Survival

Chapter Three- Emergency

Nikita and Michael rushed into the bedroom.  Lucy was sitting next to Birkhoff, who was slightly blue.  “He’s not breathing!” Lucy reported.

                She jumped up and felt for a pulse on Birkhoff’s neck.  When she didn’t get one, Lucy began to do CPR.  “What wrong with him?” Michael wondered aloud, knowing his friend was now in mortal danger and the only person who could save Birkhoff, was Birkhoff.

                “Look at the guaze on his stomach.” Nikita suddenly noticed and pointed out.  “There’s blood seeping through.  He’s still bleeding.”        

                Almost on instinct Lucy grabbed the surgical sissors beside the bed and cut Birkhoff’s sutures open.  Meanwhile Michael had almost automatically took over for her doing CPR to keep him alive.  On ce Lucy had gotten his wound back open, she began to search his abdomen for the bleeding source.  She skillfully checked section by section trying to find where the blood was coming from.  She grabbed rags from the table and used them to soak up blood then throwing them to the side with a sickening, wet splat.  The blood from the rags seeped into the light carpet making a huge stain.  She repeated the process every time a rag was saturated.  By the fifth time she grabbed for a new rag, Michael and Nikita were starting to worry- Birkhoff was losing a lot of blood and the stain on the floor was getting large.

                As quickly and frantically as her search had started it ended the same way with Lucy excitedly announcing, “There it is, a huge wound on the back of his liver.  I’m going to have to remove a lobe of his liver.”

                “What?” Both Nikita and Michael immediately exclaimed in shock.  “Do you know how to do that?”

                Lucy shook her head as she worked to temporarily stop the bleeding.  “Not done it before, but I know how.” She replied as she worked, without even looking up.

                Taking a deep breath, Lucy rushed around gathering the instruments she needed and began the procedure.  She really had to dig through her mind to remember exactly what to do, but it did come back to her.  It was not too long before she had removed the lobe of his liver and Birkhoff’s bleeding had slowed to a trickle.  As she worked on sewing him up, Michael stopped CPT as Birkhoff’s pulse returned.  While she was closing his incision, no one spoke.  Once she finished redressing his wound, Michael finally asked, “Where did you learn to do that?”

                Lucy blushed with embarrassment.  “Before Division got their clws into me, I was a medical resident in surgery.”

                Both Michael and Nikita were surprised and impressed.  Usually people with those talents did not do things that got them caught by Division.  “Really?” Nikita asked.

                Lucy could tell where this was going.  “There was an incident at work and I was brought up on murder charges.  It wasn’t me, but I was new, and I was expendable and set up.  I was put on death row to make an example.”

                Neither Nikita nor Michael were surprised.  In fact, Michael had a suspicion that Percy probably had a piece in getting her framed.  It had become a new tactic of Percy’s, towards the end of his leadership, to get people really qualified for Division.  It was despicable, but completely something Percy and Amanda would have done.