“Female, fifty-five, pain in the left foot and abdomen. No loss of consciousness, all vitals have been stable,” the EMT tells us as we make our way into the treatment area.
“Transfer on my count, one, two, three,” Dr. Knight calls out as we all lift the sheet that is under the patient.
“Ma’am, can you tell me your name?” I ask the patient as I check the IV the EMTs placed in her arm.
“Julie, Julie Smith. Is my husband okay?” she asks, trying to move her head to look for him.
“I’m not sure, ma’am,” I tell her. “I’ll see what I can find out for you, but for now, are you in any pain?”
“My foot and belly hurt,” she says. Her foot appears to be fractured, and the belly pain could be from the seatbelt locking on impact.
“Mrs. Smith,” Dr. Knight addresses her. “Does it hurt when I press here?” he asks, palpating her abdomen. We get the answer when she wails in pain. “I’m sorry, ma’am,” he apologizes. “Administer two milligrams morphine, IV push. We’re going to need ultrasound down here ASAP after x-ray,” he tells me, and I do just as he asks.
I work fast to get Mrs. Smith’s pain under control. When the x-ray tech shows up a few moments later, we all step back while they take the images that Dr. Knight has ordered. I take a moment to step over a few treatment bays to see if I can get any information on Mr. Smith. I catch Allison’s attention, and she nods her head quickly. That is my one clue that while he might be in bad shape, it doesn’t appear to be life-threatening.
I head back to Mrs. Smith, stepping back up next to her now that the x-rays are all done. “I poked my head over to check on your husband, and they’re working on getting him fully checked over. I promise I’ll keep you updated once they’ve had the chance to fully evaluate him,” I tell her as the ultrasound tech shows up with her mobile machine.
“Thank you, dear,” she says, squeezing my hand.
“This will be a little cold,” the ultrasound tech warns before she squirts some gel on Mrs. Smith's abdomen. She starts to scan her, and I sigh in relief when no internal bleeding is found. Her pain is just from the trauma of the seatbelt locking upon impact. While that will cause some nasty bruising, it will be a lot easier to heal from than an emergency surgery to fix internal bleeding would be.
“Good news, Mrs. Smith,” Dr. Knight says. “You won’t be needing surgery today. We’ll get your foot booted and keep you for some observation for a few more hours, but otherwise, I think that you’ll heal just fine. You’ll need to follow up with an orthopedist in two to three days for the foot.”
“Thank you so much, doctor. How’s my husband?” she questions, still holding on to my hand.
“He’s still being assessed by one of my colleagues, but I do believe he’s possibly going to need surgery. I do know they asked for a consult with the general surgeon on call. Lindsay, here, can check in with his team and get some more information for you,” he tells her, nodding his head in my direction.
“Let me go check on him now,” I tell her, squeezing her hand before I pull my own from her grip. I press the button on her bed to help her sit up some before I leave the bay to go check on her husband.
“Can I get an update for the patient’s wife, who is in bay one?” I ask Dr. Murray.
“We’re prepping him for surgery. He’s got a bleed in the intestines and possibly his bladder; we’ll know for sure once we get him open. Other than that, he’s got a few abrasions from the glass. He should be good to go in a few hours. I anticipate him needing one, maybe two nights inpatient, depending on how his pain management is post-surgery, as long as we don’t find anything we’re not expecting,” Dr. Murray tells me.
“Thank you, I’ll update his wife,” I tell her as I step away and back to my patient. I quickly update her. “Before he’s taken to surgery, I’ll try to get you over to him. How’s the pain?” I question.
“It’s getting much better,” she tells me, and I can tell that the pain meds have finally kicked in.
“I’m going to go grab you a wheelchair, then we can take you over to see Mr. Smith.”
“Thank you, dear,” she says, and I head for a chair.
5
Tucker
“Let’s get this party started!” Lee calls out as he unloads the back of his truck. I walk over, giving him a hand. I grab two cases of beer along with a bag of ice.
“How much did you buy?” I ask, looking at how much more he’s got back here.
“Didn’t want to run out before the night is over.” He smirks. “It isn’t a party if we run out of beer.”
“Yeah, but everyone coming is supposed to bring their own, remember?” I ask as we walk around to the back deck, where I’ve already got a few coolers ready to be filled with ice and beers.
“What time are people showing up?” he asks, popping the top on a beer before sucking half of it down in one gulp.
“Anytime they want, but I figure most won’t show up until closer to kickoff,” I tell him, looking at my watch and seeing that we still have around an hour until then. “Let’s get everything else unloaded and set up, and then we can kick back,” I suggest and take off for his truck again.
Another trip to Lee’s truck, and we’ve got everything out. I set up a folding table on the deck to hold food and drinks that others bring. We get the condiments pulled out, as well as the buns for the burgers and hot dogs that I’ll throw on the grill once more people show up, and everyone is ready to start eating. My mom dropped by earlier with large bowls of her homemade baked beans and coleslaw. That woman is a saint, and I’ll love her until the day I die.
“I’m surprised Paisley isn’t here tonight,” Lee comments as we kick back on the couch. The pre-game coverage already started. Bulldog games are big here, but make it against a rival like Alabama, and people go crazy.
“I figured tonight wasn’t the best night for her to be around. I didn’t want it to get too rowdy, so she’s having a night with Nona and Papa since she’d normally be here with me. She was a-okay with that plan, so were my parents. They’re probably spoiling the fuck out of her right now,” I tell him, taking a drink of my own beer.
“That girl is going to walk all over all of you when she’s a teenager,” he muses. He might be joking and trying to bust my balls about it, but I’m scared shitless that he’s not kidding.
Our attention is pulled to the sound of car doors closing and voices hollering outside as people start to arrive. I open the screen door, seeing that some of the guys from the station have arrived, along with their significant others, if they have them.
I welcome everyone in, showing them where best to stash drinks and food. Everyone knows each other, so I don’t have to worry about introductions as more and more people arrive as we near kickoff. I keep my eye out, hoping like crazy that Lindsay will show up sooner rather than later. I’ve had this deep desire to see her again. My hands itch to have her in my arms, so if she shows up tonight, I’m going to have to make that happen. Hopefully, she’ll stick around for after the game when we light the bonfire and start the music. I could go for dancing with her in the dark, holding her body close to mine as we sway together.