Abroad Liberty: In the Eye of the Storm

We have to work together that is all

Helping the staff of the hospital set the outside ER, Kyle arranges for patients who can't be saved due to the lack of personnel to be kept as comfortable as possible. Once done outside he heads back inside to see where he can be of help. 

Time keeps passing by, everything is starting to calm down, the rest of Heartland's team is out in different departments assisting as they can, Melton approaches Kyle to see how everything is looking before they head back to their hospital, as Melton approaches they hear a painful scream "HELP, SOMEBODY HELP, MY SON, HE CAN'T BREATH"

Melton and Kyle begin running towards the waiting room to see where those screams are coming from, once there, they see a young boy on the floor and a crowd o people around him while some nurses perform CPR, doctor Melton asks the nurses "What do we have?" one of the nurses setting the AED replies "Patient is 7 years old"

The mother rushes to Andrew's side "He was fine, he was just fine and all of a sudden he couldn't breathe anymore, he started pressing his chest and then he collapsed, please help my baby boy" Doctor Melton turns to look at her "Does he suffers from any heart condition or respiratory diseases?" The mother with fear in her voice replies "No, he is a healthy boy, we were at the mall and my husband suffered some burns but we were cleared by the paramedics"

Kyle comes to Melton and in a very low tone says "Melton, look at his fingers" Doctor Melton turns to the nurses performing CPR "STOP COMPRESSION" the mother asks "What why, he is going to die if we do that"
Doctor Melton continues giving orders to the nurses "Keep the airway open, but whatever you do, do not compress his chest anymore"

Kyle takes the mother aside "Ma'am if we're right, your son may have a blood clot in his longs, continuing compressions may cause the clot to rupture which would bring even more problems, we are planning on moving him to a more private room where he can be more comfortable and we can proceed with caution."

☔️

The nurses prepared a room for the young boy and they keep him comfortable, connected to a cardiac monitor, and receiving oxygen via an oxihood, Doctor Melton and Kyle along with the other nurses continue running some tests and attending to the child's needs as they wait for the results to come back.

As time kept passing their shift ends, and they remain assisting in the hospital, after two hours of waiting the results finally come in, once they read through them, Doctor Melton proceeds to tell the mother the news "Ma'am, the results just came in, would you come with us" the mother stands eagerly "Sure, are they good news, please tell me you have good news"

Doctor Melton offers her a chair "We ran some tests to see why at a such young age your son was developing clots in his lungs, after getting the first round of results we saw some abnormalities, therefor we ran some more" the mother interrupts him "Oh my god, is he going to die, HE IS, ISN'T HE?"

The mother starts to cry and Doctor Melton puts one hand on her shoulder trying to comfort her as he continues speaking, Kyle watches from afar "Your son shows signs that are associated with stage one lung carcinoma, they will have to run some tests to see whether is benign or malignant, but the good news is that it was caught in the early stages and it can be treatable" the mother jumps out of the chair in despair  "CANCEEEER, oh my god, did we do this, was it something we did? Something I did? Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, he is going to die isn't he, this is all our fault, and all that smoke, is that what activated the symptoms? Is the smoke the reason he is dying?"

Doctor Melton stands next to her and puts a comforting hand on her shoulder "Ma'am, there are many reasons as to why, but right now, all we know is that it was caught in the early stages, therefore the chances of success are high, but the doctors won't know more until they run more tests, I will put you in contact with a colleague of mine from Manhattan, he is a Pediatric Oncologist, hopefully, he will be able to do what we here can't" the mother with tears in her eyes looks at him "But why can't you?"

Doctor Melton holds her hands in his "I'm not specialized in Oncology, I have a focus on Pediatric more into the Cardiovascular side of things, but again, he is really good, he'll know how to approach this."

The mother hugs him, and while they're hugging Kyle passes them by, he heads for the ER, once there, he sees the ER is still packed, but the staff of the hospital is back from the site of mall, a driver waits for them "Sandoval, are you guys ready, they are waiting back at the hospital for the both of you" Kyle looks at the driver "Are we the only ones left?"

The driver opens the van's back door "There are some other doctors still in sight but the emergency has passed in its majority, the boss wants all essential personnel back at the hospital for a debriefing before you go home" Kyle looks at Melton who follows just behind "Are we ready to go Dr. Melton?" Doctor Melton replies "Yes."

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The drive back to the hospital is quiet and calm, as they sit in complete silence, Doctor Melton observes as Kyle window watches  "Thanks for helping with that kid back there" Kyle replies as he continues looking out the window "I barely did anything" Melton takes a deep breath "That's not true, you assembled an ER unit in the outside of the hospital and got it running, you prioritized patients, then you help me diagnose that kid, you did a lot today Kyle" he makes a brief pause "sorry Sandoval, it will take a while getting used to referring to you by your last name"

Kyle looks at him "I only did what I know how to do best, bark orders, and don't worry about thanking me for it, it's my job whether we're inside the hospital or working out on the field" he nods in agreement "I know, but some appreciation for what we do every once in a while is not bad. Also, I wanted to apologize" Kyle's eyes widen "What for?" Melton scratches the back of his head "Dropping that case on you without discussing it with you first, it was wrong of all of us to assume that you would be ok and demand that you did it. And so, for my part in it, I am sorry"

Kyle stares at him and with an expressionless face he replies "Thank you." Melton narrows his eyes "That's all you have to say?" Kyle stares at him, no emotions on his face "What else do you want? You apologized and I am thankful for it, there is nothing more to be said"

Melton looks at him "I see, you're still angry, just know, I'm going to keep fighting until we fix this, until we fix us, however long it takes"

They both remain silent for what's left of the ride, once they get to the hospital they debrief the chief on everything and head their way home after one hell of a day in crisis.

———

"The first thing to survive a crisis is admitting you find yourself in one, after, no one can fix what they don't know it's been broken"

———

Will Kyle and Andrew be able to work together to fix their stranded relationship, or what has been broken here can never be fixed?

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