Tear In Time (8 page)

  “Yes
sir. My name is Dr. David Warner. May I ask what your name is?” David responded
in kind.

 
“Certainly. My name is Jebadiah Morgan,” Dr. Morgan replied, his modesty
eliminating fancy titles from his name.

  He
tied the last bandage and lifted his head. With piercing eyes, he stared
directly into David’s. Slowly, he extended his hand in greeting.

  “I’m
pleased to make your acquaintance, David. Now, if you will indulge me a while,
I’d like to see your abilities. I have a young man waiting amputation I’d like
you to attend to. If you prove your skill, I will consult with Gen. Negley regarding
employment. Is this accord satisfactory?” Dr. Morgan asked with blunt
sincerity.

 
“Where's the patient?” David replied, trying to contain his confidence.

  Dr.
Morgan signaled to the private to bring up the next patient. As they waited, he
showed David to his station, pointing out the instruments he'd be operating
with, as well as suturing materials and bandaging. David viewed his crude
operating environment with shock. He hadn't thought about it until that moment,
but he was trained to operate in a highly technical environment. This was as
primitive as he could imagine. He wasn't sure he could do it.

  Dr.
Morgan sensed David’s apprehension and said, “Son, are you sure you're up for
this?”

  “It's
a bit more primitive than I'm used to, but I can manage,” David replied.

  “Son,
I don't want you to manage. I want you to perform as a trained operator. These
young men deserve more than a butcher or a charlatan. If you are either, please
speak the truth,” Dr. Morgan stated boldly and with conviction.

 
“Doctor, I can assure you my skills as a surgeon are more than adequate. I just
need a moment to acclimate myself to an environment I'm not accustomed to,”
David replied with a bold and confident tone, in an effort to reassure Dr.
Morgan.

  As the
assistants laid the next patient on the wooden wagon, David could see the agony
of the young soldier and immediately began his assessment.

 
Without the basic equipment to understand the patient’s vital signs, David
could only make limited observations. He quickly took the patient’s pulse and
determined it to be weaker than normal. Next, he checked pupil dilation and
reaction with a match. Satisfied, he then examined the patient's mouth, tongue
and skin for dehydration and color. He observed that his skin color was pale
and felt clammy. In addition, the young man seemed somewhat withdrawn and
lethargic. Trying not to move the traumatized leg too much, he moved it only
slightly, cutting away the pant leg. He observed that a large caliber bullet
had indeed passed through the calf, but had left a gaping wound upon exiting.
David determined that with careful cleaning and repair, the leg could be saved,
although without antibiotics, the post treatment would be problematic.

  David
immediately bent the young man's undamaged leg at the knee, leaving the
traumatized leg laying flat. He then moved to the front of the wagon, grabbed a
blanket, and draped it over the patient.

 
"Dr. Warner, what is your assessment?" Dr. Morgan questioned with
concern.

  "The
patient is suffering from mild hypovolemic shock. I am making some effort to
stabilize him before invasive surgery. The large bore bullet has indeed left a
great deal of trauma to the calf, but I believe I can save the leg."

  David
recalled from his courses in school that the anesthesia of choice during this
period was chloroform.

  He
continued, "Do we have the chloroform ready?" David asked.

 
"Doctor, I must protest. His leg is too badly damaged. We must remove it
before gangrene develops," Dr. Morgan said.

 
"I've examined the wound and feel it is relatively clean, thanks to his
pant leg protecting the trauma. After a proper cleaning, I can repair the
muscle, veins and arteries, but will need a strong cleansing solution and
freshly boiled water. I believe he will have some degree of infection, but the
chance of gangrene is much lower than you might think," David replied.

 
"Repair the veins and arteries? Is this possible?" Dr. Morgan asked
incredulously, then added with great concern, "And what if the infection
spreads and gangrene develops?"

 
"We'd amputate, but then he'd be no worse off than if we had amputated
now. At least we give him a chance to save the leg," David reasoned.

 
"Hmm. You really think you can do this? Save his leg?" Dr. Morgan
asked, now intrigued by David's plan.

 
"I can only assure you he won't die under my care, though saving his leg
under these conditions isn't going to be easy," David responded.

  Dr.
Morgan coifed his long white beard as he contemplated the procedure. He looked
over at the patient, then back at David, deep in worry as he struggled to trust
this mysterious doctor who appeared just minutes before. David could see the
old man's forehead furrow as he thought. A moment later, David saw the worried
expression leave the old man's face. He now began to smile a bit as he came to
grips with his decision.

 
"Ok, son. Tell me exactly what you need," Dr. Morgan finally replied.

 
"Two pots of boiling water, distilled or grain alcohol, soap, and clean
dressings," David replied.

 
"It's going to take some time to collect these things. Is every operation
like this?" Dr. Morgan asked.

 
"Keeping the water boiling is the only time consuming consideration,"
David responded.

  A fire
had already been smoldering from early morning usage, so Dr. Morgan tossed more
wood on the coals. Twenty minutes later, two pots of water boiled wildly as
David sorted through Dr. Morgan's limited instruments required to perform the
surgery. Resigned to his selection, David placed the instruments into the
boiling water for sterilization. He then poured off some of the boiling water
into third pot and began to scrub his hands and arms with the soap, as well as
the rubber gloves he had in his pocket. Satisfied with his cleansing, he slowly
washed away the soap.

  Dr.
Morgan looked on ill-amused with the display by this strange doctor. A man of
medicine for more than thirty-five years, he regarded the prep work as
shenanigans reserved for roadside carpetbaggers as a means to disguise their
lack of content. David looked over and could see the contempt in Dr. Morgan’s
eyes. He knew the old doctor was losing his patience, and with that lost, he
too was losing what little credibility he might have had.

 
Quickly, David set up next to the young soldier. With the help of the old
doctor, the patient was anesthetized in a matter of minutes. With the patient
out, Dr. Morgan looked on closely. David put on his now-sterilized gloves, and
then applied a generous amount of the ‘moonshine’ he obtained from the old
doctor to the area around the wound in an effort to sterilize it.

  “Ok,
doctor: as you can see, the patient’s leg is torn up pretty badly. I’m going to
make an incision through the back of the calf to inspect and then repair any
damage I might find,” David started.

  With
the patient’s legs bent at the knees and rolled to one side so he had a clear
view, he made an incision across the entry wound large enough to view inside
when spread apart. As if on cue, Dr. Morgan moved in for a closer look.

  David
then brought out a pair of retractors used to hold open an incision. He
delicately placed the instrument in the incision and expanded it, giving him a
good view of the wound. Next, he rinsed out the incision with a salted water
solution he had prepared before the surgery. Dabbing the excess blood, he was
able to see the damaged muscle tissue and a torn vein. Using his scalpel, he
cut away the torn and mangled muscle tissue. Again, he rinsed out the interior
of the wound with ‘moonshine’ and his makeshift saline solution. With the
smallest needle from the old doctor’s bag of instruments, David began to sew
the reconstructed muscles as well as the arteries, using very few sutures to
accomplish his task.

  “Now,
the sutures will remain there forever, but the body will adapt to them. I
believe this should take care of this side of the wound,” David replied softly,
completely engrossed in his work.

  He
closed the entry wound and moved onto the more extensive damage on the other side
of the calf.

  Dr.
Morgan looked on in total fascination. Never before had he seen or even heard
of surgery so delicate and so complicated performed with such ease and skill.
Eagerly, he waited for David to attempt the more difficult area of the operation.
After watching the first phase of the operation, David had indeed proven
himself to be a quite gifted surgeon. Dr. Morgan now watched as any spectator
would watch a professional in his element. He was in awe and excited to observe
even greater feats of medicine.

  Once
again, David did his best to rinse and clean the wound with the salted water
solution, and then sterilize it with the distilled alcohol. Pulling the scalpel
from the hot water, he began to work the damaged muscle tissue on the exit wound.
The damage was much more extensive, but manageable. As he removed tissue, he
would temporarily close the wound to ensure the proper shape of the
reconstruction. Working quickly, he then began to suture the arteries and
muscle as he had done on the previous side, using very few stitches to
accomplish the task. He then closed the wound as he had done on the other side.
When completed, he rinsed again and sterilized the entire area with the
alcohol.

  With
the operation over, he began to bandage the wound. A few minutes later, as the
patient was gaining consciousness, David had tied the last bandage. The
operation was now over and David felt confident he had done his best to inhibit
infection. In a day’s time, the results of his work would be evident. All he
could do now was to wait.

TT:
Chapter 4

June 8,
1862

  The
sun’s rays shined down from high in the sky as it reached its apex at noon,
warming the foothills and valley below. With the Chattanooga River meandering
through the valley, it sent molecules of moisture into the air, raising the
relative humidity to an uncomfortable level. As the temperatures rose, haze
began to blanket the region. With each roar of the nearby cannons, David felt
the ground rumble under his feet, and quickly turned to investigate.  Like
a low level fog, the haze prevented him from observing the danger that loomed
beyond the birch trees.  Nervously, he searched in the direction of the
sound, but saw nothing.

  He
looked over at Dr. Morgan, who was assisting him while he worked. The old man
stood as an oak, unflinching and undisturbed, completely oblivious to the rain
of death that poured down on humanity just beyond their view.

 
"How do you do that?" David asked of Dr. Morgan.

 
"How do I do what?" Dr. Morgan replied innocently.

 
"How do you work without being affected by the explosions? With every
explosion I hear, with every rumble under my feet, I wonder if the next shell
will be for us," David asked, visibly shaken.

  “Eh,
after thirty-five years in the military, you get used to it,” the old doc
replied in typical modesty, then added, “Besides, we really aren’t in much
danger.”

 
"To tell you the truth, even if we were in another state, I'd still be
scared," David admitted, blotting the sweat from his brow as he worked.

 
"Well, you won't have to wait too long for that," Dr. Morgan replied
cryptically.

 
"What do you mean, 'won't have to wait too long'?" David asked,
picking up on the hidden meaning.

  "You
won't have to wait too long to be scared in another state, because I overheard
Gen. Negley speak of marching north toward Virginia," Dr. Morgan replied,
matter-of-factly.