If the specialists thought he could hang on, they'd wait. If things looked bad at the consult, they'd have to jump into surgery right away. The paramedic's assessment was grim—there was a real chance the patient might lose a limb.
"You don't get to decide. Just go," Claire said, her voice steady as she kept pressure on the wound. The bleeding had finally stopped, but they weren't at the hospital yet. Claire rode in the back of the ambulance, a police car trailing them all the way.
Time was running out and Claire hadn't even had a minute to fill Shirley and the others in. Thankfully, Shirley was glued to the police car through every twist and turn. She told the officers they were with Claire, and since Claire was on the ambulance, they had to follow, no arguments. The cops didn't really have a choice. They let Shirley and her friends tag along in their car.
At the hospital, the medical team was already assembled. The Head of Orthopedics —Dr. Randall-stood waiting at the entrance, ready and alert. As soon as the paramedics rolled the stretcher out, Dr. Randall hurried over, stepping right into action.
"What's the status?" he asked, not wasting a second.
The paramedic filled him in, making sure to mention how Claire had gotten the bleeding under control. Dr. Randall, with grey streaks in his hair, looked older than he really was. He couldn't have been fifty yet, but his stress level said otherwise.
Unlike the paramedic, he stayed calm. He turned to Claire, offering her a handshake. "Hello, I'm Randall."
"Hi, Dr. Randal," Claire said, not yet knowing who he was. Once he introduced himself properly, she realized he used to be a student of an old friend of the veteran doctor who had asked Claire to help. That nrade everything click. The connection ran deep, so it all made sense why she'd been invited to step in. The old doctor had promised to handle any hospital politics, just so she could focus on helping.
“It's good to meet you," Claire said. "The patient's situation is complicated. I think Tandy's already reached out to you?"
Randall nodded. “Yes, Tandy called. We're up to speed with the basics. But we need to run some more scans. If the patient can hold out until Tandy gets here, that's best. If not, Tandy's asked me to handle the surgery, but he really wants you in the OR with me."
At first, Randall hadn't been on board. Having a young woman assist him? Did people not trust him to handle the operation himself? t wasn't until Tandy sent him a video of Claire helping with Van's case that everything changed. Watching her work miracles with her golden needles, Randall was blown away. All he could think was, how can we keep her here?
He didn't want to steal her skills or her equipment, he just wanted Claire herself to join the team. With someone like her managing bleeding on tough cases, the department's surgery success rates would soar Fewer patients lost to blood loss,
more lives saved. It was every
hospital's dream.
But Tandy knew exactly what he was doing. He only let Randall see the video to prove Claire's talent, but then made it clear-Claire was still in school, and wherever she wanted to go after, that was her decision. Nobody could control that.
Randall thought about it and had to admit it was true. Water sinks to the lowest place, but people climb higher. Someone as impressive as Claire would naturally find her way to the best places. There was no way their hospital could keep her forever.