Malia Ryland has just arrived in Chicago and is starting her first shift as a nurse at the Chicago Medical Center while waiting for a vacancy in one of Chicago's firehouses as a paramedic.
Warning : some chapters contain scenes with sexual content.
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On the new shift, I go to the firehouse without Kelly. I pass Matt in the locker room. He asks me, "Have you seen Severide?". "He's not coming today. He's taken a day off, he has to testify on his case. The hearing is today" I answer. "Right! How are you doing after last time's intervention?" he asks. "Everything's going well, Casey. Don't worry about me" I say with a little smile.
The shift goes on without too many interventions. At the end, I wait for Kelly to come and pick me up as we agreed. But after 10 minutes, he's still not there. I decide to call him but I get the answering machine.
I take a cab and go to the hospital for my appointment. On the way, I text Kelly and tell him to meet me there.
After registering at the reception desk, I go to the waiting room. In this room it is not my surprise to see Kelly sitting on a chair. I sit down next to him and ask "I thought you were picking me up?". He says "Oh yeah, I was waiting here". Then he kisses me and puts his hand on my belly. It's something he's been doing a lot since I told him the news even though I'm still so early in my pregnancy that you don't notice it.
"Did you win?" I ask. "Yes, it's over" Kelly tells me. "What about Renee?" I feel compelled to say. "I congratulated her. We have no reason to see each other anymore. Directly afterwards I came here" Kel replies. "I've been thinking about us and that baby all day" he admits. We kisse.
Then a nurse comes to pick us up and takes us to one of the consultation rooms. She gets me on the bed and tells me that the gynecologist is going to come in and do the exam. We both stay with Kelly for a few minutes before the doctor arrives. She's a young woman I've seen in the hospital hallways before.
She asks me different questions about my medical history and lifestyle. She then gives me a complete medical exam. She then goes to my ultrasound. The doctor makes me lift up my shirt, applies cold gel on my belly. She then places a probe and moves it along my belly. She moves her screen towards us and we can see our baby even though if it is very small and we only see a small ball without being able to distinguish his limbs.
Kelly interlaces our fingers and gives me a kiss on the forehead. We're both amazed but the best part is when she lets us hear the heartbeat. There we both shed our tears.
"It's still a little early to know exactly when you got pregnant but you're in your sixth week of pregnancy. Your baby looks very healthy. I'm going to print out some pictures of the ultrasound for you. We'll reschedule an appointment for two months from now. Then I can tell you your due date" the gynecologist tells us, while giving me something to wipe my tummy with.
Then she gives us two pictures of the ultrasound. I smile when I see Kelly still in awe when he gets the pictures back. We then head to the reception desk so that I can make my next appointment. I can't wait for this child to arrive.
I've been back at the hospital as a nurse for five weeks now. After the appointment with the gynecologist at the hospital, I announced my pregnancy to my superiors. And we all agreed that it was safer for the baby and for me to go back to work at the hospital. My shifts are different because I don't do night shifts anymore.
It's Friday and this is my second last shift of the week. I'm at the emergency entrance when a paramedic brings in a young man, Peter, 25, who is deaf. I'm with Dr. Halstead and Dr. Manning. The paramedic tells us he has an intractable headache, is disoriented and sensitive to light. His GCS is 15 and he vomited twice in the ambulance. I'm going to be the interpreter. I help with the sheet transfer.
"Pulse is 112. BP 122 over 76. Normal sinus rhythm" April informs us.
"His fiancee says he had a cochlear implant surgery a month ago. It is not activated yet" I translate.
"Nothing in his chest. Regular sinus rhythm at 102" says Natalie just before the patient vomits. "Give 4 milligrams of ondansetron" decides Will.
"His fiancee says it's meningitis because of the implant. She had advised him not to do the operation" I inform.
"We don't know if it's meningitis. His neck is soft" says Nath. "Meningitis can occur after an operation, but this is exceptional. Get a CBC, biochemistry and two sets of blood cultures" adds Will, "and he needs a brain scan" asks Nathalie.
April takes the samples and then I take him to the scanner. Once his scan is done, I take him down to the emergency room. Then I accompany another patient to the maternity ward.
We are back with Peter's results. I tell the patient "You don't have meningitis". "But we still don't know why you have these symptoms" says Will.
"We are concerned about your sensitivity to light. So we'd like to do some additional blood tests, including a genetic test. It's just to be sure. You'll have to spend the night here. We'll try to find a bed for you upstairs and if that's not possible, we'll make sure you're comfortable here" says Nathalie. "The good news is that we've spoken to your speech therapist and we can activate your implant" says Will.
"Yes, I want to, thank you" says Peter. At the same time he signs for his fiancee. They start signing each other. They argue about privacy, so I tell Dr. Halstead and Dr. Manning and we leave the room.
I go afterwards to take care of other patients. I mainly take care of the less serious cases. One of the things I do is put a cast on a little girl who broke her wrist.
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