At ODDS - Chapter 6

Chapter 6
REVELATIONS

Jay just couldn't believe it. What Chuck Ventura told her really stunned her. In the latest hospital board meeting, Arnie Marin was convinced to life the suspension on her and topped to that, he even told them that "She is a priceless asset." And the "More doctors should be like her." She was seated in the bar of the house talking to Chuck over the phone.
Chuck went, "He even said that the board should put all your bad marks behind."
"What!" This was a real surprise. Jay wasn't used to letting her skeletons be exposed. "Like what did he exactly say?"
"He just said that, the hospital didn't make any mistakes when it got you to work here."
"Anything else?" Jay just wanted to be sure she knew everything. She knew there was something else the board discussed. Something Chuck was keeping from her.
There was a slight pause at the other line. "The issue of you getting your job here because of your father's connections with the hospital and his past position in the government was raised."
Jay felt silent. Her father was once a governor and knew the chairman of the hospital board. It was something she was quite embarrassed of. Actually, the hospital wanted someone else but she had the connections. Jay said goodbye to Chuck and she hung up. It was really depressing. Just as she was mooning over her thoughts, the doorbell rang. It was a delivery boy with a package. She approached the door. To her surprise, it was not a package but a bouquet of flowers.
The sweet scent overwhelmed her as she appreciated the beauty of the blending colors. She signed the receipt and took the bouquet in. It was accompanied by a card which had, printed in its cover the large word "PEACE." It was so surprising to hear from Arnie Marin. He was trying to make peace pact and was inviting her over for dinner the next day. Jay didn't know how to react. He seemed sincere in his efforts to mend their misunderstanding. She still didn't know whether she would go or send an RSVP.

At ODDS - Chapter 5

Chapter 5
Making Amends

The country club was the only place Jay could go to. At this point in time, she was glad everything was over. The malpractice suit against her was dropped, and also, there was a public apology from Arnie Marin. Even then, she still felt alienated and ashamed. Everywhere she went, there were people looking at her like she came from Mars. She was still thinking of resigning and transferring to the city. That way, she can start over again. She even thought of selling the house. Now that was another reason why she was in the club. She just met with a realtor friend and had something worked out regarding the sale of her property.
She had just finished her lunch and went to her Range Rover to get her gear and then to the shooting range for rifling later afternoon. She was going to release all her tension and anger through all those bullets. She reached her car and took her gear. As she closed the tailgate, she throat clear behind her.
"Hello, Doctor." It was the deep, husky voice of Arnie Marin.
Jay's response was flat, and cold, "Hello yourself."
"Look, I thought we already buried the hatchet. Why is it that I see a lot of ire in you?"
Jay looked at her clothes. "I don't see any." She motioned to walk away but after two steps, a strong hand grasped her arm. This time, the grasp was gentle.
"Please, Doctor. I am someone who can't rest easy until I know the person I've wronged forgives me. I have so much to thank you for. You saved my brother's life and that means a lot to me. My brother is very important to me. He's the only family I have left. Please understand if sometimes I trudge on other people. I normally don't."
"Sure you don't. I thought aristocratic people did." Jay's sarcasm was really burning.
"I know I've caused you a lot of shame. And I am really sorry. It's not excuse, but I'm just very protective of the people I really care about."
Jay looked at him. He seemed sincere enough. "I see that. Now please let go of me. I have to go and shoot."
Arnie released his grip on her arm and gave out a wan smile. For the first time since their first encounter, she saw his anger-filled eyes brightened. His eyes now were not the usual dagger-stabbing eyes but more of the humorous crescents. She was compelled to lighten up and return the same wan superficial smile but she just looked at him blankly.

- Para sa aking mga mambabasa, ipagpaumanhin po ninyo ang paputol-putol kong pagpopost ng katuluyan ng nobelang ito sa kadahilanang maraming ginagawa ang inyong lingkod. Maraming Salamat Po.

At ODDS - Chapter 4

Chapter 4
BURYING THE HATCHET

It was three in the morning. Jay silently slipped into her office without anyone watching. With her was a large box and a few sheets of packing styrofoam. She quickly started to empty her desk. She knew what she was to do. She already planned to resign. That way, there would be no strain between the hospital's board and the doctors.
It was a coup on the part of the board. That group of filthy rich men and women who did not give a damn about the dying man in room 199, or the comatose woman in 407. Neither did they give a hint of concern over the contents of the morgue. All these people wanted twas to have a wing on their name, or to be granted the title as the most generous philanthropist. They did not know a thing about raising the dead. As a matter of fact, that is what she did to Gary Marin. He was clinically dead but she brought him back. She did this like Jesus Christ raised Lazarus. The only difference was Gary Marin can;t lift himself up and go home. He was in the ICU comatose.
She was in front of the computer monitor fixing the files she'd have to turn over to the next supposed General Surgeon. Yeah. This is the world of medicine. You are looked on as a god, but the slightest "error" would make you nothing more than the murderer in Alcatraz.
Part of her, however, was still a doctor. Someone who was to make sure there would be less suffering in the Earth. And resigning and going into god knows what occupation would do nothing to alleviate the pain she was trying hard to wipe away.
She paused in the middle of her work and felt the urge to go to the ICU. To see Gary Marin one last time. To see how he was doing. Even if the board had the local court issue a restraining order for her not to go near the room of Gary Marin.
Even then, She stood up and picked up her wits to go to see her last patient. She left the office and went to the elevator. Her mission was to see him and him the best of luck. Probably he'd hear her. Probably not.
She got out of the elevator and went to the ICU. There was no nurse at nurses' station. Good, she thought. She was lucky there was nobody there or else they would have to call the police. There were no guards posted at the doorway of Gary Marin's room either. She slipped into the doorway of the room. The lights were on and she heard voices. There must be someone aside form her patient.
She leaned closer to the opening and saw the burly body of Arnie at the bedside holding Gary's right hand. He was saying something but she couldn't quite hear. She moved closer to the door.
"I promised to give you everything. Now if I can only give back your life." He was crying. Yes, the mean Arnie Marin was crying. Pouring his sentiments. Talking to his comatose brother in the hope that he would speak again.
Jay was touched. He really must love his brother that much. As she heard from Dr. David, they were the only siblings.
Arnie looked like a father this time. He looked like he aged. In between the sobs, all she can comprehend was that he was blaming the world for this misfortune. And the doctor, too.
Jay was about to leave when she noticed something in the face of Gary Marin. Was it? Could it have been the twitching of his mimetic muscles? She thought she saw his lips move. And his cheek rise. Was it what she thought it was?
Arnie was not sobbing anymore but had his head rested on the lifeless hand. Just then Jay saw the lips move. He was coming to. She was unable to stop herself. She entered the room and approached the bedside. This action of course alerted Arnie. He stood up and was caught off guard. In any case he was ready to collar her when she spoke.
"Your brother's coming too." She said in the most cool tone she could muster.
Arnie was immobile. He was about to speak, probably cash at her again. But he stopped for he too noticed the twitching of the lips. His eyes stared at Jay with wonder as she attended to his brother. In a few minutes, there was a sound from his throat. Gary was trying to say something.
Jay took hold of the buzzer to call for nurses. In a few minutes there were half a dozen who helped Jay give the patient attention. Then as they were busy helping him gain consciousness, he said the word, "Arnie." Then his eyelids fluttered.

At ODDS - Chapter 3

Chapter 3
Litigation

Jay was seated in the office of the hospital administrator, Dr. David. She was as hard as a rock. The administrator was an elderly doctor. He was once a Pediatrician but now retired to the confines of his clean and neatly furnished office to leave all the hospital work to younger more able generations of doctors.
"Jay." He started. "I'm terribly sorry this has to happen to you. In malpractice suits, the hospital and its board will give their all out support to the doctor being sued. But this case is very much different, Jay."
"How different?" Jay asked. Her voice was weak and strained.
"Jay, you see, although all the doctors here in the hospital agree that what happened to Gary Marin was beyond your control, the board won't budge."
"Why not?" Jay was pleading.
"Gary Marin's brother is a member of the board."
"What?" Jay was taken aback. "Since when?"
"Two weeks ago. Before this incident happened." Then Dr. David went on to elaborate that Arnie Marin owns the architectural firm, Visage and Facade INC. It is a firm he co-owns with another fellow architect, and the same firm which is to build the new hospital wing for free. It was then when he and his partner were made members of the board.
"Why weren't we informed about these changes?" Hay queried.
"It usually takes that long before we announce what has happened in the board. See, there is a lot of paperwork to accomplish before the thing is finally formal. Truth is, the paperwork was finished as of yesterday. He is a fully-pledged board member now."
Jay was still unable to hide her shock. She left the office of Dr. David in a trance.
She was in the parking lot when it happened. She was turning the key in the lock of the Range Rover when she saw a reflection of someone behind her on the dark tinted glass. It was arnie Marin. She turned around startled to face her opponent.
"So, you're jumpy today." Arnie Marin said in perfect sarcasm.
Jay was not able to respond. He really looked like he was going to kill her. His dagger-stabbing darkly outlined eyes, heavy brows, broad chest, muscular athletic build, squarish jaw, and to top to all that, a scar on his left cheek. It was one that ran along his jawline. It was not really ugly in fact it was a good prop on his face. I gave her the impression that he must have gotten this from one of the brawls he must have had. Probably a fraternity war. All in all he looked so gruesome now.
"See you in court, Doctor. I'll make sure you are to be squashed and suffer like a bug."
And with that short threat, Arnie Marin turned around and walked to his car. A big, black Jaguar convertible. She watched him move. He looked like a human tank. For the first time in her life, Hay was going to freak out. She was scared for her life. Here was a man with all the power and might in the world and she was up against him. She used to get into really bad skirmishes and got away fine. This time she knew she was indeed going to lose this war.

At ODDS - Chapter 2

Chapter 2
CONFRONTATION

Jay was leaving the hospital. She was tired, hungry and depressed. It was morning and nearly lunch time. The patient nearly died. If they hadn't been quick, they would've had lost him permanently. It was an embolism. A blood clot that had entered the bloodstream and eventually reached the lungs and blocking the air passage causing suffocation. Aside from that, fine clots accumulated in the blood vessel walls near the heart, blocking circulation.
The experience was harrowing for all of them in the Operating Room that night. Especially for her. She remembered she was about to give up when they had successfully revived the boy. He was still in a coma but otherwise was fine and under observation. All they needed was time. They were lucky that no clots entered the brain. If there were, there was a sure sign of brain damage. However, they were not still in the clear. The three minutes without circulation in the brain can impair the patient. They will not find out until he wakes up.
The head surgeon had arrived early in the morning and told her that she did her best.
If only there was something else she can do for the boy. She would do it. Right now, he was out of danger, but still in coma. Chuck assured her hat he would come to later. But for how long? Jay thought hard. He could wake up after two hours, two days, two months. When?
Jay was walking through the lobby of the hospital deep in her thoughts when a tall, muscular figure approached her. They man was walking towards her briskly. He had short cropped dark hair, dark gold skin and all in all, look gilded. He must be an athlete, Jay thought. He had a deep piercing look from his darkly outlined eyes and the look became intimidating because of his thick brows. Jay avoided the gaze.
As she neared him, she heard a deep, husky and strong voice call out in an angered tone, "Dr. Warren!"
She stopped. The man's loud voice even startled the nurses in the nearby nurses' station. They looked to see what was happening.
"Dr. Warren?" The man repeated.
"Yes?" Jay answered. The man was now in front of her. He looked more like a post than a person.
"If anything. Anything happens to my brother, I'll make sure you'll be buried!" The man's voice was filled with anger and hate. Hate towards her.
Jay though if taking the situation in stride. These things do happen in such cases and she had to get used to it. Aside from that, this man irritated her with his sudden show of arrogance.
"Look, mister. I did my best to save your brother. Had I known this would be the thanks I'll get, I should have left him alone." Jay answered vehemently. AS she finished her last syllable, she was about to walk past the man but his burly body blocked her. Instead he even pusher her towards the wall. The action shocked Jay and she wasn't able to react.
"Don't give me a shit." He released her from his grip as there was a convergence of nurses and orderliness nearing them. As she walked away, the group of nurses and orderlies parted to give him way.

At ODDS - Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

EMERGENCY

When the plates were done, they did a wet reading. The only fractures were at the forearms and shin. That on the forearm was relatively simple. The ribs were intact. THere were no traces of bone splinters. And there was no fear of disrupted organs, only torn flesh and muscle tissues.
"Whai is his blood type?" Hay asked as they quicked wheeled the patient into the operating room from the ER.
"A.B." resonded the paramedic.
"Good. Anyone can be a donor then?" Jay was just trying to be positive. In the town, there was no blood bank. And blood was usually taken from the hospital's own reserve. The child's blood type meant that he could receive transfusion from persons other thank his own blood type and that meant less complication.
Since transfusion is not a simple process, doctors had to know the blood type of the individual because not all blood types are compatible with one another and the patient might end up dying if he were given the wrong type of blood during transfusion.
The boy's blood type was AB. It meant that he can receive unlimited amounts of blood from persons with all the other blood types - A, B, and O- without any adverse effects. And for this, Jay was glad. There were no possible complications and the operation would be relatively simple.
They were still tying to reach the head surgeon bu to no avail. Then the decision was made. Jay was to operate. She was tense. Chuck was there to give her moral support. He knew Jay very well. She was a blooming surgeon. Superb with her work and the bulk of the tension was due to the fact that she was operating without the head surgeon's blessing.
Once in the OR, everyone was set to work. First they had to deal with the compound fracture in the shin before they went to work on the fracture in the forearm. By now the boy was under a general anesthetic induced through inhalation. Chuck was monitoring the boy's blood pressure pulse and breathing. Before the introduction of the anesthetic, his pulse and breathing greatly improved. His blood pressure on the other hand was still the same - within normal levels.
When he was stabilized, Chuck gave the go signal for Jay to operate. In this situation, they didn't have any choice. Although Jay was specializing into General Surgery, she wasn't that experienced yet. But everyone in the hospital agreed - she was good. She had saved the life of a girl who was involved in a car crash once. Another time, she was able to see to it that a construction worker would get another chance at life. But all these operations were with the aid and guidance of the head surgeon.
This time she was helplessly alone. Just like the boy on the operating table. She took a deep breath, picked the scalpel from the hand of the nurse and made the incision on the leg. Spurts of blood sprayed on her and few drops landed on her gauze mask. Within a few minutes, the cut became a joyous crimson. Her objective was to make a large enough opening near the bones, manipulate these into place and secure them. She was glad there were no tiny bone splinters. If there were any these may get into the bloodstream and can cause damage to circulatory tissue. She was also to make sure the layers of pierced muscle were put back into their proper position or else there would be a muscle hernia.


She was careful as she was putting the bones into position. Her gloves were slippery due to fresh flow of blood. When she was able to put the tibia and fibula in place, she fixed the layers of muscle and made and made sure these were in their right insertions. Then she prepared to stitch the incision. After which she put a thin layer of gauze over the cut and started to put the cast.
When she was through with the leg, she proceeded to the forearm. As she was finishing off putting the cast Chuck called her attention.


"His breathing and pulse are changing." Then he paused slightly and looked at Jay with an unnamable look of expression. "blood pressure's dropping. His breathing's stopped." Chuck paused again for a short while before he gave the confirmation, "There's no heartbeat!" As Chuck said that, the distinct morose sound of the ECG went flat. The machine registered a flatline. The respirator was at this point no help to the boy's condition.
The Operating Room was plunged into deep panic as they tried to revive the boy using CPR. As Chuck was pushing down on the boy's chest, Jay got the defibrillator ready. When it was prepared, Chuck gave way to her. She put gel n the boy's chest and readied him for shock.
Jay tried to keep calm. She was terrified. She had been through this process before. But everytime it happened, she was tense. Chuck looked at her strenly. They exchanged glances. Holding the terminals, she called in a loud shaky voice, "CLEAR!"
She put the two terminals on the boy's chest and the shock's force lifted the now lifeless body.

At ODDS - Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

EMERGENCY

"What kind of emergency is this?" She asked the receptionist who answered her call. "It is a riding accident." the receptionist answered. "A fourteen year old boy and his horse fell into a gorge." "Where is the boy now?" But instead of answering, she heard the receptionist mumble something, not to her but to someone else on the other line. After which, the receptionist told her that her colleague, Dr. Ventura would like to speak with her. Dr. Ventura was the head of the hospital's anesthesiology department. She heard a familiar voice. She was sure it was him. "The ambulance will bring him in anytime now." His low baritone informed her. Jay asked, "Chuck, have you called any other doctors?" She just wanted to make sure that there were others there. She hadn't yet been through an emergency without the help she needed. It was not that she doubted Chuck's capabilities, but he was an Anesthesiologist, not a Surgeon.

If worse comes to worse, Jay would have to operate alone. And if she operates, she would do it without the head surgeon’s supervision or go signal. Although she had tried to operate without the head surgeon’s supervision a few times before, this time, she was not given the permission to handle the operation by herself.

“We have tried but as of now the others on the list are either out of town or still at duty in the city hospital.”

This was pathetic, Jay thought. There is indeed a shortage of doctors in the town, and to make matters worse, doctors who were living in the town either left or commute the one hour to the city everyday to work in a bigger, more functional and prominent hospitals there.

Her thoughts ended when she saw the lights of the hospital grounds loom into view. She parked and sprinted at once to the emergency room. Dr. Ventura was at the ER entrance. As she saw him, she called out. “Chuck! Chuck! Where is the child?”

“The ambulance is still on its way.” Chuck looked anxious. “We are also undermanned.”

“This is the problem with small town hospitals like this.” Jay replied, trying hard to abate the air of anxiety.

Within a few minutes, the sound of a siren broke the still country air. Its flashing lights tried hard to battle the severe darkness characteristic of small ranching towns. The nurses and orderlies readied themselves. As the ambulance stopped before the hospital entrance, a rush of persons made themselves busy. The boy was looked so helpless. Hay thought. At this point, the paramedic who came with the ambulance was relaying the condition of the boy to her and Chuck. Shortly afterward, Chuck talked to a woman who came with the ambulance. She was incidentally the boy’s aunt and guardian. Chuck explained to her the conditions and those they were to do an operation at once. He asked for her consent and let an attending nurse get the paperwork ready.

While the attending nurses were fixing the paperwork, they wheeled the boy into the ER. They successfully stopped his bleeding but to their estimate, he had lost at least two pints of blood. They quickly took an x-ray of him to see the extent of damage done.

There were fractures in both his left arm and leg. The once on the forearm was a simple fracture. However, the fracture on the left was compound. The sight of it wasn’t pretty for a part of the bone stuck out. There was also a suspicion of fractured ribs. However, they couldn’t five any conclusion since the plates were not yet ready. If only the fracture on the leg was just as simple as that on the arm, then all they’d have to do is to manipulate the bones into place a put a cast. All these without incising the patient.

The boy was unconscious, his breathing was shallow and his pulse was weak but his blood pressure was normal. He had bruises and cuts almost everywhere. Judging from his looks, the boy was pretty lucky to be alive. He must have fallen into a deep gorge.

to be CONTINUED

At ODDS - Introduction

Jay was dripping her way out of the bathroom when her phone rang. She went over to pick up the hand set. That was when she heard the order. "Dr. Warren, there is an emergency." She almost couldn't believe it. She left the hospital an hour and a half ago, got a shower when she arrived home and hadn't even relaxed a little bit when the summons came. She wanted a break. It was a holiday and most of the doctors were having a swell time. Gosh, why can't she.

She quickly dressed, left her house and drove as fast as she could to the hospital. It was something she was used to. She remembered that as an intern, the supervising doctor once said, "Doctors don't have to look good. They have to work good." And he was right. You don't have time to dab on blush or paint lipstick on your mouth. Every second meant the life of someone. She was halfway to her destination, when she picked p her cellular phone and called the hospital.