my shoulder just as Oliver Massey runs out of the building behind me, huge clouds of fog billowing on his breath. He’s pulling on a set of rubber gloves, squinting up the road, searching for the ambo.
“Sorry, the kid I was closing up crashed. Took a while to stabilize. What we got?”
“Two patients,” Mikey says. “Woman, early thirties, with potential spinal injury and severe blood loss. Also, one of the firefighters who responded to the call. He was sliding in through the passenger window of the car the other patient was trapped inside. The streetlight she hit fell down on top of the vehicle. He has a head injury, broken leg and possible internal bleed.
“Ah. Right, well I guess that explains the fire truck then,” Oliver says. Sure enough, there’s a fire truck bringing in the ambulance, full lights and sirens blaring out into the night. The two emergency service vehicles tear into the parking lot, the fire truck pulling up outside the unloading bay, while the ambo breaks right at the door.
Oliver and Mikey rush forward with a gurney while I hurry to talk to the female EMT who’s jumping down from the rig. “There should be another ambulance. Where’s our second patient?”
“On their way. The roads are crazy. We’re lucky we made it here in one piece.”
“Who have you got?”
“Alex Massey, lieutenant over at firehouse sixty-three. He was awake when we loaded him up, but he lost consciousness shortly after. He’s systolic. Blood pressure’s through the floor. We pushed dopamine en route.”
“Alright, we’d better move quickly then. We need to find out what’s going on inside.”
Oliver and Mikey are already rushing the gurney with the injured fire fighter into St. Peter’s. Oliver’s face is ashen, white as a sheet. “I’m gonna need you to scrub in on this one, Sloane,” he tells me.
“I can’t, I’m point on trauma tonight. I need to oversee the emergency—”
“Sloane, you’re fucking scrubbing in. I need you. I need you.”
“Olly—”
“It’s my brother, Sloane. It’s my fucking brother.”
***
I get Dr. Tarney to take over Trauma for me and I do scrub in. There’s no way Oliver should be operating on his own brother—it goes against every rule the hospital has—but there’s no stopping him. By the time the chief knows Alex Massey is in need of medical attention, he’s already receiving it.
We’re fighting to find the source of Alex’s extensive internal bleeding when the chief storms into the OR, a surgical mask covering her face. “Dr. Massey? Dr. Massey, you need to step away from that patient right now,” she says calmly.
Oliver’s working like a man possessed, though. There’s no way he’s going to do that. “I’m afraid things are a little critical in here right now, Chief. You’ll have to excuse me if I decline.”
“Dr. Massey, I’m already scrubbed. I can take over from you. You need to leave. Now.”
Oliver glances up at me, asking me a silent question—do I have his back? I nod. Some doctors would fall apart in situations like this, but not Olly. He’s galvanized, working methodically. He’s not showing any signs of being emotionally compromised. If he were, I’d be the first person to agree with the Chief. As it stands, I say, “He’s got this, Chief. Dr. Massey’s currently stemming an aortic bleed. If he lets go—”
“I can catch it. Oliver. I’m serious. This is not how we work.”
Oliver frowns, still entirely focused on his work. “Are you the best cardiothoracic surgeon in this hospital?” His voice is totally steady.
The chief doesn’t say anything.
“Because the last time I checked, you were the best pediatric surgeon in this hospital and I’d just been promoted to the head of my department. Which just so happens to be cardiothoracics.”
“Oliver.”
“I have this under control, Chief. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to concentrate on not letting my brother’s heart tear itself apart.”
The chief gives me a stern look—I’m still not forgiven for the crazy shit I was caught up in a couple of months ago, and aligning myself with a disobedient Oliver won’t have helped matters. “Fine,” she snaps. “But I’ll be watching every single move you make.” The chief huffs out an exasperated breath and backs out of the room, hitting the exit button with her elbow in order to keep the room sterile.
Oliver looks up at me once she’s gone. “Thank you.”
“Just save him, okay. I’m gonna be working extra shifts in the VD clinic to make up for this.” I must be out of my mind. Don’t