Chapter 24 Chapter Twenty-Four

As he walked to his car, Puller noticed that the lights in the windows of the hotel office were still on.Instinctively curious, he decided to check it out, walked over and opened the door.The old woman was sitting on a chair behind the counter, her right hand was pressing her heart, her expression was panic, her chest was heaving up and down.Her complexion was flushed, but there was a touch of gray on the edges. He closed the door and moved closer.The skin around her lips and nose did not appear blue.It should not be cyanosis. but…… Puller took out his phone, thumbed 911 without looking at the screen.

"How long has it been like this?" he asked the woman. "Ten minutes," she replied vaguely. He knelt beside her on one knee. "Has this ever happened before?" "It's been a long time since I've had symptoms this bad. I've had bypass surgery in the hospital in the past." "You have a bad heart, don't you?" "Pretty bad, I think so, it is. It's amazing how long I've lived." She moaned, clutching her chest harder. "Like something heavy is pressing there?" She nodded. "Is your arm throbbing?"

She shook her head, and tears began to stream down her face. An important symptom of myocardial infarction is chest tightness, as if pressing on an elephant.It also had a symptom: a sharp pain in the left arm.Not everyone has this reaction, especially for women, and it doesn't have to be the left arm.Puller didn't want to wait for the symptoms to manifest. The 911 operator answered the call.In a few short, incoherent sentences, Puller explained the situation at hand, describing some of the details accurately.He hung up the phone. "They're going right here." "I'm afraid." Her voice trembled.

"I know, but you'll be fine." He felt for her pulse.very faint.This is not surprising.Heart problems lead to a decrease in blood output, which naturally causes a weak pulse.An elderly person like her has the possibility of accompanying stroke.Her limbs were clammy and the veins under her neck swelled.These are bad symptoms.She may be developing a blood clot. "You just nod or shake your head. Feel sick?" She nods. "Can't you get angry?" She nodded again. Puller asked, "Do you have any heart medicine here?" She still nodded.Puller saw beads of sweat lining her brow like a discreet string of pearls.

"I have some nitroglycerin tablets, but I can't get them." "Where's the aspirin?" "Together too." "Tell me where?" "The bedside table in the bedroom." She pointed to the left with trembling fingers. Ten seconds later Pooler was back with some pill bottles. He handed her an aspirin and a glass of water.If she develops a blood clot, aspirin can be helpful to prevent further platelet clotting.It worked quickly and didn't adversely affect her blood pressure. The problem with nitroglycerin is that it only addresses the symptoms, not the coronary artery disease that is causing them.Moreover, although it can relieve the pain in her heart, at present, when her blood pressure may already be very low, using nitroglycerin will make her blood pressure drop even lower.This is how the drug works.Low blood pressure can greatly aggravate heart problems and even cause cardiac arrest.He can't take such a risk.He must have noticed this from the beginning.

"Do you have a blood pressure monitor here?" She nodded and pointed to a cabinet behind the counter. It is the electronic sphygmomanometer that displays numbers.He grabbed it and put it on her right arm, pressed the switch, and watched the cuff swell.It shows results very quickly. No, the blood pressure is really low.Adding nitroglycerin would kill her. Puller looked her up and down.There was no fluid in the body, swelling of the feet, and no damage to the blood vessels. "Are you on diuretics?" She shook her head. "I'll be back in seconds," he said.

He sprinted to his Mai Ruibao, opened the trunk, grabbed the first aid kit, and sprinted back.His long legs quickly swallowed the distance between the two points. He came back into the house to see her even worse.If her heart stopped suddenly at this time, the duty of the emergency personnel who arrived in a while would no longer be to rescue her, but to formally confirm her death. He opened the first aid kit and took out the necessary items.He kept talking to the old woman the whole time, trying to reassure her somewhat.He also kept one ear pricked up for the sound of an ambulance. On the desolate outskirts of Afghanistan, he had examined the wounds of his comrades who were like bloody hunks of raw meat.He rescued some of them and lost others.He has made up his mind that he must not lose the old man this time.

Puller swabbed her arm with an alcohol swab, inserted the needle into a suitable vessel, and secured it to the inside of her forearm with medical tape.The other end of the infusion tube was connected to a bag of normal saline that he took out of the first aid kit.The infusion can increase blood pressure, which doctors used when rescuing President Reagan who was shot.The fluid metering scale is marked on the infusion bag.This is an intravenous infusion using the principles of atmospheric pressure and hydrostatic pressure.He hung the infusion bag above her head and made the adjustment hole for the drip very large.This bag can be lost in twenty minutes.She has eight liters of blood in her body, and infusion of one liter of saline will raise her blood pressure by about twenty percent.

When the IV bag was half empty, Puller took her blood pressure again.He checked the data, and both the diastolic and systolic blood pressure had increased, both within safe limits.He didn't know if it was safe enough, but he had no choice.The old woman clutched her chest harder, and her moans sounded longer and more painful. "Open your mouth," he said, and she did.Puller put nitroglycerin tablets under her tongue. The medicine works quickly.After a minute she began to calm down, her chest stopped rising and falling, and her hands moved away from her chest.The severe pain in the heart caused the spasm of the blood vessels.Nitroglycerin relieves the spasm, buying the patient time, at least until the ambulance arrives.

"Take a deep breath. The doctors are coming. Aspirin, nitroglycerin, and saline will help you. You look better. You'll recover. It's not your turn to see God yet." He took her blood pressure again and read the data.are improving.All good.Her complexion is improving.A small miracle in a remote mining area. "The hospital is far away," she gasped. "I should have moved closer to it." "We all have things we regret," Puller said with a laugh. She smiled weakly and took Puller's hand.He let her squeeze his hand with the greatest strength.Her fingers were thin and limp, like ripples in the breeze, and Pooler could barely feel the pressure being transmitted from her hands.Her expression relaxed.Her teeth were yellow, almost crooked, with black stains in some places, and gaps in others.Even so, her smile was very touching.Puller was happy to see her smile.

"You're a good boy," she said. "Is there anything you need from me here? Shall I call your relatives?" She shook her head slowly. "It's just me and no one else." Puller noticed that her eyes had severe cataracts, and she could rarely see him. "Okay, take a steady deep breath. I hear the ambulance. They know you have a heart attack and should be ready on the way." "Thank you very much, young man." "What's your name? Is it Anne, the name of the hotel?" She stroked his cheek lightly, expressing her gratitude again with a weak smile.The pain with each beat of the heart made the corners of her mouth twitch. "I'm Louisa. I can't tell you who Anne is. That's what the place was called when I bought it. I don't have money to change it." "Do you like flowers, Louisa? I'll have some sent to the hospital." He looked her in the eye, hoping that she would remain calm, that her breathing would gradually return to normal, and that she would not think about the horrible fact that her heart might stop beating forever. . "Girls always like to receive flowers," she replied in a weak voice. Puller heard the motor of the ambulance, followed by wheels on the gravel, doors opening and closing, and people running.The medical staff are quick, efficient and well trained.He talked about aspirin and nitroglycerin and saline, and her blood pressure.He explained Luisa's symptoms one by one, because she didn't have the energy to say more at the moment. The doctors calmly asked all the questions that should be asked at this time, and quickly put Luisa on an oxygen mask and replaced it with a new infusion bottle.Her complexion recovered further. One of the first responders asked Puller: "You're a doctor? You're doing everything right." "I'm not a doctor. I'm just a soldier with a little knack. Please take good care of her. Her name is Luisa, and we're friends." The short man looked up at the tall ex-Ranger and said, "Hey man, your friend is my friend." Louisa waved to Puller as she was wheeled to the ambulance.Puller followed.She pulled off the oxygen mask over her face. She said, "There's a kitten. Can you-" Puller nodded. "I have a kitten too. No problem." "What's your name again? Honey." "Puller." "You're a good boy, Pooler," she said again. The car door slammed shut behind her, and the ambulance sped away, the siren wailing echoing in the dawn for a long time. Good boy. He must find a flower shop. He went looking for the kitten and found it after entering the bedroom behind the business counter.The dark and light-striped cat is sleeping soundly under the bed.The old woman's "home" has two small rooms, and a bathroom equipped with shower facilities, less than two meters square, and it is difficult for a person like Puller to squeeze into it.The house is littered with all kinds of items that people her age would love to accumulate.It seems that these old people are reluctant to throw away the old things just because they want to hold back the passing of time. Trying to stop the march to death.As if any of us could actually do it. The Taliban ambush cost Puller four comrades, and he desperately rescued four others.What he did, any of his comrades-in-arms would do for him at no cost, but he got a heavy medal for his actions.He went home.Half of the eight comrades were also back, lying in shiny painted coffins covered with the Stars and Stripes. All expenses do not have to cover the voyage to fly back to Dover Air Force Base in the United States.A long rest beneath Arlington National Cemetery.Among the rows of white tombstones is the one that records your military experience. An extraordinary life—Puller thought so—a life dedicated to the U.S. Army. The cat was old, fat, and apparently oblivious to the pain his owner was going through physically.Puller provided it with plenty of food and a small bucket full of water, and cleaned the cardboard box it used as a nest.He found the key to the office, locked the door, and went to breakfast. Suddenly he is very hungry, and at this moment his own food must be sufficient.