16. Life’s Twists and Turns
Johanna
J o stretched out in bed. A smile brushed her lips as memories of Ali came fluttering back into her chest. Had it been only a dream? She sighed and shifted in the bed. She could practically feel Ali spreading kisses all over her body. It wasn’t a dream. She spread her hands across the bedspread, expecting to eventually rub up against Ali’s body, but she wasn’t there. Jo groaned and opened her eyes.
“Ali?” She shifted in bed and sat up. That’s when she heard the sound of a shower. She could get up and surprise her in the shower, but she was exhausted and just wanted to continue to laze around. Besides. she didn’t have to work, so who needed to get out of bed?
Ali shut the shower off and Jo turned and stare at the bedroom door, when moments later Ali walked in with a towel wrapped around her. She glanced over to Jo and grinned. “You didn’t need to get up. ”
“Making yourself at home, I see,” Jo replied with a snicker.
“Kind of needed to. I have an hour before I need to get to work and…” She glanced around the bedroom, then sauntered over to her clothes that were thrown all over. “Do you think anyone will notice that I’m wearing the same clothes from yesterday?”
Jo shrugged. “You could probably get away with it.”
Ali snickered. “I didn’t plan on sticking around this late. Thought I’d be home with plenty of time to get dressed and back to the hospital. But I didn’t want to get out of bed.” She heaved a sigh and moved in closer to Jo. And seeing you still there makes me want to get back under your sheets.”
“What about under my body?” Jo teased.
“Even better.” Ali moved in to kiss her but stopped short. “Oh yeah, do you have a spare toothbrush?”
Jo groaned. “Can’t you call in or something?” Jo tossed the covers back and got out of bed. She reached for a robe that was thrown on the back of a chair and slipped it on.
“I can’t even tell you the last time I called in. They would think I was dying if I dared try it now.”
Jo shook her head and left the bedroom. She went into a cabinet and rifled through it until she withdrew a new toothbrush. She turned and saw Ali behind her. “I might just have to teach you a few things.”
Ali’s jaw dropped. “You telling me you call in frivolously? Shame on you.”
Jo smirked. “Just brush your teeth so I can get a good morning kiss in already.” She pushed past her and went back into the room. “Toothpaste is in the cabinet on the right.” She sank down onto her bed and reached for her cell phone. When she pulled up the notifications, she saw that she had missed five texts and fifteen phone calls. All from May.” She looked at her settings and noticed that her phone was on mute.
She pulled up the texts, all reading the same thing. Where are you? Call me as soon as you get this. 911.
Without listening to any of the messages, she pulled up May’s number. She didn’t think she’d still be at work. She had been there on the third shift. May answered on the second ring.
“Where have you been?”
“I’m sorry. I was, um, occupied with something else. My phone was on mute. What’s going on?”
“I’m ready for you.” Jo quickly held up her finger to quiet Ali, as she came in from brushing her teeth. Ali hesitated at the door but didn’t proceed further.
“May? What’s up?”
“It’s Vincent,” she started. He came to the ER late last night. Was experiencing some stomach pains. They did some scans, but all the testing is coming back as unclear. They want to do exploratory surgery this morning.”
“I…I…I’m on my way.” She jumped up from bed and disconnected the call before May could even say goodbye. Jo glanced over at Ali. “I have to get a shower and get dressed.” She looked around, feeling a sick pain coursing through her gut.
“Jo? What’s wrong?” Ali reached for her arm to stop her from frantically searching for anything to take this pain away.
“It’s Vincent. He came to the hospital for abdominal pain. They aren’t sure what’s going on but want to open him up to get a better understanding of things. I’m not sure, but I have to get to the hospital.”
“Jo, you’re off today,” Ali argued.
Jo stared at her. “I know, but I can’t just not do something. He needs me and I need to be there for him.” She felt tears springing to her eyes. “If anything happens to him…” She choked and shook her head. “I have to be there.”
“You are too close to the situation, Jo. Trust me. I will go and see what’s happening, but you can’t be a part of this.”
“What?” Jo hissed. “He knows and trusts me.”
Ali sighed. “Let me go. You take shower, get dressed, and wait for me to call you. Can you do that?”
Jo nodded, but then looked down at the floor. She wasn’t sure she could make that promise. “I need to be there, Ali. You can’t stop me from going.” She tilted her head, the pain radiating to her chest.
“Wait until I call you.” Ali leaned in and kissed the top of Jo’s forehead and then turned and hurried off. Ali couldn’t say much, because how would she explain that she heard what was going on? They would question their relationship immediately.
“Ali!” Jo ran out of the room and down the hall. Ali glanced over her shoulder and waited. “Be vague. They’re not supposed to know we’re intimately involved, and I don’t want this to hurt you in any way.” Ali gave a nod and then turned and left the apartment. Jo stood there, her chest caving in for a moment. Vincent would be just fine. If Ali was going to be involved, then she knew that he was in great hands. She went back to her bedroom to get everything for her shower. The minute Ali called her, she would be out the door. If she could only wait that long.
He’s asking for you. Those words echoed in Jo’s mind as she raced to the train and took the slow ride. What if they were forced to go in and do it, and she wasn’t able to get there in time? She didn’t think she would ever forgive herself. Once she reached her stop, she was the first one in line to get off the train and sprinted towards the hospital.
The elevator was slow to reach her, but she tried her best to be patient. Or else she would have taken the flights of stairs to reach the surgical floor. Finally, she was on the elevator and headed to the department. Once off the elevator, she maneuvered her way around to Vincent’s room, where he was being prepped for his surgery.
Ali stood outside, her back to her, as she spoke to Vincent’s mom, Flora. She sensed Jo and turned to glanced over her shoulder. She gave a smile, then turned back to Flora. She mumbled something and Flora glanced over to Jo. Flora flew towards her and fell into Jo’s arms.
“I’m so scared.”
“Hey, don’t be scared.” Jo pulled back and looked to her. Jo gently touched the back of each of Flora’s arms and gave an encouraging smile. “He’s in great hands.” The words came out with ease, but there was a hesitancy. She wanted to trust those words more than anything, but her heart was heavy. “Go to the lobby, and they’ll find you once the surgery is over.”
“You’ll be there, right?” Flora’s eyes widened.
Jo glanced to Ali and Ali gave a slight shrug. Jo felt the emotion jump to the pit of her stomach. “I’m going to try,” Jo whispered. “I’m off the clock today and I’ll have to see if I can get it approved.” If nothing else, it was a solid excuse.
Flora nodded but didn’t look happy that Jo was bailing on the surgery. She turned and went to the lobby, where Jo hoped she had family members waiting for her. She turned to Ali and tilted her head.
“Please don’t start. You are too close to this. You can go in there, give him some encouraging words, but that’s it.”
Jo sighed and nodded. She pushed past her to enter his room. He was already hooked up to some machines that were running his vitals on a steady loop. He looked up and smiled.
“You’re here,” he said.
“I wouldn’t miss it,” she replied, her eagerness deflated when she saw him frown. “What’s wrong, Bud.”
“I’m nervous. My stomach is doing flip flops.” He reached down and touched his stomach. It was the same feeling that Jo felt. “What if…”
“Hey, you’re not going to think about that. You know Ali?” she asked. He gave a small nod. “She’s going to be in there, and I can assure you that she’s one of the best.” There was a knock on the door and Jo looked over to find Ali standing there.
“They really need to take him to the OR,” she said.
Jo nodded, then turned back to him. His eyes narrowed, and he frowned. “Why can’t you be there? Please?”
Jo sighed. “I’ll try,” she whispered. She turned and Sue Ellen, one of the nurses, was coming in to grab him for surgery. Jo walked out of the room with Ali close behind her. “I know why I shouldn’t be in there, but I’ve been the one involved in his care. He trusts me.”
“I know, and that’s distinctly why I thought you were getting too attached.” Ali sighed.
“You know I’m the best nurse to have him in my care. I won’t get in the way. I’ll be professional, and I’ll do things how you want them done. But I feel I need to be there.” Ali looked away from Jo’s prying eyes. Jo held her breath, questioning if she was really about to get through to her. “Please.”
“Fine,” Ali groaned. “It’s against my better judgment, but you can be in there. We need to scrub in, and if I order you out of there…”
Jo eagerly nodded. “I’ll go.”
Ali sighed, and they hurried to the room to get scrubbed in for surgery. Jo knew that this was the best alternative, because she wouldn’t be able to get him out of her mind for the duration of the surgery.
“Only one of the new nurses was allowed to scrub in, Jo,” Ali began. “I want you to know that there’s many reasons why you are going in there. Not just because Vincent wants you there. You have a gift, and I want you to continue to thrive on that gift.” Jo smiled, through her mask, but Ali wasn’t quite finished. “If things get rough in there, though, I’m going to be forced to pull you out and put Sue Ellen back in, it’s not personal. I hope you know that.”
She turned on her heel and went through the door. In a way, Jo felt like Ali was scolding her over something, but Jo knew that in the hospital, Ali would have to be the boss and take matters in her own hands, if necessary. She would accept whatever happened.
Jo entered the OR, where Vincent was still awake. But only for a few moments, just in time for him to look up and see she was there. He gave a smile as the anesthesiologist worked on giving him the medicine to drug him up. As they waited, Ali showed Jo the setup and gave her a brief rundown of how things would work.
“Dr. Maples is a phenomenal surgeon,” she said. “Vincent couldn’t ask for a better surgeon to be working on him. That eased Jo’s mind. The door opened, and he entered. He seemed to have a pleasant disposition as he greeted her and then looked over to Vincent.
“Do you like Jazz?” he asked.
Jo quirked up an eyebrow, and Ali gave a slight giggle. “Um, yeah?” Jo began.
She saw the grin in his eyes as he nodded. “The radio is over there.” He motioned with his head, and Jo turned to find that he wasn’t kidding.
“It soothes him,” Ali whispered.
Jo was fine with whatever he needed as long as they got Vincent through the surgery and on the road to recovery. She flipped on the radio, and it immediately began playing softly, echoing through the OR.
“Shall we begin?” he asked.
“Absolutely,” Ali replied. Jo quickly stepped up beside her, nervous as to what she should expect with her first surgery. For the start of it, it was relatively easy. He would ask for surgical instruments and Ali would hand them to him if it was on one cart, while Jo would take care of the other cart. She kept checking Vincent’s vitals as she wanted to make sure nothing spiked and was sighing with relief that he was stable through the first part of the surgery.
Once he got the abdominal cavity opened, Jo glanced over his body and looked. Her breath hitched. She didn’t know what she was looking for, but she saw a mass of organs that all seemed to be intertwined like a puzzle. She fell back on her heels and waited for him to call out more instruments.
“How are you doing?” Ali whispered.
Jo swallowed the lump that had developed in her throat but didn’t utter a response. “Ah, look here,” Dr. Maples replied. Ali first looked over, and her facial expression dropped.
“What?” Jo asked, leaning in.
“You can see that the small intestine is obstructed,” Ali quietly stated. It’s twisted right there, and that’s causing blood flow to back up on distal portions of the intestines.”
“How does someone fix that?” Jo asked. She wasn’t quite sure what all that meant but knew it couldn’t be good.
“I’ll remove a part of bowel,” Dr. Maples chimed in .
Jo shot him a look, but he seemed so nonchalant over it. “There’s no other way?”
“If I nick the intestine, he could be worse off. We don’t want to take that chance.” She had to trust him that he knew what he was talking about, but her mind immediately became as jumbled as Vincent’s intestines were. Dr. Maples went back to barking out orders for the instruments as he worked to remove the portion.
“Oh no,” he mumbled. “He’s starting to hemorrhage.
The room started spinning, but Jo had no other choice except to jump into action and help Ali remove the blood as it spurted out. She felt the sweat threatening to drip as her chest frantically raced. She had to do everything she could to save him, but she couldn’t face one more obstacle, without losing it completely.