The Phoenix

Surgery

As soon as she heard Emily's unmistakable voice, nothing seemed to matter. All of the torture and pain she'd been through didn't mean anything. Her sister was here now, and broken ribs be damned, she was going to get to her.

Almost instinctively, she tore the cuff off her arm and painfully ripped out both IV needles, despite the protests of the nurses. She practically jumped out of bed before running and tackling her sister into the tightest hug of both of their lives. They both began to cry into each other's shoulder.

Suddenly, Emily pulled away and held Lucy's face in her hands, studying it intensely.

"What did they do to you?" she choked out, running her thumb under a row of stitches. "You know what, let's not talk about that right now,"

Emily pulled her into another hug and squeezed her so tightly she thought another rib or two might break. Lucy didn't notice Aaron standing behind her sister until he spoke up.

"So I guess this makes me the odd man out here," he joked.

She laughed and pulled out of Emily's arms, throwing them around a startled and surprised Aaron.

As soon as she noticed him, she knew exactly why he was there. She'd made him promise to protect her sister, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to do that if he was in DC.

"Thank you," she whispered.

She noticed after pulling away that there was now blood on Aaron's shirt from where she'd ripped the IV out.

"It's fine," he chuckled.

Lucy's ribs hadn't taken kindly to the crushing hug, and it hurt even more than it had earlier. Every breath was a sharp stabbing pain. Doctor Khatri, who had just returned, and the nurse weren't very happy about her removing the needles, but said nothing to her about it. She figured that since she'd just been kidnapped and nearly murdered, they would cut her some slack. She sat back down in bed with Emily and Aaron sitting in the nearby chairs, while the nurses reinserted the IVs.

"Lucy, we need to talk about your ribs," Doctor Khatri said, approaching her with pictures of her x-ray.

Lucy nodded nervously.

"Six of your ribs are broken, and one of them has appeared to have caused a pneumothorax in your left lung."

"A pneumothorax?"

"A collapsed lung. We're going to have to insert a chest tube immediately," she said, grimly. "We're going to move you to the ICU and put you on oxygen while we wait for the OR to be prepped and our pulmonary specialist, Dr. Carson, to arrive."

"What's the procedure like?" Lucy asked, her voice shaky.

"Well, we aren't exactly sure if the fractured ribs have caused any damage to the surrounding organs, so considering the circumstances we think it would be safer to put you under general anesthesia. I just want you to know that there's nothing to worry about. This procedure has been incredibly successful when it comes to treating collapsed lungs, and Dr. Carson performs it almost every day."

"How long will it be in for? I mean, college starts in less than two weeks and I still have to get new clothes, buy my books, get school supplies-"

"Listen, Lucy," Doctor Khatri said sympathetically, placing her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"I know you want to go home, but your health is our main priority right now, and I cannot allow getting on a plane and going back to the US right now."

"Alright,"

"I'll be right back, then we'll move you,"

She could easily read the look on Emily's face. Her sister was terrified.