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Archive 26 / limerence
Triggers: Death, blood, drama, angst, mentions of medical procedures
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Katherine Harlow BOT 11/13/2023 16:22
The moment before an incoming trauma was one of silence and peace. The emergency room buzzed with a muted urgency, a symphony of hushed conversations and the occasional beep of monitors creating an ambient hum. Soft overhead lights cast a sterile glow on the worn linoleum floors, where nurses in muted scrubs moved with quiet efficiency. A sense of controlled chaos lingered in the air, each medical professional choreographed in a dance of quiet urgency. Doctors huddled in corners, conferring in muted tones over charts, their expressions a mix of concern and determination. The patients, draped in pale blue hospital gowns, occupied the stark white beds with quiet resilience, their eyes reflecting a mix of fear and hope. It was a slow night, and it seemed like nothing could disturb the smoothly running mechanism that cycled quietly ahead. The ambiance was erupted by a loud bang of opening doors as a gurney was rolled in by the ambulance personnel, who were already shouting the cause of the injury and the latest vital signs. On top of the gurney was an unconscious male with a gaping wound in his abdomen, covered in small cuts all over his body. But it wasn’t the night of his death; on top of him was Katherine. She was in her civilian clothes, wearing her black boots, skinny black jeans along with a rock band tee and leather jacket. The lower part of her arms was covered in blood, but she continued to steadily press onto his chest. It was supposed to be a relaxing night out until this drunk person beneath her climbed onto the bar and then tipped onto the rack with the alcohol bottles, proclaiming the end of her rare nights out that Katherine could enjoy. On the scene, she was the first to react and had partial success in pressing some rags into his wounds to slow the bleeding. As the ambulance came, the patient was somewhat stable, but it rapidly changed as he coded on the way to the hospital. And now she was sitting on top of him, furiously forcing her hands onto his che
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st. A silly drunken night shouldn’t end with a death, and it kept Katherine going, as she was surrounded by others and finally rolled into one of the trauma bays. Inside, she already jumped down from the patient, shouting to others to continue his resuscitation. It was game time, and they were tirelessly running against the clock, as the more the patient bled out and his heart didn’t beat, the fewer were his chances of ever waking up. Finally draped up in a simple yellow gown and gloves by the nurses after throwing off her leather jacket, Katherine jumped back into the resuscitation, shouting orders at others and checking for any life signs. When she couldn’t enjoy her night off, at least she was hoping she could perform an emergency surgery. But first, she had to make sure this man was alive again, and the race against death continued. After hours of a race against death and a bloody battle in the emergency surgery, Katherine found herself sitting in scrubs on a bench just beside the entrance of the hospital. She leaned with her elbows against her knees, looking into the distance, where the sun was slowly rising. A single cigarette was smoking in her hand. She felt the exhaustion overtake her, and her thoughts wandered off to the night before. No matter what they tried, the patient had died - just because he was stupid enough to get drunk and slip onto a bottle rack. In the end, it wasn’t even the bleeding and the countless shards within his body that killed him but his heart, which couldn’t manage the stress from the injury.
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But Katherine knew that not everyone could be saved, even when every death of a patient took a little piece of her soul with it. She let herself slowly suck on the cigarette, letting the poisonous smoke fill her lungs before letting it out again and watching it vanish in the cold morning air. It was mesmerizing to see the deep red morning skies mixed with the nightly blue through a filter of cigarette smoke. Another day was coming, and Katherine knew she would soon need to head back and continue the one thing she was great at - making an impact on human’s lives. Some patients are going to be saved, while others would be too far gone. But Katherine would never want her life to be different; it was who she was. Suddenly she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, making her jump and shortly suck on the cigarette again, before throwing it to the ground and pulling her phone out of her pocket. It was a notification from the app she had previously installed. It was an app for connecting with people around the city. What had caught Katherine about the app was the anonymity you could keep by hiding yourself behind a username, a silly image, and some short description about yourself. She could potentially meet someone on the app, which appealed to her since most of her time was spent in the hospital, and she could rarely go out and meet new people. Now she looked at her profile with the silly username TheKittyKatDoctor, where she had put a plague doctor art drawing as a profile picture. In her description, she shortly introduced herself as a trauma surgeon, who was looking to talk with new people and possibly nurture new connections. She also stated that she was a fan of old school music, vinyl records, and good wine. She wasn’t entirely happy with how the description turned out, but she also didn’t have the power to work on it any more and told herself that the right people would find her anyway. She had received some new messages and proceeded to spend her short break looki
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ng through them. Some were disgusting, which made her block the people who sent them, but there were also some funny ones, and she managed to strike a conversation with some girl who worked at a coffee shop. It helped Katherine to distract herself from the previous night, and she felt herself lighter after having a conversation about silly nothings. It also made her feel less lonely. But soon her pager would beep, and this meant that her work continued. So she pushed herself up and rushed back into the hospital to do what she did best - save lives. @Deleted User
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Alexander Charles BOT 11/17/2023 07:27
The unnerving silence in the ICU wing had Alexander pacing in circles. The entire room was anticipating just one ring of the blue corded phone on the desk. Nothing. He swiftly sat on the stool that creaked in front of the desktop computer and began to frantically type away. Upon checking his email, there had been no answer either. His brows furrowed and he tapped a pen anxiously on the hard surface of the table. Two nurses that worked alongside him charted and minded their business. A faint, steady beeping was audible in the patient room directly across from their station. Through the heavy glass door was a shut curtain for privacy. He clicked on the virtual chart and scanned it over again, hoping that by miracle something would give but the information was exactly the same as it was earlier that day. ’Jane Smith. 29. End stage CKD. Waiting for kidneys.’ It was unfortunate. Jane had recently finished a dental residency program. She would have many wonderful years of life left to live if she could get her surgery soon - she was running out of time. He wanted to give that gift back to her. There was nothing left but to wait. The family waiting room a few feet away had been empty the entire afternoon. Most visitors to the ICU would appear in the evening, after typical work or dinner hours. Alex couldn’t help but feel a deep pit of unease in his stomach. The loved ones of these ill patients would come and go, some would even sleep in the uncomfortable wooden chairs at their bedside. But at the very end of the day, most of them were alone. Some didn’t even have visitors at all - with the exception of the occasional nurse to check vitals. Alex rolled up the sleeves of his white coat and peeked at his phone. Recently he had decided to sign up for a social app. He found the concept a challenge because his life outside of the hospital was, well, he barely had time for anything else. He had not dated much in the last few years and time spent with friends was with
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coworkers. At night when he would have a chance to go home, he would sleep indefinitely until it was time to do it all over again. Getting calls to save a life kept his willpower strong. Username?, he thought to himself, Firefly88. It was simple. He didn’t want to use a part of his name and defeat the purpose of staying anonymous. The profile photo selected was an image of a sunset from overlooking a cliff on one of his many hiking trips. The few details were kept simple in the section of his profile. He wrote a short description of how he was a doctor, enjoyed nature walks, had two cats and one dog, and was looking for social opportunities. Alex figured that the chances of finding something worth his while were slim but it was worth taking a chance for. @Princess Taiga
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Katherine Harlow BOT 11/18/2023 23:13
As Katherine re-entered the emergency room, a surge of adrenaline accompanied her. The familiar symphony of urgency surrounded her—the rhythmic hustle and bustle, a cadence she had grown accustomed to. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself for the unpredictable challenges that awaited her. The chaotic scene unfolded like a whirlwind, punctuated by flashing lights and urgent voices. A car crash victim, a middle-aged man in his thirties, had just been rushed in, and the gravity of the situation loomed heavy in the air. Tension crackled as the medical team sprang into action, a synchronized dance of professionals focused on saving a life. Haunted by the recent loss of a patient from the night before, Katherine hurried toward the new case. The trauma to the man's head was glaring, a possible skull fracture that demanded immediate attention. Joining the team, she worked tirelessly to stabilize the patient whose failing heart added urgency to the already tense atmosphere. An hour passed before they achieved a stable heartbeat, the room filled with a collective sigh of relief. Amid the frenzied attempts at resuscitation, Katherine's mind wrestled with the memories of the previous night's loss. She observed the patient closely, tracking vital signs, noting the absence of immediate life-threatening injuries. However, the trauma to the head painted a grim picture. A bag beside the man revealed a donor card and a phone, offering a potential link to his family. Katherine sighed, leaning forward to check the patient's pupils with her flashlight. A nagging suspicion of brain death lingered, but she lacked the authority to pronounce it. Hoping for the on-site neurosurgeon's imminent arrival, she glanced at the clock, recognizing the ticking seconds in their race against time for possible organ recovery. With only a few hours left to recover the organs, Katherine knew the clock was ticking. She headed to the nurses' station, determined to expedite the process. Addressing Martha
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, a senior nurse she respected, Katherine inquired about the transplantation surgeon for the day. The answer, Alexander Charles, was not what she hoped for. Katherine harbored an inexplicable dislike for him, a feeling that surfaced every time they interacted. Nonetheless, she requested Martha to page him, bracing herself for an encounter that promised to test her composure. Her shift, initially scheduled for the morning, was progressively descending into challenging territory. Katherine fixed her bun, took a few steadying breaths, and returned to face the patient, ready to navigate the intricate dance of medical procedures, interpersonal dynamics, and her own internal turmoil. The page to Alexander Charles, the transplantation surgeon she disliked, added an extra layer of complexity to an already challenging shift. Katherine steeled herself for the inevitable interaction, reminding herself of the greater purpose at hand—saving lives through organ donation. She was willing to tolerate a man she disliked if it meant contributing to a greater good.
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@Deleted User
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Alexander Charles BOT 11/28/2023 07:33
An elderly couple approached the nurse’s station, presumably to ask for directions to a room number. Alexander continued to mindlessly swipe left on the many anonymous profiles he was seeing on this app. He steadily pushed himself off the wheeled rolling stool and gazed down the long, empty hallway. The crash carts sat untouched. Monotonous beeping and a wall clock ticking began to drown out his thoughts. He needed some fresh air. Alex slipped his cellphone into one of the many pockets in his jacket and made way to the elevator a few feet away. It whirred and clunked before stopping with an open door. No one was inside. Upon reaching the ground level he spotted the wide glass entrance door and made a swift stop at the café cart. The cafeteria of the hospital was regularly crowded in the morning hours. Many visitors, patients, and staff found themselves “Medium hot coffee, please.” The woman pouring drinks accepted his crumpled dollars and promptly handed him a drink in a red and white patterned cup with a plastic to-go lid. Steam seeped through the hole on top. Alex snuck past a crowd of visitors entering the building to find the usual ledge he sat on when there was free time. It was a brick wall surrounding a towering tree in the courtyard. Tables were available but vacant when the weather became colder. The hot drink kept his hands warm as he inhaled deeply, feeling the fresh chilled air nip at his face. Dried leaves of assorted shades of red and brown coated the ground where the grass once was. He continued to think of the various charts for the patients that awaited his visit. The morning rounds had passed a while ago and there was nothing new. It was difficult to keep his mind occupied and couldn’t help but wonder who would be the next with news promising enough to make it back home. Before his coffee was entirely finished the pager in his pocket began to buzz. 911. He rapidly threw the cup into a waste bin and jogged toward the closest door and
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bumped shoulders with a stranger, having no intention to stop in his tracks and apologize. There wasn’t time. There could be a chance to save someone’s life. Alex kept his fast pace up the two flights of stairs. The walls echoed with each slam of his shoes and voices carried throughout the stairwell from a group down below. He stopped abruptly at the glaring red sign. Emergency Room. Wonderful. This is just who he wanted to see. He sighed and knew that his conflicting thoughts toward an acquaintance he wasn’t fond of couldn’t occupy the need to get the job done. “Where do you need me? I need to see the chart.” The sight was unsettling. It never became an easy task. There was hardly any information other than that the unfortunate soul had been in his thirties, fell victim to a car accident, and was listed on his drivers license as a donor. Alex’s thoughts flickered to the patient in dire need of their kidneys. It was a slim chance that they would be a match but there was no reason to lose hope until it would be proven otherwise. Wires in multiple colors connected by sticky tape were hooked to monitors with flashing green and red numbers. “Doctor Shepherd?” Alex peered toward the older man and swallowed the lump-like feeling in his throat. “Time of death, 06:47.”
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@Princess Taiga
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Katherine Harlow BOT 11/30/2023 12:58
Katherine, fatigued from a long night and the loss of two patients, found herself yearning for a brief respite while awaiting the neuro consult and the transplantation surgeon. However, the emergency room maintained its relentless pace. As she watched over the dead brain patient from before, the shrill ring of the telephone behind her and the ensuing conversation with a nurse immediately triggered her internal alarms. Taking a deep breath, Katherine turned to face the nurse, ready to confront the impending news. Once again, the clock began its ominous countdown to another potential loss of life. Moments later, an elderly man in his eighties was wheeled in, gripping his chest and groaning. An older woman, likely his wife, provided comfort by holding his hand. Katherine, resilient despite the lingering pain from the prior patient losses, swiftly immersed herself in the scene, ensuring the right questions were asked and necessary tests ordered. The earlier deaths weighed heavily on Katherine's mind, intensifying her determination to prevent another tragedy. Glancing at the clock, she realized it was just past 6 am, indicating that her shift was set to begin in an hour, and she had already confronted two fatalities. Despite the challenges, there was a glimmer of hope for the elderly man. He was promptly admitted, and interns took charge of his initial processing. Katherine, multitasking, signed papers and obtained medical consent while overseeing the proceedings. Confident in the direction things were heading, she allowed an intern to reiterate the course of action. Satisfied with the progress, Katherine's thoughts turned to the patient yet to be declared brain dead. However, the unpredictable nature of the emergency room thwarted her plans. While heading to check on the brain dead patient, a distressing beep echoed through the room. Time seemed to slow as Katherine rushed to the elderly man, his wife's cries for help echoing in the background. Despite her best efforts,
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the heart monitor's monotonous tone persisted. Later, it was revealed that the man had a ruptured aorta, leaving little chance for intervention. Katherine, defeated once again, declared the time of death and retreated outside the bay, where the wife's grief turned into anger, directed at Katherine's alleged incompetence. Despite the harsh words, Katherine could only nod, attempting to console the distraught woman before retreating. The weight of the deaths lingered on Katherine's heart, even as she presented a cold exterior. Her appearance mirrored the emotional toll, with a disheveled bun and mascara-stained eyes reflecting her exhaustion. Straightening her back, she faced the harsh reality. The emergency room, a nexus between life and death, sometimes demanded more than it gave.
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News of the other patient receiving a neuro consult irritated Katherine, as it seemed no one had considered waiting for her presence. Fueled by a flicker of fury, she approached the trauma bay, only to witness the final straw of her patience. Dr. Shepherd and Dr. Charles, seemingly untouched by the night's events, announced the brain dead patient's demise without consulting her. In the doorway, Katherine, her voice raspy and filled with disdain, shattered the silence in the trauma bay. "Did anyone bother to consult me before announcing the death of my patient?" she demanded, her eyes narrowing with a mixture of frustration and anger. She shot a pointed glance at Dr. Charles, taking in his well-rested appearance. Her disgust was evident, especially when looking at Dr. Charles, whose fresh appearance contrasted sharply with her own disheveled state. Walking over to Dr. Shepherd, she seized the medical records from his hands, already noting the two signatures confirming the patient's brain death. Dr. Shepherd hesitated for a moment before responding, "Katherine, we needed to act quickly, and the situation was dire. There wasn't time to wait for your input." Her frustration intensified, and she crossed her arms, glaring at both doctors. "That doesn't excuse the lack of communication. We're a team here, and decisions like these should be made collectively. This is my patient and I’m responsible for him until he leaves this emergency room." She stood resolute, akin to an immovable wall, clutching the chart in her hands. Her stance unequivocally communicated that she wouldn't budge from the patient until he underwent the necessary procedures, and consent from his family for organ harvest was secured. A palpable silence permeated the trauma bay as she scrutinized the male doctors with her piercing, cold gray eyes. Determined and unwavering, she had no intention of yielding in this situation, aiming to make her intentions unmistakably clear. Even though she could mainta
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in this position for an extended period, the tranquility was abruptly disrupted by the entrance of a nurse into the trauma bay. "Dr. Harlow, the patient’s family is here," the nurse relayed before swiftly departing. Katherine gazed patiently at both males, raising her eyebrows and awaiting a volunteer to accompany her in addressing the family.
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