Rosalie had to leave London after having her heart broken.
Years later, Rosalie is back with a content attitude and a childish four year old. She finally shows back up to a Lionesses game after being heartbroken by a footballer only three years ear...
When I arrived at the room the emergency buzzer was sounding in, I saw that three nurses and two healthcare assistants were already present.
"What's going on, ladies?" I am hoping to get a response from at least one of them. As she lies on her back, I can tell that the patient is an elderly woman.
"We came to ask if she needed to to the toilet before her lunch and found her unresponsive," one of the healthcare assistants tells me, appearing visibly shaken.
"Are we aware of whether or not we have a DNAR in place?" I put the question to everyone. Today I wasn't providing care for this woman, therefore I didn't know anything about her. When CPR is not likely to benefit a patient who has experienced cardiac arrest, a do-not-resuscitate order (DNAR) is usually put in place after a discussion between the patient and doctor.
"Rosa, there is no DNAR in place. No pulse here; beginning chest compressions. Please activate the crash call." One of the nurses, Shari, stated while beginning CPR and examining the woman's neck for a carotid pulse.
After saying, "I'll go put the arrest call out," I sped out of the room and approached the nurses' station. I take up the receiver and enter the number 2222, which is the arrest number for the hospital .I dial the emergency number and report, "Cardiac arrest, AMU room 1 bed 5... i repeat cardiac arrest, AMU room 1 bed 5," before turning round to the filing cabinet to gather the patient's medical records, which I know will be required by the crash team upon their arrival. In all my years as a nurse, I have been amazed at how quickly the crash team arrives whenever they get called to a cardiac arrest. Crash team members include junior doctors, registrars, and critical care physicians, all of whom carry a bleep that alerts them to a cardiac arrest in the hospital. They must then, if it is safe to do so, immediately leave whatever they are doing and rush to the ward to run the arrest. It almost seems like I had just placed the call when I hear the doors to the ward tear open and several members of the crash team come sprinting down the corridor. As they enter the room, I follow behind with the patients' paperwork. The pressure on the nursing staff is usually reduced when the crash team arrives. In most cases, we simply need to perform chest compressions while the doctors manage the rest of the management of the arrest. I could sense Shari's strength was waning from the compressions, so I took over. I stand over the patient, who I learn is an 89-year-old lady named Nora, and begin performing chest compressions. As my hands pound on her chest, I can feel her ribs cracking beneath the strain. The registrar and the junior doctors are discussing the patient's prognosis behind me, given her advanced stage of COPD, breast cancer, and advanced age, I anticipated a call from them. It was like a gut feeling. I paused my compressions so the registrar in charge of the arrest could feel for Nora's pulse at the base of her neck.
Nothing.
"I do not believe that continuing with resuscitation would be advantageous given the fact that this lady has end-stage COPD, has breast cancer that is no longer responding to treatment, and is elderly and frail. Is there consensus here?" The registrar polls the room full of doctors and nurses for answers. Everyone on the crash team gives a unanimous "yes."
The registrar glances at his watch and announces, "Time of death, 1608."
*** ***
Millie had fallen asleep about halfway through the journey. After fighting off exhaustion for about half an hour, she gave in and fell asleep. I was hoping to get some time to myself, and I couldn't thank Leah enough for letting me doze off in the passenger seat, headphones in. After finishing my shift last night, I returned home to find Leah at the dining room table which was lit by candles and a homecooked meal waiting for me. I knew how hard she had worked on it and didn't want to ruin the evening by crying in her arms as I wanted to. Instead, I forced myself to smile and forget about the woman who had died during my shift, and I embraced Leah.
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As the candlelight faded and the wine was finished, Leah and I headed upstairs to get ready for bed; we needed to get up bright and early the next morning for the journey.
After deciding to take a long shower, I changed into my pyjamas and lay down with Leah, where I instantly broke down into tears. In her arms, I her told about the woman who had passed away during my shift. Despite my extensive experience with cardiac arrests and caring for patients in their final moments, each one of those experiences left an impact on me. The next morning, despite Leah having held me all night, I still felt a little deflated.
Millie had fallen asleep in the car, so Leah carefully removed her from the seat and led us up to her apartment. Since she was carrying Millie, I offered to go grab our luggage, but she said she'd come back for them when we got settled in. I walked through Leah's front door and was rendered speechless. The house looked like it had never been inhabited and was straight out of a movie. It was completely white, which I knew wouldn't last long with Millie around. We slumped down on the couch, Millie still nestled in Leah's arms.
"So I was thinking," she said, "I'll go over to Mum's by myself and tell her about Millie, and then I'll come and get you both to head over there to meet them?" Almost in a whisper.
With a grin on my face at the sight of her and Millie, I reply, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea" and joke "I can't imagine anything worse than showing up at her doorstep and announcing, "Hi, this is your secret grandchild."
"When i say i'm going to tell her about you both, i mean i'm going to tell her the truth" He gives me a reassuring look.
All I can say is, "I hope they like her" as my palms start to sweat and my anxiety takes over.
"Baby my mum adores you anyway, and she will be overjoyed to finally have a grandchild" she takes my hand in hers and lifts it to her mouth to kiss. I grin and tell her to visit her mum quickly so we can get this over with. If she can show me where the towels and such are kept, I tell her I'll give Millie a bath and get her ready for her coming back. She shows me around the apartment quickly, hands me some towels and tells me that Millie's toiletries are in the bathroom. When I asked how she had managed to acquire a car seat, a cot (which I had spotted on our way to the linen cupboard), and toiletries for Millie while hse was in London with me, she explained that her housekeeper did the grocery shopping and that her personal assistant, had taken care of the car seat.I gently wake Millie from her nap on Leah's bed, where she had placed her while she got me the towels, and she goes to tell her family about Millie. As she begins to come to, I carry her to the bathroom and draw a bath to help her relax and feel at home in her new environment. After I had dried her off from her bath, we went through to the living room, where I discovered that Leah had carried our luggage upstairs before she had left. I take up Millie's luggage while balancing her on my hip and roll it into Leah's bedroom, where she sits on the bed and watches me as I sort through the clothes to find something appropriate for her first meeting with her mothers family.
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I picked her up and carried her back into the living room, telling her, "Now we just need to wait for mummy to come get us."
