Knocking On Death's Door (J. Ortiz) (au)

Chapter Two

      Persephone had to get the man's colonoscopy done, before any stitches or real work could be done on his bottom. There were two or three tears that had to be cauterized, then she had to put stitches in any visible outer tears. Putting stitches in a man's bottom was not the way she wanted to be going with her day, but she didn't want the man to just die because she didn't want to give stitches.

       Once he was stitched up, Percy had to put ointment on his package to help with the rawness, considering it could lead to infection. After all of this, Percy was able to hook him up to start replenishing his blood, considering he had lost quite a bit from all of his injuries. Many of them made Percy worry that he wasn't going to make it, but the brain bleed truly made her worry. If they didn't keep a close eye on it, the brain bleed could kill the man.

        As Percy was putting all the treatments and other information into his charts, she heard her phone begin to ring. She normally kept it on silent, but her youngest child was sick. Her brother, Aleksander, was home with the little girl, since his job was more lenient on when he could miss days. He was part of a crime scene clean up crew, and it wasn't everyday that they had a crime to clean up, so he didn't have to be in everyday.

        Alek lived with Percy and her children, since she was a very busy doctor, and she wasn't always able to get time off. Sometimes she'd have to work overtime, and instead of making Alek drive over to get the kids, or her bring them over on her break, she just offered for her brother to move in. He was happy with it, since that meant he could afford a better car because he would no longer have a substantial amount of rent to pay.

"Hello?" Percy answered her phone,"You do know I'm working, right?"

"I know," Alek replied,"but I was wondering if I could give Maisie pepto."

"Why? Is she throwing up? When did that start?" Percy asked, really worried about her daughter.

"Maybe an hour ago. We thought it would go away, but it hasn't," Alek answered,"I think whatever she has is probably just getting a little worse. If she starts running a higher fever, I'll bring her to the ER," He rambled,"Anyway, I know we gave her pepto before, but I wanted to make sure it was okay. She is your kid, and I don't want to give her medicine without doctor's consent."

"Okay smartass," Percy murmured,"but yes, you can give her a little. I have children's chews in the bathroom cabinet. Only give her one, if she's not better in thirty minutes, she can have another. Do not exceed four."

"Yes, doctor," Alek answered, and Percy rolled her eyes,"I'll let you know if she gets better, or if we're headed up to the hospital, okay?"

"Okay." Percy replied, as her stomach twisted with anxiety.

        Percy was worried as hell about her little girl, but she had to believe that the little girl would be fine. Alek knew what he was doing. He was smart, and he always asked questions when he was not sure of something.

         Instead of letting herself continue to worry, she got up and decided to start Juan's medication. She had waited until she was finished with her documents, since she wanted to make sure his body didn't reject the new blood that had been put into it.

"I hope this makes you feel better soon. Doctor Randall thinks you won't wake up, but I think you will. I want you to prove him wrong," Percy commented, as she hooked the medications to the man's IV, "I'd really appreciate some good news. The past couple of days have been hectic for me. I mean, I doubt it's been anywhere near as hectic as yours had to have been, but...I'm just going to stop talking. I don't know if you can here me. If you can't, well, that makes me crazy for talking to myself, but if you can...I don't want to accidentally upset you. Your recovery depends on you being calm and resting, not listening to my problems, or things I accident say when I'm rambling."

        Percy stopped talking, considering she was talking to a man that was unconscious. It wasn't like he could talk back, and she wasn't even sure he could hear her, which would make her kind of crazy. Her anxiety over her daughter being sick was making her feel slightly crazy.

         She made sure to add a note to the man's chart, saying that they needed to keep track of his progress with the antibiotics to make sure they were working. If they caused any side effects or reactions, she needed to know immediately. She could not chance anymore damage to his body, especially his brain and heart. He had come in with enough issues all ready.

           Once she was finished in his room, she headed back to her office to relax for a minute or two. She would study the results of all of his tests, to make sure she hadn't missed any other issues. She also wanted to make sure that she hadn't overlooked something that could counter-react with any of the medications she had given him.

           Percy was a good doctor, and she didn't get the title of being the best in her hospital by accidentally almost killing someone. She was the best because she did everything right, even if she lost a few patients in the end. Sometimes she couldn't save everyone, and that wasn't easy for her to deal with. She couldn't always handle loss, but she was slowly getting better at it. Just because she was getting better at it, didn't mean she wanted to lose another patient, so she was going to try her hardest to keep him alive...