“We have a pulse,” David announced to the room. It was as if the room itself let out a deep sigh, then the world returned to normal with everyone talking at once.
Sarah moved with David to check the monitor.
“She’s still not oxygenating well,” David said.
“She was doing so much better before this respiratory infection. Her heart’s just not strong enough to handle the extra work,” Sarah said as she started looking through her phone for Lindsey’s mother’s number.
“Dr. Benton is in the OR. I’m going to call into the room and talk to him. She’s a perfect candidate for ECMO,” David said as she looked over to where Lindsey lay.
Gone was the laughing little girl who had excitedly shown her the pretty unicorn. Now hooked to even more monitors and drips to keep her sedated she lay still and quiet. Too quiet. Lindsey had always been a fighter, but now it was up to Sarah and the staff to fight for her.
“You go talk to Dr. Benton. I’m going to call her mother,” she said.
“She should’ve been here. Doesn’t she realize how sick her child is? We’ll need her to consent to take Lindsey into the OR.”
“She’s probably at work. I have the number. I’ll get her here even if I have to go get her myself,” Sarah said as she started going through the contacts on her phone.
“If she can’t do any better than this, how is she going to do when her daughter gets a transplant?” David said angrily before he walked out of the room.
As Sarah began to go through the numbers she had listed for Lindsey’s mother, she wondered why David, who was usually so patient with his patients’ parents, seemed to have none for the single mom. Sarah knew that David was just concerned about Lindsey, but he had to understand that Hannah, like Breanna’s father, had to go to work to make a living to support both herself and her daughter. Although Sarah had to admit that it seemed that Hannah had been spending less time than usual with Lindsey. There was definitely something going on with Hannah and she planned to find out what it was before things went any further. If the mother needed their help she wanted to know. No one should have to go it alone in a situation like this. Only David himself had once done just that.
CHAPTER FOUR
SARAH STAYED IN the waiting room with Hannah while Dr. Benton and David took Lindsey back to the operating room to insert the needed catheters to start the child on the ECMO system that would help her heart and lungs rest while she recovered from the respiratory infection that was making her already failing heart work harder than it could.
The doctors had explained to Hannah that Lindsey had stopped breathing, causing her heart to quit pumping, and that even though they had gotten her heart beating again they couldn’t promise that she wouldn’t arrest again and that this was the best hope she had to recover.
Now they both waited together, a young mother who was barely holding it together and Sarah who had let her heart become involved with another child who she could lose. Sarah cared for all the children that she took care of in the hospital, but Lindsey was special. The girl had a passion for life and had fought her way through every trial her failing heart had given her. Sarah had shared her love of horses with Lindsey and hadn’t been surprised to find that the girl had quickly made friends of all the horses in the stable, which reminded her of another child, a little dark-haired boy who was quickly becoming a favorite around the stable and finding a way into her heart.
For years she had protected her heart from the pain of losing another child she loved and now she sat here knowing that she was dangerously close to knowing that pain again. Only neither child belonged to her. She had to remember that. Right now what she needed to be doing was helping Lindsey’s mother as much as possible.
“Hannah, is there anyone you want me to call?” she asked. As far as Sarah could remember there had never been anyone except for Hannah visiting Lindsey.
“No, thank you,” Hannah said as she pulled at the cuffs of her sleeves.
“Are you cold? I can get you a warm blanket. These waiting rooms are always too cold,” Sarah offered, then looked back over at the young woman who stared at the entrance to the waiting room as if in a trance. Reaching for Hannah’s hand she squeezed it.
“It’s okay, Hannah. You’re not alone,” Sarah said as they sat there with their hands joined as they waited for news of Lindsey’s condition.
Moments later David and a very tired-looking Dr. Benton came into the waiting room.
“She made it through,” Dr. Benton said, taking a seat next to Hannah.
Sarah stood and left as Dr. Benton explained the plan they had for Lindsey’s care to her mother.
“I know that this was the best thing for Lindsey right now, but do you think her heart will be strong enough after she gets over this respiratory issue to come off the machine?” she asked David.
David rubbed the back of his neck, something that she was beginning to notice he did often when he was worried which didn’t make her feel any better about Lindsey’s chances.
“To be honest, I don’t know. We discussed it before we spoke with Hannah and we all agreed that it was the only choice we had right now. If her lungs get better she’ll have a much better chance. Dr. Benton’s going to see about getting her moved up on the transplant list as soon as she starts turning around. Till then, we let her rest and we hit her with everything we have to wipe out this infection,” said David as he rubbed the back of
