Page 5 of Ice Princess

Raven walks beside the bed to the elevator, watching the beeping monitors closely. He might make it if she can close up the hole in his intestines. He might end up with a bag, but at least he will be alive.

****

“I think he is going to make it. Good work team.” Raven stretches her back to alleviate the cramp from bending over. She snips off the last stitch and stands back, making sure that they are going to hold the wound closed.

“Doctor Ballenger. I need to speak to you it is urgent.” She looks over to see one of the ER Doctors up in the balcony. Raven frowns up at him. It is a well-known fact that she does not like being uninterrupted during a procedure.

‘Dr. Mason, I am in the middle of a procedure as you can see, can this wait?” Her voice is icy, her showing displeasure at his interruption plain.

“I apologize but this is an urgent and developing situation that needs your immediate attention.”

Raven sighs, “Dr. Daniels, please come take my place and watch for any signs that these sutures are not going to hold.”

“Yes, Dr. Ballenger. Raven waits for her to come around the table before going to the door of the surgery suite to meet Dr. Mason and find out what could be so urgent.

“No Dr. Ballenger, please do not leave the surgery room.” He says through the door, pointing at the phone hanging on the wall. She feels the first cold fingers of dread down her back.

“How can I help you, Dr. Mason?” She says voice cool, not betraying any of the anxiety she feels looking into his worried eyes through the door.

“We need a sample of your patient’s blood. The man that brought him in? He is the shooter. He is claiming that your patient was injected with a biological weapon. He called it Kraken. We need a vial of blood to test. You will need to remain in the operating room with the patient until the blood is tested.”

“Copy that.” Raven walks back to the patient and looks down into his pale face.

“Nurse Claus may I please have a syringe and vial please.”

“Is there a problem, Doctor?” She asks, handing Raven the supplies requested.

She falls back on her Ice Princess persona. There is no reason to worry about the team until the presence of a bio-weapon is confirmed.

Raven looks at her, making her eyes as cold as possible. She draws the blood and is careful when inserting the needle into the vial. Shaking it and then walking to the door of the surgery center, inserting it into the little slot for taking samples in and out.

Dr. Mason nods and then flashes me the ten minutes sign. It appears that they will be testing this blood ASAP.

Now they will sit and wait for the results of the tests and hope that the team hasn’t all been exposed to a deadly virus.

****

Raven looks up from watching Dr. Daniels suture the wound closed and sees Dr. Mason standing outside of the room. He is dressed in full protective gear and her heart jumps into my throat. It could just be a precaution, but she walks over to the door, and he slips a piece of paper through the receiving spot. He points to the phone on the wall and she picks it up.

“He is infected with a virus known as N562 referred to as the Kraken Virus due to its shape.”

“What are the specifics?” Raven asks, turning back to look at my team. They know something is going on, it is highly irregular for a surgeon to supervise the simple stitching up of a patient with a resident, especially one as skilled as Dr. Daniels.

“Mortality rate 70%, spread by contact with infectious body fluids, no evidence of it being spread by air. A navy seal team specializing in infectious diseases will be here shortly. The hospital is now on lockdown. They are moving the patients that they can onto this floor and the ER will be sealed. Tell your team. Finish up the surgery, we have an isolation room ready.”

She nods and hangs up the phone before turning to the team. They are some of the most competent nurses and residents that she knows. She hopes they are able to handle this news.

“Team we have a problem,” Raven says walking back to the table.

---