It is past ten in the evening. The nursing attendant waiting for the 11 PM graveyard shift is scrolling her mobile phone and reading the latest update and news from her friends on social media. A photo of a man in a stretcher outside 'The Garden' followed by politicians caught her attention. It was uploaded by 'GreenValley's Newsletter'. The page has more than 50, 000 followers. And the attendant had been following the account for five years already. The caption stated that Mr. Errol was rushed to GreenValley Med due to heart attack and is currently under observation. She read the comments below. Some are shocked. Others are wishing for Mr. Errol's fast recovery. The rest commented for the sake of commenting. A few of them are just promoting their social account to gain more followers. But their are some who commented to bash Mayor Jeremy's current administration. Jenn checks her watch, it is five minutes to eleven. She logged out from her account and decided to stand up from her seat and walked towards the door near the nurses station to clock-in. Jenn is on her fifth month of being a probationary nursing attendant in GreenValley Med and she had never been late. She always try to put her best foot forward at work to impress her superiors. Her goal is to be a regular employee in the next coming month. Two medical staff are coming her way. "Who would have thought he will drink bleach." Pat, the nurse from afternoon shift said in a small voice. Pat and Jenn are both probationary employee. "Careful, we should never talk about our patient. It's one of their rights to keep their identity private." blurted out Jenn. "But ofcourse I know. I just can't get over it. He was a classmate of my brother in high school. Poor boy." Pat replied in an undertone.
The conversation was cut off when the head nurse entered the station. She checks the chart for the evening shift endorsement. A male nurse is in a hurry to catch up. "Nico, hurry quick.. why are you always late?!" said the head nurse who was wearing eyeglasses. The head nurse is on her late thirties. Her face looked tired and it seemed like it has been a toxic shift. She read the census for the evening. Their were a total of 30 patients on the Medical ward, 16 of which were male. And Mr. Errol was not amongst them.
GreenValley Med is categorized as a Level 2 Hospital. It is a non-departmentalized hospital that provides clinical care and management on the prevalent diseases in the locality. Clinical services include General Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Surgery and Anesthesia. The hospital had been a witness for decades of GreenValley's heartaches and joys. The lower and middle class in town who has medical concerns would frequent here, while most of the elite and the ones that need tertiary service would go to its nearby city or at Castle Hill's St. Lawrence Hospital. GreenValley Med was an infirmary during the Japanese-American war. It had underwent several restoration and is recently upgrading. It is currently on the process of being a Level 3 Hospital and six months ago a new Private Ward building opposite the south-wings medical ward was opened.
Opposite the Medical ward building, a woman outside Room 3 is walking to and fro busy talking on her phone. She seemed to be an influential woman and she is telling someone to do something quickly. She stopped when an evening nurse was about to enter the room. The nurse was about to tell the woman to observe silence since almost all of the patients on the private ward are sleeping but hesitated. Instead the nurse smiled and said : "Good evening Madam. I'll be checking on Mr. Errol. I am the nurse for the evening, Kathy. If there is anything that you need that concerns the patient. Let me know."
"Thank You Kathy. He is our butler. He has no immediate family in town. Please take good care of him. I'm on my way home. " Ella Taishi said in a dry voice and hurriedly walked away.
Mr. Errol eyes are closed when the nurse entered. His breathing is irregular. Attached on his nostril is an oxygen vent. An intravenous line is hooked on his arm and a pulse oximeter to monitor his oxygen saturation on his thumb. She checks the intravenous solution's level and scribbles on her notes. Kathy suddenly felt a little cold. She adjusted the air conditioner and decided to adjust the blinds of the window. It is very unusual for the month of March but with global warming the weather can be unpredictable. She looked at the moon, it was shining brightly on GreenValley's medical building. Suddenly, Kathy saw a man in a patients gown standing on the window as if about to jump. Kathy's jaw dropped in shock. The staff on the Medical ward probably had no idea on what had happened. Few moments later hospital staffs were rushing towards the fallen body. They were checking for his pulse and his pupillary dilation. The man was in a critical condition and was immediately transported for Surgery.
Dr. Michael Fabia was already in bed when he was awakened by the vibrating phone on his side table. He slowly reached out for his glasses and checked for the time. It was already past 12 in the evening. He yawned and tried to pick up his phone. He hurriedly changed from his pajamas and wore a scrubsuit. He picked his car keys and immediately rushed to the hospital. Dr. Fabia is the only Neuro-Surgeon in GreenValley. He is fast with an athletic figure and he doesn't look like on his forties. He proceeded to the Substerile room and started to scrub his hands on the sink. After several minutes of scrubbing he was done. He entered the Operating Room with his both hands on his eye level but never touching his face. He doned his gown. The circulating nurse assisted him in putting on his gloves. He positioned himself opposite to his first assistant and commenced the surgery. This is his first surgery for the month and this is the perfect time to showcase his skills. However he was not expecting that his patient would be an adolescent who was initially admitted for attempting suicide by drinking bleach. He felt emphatic towards the patient. What could be the problem of the boy that it attempted to kill himself twice. And who was the nurse on duty when that incident happened. He focused his thoughts on the operation. The goal of the surgery is to remove the hematoma on the patient's brain. He has to be quick but precise to save the patient. Dr. Fabia has a very good successful operation rate so far. But this case could not be one of them. After the aseptic technique was done he started to drill a hole in the patient skull. Several minutes passed and they were already suctioning the clot. Their is a fifty percent rate of having severe complications after this operation. And success rate is not quite very good for patients with subdural hematoma. But God must be working a miracle on this boy. The boys vital signs are on normal limits and it is a very good indication that the bleeding is controlled.
The surgery lasted for a couple of hours and everyone on the team was relieved when it was finally over. Dr. Fabia felt proud of himself. The patient was then transferred to the Post Anesthesia Care Unit for observation.
It is already past five in the morning. Nico is engrossed in writing the incident report about what happened to the male patient on bed number 13 on the Male Medical ward. He feels a little weak and drowsy. He took a pause and sipped from his tumbler. He needed the effect of caffeine to wake him up. This is his first time to be writing an incident report. He feels a little bit sad and exhausted. The night has been tough. Jenn give him a tap on the shoulder as if assuring him things will be okay. Nico felt touched of Jenn's concern. He had grown fond of her for the past five months they've been together as a team. Jenn felt the same but it was nothing special compared to what Nico felt for her. He seemed to be out of her league. Martha the older nurse who was assigned on the Female Medical ward came and said, "Jenn the I&O on bed 7 please. I'll be making my nurses notes." "Oh yeah I'm already on my way." answered Jenn. And she leaved the two nurses on the station. "Don't worry Nico, in two hours we will be off. I'll buy you breakfast." assured Martha. Martha is in her late thirties and has been serving in GreenValley Med for more than twenty years. "Thanks Miss Martha but I don't have the appetite. Bed is calling me and thank God it's my day off in few hours. I'll eat at home." Nico took a deep breathe and checks on the other patients chart. The remaining two hours was uneventful. After the endorsement Martha headed to the cafeteria while Jenn and Nico went to the opposite direction towards the main entrance of the hospital. A few blocks opposite from the hospital is GreenValley High and some students are passing by on on their way to school.