"I'm wet and embarrassed."
Alexa Yu heard her friend's complaint on the other side of the line as she waited at the counter to get her coffee and muffin from her favorite shop. A caffeine boost was what she needed badly, not some smutty jokes when she didn't even get a decent shut-eye. Yet, indulging her lawyer friend, Alexa Yu humored, "Oh yeah? How wet? What have you been doing?"
A loud gasp from behind prompted Alexa Yu to turn. A woman who was purposely eavesdropping spilled coffee on her dress. Grabbing the tissue box at the counter, Alexa Yu passed it to the woman who was frantically rubbing the coffee off, but her action made it worse. The coffee stain on her white dress became more unsightly. The liquid seeped into her clothes, exposing what she was wearing beneath. Fei Ping felt exposed. "It's your fault!" She snapped at Alexa Yu.
Alexa Yu's brows perked up. Why was this woman blaming her when she was the one who poured the coffee on to herself? Being lazy to speak, she shifted to her original position and reached for her orders. Feeling displeased that she was ignored, Fei Ping tugged Alexa Yu's arm, "Hey, I am talking to you! Don't you dare turn your back on me!"
The coffee and muffin she waited in line for, were haphazardly thrown on the floor. Looking at the wasted food, crankiness inundated her.
Alexa Yu faced the seemingly familiar woman. An upward curve tugged at the corner of her lips, exposing two shallow dents on her cheeks. Anyone looking would be captivated by her appearance. "Why should I be looking at you? Do you want me to look at your exposed chest? Thank you for the offer, but I have a pair as well."
"You… This is because of you!" Fei Ping bawled. She crossed her arms over her chest. Seeing the meaningful smile, she resented Alexa more. Fei Ping hated her since Alexa Yu arrested her for drunk-driving. When she saw Alexa walk-in minutes ago, she went behind her with a plan concocted in her head: to retaliate.
"You were the one who poured coffee on to yourself. It wasn't me. So why blame me? Besides, why are you listening to people's conversation in the first place?"
"Now, it's my fault?!" Fei Ping snorted. When Alexa Yu rolled her eyes, Fei Ping exploded. "Hah! Did you just smirk at me? How dare you! Just wait, I'm going to call my man. Let us see how he is going to pack you up!" Fei Ping marched away to call her fiance.
Alexa Yu watched her with furrowed brows. She couldn't even summarize what happened in one word. How did it turn like this? It all started with Ye Ziwen's very suggestive statement. "Are you there, Alexa? What happened?"
Alexa Yu returned her attention to the phone. "Go take a shower if you got rained on. Stop polluting minds. People think I'm having a raunchy phone conversation with you. I encountered…" Alexa's words tapered off because of crashing a sound. A man was pushed down from the third floor. He crashed into the tall glass cases filled with cakes.
People gasped at the sight of the gaping wound that was oozing with flesh and blood. Alexa Yu didn't waste any second. She ended the call and pocketed her phone. Running to the fallen person, she kneeled on the floor. She pressed her fingers against his neck to feel his carotid pulse. There was a faint pulse. "Call the emergency line." She shouted to the person at the counter.
With the help of other people, the wounded person was carried away from the mess. A quick assessment told her that he was stabbed on the left side of the chest, back, and lower limb. There were also facial abrasions. The most troublesome was the knife wound that entered his abdominal cavity, which might have ruptured his spleen or liver.
Adrenaline was starting to build up in her bloodstream. Alexa Yu removed her jacket, rolled it into a pillow, and placed it behind the man to elevate his head so that his blood could circulate properly. Alexa asked for towels, and when one was passed, she applied pressure on the wound.
"What are you doing?! Do not touch him!" Fei Ping shouted angrily, pushing her aside.
Alexa Yu fell on her bottom. Wincing, she stood. "Are you an idiot? I am trying to control the bleeding!"
Fei Ping didn't believe her. "You are making it worse! There is more blood now." Fei Ping hugged the man and whimpered, telling him to wake up. He was her fiance. Little did Fei Ping know, her actions were killing the man faster.
Alexa Yu puffed air. 'This woman is so unbelievable.' Noticing his lips turned dusky blue, Alexa Yu cursed in her head. The man lacked oxygen, and if it went on, his heart was going to stop.
"Take her away." Alexa Yu randomly ordered people in the crowd. Fei Ping was forcibly separated from the injured man while Alexa Yu scanned around for something to administer breath. A black bag was suddenly passed to her hand. It was a first-aid kit. Immediately, Alexa rummaged through the bag for the things she needed: a scalpel, an endotracheal tube, and an elastic bougie. She needed to gain immediate access to the man's airway.
"Are you going to perform [1] cricothyroidotomy?" A woman kneeled next to her.
"Yes. You know how to do it?" Alexa Yu questioned, positioning the man's head at the correct angle.
"No. Just saw it from the book." The woman held the man's head. "Med student. Junior year." That explained why she had the kit. No longer speaking, Alexa Yu cleansed the neck and quickly located the thyroid cartilage. But when she was about to make an incision, Alexa Yu hesitated. She looked at the scalpel in her hand.
"Are you sure you know what you are doing? Are you even a doctor?!" Fei Ping was doubtful, seeing Alexa pause. Fei Ping's arrogant tone was the push Alexa Yu needed. Closing her eyes momentarily, she opened them seconds later and pushed the scalpel onto the skin. She made a vertical incision over the cricothyroid membrane. It was precise and clean.
The medical student placed the elastic bougie in, but she was having difficulty advancing because Fei Ping was hovering behind her and was sputtering annoying remarks making her distracted. Alexa Yu snapped at Fei Ping. "Are you an idiot? Shut up! Save your saliva for something meaningful to say!" Alexa Yu's harsh tone scared Fei Ping. She no longer complained.
The procedure was completed in no time, and an emergency breathing passage was provided for the injured man. At the same time, the EMTs arrived. After giving her assessment, the technicians placed an intraosseous line into his leg, directly entering his veins for the fluid to be administered into the bone marrow for rapid absorption. Sticky pads were taken out and placed on his chest. Alexa Yu looked at the monitor that displayed his cardiac activity. His heart was beating. 105 beats per minute with a palpable carotid pulse. Relief passed her.
When his pulse was steady enough to be transported, he was loaded in the ambulance. "If something ever happens to him, I'm going to hunt you to death." Fei Ping warned Alexa.
"You are most welcome to try." Bending forward, she whispered, "That is if you can kill me." Then, Alexa Yu flashed Fei Ping a grin. Fei Ping harrumphed, got inside the ambulance, and banged the door close.
"That was awesome! I've never done a new procedure like that. Which hospital are you working at, doctor?" The medical student stood beside her as they watched the ambulance departing. Smiling, Alexa Yu tapped the student's shoulder. "Study hard and be a good doctor."
The student turned to ask what she meant, but Alexa Yu was already walking away, hands jammed inside her jeans' pocket. Alexa Yu had forgotten about coffee and muffins. She got inside her car and took out a Caduceus pin on the dashboard. Staring at the pin for a long time, there was an indescribable emotion swirling in her eyes.
The sudden ringing of the phone broke her trance. Reaching for it, she answered in her usual cold voice. "What is it?"
The man on the other line was panting, and his urgent voice echoed to her ears. "Captain, we got a problem."
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[1] cricothyroidotomy/cricothyrotomy - is an emergency procedure that is used to obtain an airway when in a CICO (Cannot Intubate, Cannot Oxygenate) scenario.