Mr. Thomas

                                                           Mr. Thomas

 “Please don't go" she whispered. I don't want you to go.  I will do anything in the world. If only  you'd stay with me. "

The man's pale face was laced with sadness.  He helped himself up on the bed."My love," he said, "It's out of my control. Please don’t worry. I will be fine. I need you strong . I am just happy you are here."

The woman put her hand on the man's shoulder. They sat together in silence for a long time.  The nurse came into the room and had ruptured the silence with her relentless busyness: corrected the IV, checked the cords and the heart monitor. Then the doctor came.

"Please excuse us," he said softly to the nurse.  On what seemed like a virtual command, she disappeared swiftly from the room.

"Your husband is very sick," began the doctor". "He is going to need a heart transplant . However, this time we don’t’ have a donor available. I am sorry."

The woman started weeping softly. " Please... She whispered. " Can't you do something... It's not his time.  We'll pay..."

Doctor coughed. " It's not about the money. Our donor list is very long, and there is no time. Believe me. We tried.. Yes,yes,  please, come in."

At this time, the door opened and several nurses came in, along with a couple of doctoral interns.

The woman's eyes widened. " You don't want to help my husband? You want to kill my husband?" she said, her voice gaining momentum.

The doctor didn’t get a chance to answer. What happened later stunned everyone and shocked every eyewitness to the core.

The woman pulled out a gun from her front pocket and leveled the gun. Everyone started screaming, scrambling together toward the wall.

“I will kill all of you, and especially him!” said the woman, looking at the doctor who came in first.

The doctor’s face was oddly calm, only a shade of gray severity came over it. He didn’t say a word.

The heart monitor started beeping. One of the nurses rushed to the man’s side.

“ He is flatlining! I need to grasp the airways… Doctor, please! We need to increase the oxygen supply!”

The doctor gave a quick order:

“Chen, call for the surgical team backup! Manning,c heck the ECG gain. Ross, inject the epinephrine! Marsh, assist with intubation when the OR team arrives.”

The nurses started chest compressions. The doctor was counting : “One… two… three… again!... One… Come on!”  The woman was watching with tearful eyes. The doctor’s face was filled with tension.

The monitor kept on beeping. More people came into the room. The nurses were engaged in chest compressions. Everyone kept looking at the monitor.  All of a sudden, the numbers started climbing up.

Everyone took a deep breath.  The woman closed her eyes.

“Start the cardiac defribrillator!” ordered the doctor.  The OR doctors took in the paddles and started the procedure. “One..two..three…shock! Again! Again!” The man’s body rose and fell.  The woman put her hands to her eyes. The numbers steadied on the machine. “Stet!” commanded the doctor. The team eased off and stepped away.

The man was breathing lightly under the sheet. The woman rushed to his side with a cry.

Doctor gave a quick order for everyone to step out, with a single glance.  “I am going to call security”, whispered the OR nurse to the doctor on the way out. The doctor shook his head. “No need right now”, he said quietly. “I will speak to her.”