More Lies and Alibis (Using Lies as Alibis #2) by Tiffany L. Warren

Thirteen
     
    Sydney
    Lucas and I are working the night shift, and this time it’s my turn to comfort him.  Less than an hour ago, Jewel died in her sleep from a brain bleed.  Of course, Lucas is blaming himself and wondering if he missed something during her surgery.  It’s always rough on him when he loses a patient.  My man thinks he’s a superhero. 
    “Baby, it’s not your fault she injected that stuff into her booty.  God rest her soul.  You did everything you could.”
    Lucas shakes his head and paces the on-call room.  “No.  I should’ve done another CAT scan after surgery.  I didn’t double check.  I didn’t make sure.”
    I hate that Lucas is here blaming himself for this, especially since the police have yet to apprehend that Keke person.  She should be the one carrying this load of guilt.  She killed Jewel.
    I take his Lucas’s hand and pull him down next to me on the bench.  “Lucas.  You know we can’t save them all.”
    He exhales deeply and sighs.  “We can’t.  What about your patient, Stephanie?  When are you operating on her?”
    “Tomorrow.  I was waiting for her to respond to the antibiotics.  I think it’s safe to operate.”
    Lucas puts one hand on my knee and squeezes.  “I know you can’t stand Fatima.  I understand, and no one could expect you to like her, but for Stephanie’s sake, can you please let her scrub in?”
    I pull my bottom lip in and flare my nostrils.  He’s right and I know he’s right, but the thought of Fatima in the same space as me, and breathing the same air – I just don’t know if I can take it.
    “I’ll scrub in too,” Lucas says.  “You won’t have to be in there alone.”
    “You don’t think I can handle a surgery with Fatima?”
    “I think you can, but just in case she says anything to you to hurt you, I want to be there.  I’m not going to let her hurt you anymore.”
    I love Lucas’s words, but while Fatima did hurt me, the majority of my pain was from how he made me feel.  But I do like that he wants me protected and safe.  I want to feel that way. 
    “Thank you, babe,” I say.
    My pager buzzes.  I reach down and read it.  Dang.  Stephanie just coded. 
    “Looks like we’re gonna have to operate sooner rather than later,” I say.  “Stephanie coded.  Is Fatima in the hospital?”
    “I think so,” Lucas says.
    “Go find her.  I’m booking OR 3.  See you in there.”
    I rush out of the on call room and to the nurses’ station.  Jillian is there, flipping through a chart, I’m assuming it’s Stephanie’s.
    “What’s going on?  Why aren’t you with her?” I ask.
    “I was coming to find you.  We need to operate.  I think some more of the silicone migrated to her lungs.  Chest sounds are not good. 
    I nod as I take the chart from her hands.  “We’ve got to get that poison out of her.  Come on.”
    Jillian and I rush Stephanie to the operating room, with an anesthesiologist running behind us.  I hand him the chart so he can read it by the time we get to the OR.
    The anesthesiologist, Dr. Brennan, and I hurry to scrub in as the operating room nurses prepare Stephanie for surgery.  Fatima and Lucas are already scrubbing in.
    “I’m glad you decided to do the right thing,” Fatima says. 
    She storms into the operating room in a huff, with Dr. Brennan right behind her.  Lucas shakes his head and frowns.
    “Did she really just say that to me right before I’m about to operate?” I ask. 
    “Yeah, she did.  It’s all good.  Come on.  Let’s not lose this one.”
    The most recent scans that Jillian ordered right after Stephanie coded show exactly what I thought they would.  She’s got another blood clot in her lungs.  This one is huge. 
    “Let’s get this clot first, and then we can get the silicone deposits.”
    “You’re gonna cut her chest open and then flip her on her stomach to get the silicone?” Fatima asks.  “I think you should remove the silicone