‘John, thanks for coming. You have the REBOA kit?’
‘Yes.’ John knelt down next to Ethan, and Kate saw the identification flash on his jacket: ‘Doctor’.
Ethan was quickly updating John about the man’s condition and John was nodding. They seemed to be coming to a quick, unspoken agreement about what should happen next. ‘You’ve done this more times than me, Ethan. You lead.’
REBOA... REBOA...? Kate had heard those initials before, although they weren’t a part of animal medicine. It was a last resort, something only available for treating people.
John opened his bag and Ethan turned to Kate. ‘We’ll need your help with this.’
‘Yes. Just tell me what to do.’
There were plenty of people here who had basic medical training with the police and the mountain rescue team. Ethan must have anticipated this course of action, and he could have sent her away and chosen someone else. Kate had no doubt that he would have done, if it had been in his patient’s best interests.
But, despite all her weakness, he’d chosen her. She wouldn’t let him down, and she wouldn’t let their patient down either.
Ethan was disinfecting his hands as best he could with wipes from the medical kit. John was laying out what they needed. Kate waited.
‘Can you cut a little further across the leg of his jeans?’ Ethan had already undone the waistband and zip to examine the man’s stomach. ‘I need access to the femoral artery—you know where that is?
‘Yes, I know.’ She could do this. Animal patients tended to wriggle a great deal more than human ones, and Kate could cut a dressing off almost anything. A pair of jeans was a piece of cake, but when Ethan handed her a pair of surgical scissors she cut as carefully as if she were doing this for the first time.
‘That’s great.’ Ethan didn’t look at her—he and John were both busy with their own preparations—but his voice imputed that she really had done well. Kate breathed a sigh of relief.
She remembered what REBOA was now. A line was inserted into the femoral artery and a small balloon manoeuvred into place along the artery. When it was inflated, it would stem internal bleeding, in either the chest or the abdomen.
It was demanding work, and a technique of last resort even in controlled surroundings. Here it could only be contemplated if both doctors believed that their patient couldn’t survive the ten-mile journey to the hospital without it.
Ethan was carefully inserting the catheter, the first part of the delicate process. His posture was relaxed, but his concentration was so focussed and intense that he probably wouldn’t have noticed if the weather turned suddenly and it began to snow.
Ethan and John worked together, exchanging quiet instructions and updates. Kate kept her eyes on the blood-pressure monitor, praying that the falling stats might soon change. She held sterile lines clear of the ground, took pieces of equipment and then gave them back again exactly as instructed. If Ethan
had told her to stop breathing, she would have done it.
‘Nice.’ John’s one word as Ethan sat back on his heels was the only indicator of hope but Kate would take it.
Ethan was busying himself with the patient, and John shot her a smile. ‘You did well. We can manage now if you want to go and change your T-shirt...’
Her T-shirt was spattered with blood. But Ethan had given her a job to do, and Kate wanted to see it through. ‘May I just hold his hand, until the ambulance gets here? I won’t get in the way.’
Ethan looked up suddenly. ‘You’ve earned that.’
Kate took the young man’s hand with trembling fingers. She’d earned her place here, and he was going to allow her to stay.
CHAPTER NINE
WHEN THE TWO-MAN ambulance crew arrived, she was in the way, and she had to go. Not waiting for John or Ethan to tell her so, she stepped back, walking towards the policeman who was stationed at the corner of the hall, stopping anyone from approaching.
‘Kate. Kate!’ Mike was standing as close as he was allowed, holding a blanket and her zip-up sweatshirt. Kate ignored the blanket, zipping the sweatshirt around her and wriggling out of her T-shirt.
‘Nice trick.’ Mike grinned as she pulled the T-shirt over her head and threaded her arms into the sweatshirt. ‘You’re going to have to tell me how you do that.’
Kate smirked at him. ‘Women’s secrets.’
‘Yeah. I’d figured that one out. How is he?’
‘I don’t really know, but it seems pretty bad. Ethan and the other doctor have done a surgical procedure.’
‘Really.’ Mike nodded. He’d been Kate’s mentor when she’d first joined the mountain rescue team two years ago. He knew better than anyone that doctors waited to do surgery at hospital if it was at all possible. ‘We’ll just have to hope for the best then.’