(not proofread.)
Luke entered the OR fully scrubbed in just after Ashton did. He could see Gabi was already hooked up to the heart rate monitor and blood pressure monitor, her arms already strapped out to the side for easy access.
Michael, formally known as Dr. Clifford, was also there as Gabi's anesthesiologist for the surgery. He was busy setting up some last-minute things.
"Hey, man," Michael smiled at the surgeon once he saw him enter. He had heard an earful from both Luke and Ashton about Gabi's situation, and truthfully; he wasn't sure which side to take.
On one hand, he could understand Luke's frustrations because the differing stories from Gabi's parents was definitely a weird one.
But he could also understand Ashton's point since Luke did tend to and had a pattern of getting completely attached to patients, which wasn't good either.
"Hey," Luke smiled back and began to get gowned and gloved with the assistance of a nurse. "Hello," he smiled through his mask to Gabi. "It's me, Luke, in case you couldn't tell." He looked up at the heart rate monitor and saw an elevated heart rate, probably a combination of nerves and stress.
"I know," she smiled. "I can still tell by your eyes and voice."
"Sorry. I'm sure we all look kinda scary with the whole only being able to see our eyes thing."
"I... it's okay. This is just my first surgery, I think."
"Well, you're in excellent hands here. We're gonna get that bullet out, repair any damage that was done, clean the wound a bit, and then stitch you back up. You'll wake up in the recovery room."
"When will I be able to go home?" Although it was an innocent question to everyone else, Luke could sense the hidden fear behind her voice. Perhaps it had something to do with her parents.
"Probably within the week," Ashton chose to respond. "That's only if everything goes well though. You also sustained an injury to the head from the crash, so we'd also like to monitor that as well."
Gabi stayed silent again, just choosing to nod. She was getting tired of everything.
"You've never had anesthesia?" Michael asked. "Sorry, I just want to make sure I get everything right."
"Nope. Never had it."
"Okay, well I am definitely going to monitor and watch for any reactions." He placed a mask over her face gently. "This is just oxygen, helps with being put under. I'm just going to give you the anesthesia through your IV."
He picked up the syringe of anesthetic and hooked it to her IV, gently starting to push it in.
"Feels weird," Gabi announced. Her eyes were beginning to flutter and her speech slurred slightly. "Kinda burns and it's making me feel weird, dizzy."
"That's the anesthetic medicine," Michael acknowledged. "It's called Propofol, it can leave a bit of a burning sensation. And the dizziness is normal as well. It's just the medicine starting to pull you under. Let it do its job, sweetie."
Gabi's eyes began to flutter close, herself having a difficult time staying awake.
"It's okay, you can go to sleep. I will see you when you wake up," Luke smiled and watched as Gabi finally shut her eyes, the beeping monitors [from her nerves and stress,] also relaxing.
"And she's out," Michael spoke, glancing at her monitors. He quickly intubated her and taped her eyelids shut, with nurses draping her body except for the exposed area of the gunshot wound.
"Alright, you ready to get this bullet out of her, Hemmings?"
"Yeah, I'm ready."
