rule: Never forget the f*****g watch.
She had a missed call from the home line.
Why was one of my babies up at 3:27 a.m.?
Though she had an urge to, River decided to not call back just in case they were back in bed. But then she spent the whole early morning worrying about why they must have called until she called Mrs. Marley and confirmed everything was fine.
She loved every bit of the last four years. She did her best. She knew she did. She really was the best mother. It was not easy for a surgeon to have the kind of relationship that she had with her children, especially when the father was absent. But she had done great. But she did feel guilty most of the times, that her children did not have either of their parents to tuck them in bed at night because she was always at work and she did not know who the father was.
The guilt always dug a hole in her heart. But the love her children showered at her always managed to fill it back up.
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- Writer
