Chapter 3: Code Blue

Veronica-

After finishing my shift at the bar, I went to the hospital to check on Andrew. He had been fast asleep, so I didn’t bother him. Giving him a kiss goodnight, I snuck out to take a quick shower in the locker room that was for staff.

I had a shift at the hospital in a few hours, so I wanted to grab my scrubs and get cleaned up. A customer had spilled some alcohol on me, so I stunk like a distillery. After showering, I dropped my bar uniform off with housekeeping.

They offered to help me with my laundry, so I didn’t have to spend money on a laundry mat. I was extremely grateful for everything the hospital staff and the bar did for me. It took away some of the stress I had to deal with.

They said they would take it up to Andrew’s room after it was cleaned, since I was going to be working. Having a few hours until the start of my shift, I decided to sleep in the chair that was in Andrew’s room. They had offered me a bed a few times, but I had declined it because there were other patients here that might need it or their families.

Getting in a few hours of sleep, I woke up to Lily gently shaking me. “It’s time to get up.” She whispered.

Groaning, I stretched my limbs out as I looked over at a still sleeping Andrew. Not wanting to wake him, I tossed the blanket I had used, on the back of the chair. Slipping outside with Lily, I gently closed the door.

“How was he?” I asked, still feeling exhausted.

“He did better last night. Only threw up one more time. He managed to keep some Jell-O down and a small glass of orange juice. You know he is worried about you, as am I. I wish I could help you more with things.” Lily placed her hand on my shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.

“You help plenty. I wouldn’t know what I would do without you.” I fought back the tears that surfaced.

“Let’s go get you some coffee before your shift starts.” She offered, taking my hand in hers and leading me down the hall.

“How long is your shift?” I asked when we were inside the elevator.

“I get off at noon.” She answered.

Most of the nurses worked long hours, especially with being short-staffed. If I didn’t need flexible hours, I wouldn’t mind working the long hours. It would help a lot more with paying for things.

We went down to the coffee cart that was out front of the hospital. Keeping to small talk as she told me about how Andrew beat her in a game of cards last night. I enjoyed the conversations we had, even though at times it was a constant reminder that Andrew was sick.

The older lady at the coffee cart refused to take the money I offered, when she handed me my coffee. She has been doing it for months, but each time I keep trying to pay. I hated feeling like a charity case all the time.

“I know what you are thinking, so stop.” Lily chastised me. “No one helps you because they think you are charity. They help because they care. Let them care. You do so much and barely take care of yourself. It is okay to accept help.”

Sighing, I knew she was right. Well, not exactly, but she gave me the same speech on a regular basis. Heading back inside, I was surprised when I saw Lyrek getting onto the elevator. He didn’t see me, which was a good thing.

The last thing I wanted to do was find out that I had a stalker. Knowing I was probably paranoid, I went to walk up the stairs with Lily. This was our routine when we had shifts together in the morning.

It was a chance for us to spend a little time together, drink our coffee, and for us to get our adrenaline pumping, to wake up. Sometimes if I was here with Andrew and she was working, or the other way around, we would still do it together. We talked a little bit about her boyfriend, that she was thinking of breaking up with.

There was nothing new there, considering she had been saying she would dump him for months. It wasn’t that she didn’t love him, she just didn’t think he would ever commit. He was loyal, but they had been dating for years but he hadn’t asked her to even move in with him.

We were about to open the door to the pediatric floor when her pager went off. She looked down at it and I knew from the look on her face that it was Andrew. Dropping my coffee cup, I jerked the door open and ran to Andrew’s room.

“Code blue!” One of the nurses yelled.

I was about to enter the room, but I was pulled back by Lily. “You know you can’t go in there!” She yelled over the chaos.

Panic gripped my heart, and I thought I was going to have a heart attack. As much as I wanted to fight against Lily, I knew she was right. Dr. Davis, Andrew’s doctor, rushed past us and relieved the nurse from doing chest compressions.

“Lily, get in here!” Dr. Davis yelled.

Pushing her to go, I promised her I would stay out of the room. She rushed in to take over compressions as a crash cart was pushed in by another nurse. Watching in horror, I silently prayed for Andrew not to die.

“Charge to two hundred! Clear!” Dr. Davis hollered just before he touched a pair of paddles to Andrew’s chest.

The room stilled as everyone, including me, watched the monitor for a sign that it worked. Dr. Davis shook his head before yelling again.

“Again! Clear!” He yelled and shocked Andrew again.

Unable to hold back my tears, I squeezed my hand to my chest. “Please, please, please, don’t die.”

The monitor started beeping normally and Andrew gasped for breath. I realized that I had been holding my breath and exhaling at the same moment. Dropping to my knees, I burst into tears.

“Let’s run some tests on him.” I heard Dr. Davis say, but I couldn’t stop crying.

A few moments later, Lily returned to my side and helped me to my feet. “Come on. He is fine, they took him down to run every possible test on him to find out what happened.”

Going into Andrew’s room, I still couldn’t stop crying. Lily sat me down on the chair in the room, then sat next to me on the arm. She rubbed my back as I cried, doing her best to comfort me.

I didn’t know how long we were in there, but sometime later, Andrew was wheeled back into the room. Jumping from the bed, I flung myself on him, careful not to hurt him. He squeezed his small arms around me as he joined me in crying.

“Veronica?” Dr. Davis’s voice filled the room a bit later.

Standing up, I saw a grave look on his face and knew that what he was about to tell me was bad. Placing a kiss on Andrew’s forehead, I follow Dr. Davis out into the hall. He seemed uncomfortable, so I knew it was going to be a lot worse than I thought.

“Just tell me.” I demanded, swiping at the tears still rolling down my face.

“His tumor is now malignant. Up until now, we have been lucky with it not spreading. In the past three weeks, since the last scan, it has become more aggressive. At this point, chemo and radiation are no longer effective. The best it is doing is slowing down the progression.” He explained.

I felt numb all over, but I couldn’t break down right now. My eyes traveled to look through the viewing window, of Andrew’s room. “What are our options?”

“Where it is located, you already knew it was inoperable. Now with how quickly it has spread, I am afraid that treatment options are not going to do much. If he is lucky, he might make it another six months. We can make him comfortable, or we can try the clinical trial.”

My head snapped at him. “I will not put him through the clinical trial. Every patient that has entered it, has died after the first treatment.”

“Then the best option we have is to make him comfortable. I am sorry I couldn’t give you better news.” He sounded sincere, but right now I felt pissed.

Unable to respond, I let him walk away as I stood there watching Andrew through the window. Lily looked up and saw me, so she slipped out into the hall with me. Telling her what the doctor told me, I kept my attention on my brother as I watched him breathe.

“There has to be another way.” She said, sounding just as panicked as I felt.

“I am not going to rest until I find it.” I told her, before going into the room, to spend time with Andrew.

Knowing I just missed my shift, when Lily returned later in the evening, I didn’t care at the moment. I needed the money, now more than ever, but I couldn’t deal with other patients right now. It was almost time for my shift at the bar, but I was afraid to leave Andrew.

“I promise I won’t leave his side. I talked to HR, and they said not to worry about your shifts here. They will pay you still since you still have sick days and vacation days to use up. Even if you don’t go to the bar, at least go for a walk or something. It isn’t good for you to be stressing this much.” Lily tried to reason with me.

Knowing she was right, I looked over at the laundry bag with my work clothes in it. Placing my hand against Andrew’s face, I just looked at how peaceful he looked asleep. He didn’t look like he was in pain or anything.

“I will try to work at the bar. I will be back in the morning, but if something goes wrong, let me know immediately.” I said to Lily as I grabbed my uniform and headed out of the room.

“I promise. I will stay with him all night.” She assured me once more before I left.

When I arrived at the bar, everyone noticed I wasn’t in a good mood. Rick didn’t tell me to take the night off, because he knew that working outside of the hospital helped ease my mind. At least at the bar, I wasn’t surrounded by the smell of the hospital.

After changing, I was making my way to the bar, attempting to smile, but it was futile. For the next hour, I managed to work on autopilot. Lyrek came into the bar and sat down in the place he had sat last night.

When I was making my way over to him, I overheard a female voice that stopped me in my tracks. “It is so sad that there is nothing they can do for him. He is so young. To have a brain tumor and a death sentence is dreadful. I feel wretched for Andrew and what he is going through.”

Looking over I saw one of the nurses that works on the pediatric floor. Frozen in place, I was sure all the blood drained from my face. She was talking to a group of people that I knew worked on another floor.

“Veronica? Are you okay?” I barely registered Lyrek talking to me.

Feeling angered, I slammed the dirty glass, I was holding, down on the counter. Stomping around the bar, I approached the table. It was like I was someone else entirely, I barely recognized myself as I smashed my hand on the table and got right in the nurse’s face.

“You have no right to be talking about a patient outside of the hospital, especially my brother!” I screamed, making a scene in the bar.

“I am so sorry Vicki!” The nurse tried to apologize but I was beyond pissed.

“You don’t get to call me Vicki! Only my brother has that right! Now, get out!” I yelled.

Not waiting for her to respond, I ran toward the back of the bar, in tears. I heard Lyrek’s voice call after me, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. Needing to get out, I shoved my way through the back door and crumbled on the pavement outside.