Rescheduling the outdoor rounds for the evening, Caroline rushed to the scrubbing area and started washing her hands for an emergency operation. Her mind enumerated the steps in the back of her head because she was going to do 'Surgical Ventricular Restoration' without senior assistance.
Not that she hadn't done procedures, but Ventricular Restoration was one of the most complicated heart surgeries, and she had always performed it alongside Dr. Van. The surgery was initially scheduled for the day after, but it couldn't be delayed further as the patient suffered his second stroke.
Entering the OT, she checked for all the medicines beforehand, wanting not to leave any room for error like the last time. Ten minutes into the surgery, she had successfully opened up the patient's chest and was doing scar assessment when the OT emergency phone rang.
Erica picked up the phone immediately, and from her face, Caroline could read that the news wasn't ominous.
