Page 45 of Prognosis So Done

He repeated the process on the other limb, with the same result, and was thankful that the man’s chest burns didn’t encircle his chest wall, as escharotomies were often required in those situations, too. The tight eschar and swelling tissues beneath could prevent adequate chest movement, hindering breathing.

Of course, this man still had a long way to go yet. He would require extensive debriding of the dead tissue and grafting and many, many blood transfusions. The next weeks would require very specialised management.

Siobhan dressed the burns while Gill helped himself to the suture tray and worked on the gaping thigh wound caused by some sort of sharp projectile during impact. He was lucky that no major vessels had been cut.

The wound was oozing but it was only a slow trickle as he attacked the deep wound with the soapy chlorhexidine, a yawn escaping behind his mask. It wasn’t that late, they’d only been operating for a few hours, but lengthy surgery the night before and then Harriet’s early morning wake-up call were beginning to have an effect.

He scrubbed away at the pink tissue, refusing to let his

mind go back to this morning any further. That would only lead to thoughts of the divorce and it was done whether he liked it or not. Still, he glanced at Harriet hanging back by the wall and couldn’t quite believe he was never going to be in an operating room with her again.

Even during their separation he’d always known she’d come

back, but this time when they said goodbye, it was forever.

Finally satisfied that he’d removed all dirt and foreign matter such as vegetation or gravel from the wound he chose a suture from the selection Siobhan had set out for him and began to sew the laceration together in layers.

It was done quickly and the phone rang again just as Gill was removing his mask. He strode over and plucked the receiver off the wall. ‘Are you done?’ asked Kelly, not bothering with pleasantries.

‘Just.’

‘Suspected splenic rupture incoming,’ she said. ‘He needs a laparotomy, stat.’

‘What’s Ben doing?’

‘Just started an amputation.’ Kelly replied.

‘Okay.’ He pulled off his gown. ‘Send it over.’

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