// Nana is going through a complete breakdown after she took charge of a case that opened old wounds and induced a PTSD episode. Robby is here to help her pull through, and they have a heart-to-heart conversation.
xxxxx
"Dr. Okwuje-McLane!"
She could not hear the voice calling her over and over again. She was still trying to resuscitate a patient, still trying to hold compressions on his chest in a desperate attempt at starting his heart again. Her scrubs and gloves were covered in blood. She had some on her face, on her hair, but she did not care. The trauma room looked like a war zone. There was so much blood on the floor, so many machines hooked up to the body to monitor the patient's vitals, and the constant beep was tearing through their ears and adding to the stress in that room. Everyone else realized that the patient was dead and had been for a while, but none of them could reach out to her. Dr. King, who assisted Dr. Owukje-McLane, rushed to find Dr. Robby so he could quickly intervene. Fortunately for Mel, Dr. Robby was not in the middle of an intervention and was simply supervising, so he was able to follow the blonde doctor to the trauma room Nana was intervening in.
"Dr. Okwuje-McLane!!"
He raised his voice. She still could not hear him. Her compressions were mechanical as if her body was on automatic pilot. Nana refused to let go and barked at anyone who tried to stop her. So they stopped trying. Mel felt relieved when Dr. Robby walked into the trauma room, but furrowed her brows when he could not reach out to the woman who was performing CPR. Nana kept working on the body, deaf to the voices around her, oblivious to the strong presence of Dr. Robby next to her. She was determined to save that man's life, desperate even. He had to live. She promised his daughter that she would save him. She had to make it happen. Dr. Robby looked at her and quickly decided to say her name one last time.
"Dr. Okwuje-McLane!!!"
"No! I can still save him! I can still SAVE HIM! I promised his daughter! She needs him!"
"There is nothing more that you can do! Stop it!" -He almost shouted his order. She refused to obey, still kept doing her compressions, and when Dr. Robby tried to come closer to her, Nana barked at him. He stopped in his tracks and kept his hands up in the air so she could see he did not want to set her off. She was not ready to give up on her patient, but he had to solve this quickly.
"Back off!! BACK OFF! BACK THE FUCK OFF, Dr. Robby!!!"
She was on the verge of crying, and everyone in the room could tell she was having a breakdown. His whole demeanor changed. Dr. King noticed that Dr. Robby softened his features, his shoulders dropped, as well as his voice, and he quietly closed the distance between him and Dr. Okwuje-McLane, wrapped his arms around her frame to gently force her to stop her compression, and prevent a potential violent response from her. Surprisingly, Nana did not resist. She simply stopped moving, and the high-pitched machinery beeps were the only noises that filled the room.
Mel looked at Dr. Robby and pinched her lips together, barely holding her breath as she did not know what was going to happen. Dr. Robby looked towards the blonde doctor and nodded quietly... His face wore a somber expression, as sadness overwhelmed him. He knew all too well what Nana was going through. He knew the immense grief that swallowed the woman's heart. He was holding her firmly but kindly, and after searching for Dr. King's eyes, when they finally locked eyes, he nodded quietly.
"Dr. King, please call it."
"No.... She can't do that... Don't let her do that..." Nana's voice was weak, a heartbreaking sound that ripped through the team present in the trauma room. They all had somber faces, a silent understanding of the situation, and an acknowledgment that the patient was beyond saving. Mel nodded at the request of Dr. Robby and cleared her throat.
"Ti-- Time of Death: 11:35 AM."
"Thank you, Dr. King. Please take over and wrap this up." - He then looked down at Nana, who was shaking from head to toe, and spoke with the gentlest voice he could muster at the moment- "Come with me, Nana."
He removed his gloves and helped her remove hers. He threw both pairs into the waste bin and took her hand to guide her to the Pedes Room. He knew that the room was empty and could give her some privacy. As the captain of the ER, he had to ensure that his team was working seamlessly and nothing could break the workflow. With her breakdown, it was clear that Nana could not resume working in that mental state, and he had to make sure she wasn't a danger to herself and a danger to their patients. Deep down, however, he was worried about Nana. He went through one episode like this before, during the Pittfest mass shouting, and he knew that without support, she simply might fall apart. Michael cared for Nana way more than he was willing to admit at this moment. She was pale and depleted, yet followed the man to the empty pedes room. He closed the door behind them and watched as Nana slowly walked further into the room.
" I'm sorry I had to restrain you, but there was no other way to make you stop." -She did not respond and simply sat on one of the beds in the room.- "I know you wanted to save that man, and you did one hell of a job there, but there was nothing we could have done to help him. There was nothing we could have done to save the whole fam--"
"I promised his daughter." -She cut him short, with cracks in her voice. Dr. Robby tilted his head to the side, as if he was taken aback by her words.-
" You know that we can't promise this. We can't."
"She is going to grow up alone... With no sister, no mother, and now... And now...No father. I... I wanted to...I had to save him. I had to..." She was hyperventilating and trying to hold back her tears. Instinctively, Dr. Robby walked towards Nana and sat in the bed next to her. She broke down in tears and pulled on her scrubs as if she wanted to break free, as if she were suffocating. Dr. Robby put his hand on her shoulder and gently squeezed her, in a way to let her know she wasn't alone and give her enough space.
"I know..... I know you tried so hard to save that man. It's not fair... It's not fair." -He spoke in a soft voice, gently stroking her shoulder before he dropped his hand to the middle of her back.- "You are an outstanding doctor, Nana, but even the best of us can't defeat Death."
"I don't care!!!!! I don't care, Michael!!!! I should have saved that man, and now, because of me, that little girl is going to grow up without a family! I wanted to spare her, I wanted..... I needed...I failed." -She unconytollably sobbed and finally wrapped her arms around Dr. Robby's waist. He pulled her into a tight hug and stroked her back as, finally, the woman expressed her grief as she needed to.
Meanwhile, in the trauma room, Mel watched the empty room and took in the carnage that had taken place. There was so much blood on the floor that the hospital cleaners might spend quite some time in the room. She pinched the bridge of her nose, and Princess walked to her with a concerned face.
"Are you okay?"
"N-- Yes! Yes! I am It's part of the job, right? I have just never seen the trauma room so... There is so much blood here."
"I guess it depends on the injuries. This patient was riddled with bullets, kinda difficult not to have a blood bath when it happens." -She sighed and looked around the room again. "But I'll ask again, Dr. King, are you okay?"
"Dr. Okwuje-McLane.... What happened just now with her? I've never seen her like that before. It felt as if I had a brand new person in front of me."
"Ah... Yes. Dr. Okwukje-McLane took this case very personally. A family was transported here minutes ago, all but one in critical condition. A mom, a dad, two daughters, all shot with several bullets. Everyone but the youngest daughter died within minutes. "
"When you say it's personal, do you mean that she went through the same thing?"
"More or less. Her family was slaughtered during a home invasion. She heard the noises, well hidden in a cabinet. When the noise stopped and the robbers left, she bravely left her hiding spot to try to help her family, only to find them dead. She still calmly called 911, believing that her family would make it. She even fought them when they tried to put white sheets on the bodies. It took a while for her to realize that she had lost everything that night. She went to the foster care system and found her adoptive parents later. This, right there, is definitely a trigger for her. She wanted to protect the little girl from the same trauma she had to deal with."
"I see... Bu--but she tried. She did her best. He just could not be saved, but that doesn't mean--"
"Sometimes facts don't bring comfort. We can't do much for her except support her in whatever way we can. You did great by getting Dr. Robby to her; he would be able to calm her down. Let's just... do what we do best here."
Princess nodded at that and simply left the trauma room to resume her work. Dr. Mel took a deep breath, pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose, and left the room. She understood now why Dr. Okwuje-McLane acted that way, and the satisfaction of having an answer was enough to prompt Mel to return to work.
In the pedes room, Nana was still crying her heart out. She was still holding onto Dr. Robby, and he was now gently stroking her shoulders. She buried her face into his chest and slowly stopped crying. His hug was comforting, and his steady heartbeats were soothing. He did not speak, afraid to break the silence and wreck all of his efforts. Instead, Dr. Robby wanted to let Nana come to him. She slowly pulled away from him and wiped her face clean with the back of her hands.
"Thank you, Michael...I'm sorry."
"No need to apologize. We've all been there. It's alright, Nana."
"I thought I could hold my own and handle the case, but I simply could not. I was seeing myself all over again. When I was giving CPR, I was seeing myself back in my house, with blood all over the place. Ah... I felt powerless. I am powerless, and it just felt so cruel, Michael." -She wiped her tears again and put her hands between her legs, so she could hold onto the mattress.
"It is cruel. It is hard. This job right here? It's thankless, grueling, a fucking war zone where anything can go wrong. It breaks your heart, and it puts it back together. We save countless lives here; we don't remember them, but they exist. They survived, and it is all thanks to us. To you. You saved lives, Nana, and while I know it is easier to focus on the lives you lost, trust me when I say that the lives you saved are going to remember what you did for them."
"I hope they build a shrine to me. I hope they all do. You're right, I barely remember the lives I save every day. For me, they just come and go. I fixed them, and I carried on. A life lost? It simply tears a hole in my heart, over and over and over again...." She sighed and turned her head so she could look at Dr. Robby. He nodded quietly, his face now somber as he could relate to her words.
"And you just have to learn how to live with it. That's what we do. That's who he is. We help people. We risk everything to save them. Sometimes we succeed, and sometimes we fail. It takes a toll on us, but despite everything, we simply can't stop ourselves. We have to go back there. We have to."
"We care for others...But who cares for us?" -She knitted her brows and gently put her hand over his. "You cared for me today. You did not have to, but you did, Michael. Thank you" -Her voice was softer now, with a bit of a sob strangled in it.-
"It's my job to watch after my team. You are part of my team, so obviously I would watch after you."
"And who watches after you?" -Her question made him blink. Since when did the tables turn? He did not know what to say to her and simply shrugged.- "Well...I will look after you. I want to."
She whispered and gently squeezed his hand. Dr. Robby pulled her hand towards his lips and pressed a kiss to her soft skin. It wasn't a rejection on his part, but not actually an acceptance either. He wanted to express his gratitude for her concern, especially when she was in the midst of a breakdown, but he was not ready to talk about his own self-destructive thoughts or his own PTSD episodes. She stood up and took a couple of steps away from Dr. Robby. He rubbed the back of his head and slowly stood up again.
"Nana, are you good to go?" -She nodded and rolled her head- "I don't like the idea of you being alone tonight. After our shift, why don't you come home?"
"Are you asking me out, Dr. Robby?" -She jokingly said, finally grinning at him, a good sign of her improved morale. He gave her a sheepish smile, and he nodded slowly- " Well, how can I say no to such a nice offer? Let's uh.... let's leave together after our shift, okay?"
"Okay." -He nodded and watched as her leave the pedes room.-
That was intense, nothing they have not experienced before, nothing they would not be able to bounce back from. Nana was resilient. If she had not been, she would not have lasted this long in this job. The man rubbed his face together and suddenly realized that he had just invited Nana to his place. Usually, when they hooked up, he would go to hers, but this time, he wanted to care for her. He wanted to be there for her. He felt his heart falter and smiled to himself. He invited her over to his bachelor pad; somehow, that made him feel warmer. It was going to be a good thing. It definitely was going to be. Comforted with this thought, he simply walked away and back into action.
-TBC-