Jet observed Rev for a second. It was then that he noticed how much Rev was sweating. Taking a step forward, Rev looked at Jet. "Rev, are you feeling okay?" Glancing up at Jet, Rev nodded as he stepped forward. The next thing Jet knew, Rev collapsed onto the ground.
Rev then realized it was the ceiling that he was staring at. Jet's face appeared in his line of sight next. Watching Jet's mouth moving, Rev didn't have a clue what the doctor was saying. By now, Rev could barely focus on anything. The room was spinning faster than a top. The only thing Rev could hear was the pounding of his heart as sweat poured down his body.
Jet dropped onto his knees as he placed his fingers against Rev's neck. Rev's eyes briefly flicked to Jet's. Jet felt Rev's hammering pulse. Grabbing his stethoscope, Jet pulled up Rev's shirt and pressed the scope to his heaving chest. Rev's heart was already pounding, and Jet could hear it getting faster. "Rev, were you bitten by anything."
The only reply Jet got was a groan as Ky raced into the room. "Jet. Rev." Ky dropped to her knees when she saw Rev. He'd lost all his color. Jet looked at Ky "it was a Krexbra serpent."
By the time Jet hung up the phone, he'd found the puncture wounds on Rev's right shoulder. Swearing under his breath, Jet met Ky's gaze "the next twenty-four to seventy-two hours are going to be utter hell for Rev."
Rev's glazed eyes blazed as he suddenly heard voices all around him. The room was spinning so fast Rev didn't have a clue where anything was. Soon as Rev was moved onto the bed, Lux cut off his shirt. Ky made quick work of getting Rev connected to the monitor. Lux and Jet both looked up at Rev's EKG strip. "Have everyone on stand by. Ky."
Lux didn't like that nervous look in Jet's eyes. "You're acting like the boy is knocking on death's door."
"If things get as bad as it could. Yes."
"Then we'll-"
"We can't give him anything other than normal saline." Lux continued to sputter. "There isn't an anti-venom, nor is there any medication you can give him.
"Then there's nothing we can do."
"Nothing medication wise."
Walking up to the heart monitor, Jet adjusted the setting on it then turned to Ky. "Is he going to be okay, Jet?"
"Only time will tell. We're all keeping a very close eye on him." Ky nodded and took a nervous breath.
"Mmm Ky-" Ky looked at Rev as he shifted in the bed.
"I'm here, Rev... You're okay." Ky ushered Rev to roll onto his left side. Crawling into the bed beside Rev. Ky wrapped her arm around Rev. Placing her hand over Rev's chest. Ky felt Rev's apex pounding against her fingers. Feeling Rev's heart begin to skip hard. Ky winced as she felt the powerful beats shake Rev's body.
It was barely audible, but Ky heard Rev grunt quietly. Feeling Rev's heartbeat even out beneath her fingers, Ky felt Rev's body relax after a while. Sometime later, Ky dozed off. She must have, the next thing Ky knew. Rev jolted in his sleep and nearly socked Ky.
Getting out of the bed, Ky called out. Rev. Rev didn't seem to have heard anything that Ky had said. After many minutes of none stop thrashing, Rev started to calm down. Glancing over at the heart monitor, Rev's heart was racing at a steady160.
Rev's chest heaved with every breath he took. Sweat rolled down Rev's skin in large droplets. With a runt, Rev's eyes flicked open and darted around the room before they closed once more.
Setting the soiled linen in the hamper, Ky sighed that had been the third bedding change they'd done tonight. Ky whipped the sweat from Rev's chest as she swapped out each of the patches. Looking up at the heart monitor, Ky watched it for a moment. Noticing that Rev's heart was steadily increasing, Ky reached for her stethoscope.
Inserting the earpieces, Ky pressed the scope to Rev's chest. Listening to the rapid drumming that was Rev's heartbeat, Ky moved the scope across his chest. Rev's murmur was louder than ever. Ky had never heard it so clearly. Rev let out a heavy sigh and shifted onto his side. Rev's heart rate reached over 200. Ky pulled out her phone as the door flew open to the room door flew open.
Jet and Lux raced into the room. Lux quickly examined Rev as Ky connected him to a 12 lead EKG. Soon as there was room, Jet stepped in and pressed the probe to Rev's chest. Ky had to blink a few times. Rev's heart was beating at a blinding pace.
"I was checking the venom levels in his blood," Lux said as he looked over the reading. "He's at 80%. From the reading, it looks like the dose he was given is fully absorbed."
Jet nodded "he's almost at the peak of this." Moving the probe across Rev's chest, Jet's gaze moved to the heart monitor. Rev's heart rate was already up to 220. If his heart goes any faster, there was a high chance that he'd go into fibrillation. "Nobody goes far," Jet said as he began to clean off the ultrasound equipment.
Rev was just barely hanging on. Jet watched as Lux placed and a mask over Rev's face. Lazily batting at Lux, Lux grabbed Rev's arm and spoke calmly to him. "His oxygen is starting to drop."
Ky watched as everyone began to file out of the room, minus Jet. Jet knew exactly why Ky was staring at him. She'd figured out that he was hiding something from her. That was true to an extent. Jet had run the calculations over and over. If things didn't take a turn for the better soon, Rev's heart was on the verge of stopping. His heart was just barely beating efficiently as it was. The last thing Jet wanted to do was starting to look like that was the only option.
Hearing an alarm go off on the machine, Jet mentally swore. Ky's eyes shot to the screen as Rev's heart went into V-fib. Every second seemed like a minute. Five seconds felt like five years.
Jet immediately ran to the corner of the room and grabbed the defibrillator. Ky whipped the sweat from Rev's body as Jet placed the patches on Rev's chest. It was then that Lux came running into the room. "Clear!" Jet yelled just before the defibrillator went off.
Lux placed the scope on Rev's chest. At first, he heard nothing, then Rev's heart stumbled to start beating again. Hearing Rev's heart pounding at a dizzying 230. Lux pulled the ends from his ears as Rev's heart went into another round of V-fib. "Shock him, then get ready to put the pacer pads on him."
Rev's body jackknifed as the defibrillator went off. Lux rolled Rev onto his side as Jet placed the pad on his back. Soon as Rev was rolled onto his back, Ky placed the other patch on Rev's chest as Lux pulled off the other ones.
Jet connected everything and quickly set the pacer. Setting the pacer to 220, Jet watched Rev's EKG. "I was hoping not to have to do this. I can't sedate him." Sedatives mixed with Krexbra venom equaled cardiac arrest. Not one victim of that cocktail survived.
Grabbing the ultrasound probe, Jet squirted a glob of gel onto Rev's chest. "If you want to watch Ky. Stand on my right side." Ky moved to Jet's right side as he found a near-perfect view of Rev's heart. "His cardiac output has already improved."
Ky watched the forced beating of Rev's heart and noticed how it was beating. "It looks like it wants to beat faster but is begin forced to stay at this set rate." Jet nodded. "His heart is powerful." Swallowing the lump in her throat, Ky reached for her stethoscope. Slipping the ends into her ears, Ky placed the scope next to the pacer pad on Rev's chest. Every beat of Rev's heart was loud and strong. She felt the force of each beat against the chest piece.
Jet nodded "it's why I'm confident that he'll get through this." Rev's heart rate was already down to 190. Every so often, Jet adjusted the pacer setting. By the time four hours had passed, Rev's heart rate was down to 115.
It seemed to take forever to get Rev's heart rate to eighty beats per minute. For Rev, that rate was still on the fast side. Jet grasped one of Rev's fingers as he pricked it. With a drop of Rev's blood, Jet watched as his machine read the venom levels in Rev's blood. "He's down to thirty percent."
