Cold Hard Courage

[18] - Fine

[Christina Parker]

I walk with Chief Williams, wheeling Tobias' bed into O.R. seven.
"Keep her updated. I want you to give her the good news when everything is done." He says.
I raise an eyebrow, nodding. I sigh out sharply, then chew down on my bottom lip.
"Christina," He says, sensing my unease about the situation. "There will be good news."
I look up at him, my words hitched deep in my throat.
"Yes, sir," I say, simply. "Of course there will. There has to be."
He nods. He directs me to the Scrub room, pushing the door open. We both enter the scrub room, grabbing a mask, covering our faces. We both scrub in complete silence, our thoughts running rampant in our minds. I dry my hands and enter the room where they pull a pair of fresh gloves over my hands, then a blue disposable scrub drape. I look over at Chief Williams, then down at Tobias. I approach Tobias, looking down at him.
"You've gotta wake up, Tobias," I say, my voice barely audible. "For Tris. She needs you now more than ever."
The whole operating room sits quietly, all looking at Tobias. Zeke was put under anesthesia before Chief Williams and I came in.
"Today, Ezekiel Pedrad will be donating a portion of his liver to Tobias Eaton in an effort to save his life. We all hope that this works, especially for Beatrice's sake." Chief Williams says. "Team A including myself and Doctor Payton will open Ezekiel up, remove a segment of the liver, send it to Doctors Smith and Casen, then close him up. Team B including Doctor Smith and Doctor Casen will open Tobias up, remove what remains of his old liver, replace it with the new one, make sure it picks up, then close him up and get him to recovery."
He sighs out sharply, closing his eyes, a quiet sequence of words passing his lips before he squeezes his gloved hands together tightly. He opens his eyes and nods at me.
"Scalpel." He says, holding out a gloved palm towards me.
I reach into the tray, grabbing his scalpel, placing it in his hand, watching his hand retreat back towards him. He places pressure under the blade, slicing Zeke's abdomen open in a large L-shapes cut in the top right segment of his abdomen. I sigh out quickly, the air passing my lips inaudibly.
"Suction, Mary." Chief Williams says to the nurse beside him.
The gurgle of the suction tube echoes through my head. I watch motion after motion of his fluid-smooth technique, praying that this works.
     "4-0 silk," David says to Maria, the nurse at his station.
     I close my eyes, squeezing them shut tight, my chest aching with anxiety.
     "Christina, are you alright?" Chief Williams asks, his voice full of worry.
     I open my eyes, spotting everyone staring at me, the beeping monitors and my pounding heart all I can hear.
     "I'm fine," I say, my voice cracking, full of worry. "I'm alright, really."
      His dark eyes are all I can see, the rest of his face covered by his mask.
     "If you need to tap out, I can call someone else in. This is stressful, I get it." He says.
     I shake my head, swallowing the saliva in my mouth, trying to ground myself.
     "No, I'm fine, sir. Really. I just need to breathe." I state.
     He looks behind me, then back at me, furrowing his brow.
     "Susan, take over for Christina. Christina, scrub out and take a seat in the gallery. We'll call you back in if we need help." He says.
     I sigh out sharply, ripping off my gloves. I rip off the blue disposable scrub gown, running to the scrub room. I scrub my hands, choking down my tears. I walk out of the scrub room, walking towards the stair case to climb up to the gallery. I push my way into the empty stair case, climbing each step. I stop a third of the way up the stairs, tears dripping down my cheeks. I open my mouth, crouching down. I try to muffle my sobs, but cannot contain them any longer. I scream out every damn thing that weighs heavily on my heart, sobbing to myself in the staircase. I sob about Tris being alone. About Zeke risking his life for a dead man. About Peter and Michael lying to the world for a solid month, allowing Tris to raise a baby on her own. About Tobias dying on that table a month ago and no one seems to accept it. About every bad thing that has happened so far. I stand, wiping my cheeks. I sniffle, compose myself, and finish my climb up the stairs to the gallery. I push the door open, spotting Chief Williams' team passing a metal tray with a piece of Zeke's liver in it over to David and Justin's team. Beside Justin, in a small silver bowl, sits the remnants of Tobias' old liver. I stand beside the intercom, watching both teams work quickly.
     "David, this silk isn't holding," Justin says, raising an eye. "He's bleeding out quickly."
     David nods, looking over at Maria, an eyebrow raised.
     "1-0 silk. Hannah, suction. Jacob, hang a bag of blood." Davis says, making quick work.
     I approach the glass, watching them intently. David ties another suture, watching it.
     "Dammit! I need a thicker suture." He says, looking at Maria.
     I watch the bag of blood empty itself quickly, all rushing into and out of Tobias' body.
"Hang another bag of type specific B positive." Justin says.
I raise an eyebrow, watching Jacob quickly change the bag out. I watch as this one drains even quicker than the first.
"Come on, Tobias. Work with me here." David says, throwing another stitch.
Jacob stands beside the blood bag, watching it the same as I do.
"That's two bags done." Jacob says, turning to look at David and Justin.
"Hang another. We have to make this work. Tris is counting on us." Justin says.
"That will be three bags, sir." Jacob says, raising an eyebrow.
I step back to the intercom, listening closely to the doctors.
"So be it! We can't have this man die on my table. I won't allow it." David says.
The monitors beep rapidly, causing the whole room to charge with electricity.
"He's becoming Hypotensive." Chief Williams says.
"What did we miss?" Davis asks, looking at Justin.
I slam my hand down on the intercom button, hearing it beep before allowing me to speak.
"He's in Hypovolemic shock. You need to hang another bag, now!" I exclaim.
Jacob hangs another bag and the room moves quickly as David and Justin throw stitch after stitch, placing the liver in it's new home. The monitor stops beeping and Tobias' blood pressure goes back up, the bleeding stopping, the electricity dissipating from the air. Justin and David throw the last suture, tying the portal vein back in place.
"And we've got pink up." David says, an obvious smile in his tone.
The room explodes with excitement, everyone clapping or hugging one another.
"Christina?" Chief Williams asks, making me look down at him. "Nice catch."
I smile, watching everyone who stares up at me from the O.R.
"Closing him up now. Christina, go give them the news." Justin says, a smile in his eyes.
I nod, smiling back down at them. I spin around walking down into the stairwell. I scream with excitement, running my hands over my scrub cap. I laugh, my voice echoing back and forth into my ears. I exit the stairwell, walking down the hall towards the visitor's center. I push the door open, spotting Tris and everyone else, as well as a couple more people from different groups waiting for their family members. Tris spots me, passing Graham to her mother. Everyone stands, surrounding me as I approach her.
"How are they? Are they alright?" Tris asks, an eyebrow raised.
     I sigh out sharply, squeezing my hands together tightly.
     "Zeke was taken to recovery about ten minutes ago. He did good." I say.
     Shauna sighs out with relief, taking Tris' hand. I bite my lip, looking at Tris and the others.
     "The sutures didn't hold on Tobias. He was bleeding out so fast. We hung two bags of blood and he drained them faster than we could hang and change them." I say.
     Tris gasps, covering her mouth, tears in her eyes threatening to spill over.
     "He went into Hypovolemic shock as we hung a third bag. After that third bag... it was like God answered our prayers. He stopped bleeding as fast. His blood pressure rose. The sutures held." I say.
     Tears drip onto her cheeks and she stares at me with hope.
     "And the liver pinked up." I say, a smile breaking out onto my face. "We got it. It worked."
     Tris' jaw drops open and everyone gasps, looking at one another. She laughs, covering her mouth to dampen it. She looks at Shauna, wrapping her arms around her. Everyone starts to cheer, clapping loudly. The laughter echoes through the room as everyone cheers with joy.
     "Tobias is going to be okay. But these next 24 hours are crucial." I say.

How long has it been?
8 hours.
She said we needed to wait 24.
He's not gonna wake up. I just know he won't.
You can't be so sure, Tris. You need to just wait him out.