Caught in the Crossfire

I switched his meds and nobody knows. Night shift, ICU, patient coding in

room twelve. I'm running. His wife is screaming. Then I see it. The chart says dopamine

but someone hung norepinephrine. Wrong drug. Wrong dose. He's crashing because

of us. The attending is frozen. No time for protocol. I rip out the line,

flush it, hang the right bag. His pressure climbs. Heart stabilizes. He lives.

But here's the thing. I never reported who made the mistake. It was Sarah, single mom,

three kids, one more error and she's fired. I documented it as caught during

routine check. She doesn't even know I saved her career while saving his life.