As the surgeon and cameraman leave, Mollie starts to feel the butterflies in her stomach. It is a cross between hunger and nerves. Kelly catches that the nerves are starting, even without Mollie saying a word. Kelly looks through the chart and makes sure that Anesthesia has already seen Mollie, and they have. Kelly goes to the Pyxis and takes out some medication.

Kelly comes to Mollie’s bedside. “How are you holding up?”

Mollie tells her, “Well, I was doing ok until the marker, well really until the camera guy.”

“I could tell. I have some medicine for you that’s going to take the edge off the nerves and a little something to help settle your stomach.”

“How’d you know?”

“I’ve been doing this for a while. And a couple of times, I’ve been in your position.”

Kelly hands Mollie the sodium citrate in a medicine cup. Mollie downs it like a shot. Kelly smiles at her. “That will make your stomach feel a little better as it is going to take some of the acid away.”

Kelly then screws the syringe onto Mollie’s saline well. “This is going to help with the nerves. It’s not going to be much longer and we’ll be ready to go into the room.” Kelly slowly and deliberately injects the midazolam into Mollie’s vein. A short minute later, Mollie is feeling much more relaxed, and even starts to doze.

About 10 minutes pass and another scrub-clad figure comes over to Mollie. “Mollie, Mollie, hi! I’m Dayna, one of the anesthetists, and I will be with you for surgery today. I read the notes from your visit to pre-surgical yesterday, but I want to just make sure of a couple of things. Have you ever had anesthesia before?”

Mollie, in her haze, “No. You get to be the first.”

Dayna smiles. “Anyone in your family ever have a problem with anesthesia?”

Mollie tells her that she doesn’t think so.

Dayna asks Mollie to open her mouth and stick her tongue out. “All those teeth are yours, right? Any loose ones?”

Mollie tells her, “I hope so. I wouldn’t want anyone else’s teeth in there.”

Dayna has Mollie move her head around a bit. “Any questions for me before we get going?” Dayna and Kelly put their masks on. Kelly takes a cap from the shelf and steps next to Mollie, takes her hair and gathers it, then puts the blue cap on her.

“Since you have me all dressed up, let’s go,” Mollie slurred.

Kelly unlocked the Barco and started to push Mollie toward the operating room. Had she not been so snowed, Mollie would have walked, but to keep her safe, and keep the paperwork to a minimum, Dayna and Kelly decided that Mollie needed to ride to surgery. Through the double-doors they go, into the cool surgical suite. Into the second room on the left, Mollie is stopped next to the table. Kelly points to the back of the room, where a tall woman, already in her sterile gown and gloves, is working. “This is Luz. She’s our Tech and going to be helping with your surgery today.”