Part Ten

 

Harmony’s eyes were wide with fear. Her breathing had turned to frantic gasps for air.

 

Abby arrived with the gurney and Luka gently placed Harmony on it.

 

Kerry steeped into action. “Get her into trauma one, and get her on 4mgs of saline.”

 

“What’s her blood type?” Abby asked.

 

“AB,” Luka replied quickly. Harmony broke into another coughing fit. Her breathing was more rapid and forced, as if something was keeping her from breathing. Beads of sweat dotted her forehead and her bangs stuck to her face. 

 

“What the hell happened?” Romano exclaimed, answering his page. He wasn’t very happy to be pulled down from the OR for a simple ER trauma. Elizabeth was at his heels, looking a bit more concerned.

 

She glanced at the gurney. “Oh god,” she muttered.

 

Romano reacted at about the same time Elizabeth did. “Not again! Damnit Kerry, if you can’t take care of your employees, I’m going to have to let you go.”

 

Kerry glared at him. “Just shut up Robert!” she screamed, her anxiety getting the best of her.

 

“Whoa, Kerry. Just a little joke there…”

 

“Look Robert, someone’s life is at stake here. So, either you help, or you get the hell out of here!” 

 

“Kerry, calm down,” Elizabeth said.

 

“We couldn’t find him,” Carter said, running into the trauma room, closely followed by Malucci.

 

“Then get your asses in here and help us!” Kerry shrieked.

 

Carter and Malucci exchanged glances.

 

“Is she making urine?” Elizabeth asked.

 

“No,” Kerry replied, her voice betraying her emotions.

 

“Luka,” Harmony muttered, her voice barely above a whisper.

 

“What is it?” he asked.

 

“If I die I want you to remember this…”

“What?” Luka asked, not ecstatic that Harmony was thinking of dying. He knew that was a very real dilemma. He could see it on the faces of those in the trauma room, and his own medical knowledge told him the same.

 

“I…love…you,” she whispered, her voice cracking and tears running down her face. She was so tired. She was working so hard to breathe, to stay away and alert. He chest hurt horribly and her eyes burned. The sounds of the ER were distorted, and the images were imprecise. She decided it would be all right to let her eyes close just a little.

 

“I love you too,” Luka muttered, watching with pain, Harmony slip from their grasp. Authorities say that it’s bad for a doctor to operate on someone close to them. Luka had to say he agreed. “Hold on for us, baby,” he said. “Hold on. We’re going to get you through this.”

 

Harmony’s eyes fluttered shut.

 

“She’s out,” Luka said heavily, turning back to the matter at hand.

 

“One of her lungs collapsed,” Malucci said, glancing at the ultrasound.

 

“Well, now we know why she’s be having trouble breathing,” Romano said.

 

“Yeah, a collapsed lung would inhibit breathing,” Kerry said cynically.

 

“No, look at this,” Malucci said, pointing at the ultrasound. “There’s a bunch of excess fluid in there.”

 

“Blood. I dare say one of the vessels was torn during the attack,” Romano said. “And if we don’t do anything about it quickly, she’s going to risk drowning on her own blood.”

 

“Get a tube in there and pump it out. Then reinflate it,” Elizabeth said.

 

“X-rays,” Carter said, bringing them in and mounting them on a board. He and Kerry examined them.

 

“As soon as you finish with that lung, we’re going to have to crack her chest,” Kerry said.

 

“Did anything hit the aorta?” Romano asked.

 

“Doesn’t look like it,” Kerry replied. “But we’ve go a lot of blood flow around the heart. There are three bullets lodged against the right ventricle.”

 

Luka looked up. “Three?”

 

“There,” Elizabeth announced. “We’ve got the lung stabilized.”

 

Kerry nodded. She didn’t want to crack Harmony’s chest, but there was too much blood flow around the heart. She prepared the saw and began to cut in, the rest of the doctors watching.

 

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Kathryn sat in chairs with Selena and Katelyn. They had no idea where Harmony was. They had gotten to know one another relatively well, and were getting a bit nervous the Harmony hadn’t appeared yet.

 

“Maybe she got stuck doing a major trauma,” Selena suggested.

 

Haleh ran by, carrying some intibation tubing.

 

“Haleh, where’s Harmony?” Kathryn asked.

 

Haleh frowned. “She’s in trauma…”

 

“Told you!” Selena said.

 

“But if you’re waiting for her, you’ll be waiting a long time.”

 

“Why?” Katelyn asked.

 

“She was shot.”

 

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“Where the hell is Haleh, we need that intibation tubing!” Kerry screamed.

 

Haleh hurried in. “Sorry,” she muttered.

 

“Sorry isn’t going to save Harmony’s life,” Kerry snapped.

 

“Look, some of her friends wanted to know where she was.”

 

Luka glanced outside the trauma. He saw Selena, Katelyn, and Kathryn all watching intently. He shook his head and tried to concentrate on the procedures.

 

“Damn, this intibation isn’t going to work! Bag her!” Kerry shouted. Luka glanced at her. “We’re doing all we can,” she said, her tone softer.

 

“I know,” Luka replied, feeling that he wasn’t even part of the procedure.

 

“She’s bleeding out,” Elizabeth yelped.

 

“Damnit, I know,” Kerry yelled.

 

“Stats are dropping one over eighty,” Abby said.

 

“Kerry, I think she’s going to throw a clot,” Carter said.

 

“Carter, get over her and put in the trac,” Kerry instructed.

 

The monitor began to beep loudly and long.

 

“Charge the paddles to fifteen,” Luka commanded. “Clear!”

 

“Nothing,” Malucci said. His face was creased with worry.

 

“Again! Clear!”

 

“Nothing.”

 

“Charge to thirty! Clear!”

 

Harmony’s pulse returned softly. Luka gave the paddles to Abby, trying to catch his breath. The monitor began bleeping again, but for a different reason.

 

“PEA!” Romano shouted. “That’s it. It’s been a blast down here, but we have to get her up to surgery now if you want her to stand a chance of surviving.” He turned to Abby. “Get her on a blood thinning medication. Lizzy, we’re going to surgery now.”