Chapter Text
Chapter One: Incoming Trauma
Doctor Scylla Ramshorn was filling in her patient charts while shoveling in what little food she had time for. Today it was a cafeteria turkey sandwich that was as bland as everything else in the hospital. A ding went off from her pager that let her know there was an incoming trauma. Leaving the half-eaten sandwich by the computer, she sped off toward the ER room doors and donned a green trauma gown.
“Twenty-five-year-old female. Revived at the scene, open skull fracture left side, pneumothorax left side, thoracostomy performed in field. Possible bilateral femur fracture.” The paramedic gave the doctors a quick run down of what they knew was wrong with the woman. The woman’s face was covered with lacerations and blood obscured any features. Scylla knew there was going to be far more damage than one could immediately see. After the techs performed the trauma scans, she could see what exactly they were working with.
“Page ortho and neuro, and prep an OR, all hands on deck with this one!” Scylla called out to the nurse.
Scylla deftly intubated the woman and a nurse’s hands took over breathing for the patient. A flurry of doctors and nurses worked to stabilize the woman on the table, before moving her to the operating room. Hours later, Scylla pulled off her gloves and gown, tossing them into a biohazard bin.
While scrubbing her arms before leaving the operating room, the neurosurgeon joined her.
“She’s going to have a long road, but good job tonight.” Doctor Bellweather spoke while using a disposable scrub brush on her arms.
“Yeah, you too. What do you think her cognitive function will be?” Scylla asked.
“Hard to say, we’ll know more when she wakes up.” Rinsing off her arms, Doctor Bellweather turned to leave. “Well, I’m headed home, hopefully a certain gentleman of mine is still awake. You’ll have to page Gregorio if you need neuro.”
“Have a good night.” Scylla dried her arms, put on her white lab coat and went to the ICU. She knew she should get some sleep in an on-call room but something tugged at the young doctor that told her to check in on her patient.
Scylla approached the nurses’ station. “Hey Anacostia, which room is my Jane Doe trauma?”
“3B. Stable, your interns keep checking in on her hoping for a code. Freaking vultures.”
“They’re just eager to learn.”
“Well if I see them hovering I’m gonna put them in their place.”
Scylla cracked a smile. “Please do.”
The ICU was kept cold on purpose but a chill went down her spine when she looked upon the woman. Scylla had been a surgeon for a few years and saw horrific injuries that led to worse fates, but something was different about her. Now that her face had been cleaned of blood, there was something…familiar. Before she could ponder where she knew the woman from, Scylla’s pager went off calling her back to action.
Jane Doe coded in the middle of the night, much to her interns’ delight and her dismay. They had to perform emergency surgery to remove blood clots that had formed in her lungs. After a full night of observation, Jane Doe was stable once again.
The dawn arose and Scylla was eating a bag of potato chips for breakfast while completing her charts. Her body was tired and it was only a few hours until she could go home. As she brought another chip to her lips, a man approached wringing his hands.
“Im sorry miss, but I seem to be turned around here. My daughter was in an accident and I’m trying to find her room.”
Usually someone walked family members to patient rooms but it has been a busy morning and it was just about time for a shift change.
“What’s your daughter’s name?” She asked and brought up the registry on the computer.
“Raelle Collar.” He spoke clearly, as if he didn’t want a miscommunication.
No. Scylla thought. Collar? It couldn’t be. There had to be dozens of Collars in the city. She looked at the man’s face. Recognition coursed through her but he awaited her response.
She knew exactly who the Jane Doe trauma was. Raelle’s mother had killed her parents.
“Follow me.” She rasped.
- - -
The last thing Raelle could remember were the sounds of screeching tires and a car blaring its horn. Blinking against bright lights, she glanced around the room. A tray at her bedside, beeping monitors, and the stark white of a hospital room came into focus. Trying to get up, pain shot through her abdomen and down her legs.
Raelle’s lungs clenched and she realized how hard it was to breathe. She could barely move. Looking around the bed, she found the remote control with call buttons. Raelle then realized her right arm was in a cast. Pawing at the remote, she managed to press down on the button to call for help.
It seemed like an eternity, but finally a woman walked into the room. “Hey, you’re awake.”
“Where.. where… how?” Words failed her, as if they were just out of reach.
“You are in the hospital, you were hit by a truck a couple of days ago. We’ve gone through quite a few surgeries now. My name is Doctor Scylla Ramshorn.”
Raelle nodded. “How…bad?” Raelle managed.
Scylla spoke softly and slowly in a way Raelle could understand. “You had a brain injury, both of your legs are broken and your abdomen was crushed. There was a lot of damage that we were able to repair, but we had to remove your spleen.”
“Truck….drive….man?”
“The other driver?” Scylla asked. Raelle nodded her reply. “From what I heard he fell asleep at the wheel, ran a red light and hit your motorcycle. He’s alive though, as far as I know.”
“Fam… family…dad?” Raelle asked.
“Your father knows you’re here, but it’s late and visiting hours are over, I’m sure he’ll be back in the morning.”
“…kay” Raelle blew out a breath.
“Can I examine you quickly? Your head took a hard knock and I already hear that your speech is impaired.” After having her eyes follow a flashlight that moved in circles and have her wiggle her toes, Doctor Ramshorn asked her to clench the fingers of her non casted hand. “Good. We will do more scans and you’ll have some other folks that want to poke and prod you but you’re going to be all right.”
“T..talk?” Raelle spoke.
“The speech part of your brain, called Broca’s area, that is the part of your head that got hit. The aphasia may be temporary, it may not be. We’ll try speech therapy and monitor your condition. With everything else looking good, I’m assuming that its going to be temporary.”
“..kay.” Raelle nodded again.
“Are you in pain? Or need anything?” Doctor Ramshorn placed a hand over her casted one.
“N..no. Goof. Good.” Raelle shook her head at the broken speech.
“We’re going to take good care of you, Raelle.”
“All…already.” Raelle gave her a soft smile.
“We already have? Well its sort of my job. Try to get some rest, you’ll heal faster.” Raelle laid her head back and her brain was a haze of thoughts. When sleep came, she dreamed of the brunette doctor.