The Fellowship

by K. Darblyne

  Danni looked off into the distance, "I know that, but it’s hard knowing that you lost two from the same vehicle."

  The surgeon cleared her throat, "Ah… actually it was all three that were in the same vehicle."

  Danni’s head snapped around peering into the blue eyes of her roommate, "What do you mean, all three?"

  "The driver of the vehicle was the one dead on the scene. The last flight crew showed me a Polaroid of him." She licked her teeth, making a dissatisfied expression, "It looked like a classic traumatic asphyxiation. He was dead before he knew what hit him."

  "Oh," was all that the petite woman said, nodding her head knowingly. Her gaze fell to the ground as she stood there, pondering the results of the catastrophic accident. Her gentle nature was always thinking about the victim or the effect that the trauma would befall the survivors. She closed her eyes and prayed for strength to carry her through until morning when her shift would end.

  Garrett broke the silence, "Any word yet on family?"

  "No, but Alex said that she would let us know."

  "She’ll notify C.O.R.E. then, when she finds out?"

  The nurse nodded, "Yes, she thought that would be the best. Just in case there is no one with the authority to deal with the situation."

  They stood there for several moments, each absorbed in their own thoughts. The air was turning colder and brought a shiver to the small blonde nurse. Rubbing her arms to get warm, "I’m going back in." She turned, taking several steps, then stopped abruptly, "Garrett?"

  "Hmmm?"

  "Would you like your duffel bag now, before we get too busy again?"

  "Yeah, I guess I could use something to freshen up with right about now," her voice was teasing as she sniffed at her scrub top. "Whew!"

  This action brought a smile to both of them as they headed back inside. The two roommates nudging one another with their elbows and giggling as they walked along was letting the tension of the last few hours ease on both of them. For a minute or two, they were able to act as though they still possessed the innocence of childhood.

  Entering the E.R., the two were meet by an agitated charge nurse. "Oh, so there you are!" The older nurse shook her finger at the pair. "I’ve been looking all over for you two. You’re the hardest people I know of to find when there is good news."

  Danni and Garrett exchanged glances with each other, shrugging their shoulders in unison, then slowly both looked down at the pagers on their clothing.

  "Gee, Mom, it’s not like you couldn’t page us or something," Danni teased.

  "Yeah, there for a while tonight, you were reading my thoughts like you were inside of my head. What happened?" An eyebrow raised as Garrett looked in her direction.

  "Well, next time, short of setting off those darn trauma pagers again, I just might do that," she was becoming flustered.

  "So what’s the good news, Mom?" The petite nurse tried to help Karen get back on track with her thoughts.

  "Ah…oh! Yeah, you won the baby pool."

  "Which one of us, mom?" She glanced up at Garrett, "We both guessed Nine fifteen."

  "Well apparently you both won, Rene and his wife had twins; a girl at nine sixteen and a boy at nine eighteen. Surprised everyone including themselves," she chuckled. "They finally took her for a C-section. Seems you two were the closest to the actual times."

  Danni looked up to the surgeon, noticing the lopsided grin on her face, "Well, how about that, roommate?" She winked. "We make a pretty good team, you and I," and her soft chuckle became infectious for all three.

  The surgeon was taken by surprise at her permutation into a team player, even if that team only consisted of two. She chuckled along with them, but her laugh was more on the side of nervousness at this odd sensation, which was binding her to the small nurse.

  Garrett thought about the time of delivery. "You know, it only seems fitting that those babies be born around that time."

  "Why is that?" Danni had a half laugh sound to her voice.

  "I pronounced the woman in the O.R. at 2113." The surgeon’s voice was somber with the reflection.

  "Oh, I see." There was silence for a moment of reverent thought before the young nurse spoke. "You know, they say that when one spirit leaves this earth, another one comes to take its place." She shrugged her shoulders. "Life goes on."

  "Hmm…interesting thought, Danni. Interesting in a lot of ways." Garrett wondered who would be the one to take over the place that was vacated in her life. She’d have to give this concept more thought when she had the time. Right now, she was just too tired to put forth the effort.

  Chapter 9

  The aroma of the strongly brewed coffee acted like a homing device to the sleep-deprived surgeon as she made her way to the doctors’ lounge, adjacent to the O.R. locker room. She knew this was the most powerful coffee within the entire complex and she was desperate to stay awake after the long night of monitoring the critically injured trauma patient. It was close to noon and still there was no word of any family members or next of kin for her patient. She hated to think that there was no one in the world that would care whether or not the young man even existed. She made a mental note to get in touch with the social worker and see if there was any progress in the case, but first she would get her cup of caffeine enriched coffee. Her mind drifted to thoughts of her bed at Danni’s house and she found herself envying the nurse for only having to work twelve hour shifts, unlike the thirty-six hours that her night of call held for her. ‘She’ll be fast asleep by now.’ She looked at her watch. It registered as eleven hundred hours in her military mind.

  She reached out for the door handle only to have it swing open towards her. Her forward momentum halted as she saw a haggard figure before her. The rumpled and unshaven man was none other than her colleague, Rene Chabot. His eyelids barely open, he tilted his head back to view the obstacle in front of him. After a long moment, he recognized the tall, raven-haired figure as his replacement for the trauma team the previous day. Too tired to speak, he grinned from ear to ear, the way all new fathers do, and held up his hand showing two fingers raised side by side. His nervous giggle was all that was needed to realize that the arrival of twins had taken him by surprise also. So much for modern medicine and being able to predict with any certainty the number and gender of the fetuses, but then again, it may have been their choice not to know ahead of time.

  Garrett found herself grinning at the man, nodding her head approvingly. Reaching out, she patted his shoulder, "Everybody is healthy?" The man’s head nodded in affirmation. "If your wife is resting comfortably upstairs, Rene, what are you still doing here?"

  "I just don’t want to leave them. My family," his smile grew in size, "I have a family to watch over." He grasped her free hand with one of his, while placing the other around her waist. Suddenly he was humming a lullaby and dancing with her right in the hallway. For his tired looking condition, he was light on his feet, moving them swiftly around the corridor. When his humming stopped, he bowed to his dance partner. Looking directly into her eyes, Rene spoke. "You have no idea what it is like having a family. My world is finally complete and full of joy. How can I ever thank you for allowing me the pleasure of seeing my children being born into the world?"

  Her mind flashed memories of the last time she had seen her parents and a tear began to form in her eyes. Struggling to keep the tears at bay, she leaned toward the man while whispering into his ear. "Don’t let a day go by without telling them that you love them, Rene. That’ll be enough payment for me." She moved back from him physically while her eyes continued to convey her message.

  The new father could sense that her words were spoken from the realm of her heart and let her know that he would indeed heed them. "I will, Garrett. Not a day will go by without all the members of my family knowing the love that I have for them."

  She coughed, trying to clear her throat, "Now you better get some sleep so that you can see them grow big and strong." She stepped back to allow him to pass
by. Advancing once again to the door and opening it, she could hear him call out to her, "Thanks, again."

  Her eyes quickly checked the small lounge for signs of any inhabitants. Seeing no one, the emotionally drained woman stood with her head buried in her hands. It wasn’t often that she felt like this, but with the lack of sleep and the loss of several patients in the last 24 hours it could be expected. Her thoughts turned to Rene and his new family as she offered a prayer to keep them safe from any misfortune the world could throw at them. She reached out, taking a Styrofoam cup in her hand. ‘Damn you and your babies Rene! You should have been the one last night to get that family.’ Her hand flexed then contracted sharply smashing the cup in her hand. ‘Why me? I’ve already had my fill.’ Her eyes narrowed and she crumpled the cup even more before she throw it at the trash can next to the table. She walked away from the table and stood staring at the ceiling trying to calm herself. Finally pulling herself together, she returned to the table with the coffee urn and filled another Styrofoam cup. Coddling it in her hands, she made her way over to the soft leather couch. Sipping the black, unsweetened coffee, she tried to bring her mind back to the problems at hand. Perhaps if she closed her eyes, the task would become easier. Much to her surprise, all it brought to her was some very needed sleep. She allowed herself to go willingly into its arms as the dreams of a much simpler life overtook her.

  "I love you," the woman bent down and kissed the young boy on the cheek. She adjusted his sweater and winked at him. Then turning to her daughter, "and you, young lady, watch after your brother. He’s the only one you have," she teased. The woman tucked a strand of loose hair behind her daughter’s ear; "I love you, too!" She leaned in to kiss the girl’s forehead. "Now, off to school, the both of you."

  "Come on," the girl coaxed. "Keep up with me or we’ll be late again like yesterday." The pace was already being set as her long legs carried her down the walk. The small boy struggling in double time to match her strides.

  "Garrett! Garrett! You keep up that pace and you’ll end up carrying him most of the way," her mother cautioned.

  The tall child turned around with a lopsided grin at the words her mother had spoken. "I’m strong, I can carry him. I’ll never leave him behind."

  The woman shook her head in delight at the playful nature of her daughter.

  "Garrett, wait up for him. Garrett, do you hear me?"

  "Garrett, wake up." Dr. Kreger spoke again, "Garrett, do you hear me?"

  One heavy eyelid slid open to the harsh assault of the light that filled the room. Her mind had to be playing tricks on her. She could have sworn that her mother was calling out her name.

  "Garrett!" Rob’s voice became a little harsher as he tried to arouse the woman out of sleep. "We’ve been looking all over for you. We have some family members that want to see you." His hand gently shook her arm. "Garrett!" Deciding that it was time for drastic measures, he yelled and nudged her violently, "Your patient is crashing!"

  Dark eyebrows shot sky high on her forehead pulling her eyelids wide open revealing intense blue orbs. With a move as swift as a bolt of lightning, she was standing next to him, her hand grasping the material of his lab coat, "Which one?" The adrenaline pumping at maximum capacity through her body was like that of a caged panther waiting for the gate to open.

  He now rethought his decision. By the look of intensity on the tall surgeon’s face, Rob knew immediately that he had chosen the wrong manner to awaken the sleeping woman. This woman was definitely someone that could scare the living daylights out of the most virile of men. He closed his eyes and gulped as he made a mental note to check his shorts for soilage after he calmed her down. That was, if he could calm her down. Wincing, he readied himself for her wrath. "No one. No one is crashing," he uttered.

  The surging electric blue of her eyes searched deep into the windows of his soul. "What do you mean, no one is crashing? You just said that my patient…"

  "I lied!" He was unable to return her gaze. "I had to get you to wake up. I’m sorry but nothing else seemed to arouse you." He sighed as her hold released. "I’ll know better next time." He assured her. "It’s just that we have been trying to get a hold of you for a while now."

  Garrett looked down at her pager. She must have slept through the pages, and by the number of them, she guessed that it had been a long time that she had been dead to the world. "I must have fallen asleep," she remembered vaguely sipping on the cup of coffee. She looked down on the nearly full cup of black coffee waiting for her return on the small table next to the couch where she had placed it. "So what’s up that you’ve been trying to reach me?" She tried to wipe the sleepiness from her tired eyes as she twisted and turned her neck as if to work a kink out of it.

  "The social worker was finally able to get in touch with a family member for that young boy from last night." Rob bit at his lip thoughtfully, "I knew that you would want to be the one to talk to them."

  The somber look on her face and the slight nod of her head was enough of a reply for Dr. Kreger. "They should be here any minute. I told them that we would meet them in the family room outside of the Neuro-ICU."

  She glanced at her watch, "Let me just splash some water on my face and I’ll meet you there in a few minutes." Garrett turned to move toward the locker room area.

  "I am sorry that I had to wake you like that." Rob felt compelled to apologize again. "I’ll see you up there in a few."

  "It’s okay, Rob, you did what you had to do. Given the situation, I would have done the same thing. Don’t ever apologize if it helps the patient."

  He looked at her funny saying, "But how can we help the patient? He’s brain dead."

  Her eyes once again pinned him. "We’ll help the patient through the family’s understanding and coming to terms with the loss. Sometimes that is all you can do."

  Kreger accepted her words, knowing that she was right. Dealing with the family could very well be considered part of the healing process. It was times like this that he thought about how very little he did know, but he was glad to have been placed in the presence of such a remarkable teacher. His head nodded in agreement. "I’ll see you upstairs," he said as he made his way to the door.

  *****************

  The hallway outside of the Neuro-ICU was silent reflecting the serious nature of the area. Most patients here were immediately post-operative, remaining only a day or two until they would be transferred to a regular Neurosurgical floor. Then, there were the others. Those who were not well enough to be weaned off of a ventilator or those who would soon die from the total lack of brain function. The color scheme of the area reflected the neutrality. It was an area that could run the gamut of emotions from extreme happiness to that of severe depression all hinging on the words spoken.

  The social worker stood waiting in the hall, her brown, unruly hair constantly getting in her way. It was not long enough to put behind her ears and too long not to fall into her vision or face with each movement of her head. The suit that she wore gave her an air of business as she presented herself, standing to her full five foot seven inches of height. She glanced at her watch only to check on the time. It was 3:58 P.M. and once again her hopes were rising with the sound of the elevator’s ding.

  With the doors parting slowly, the figure of a man departing the elevator became apparent. The crisp white lab coat had a military look to it with the finely detailed starched lines running down the sleeves. He checked his lapel to assure that his I.D. was in place. In his hand he carried a manila envelope full of forms that would be needed for the family’s signature, if they would decide to donate the usable organs for transplantation. He slowed as he came upon the social worker and introduced himself, "Hi! My name is Mark Crawford, I’m with C.O.R.E." He offered her his hand.

  "Alexia," she shook his hand. "I’m the social worker. Nice to meet you, Mr. Crawford." She smiled at him to conceal the eerie feeling she always got when meeting with anyone from the organ recovery team. It always made her think s
he was dealing with someone out of a Frankenstein novel, the grave robbers to be truthful. Alexia never gave these people her full name, nor would she let them call her by the name that her friends did, it was her mechanism of distancing herself from them.

  He smiled courteously at her as his eyes strayed over to the door of the Family Room. "Have the doctors spoken to them yet?" His head motioned toward the door, his eyes eager for her answer.

  "No, that’s who I’m waiting on now." Her face tensed a little, "Dr. Trivoli was tied up in a case for a while. She should be here any minute."

  He looked at her with a puzzled face. "Trivoli, she must be new. I don’t recognize her name."

  Alex was pleased that her friend Danni’s roommate was not one who would make Crawford’s presence necessary that often. For that, she was thankful. "No, actually she’s been here since July. She’s one of our Trauma Fellows."