Chapter 135: Complicated case

Ian left his ward in a hurry. He was still in his patient pajamas and did not even think of changing as he sprinted towards the reception. The scene he saw there made him halt in his tracks. There were a lot of parents fighting with the hospital staff who were trying to control the crowd. There were also a lot of reporters outside the hospital trying to get past the entrance gate as the guards tried to control them.

The police had also made their presence to investigate the matter. The school van driver was severely injured and was unconscious. So, they could not take his statement yet. On the other hand, the truck driver who had rammed into the small van was not found anywhere. He had run away as soon as the accident had taken place out of fear for his life.

Ian came out of his stupor and noticed that there were no injured people in the reception. He presumed them to have been taken care of by the hospital. It had been more than three hours since the incident took place. He stopped the nurse who was walking nearby, startling her in the process.

"Nurse, how is the situation? Are all the injured people safe? Are there any critical cases?"

The nurse stopped suddenly and her eyes widened on seeing Ian. He was supposed to be resting. She pondered on what he was doing there. Nevertheless, she still answered him.

"Dr. Ian. The situation is grave. Twelve children are seriously injured, nine have suffered some minor scratches and injuries, seven of them have fractured their limbs." She replied hastily.

"What about deaths? Did anybody die?"

"Yes, doctor. Three kids are dead."

Ian closed his eyes on listening to the nurse. He was sad that the innocent kids were hurt. But he could do nothing, that was how life was. One moment everything would be going good and happy and the next moment..baam.. the situation just changed to something which one would not have ever imagined. Who knew that this mishap would happen to their kids? If they did, the parents would have prevented their child from stepping out of the house at all costs.

After a few seconds of taking deep breaths, Ian opened his eyes. He had to come out of the melancholic mood. He was a doctor and he was used to this, yet some times he couldn't stop himself from pitying the family who lost its beloved member. By then, the nurse had already left him alone. 

Without wasting any more time, he went towards the emergency ward. He supposed that the children who were severely injured were being treated there. He rushed to the nearest ward to see a small girl who was lying unconscious with her right leg in a splint. She was not in danger, he could see that. There was also a woman who looked to be in her late thirties, sitting beside her. 

He went to other wards, checking to see if his help was needed in any of the cases. Throughout the entire time, he had not seen Aria anywhere. He wondered where she was. He then proceeded towards the operation theater as he had heard someone whispering that one of the injured had been stabbed close to his heart.

Just as he ran towards the OT, he bumped into Aria who was coming from the other side. She had to hold his hand to stabilize herself and prevent herself from falling.

"Ian, what are you doing here?" She asked on seeing him. He was sweating and looked like he was in a hurry. Without waiting for his reply, Aria continued, "Good that you are here. I was about to come to meet you. There is an emergency case quite similar to that of Noah's. But the problem here is, the patient is not shot. He has been spiked with an iron rod very close to his heart and it is very complicated as the rod is still attached to his body." She explained.

Aria was going to have a discussion about the case with Ian when they met each other halfway through. Ian was an extraordinary doctor. He had more experience than her and his success rate of saving patients was higher than any other heart surgeons in the hospital. So, she felt it was better to take his advice and help in this highly complicated case.

"What?" Ian was perplexed. He had handled cases related to patients with gunshots as well as those who had been stabbed in the heart by a knife, but never had he encountered a patient who had a rod run through his chest. This was a first for him.

"Give me the details." He ordered. He was back to his professional mode. Gone was the Ian who had been lying in the hospital bed for days after donating his marrow. Now the old Dr. Davis was back.

"Yes. It is the school bus driver. He has an iron rod pierced through his body. I have the scan report with me, take a look." Aria handed him the reports. "I have sedated him for now and tried to control his bleeding. But we have to be quick, he is not going to sustain for long. He had already lost a lot of blood when he came here."

"Then why didn't you come to me earlier. Why did you wait until now?" He scolded her immediately. He was a doctor who valued innocent people's lives and he expected the same from others. Even a minute delay in attending to them would lead to consequences. 

"Dr. Davis, he was brought to our hospital just half an hour back," Aria revealed.

"What do you mean? Didn't he come with the kids in the morning?"

"No, and I don't know why he was admitted late. The person who brought him here told us that the driver was found quite a few meters away from the accident area."

"That's weird. Anyway, let me take a look at him."

Ian changed into his scrubs and went inside the OT where the driver was being treated. A nurse was attending to him. As Aria had said, the rod was still intact. If they tried to remove it, the chances of him dying was more. But, they could also not keep the rod as it was. They were in a dilemma about what to do. This case was even more severe than Noah's. At least in his situation, Ian had to remove the bullets which were in his body. But here, the rod was pierced such a way that it had gone right through his chest.

Nobody knew what to do. It was a challenge that would put all the medical skills, they had learned over the years, to test.