The Dental Student

C i n c u e n t a y t r e s

5 3

Chief's POV

From the ER, we ran straight up to the OR.

Dr. Ranson meeting is at the OR.

Within 15 minutes of the surgery, Dr. Ranson and I realized that Willow was going to need a heart transplant.

A heart transplant?!?

For just a college student, who also happened to have cancer.

It just seems like nothing is going right for her.

She has a cancer.

She needs a heart transplant.

Her boyfriend just had surgery, that she doesn't even know about.

And she is almost done with school to get her DDS, she just needs to get clinics hours.

She's so close, but so far.

And everything seems to be getting in her way.

Dr. Ranson and I both decided that she needed to be put in a medically induced coma, with strict observations until UNOS calls us, to tell us that they have a heart for Willow.

Luckily, Willow doesn't have the rarest blood type, if she did, it would be much harder and longer for UNOS to find a heart.

It is also good that Willow is young and somewhat healthy, other than cancer, which is being treated, but in much worse circumstances, she wouldn't have been so high up on the list for UNOS.

Dr. Ranson, Dr. Reynolds, and I, along with random nurses would switch off to observe Willow, to make sure her vitals and heart rate are study.

Right now it was Dr. Ranson's shift, and I just left Willow's room.

I walked into my office and sat down in my chair and just relaxed, looking out my office's window watching the beachside.

I was just trying to have a break, and my feet were killing me.

It is always stressful when you're waiting on a transplant and UNOS won't ever call you, telling you that they have an organ you need.

Poor Willow, it's been 5 days and I have no indication if she will get a heart soon, or even at all.

As I watched the waves crash into each other, my assistant interrupted me, running into my office and holding something, yelling PHONE.

I swear it's always when I take a four second break that I get interrupted.

I took the phone from my assistant, not even seeing who it was.

"Chief Williamson speaking." I said, waiting for the person on the phone to speak.

We have a heart for patient number 379281. You need to send a representative to Lakewood Memorial Hospital to accept the heart in exactly one hour.

"Of course. Thank you. A representative will be on the way." I immediately answered back, and then ended the call.

I handed my assistant the phone and ran off to Willow's room.

They finally have a heart for her.

Dr. Reynolds and I will need to leave to get the heart soon and Dr. Ranson needs to prepare Willow, so that when we return, we can quickly begin the surgery.

I ran into Willow's room to see Dr. Reynolds and Dr. Ranson next to her bed, Dr. Ranson taking Willow's vitals.

"Dr. Ranson, I need you to prepare Willow for a heart transplant."