Chapter 175 - Needs to come out

At the Franciscan Medical Center, JoAnna and group of emergency doctors on call were checking up on Sarah while Aiden stood next to the wall, his eyes full of desperation were not leaving Sarah.

Aiden's hands were pressing top of his head, and he was not sure if he is breathing. He watched the scene in front of him: Sarah unconscious, number of doctors busying themselves around her… all sounds combined into indistinctive buzz… he felt as if he is having an out-of-body experience. 'This is not happening… this is not happening…', replayed in his mind.

JoAnna turned to Aiden. "What happened?" Seeing that he is not responsive, she looked at him and contemplated for a second if she should slap him. She decided to tug on his sleeve instead. "What happened?!!", she repeated, this time much louder.

Aiden snapped out of his daze and helplessly shook his head. "I don't know. I really don't... It just happened.", his voice was very low.

JoAnna saw that Aiden is out of it. He is only staring at Sarah, not paying attention to anything else. She put her hand on his shoulder and pulled him to turn toward her. "How do you know it's a relapse? Are symptoms the same?" She needs to get more information if she is going to save her sister.

Aiden gave her his phone, and showed what Sarah typed. JoAnna read it and thought for a second. "Left teres major? During checkup she mentioned occasional pain in upper back on the left. That is right where teres major is... that can't be a coincidence."

Aiden didn't understand what JoAnna is talking about, he turned back toward Sarah and kept on staring at her anxiously.

JoAnna ordered ultrasound and x-ray.

Portable ultrasound machine was brought in, and JoAnna told radiologist where to check. Radiologist found a small foreign object, about two millimeters in size in Sarah's upper back. But it was deep in the tissue, and he could not give more information.

They took Sarah for an x-ray which confirmed the same thing. She has something two to three millimeters large, probably metallic inside her body. What could that be? It was exactly where Sarah said that pain came from before she collapsed, and JoAnna knows that Sarah should not have anything like that inside her. It must be the source of all this. "That thing needs to come out." JoAnna said without a second thought. She made some calls and surgeon who could do this surgery was one hour away. They decided to start preparing Sarah for the surgery.

Sarah was hooked up to various machines to monitor her. One of the machines was resting on her back, showing small object embedded inside her muscles.

Aiden was not talking. As soon as doctors stepped away, he was next to Sarah, watching her while holding her hand. He moved only when doctor or nurse needed that space to approach Sarah, and the moment they moved away, Aiden was back in that spot.

Aiden felt that there is a black hole inside his chest sucking in his insides, making it impossible to breathe. He would give anything in the world to trade places with Sarah.

They finished hooking up machines to Sarah, and heart rate monitor started beeping. JoAnna checked and saw that her heart rate is increased... and rising. JoAnna checked blood pressure and saw that it's low. Sarah was covered in cold sweat. JoAnna's face was panicked. She checked the time, and the surgeon was still more than half an hour away. JoAnna took a deep breath and rushed out of the room. She knocked with urgency on the door with a sign:

'Gregory Light, MD

Senior partner'.

"Come in", male voice was heard.

JoAnna rushed inside toward the man sitting behind his desk with documents in front of him. "Dr. Light, my sister needs a surgery urgently. She has an internal bleeding."

He lazily raised head from the papers in front of him. His eyebrows went up slightly. "There is a surgeon in charge."

"Dr Greenberg is more than half an hour away. My sister won't make it that long.", JoAnna responded.

"There are other surgeons.", Dr. Light's voice was cold.

"No one, other than you is capable of handling this. Please, I beg you. Come and take a look at her.", JoAnna was desperate.

"Are you asking me for a favor?", his eyes lit up. Did his time finally come? Time when JoAnna is asking for something from him?

JoAnna was not sure how to answer this. But she was desperate, so she picked one. "Yes."

His lips stretched into a smile. "Favor needs to be repaid."

JoAnna's heart dropped. "What do you want?"

"Let's start with a dinner.", He responded with a smirk. It was obvious that he enjoyed the sound of her asking him what he wants.

JoAnna swallowed hard. "OK."

He nodded with satisfaction and stood up. "Lead the way."

Dr. Light checked on Sarah and confirmed what JoAnna said. When they looked at the small object on the monitor, they observed that it slightly moved from its original location.

"Is it possible that this thing moves?", JoAnna asked as she stared at the screen.

Dr. Light observed monitor and nodded. "There are experimental small robots that will get inside patients' body and administer medicine at a specific location. They can be controlled remotely. But I have never seen one this small."

JoAnna's mind spun and landed on an expression: 'Second wave'. Could this be what Philip injected her with? But there was no time to think about that. Sarah is getting worse by the minute.

"Dr Light, can you operate on my sister?"

"Our deal stands?" He wanted to make sure.

JoAnna didn't hesitate. "Yes, yes." There is nothing she would not do to save her sister.

He turned toward three nurses who stood behind. "Get her into the surgery, resident Hill will assist me. We start in ten minutes." He looked at JoAnna with a smile. "Let's go and get ready."

JoAnna anxiously nodded and turned toward Aiden. "Wait here. Sophia will be here soon." She rushed outside behind Sarah who was being wheeled out by nurses.