Macie's Story

8

(January 18th, 4 days old)

Just as quickly as everything had fallen apart, Will had been given a signal by the other doctors and nurses in the room and he had managed to pull Jay and Hailey from the room and down the hall.

They didn't say a word as the redhead took them into a small room on the other side of the floor, and still didn't as they sat themselves down.

The walls were head to toe windows that circled around a dozen chairs. It was the same style of room the entire unit had been sitting inside whilst nervously awaiting news on another member of the team almost seven years prior.

Hailey sat on one of the chairs, chewing on the inside of her cheek and staring off into the space around the door they had just walked inside. Jay had plopped himself down on the seat next to hers and for a few moments had leaned forward, hiding his head away in his hands before sitting up again, falling into the chair. His leg bounced and despite placing his hand on his knee to try to get it to stop, the tapping of his heel hitting the floor was still all too loud. In the back, the quiet noise of Will's sneakers squeaking across the floor could also be heard as he made his way along the back wall for the hundredth time.

At this point it couldn't have been more than a few minutes after the beeping rang out, but to them it felt like a lifetime. Everything had switched to slow motion, the never ending feeling of etching forward as they waited for the next tick of the clock hanging up beside the door. It had been the longest few minutes from hell, but when one of the doctors that had run into their daughter's room pushes open the door, the room stops and Jay and Hailey find themselves longing for that slow paced time to come back. For a moment, everything is still - Jay's leg stops bouncing and Will stops pacing, the clock stops ticking - as they all frantically try to read the man's face.

He looked tired and stoic, and Hailey couldn't tell if the slight frown on his lips was from defeat or not. Her breath hitches at the back of her throat and she becomes rooted to the chair, unable to follow the lead of her fiancé, who stands up to look the doctor in the eye.

The doctor's face doesn't change as he switches his gaze between all three of them. "She spiked a fever and developed tachycardia and hypotension so we've given her some meds that will help correct that. We've also started her on a broad spectrum of antibiotics for the fever, she's most likely got some kind of infection and we've sent blood cultures to the lab to try and pinpoint what type of infection she has..." He says, seeming to want to say something else before trailing off.

Jay's eyebrows furrow. "What is it?" He asks, having picked up on the small change on the doctor's face. Behind him, Jay can hear Will let out a soft sigh and he quickly shifts his eyes over his shoulder to watch as his brother turns on his heels and looks out the window before back at the doctor. "What else is there?" The detective questions, a little more firmly this time.

The doctor sends out a breath and his shoulders sink slightly, pausing for a moment before letting the words out carefully. "Based on her other symptoms, we've put a rush on her labs.. Because her immune system is still weak, it doesn't know how to properly fight anything off, we do believe there is a real possibility that she's developed sepsis as a result of the infection."

And with that, another weight gets tossed onto their shoulders and in the corner of her eye, Hailey watches as Jay collapses back down onto the chair he'd been sitting on previously. Hailey swallows back the lump that had formed in her throat as she shook her head.

"What does that mean for her?" She asks, a catch audible in her voice.

"It would mean monitoring her more closely. Once the blood culture is back we'll be able to adjust the antibiotic treatment to just the ones she may need, she'll keep receiving her IV fluids and the meds to help keep her BP and heart rate stable but she may also need to be intubated if her breathing begins to become affected."