Darcy was sitting by herself in the hospital café trying to read her tablet.
Since the start of her evening shift she had been anxious about something.
The Cardiac Care Unit, where she worked, only had two patients, so she
decided to take a break to try to clear her head.
Trish Cooper, the Emergency Room Charge Nurse, let her tray drop as her
body fell into the chair in frustration.
Startled, Darcy asked, “Rough night?”
“Yeah. Everyone is pissed off because someone coded in the waiting
room.”
“What happened?”
“Some old guy drove himself to the hospital and told the intake clerk that
he had indigestion and his arm hurt. She said he was nice. He told her, ‘It’s
nothing ma’am, but at my age any excuse for some excitement is worth
checking out.’ He sat down to fill out his paperwork, then about forty-five
minutes later he collapsed in the waiting room. One of the other people
waiting yelled in panic, which got the attention of the intake coordinator.”
“That’s it?”
“Pretty much. An orderly and a nurse retrieved him from the floor and
rushed him into the ER. We worked on him for forty-five minutes before the
doctor declared him dead. No one was with him and the intake clerks never
got around to completing his intake paper to create the electronic chart. The
man dropped the clipboard in the waiting room. When the chart finally caught
up with the patient two hours after being declared, there was no next of kin
listed.”
“That stinks. Hospital will investigate and dig into everything that
happened. Anything to worry about?”
“Nah. We weren’t even that busy, and no one critical. Guy just slipped
through the intake triage.”
“Don’t worry about it then. It will just be routine and over in a few weeks.”
“Now I have to try to figure out who to notify based on the half filled out
paperwork and empty wallet of one Mr. Larry Butler.” She tossed her fork
down on the tray of the dull hospital food.
From listlessly staring into her own food, Darcy’s eyes flew up to meet
Trish’s eyes. “What was his name?”
“Butler, Larry Butler. Why?”
“How old?”
“Seventy-five,” she said slowly. “I think.”
“Is he still in the ER, or has he been taken to the morgue?”
“Moved him because no next of kin. You know him?”
“Maybe.” Shoving her food tray away, she quickly got up and headed to
the door.
Trish jumped up and followed her. “Hey if you know him that would be
awesome. Then I could close out the chart,” she said hopefully.
Darcy nodded at her as she pushed her way out of the café and headed to
the morgue.
Quickly walking into the morgue, she asked to see the body.
Without a question the attendant pulled the body from the refrigerator
and unceremoniously flipped the sheet back, uncovering his face.
Darcy stared into the old, weathered face, a tear unexpectedly escaping
from the corner of her eye.
“Hey, you OK?”
Looking at the dead man on the stainless-steel table, fighting back a flood
of tears and trying to maintain control, she nodded her head, afraid to speak.
“You know him?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you know who to call?”
Inhaling deeply, she got control of her emotions. “Yeah. I’ll make the calls.
Someone will be here in the morning to pick him up.”
“Thanks, I’ll let them know.” A little cheerfulness entered his voice. “Hey,
you want me to stay here with you for a few?” he offered.
“No. I need to get back to the floor.” She tenderly pulled the sheet over the
old man’s face and gently pushed the rolling table back into the refrigerator,
letting the latch click quietly. Like she was trying close the door without
waking a sleeping baby.
Leaving the morgue Darcy was headed back to the floor to finish her shift.
Pulling her smartphone from her pocket, she typed a quick text— “Call me at
work”—and pressed send.
Getting back to the Cardiac Care Unit she checked in with the other nurse
on duty and sat down behind the desk waiting. One of the monitors abruptly
changed from a steady beeping tone to a series of high and low beeps.
Checking on the patient, she recognized that he had turned over in his sleep.
The tones would settle in a few minutes.
She heard the phone ringing at the station and quickly reached over,
grabbing the phone. “Fallston CCU, Darcy speaking.”
“Hey it’s Rob, what’s up?”
“Larry Butler died tonight.”
There was silence
“Rob?” pausing for a moment she tried again “Robby?”
“What happened?” he finally said.
“Heart attack.” She did not bother telling him all the details. That would
come later.
“I’ll make some calls.” He paused. “We need to find a few of them.”