I clear my throat and nervously wring my hands in front of me as Grant steps away to give us privacy.
“Yes, well. As we saw when she arrived, there're several lacerations. The majority are superficial, but there are a few deeper cuts, which will be stitched. She has three broken ribs, and a collapsed lung. Her left shin is broken in three places, it’s a compound fracture. We do not need to conduct surgery for a pneumothorax, the collapsed lung, we inserted a needle in her chest to relieve some of the excess air, however we ended up having to insert a chest tube.”
“But she’s going to be okay?” He asks.
“She will have some recovery from the collapsed lung, also from the fractures. But yes, she will be fine.”
“If I would have continued to argue?”
“We wouldn’t have been able to act as fast, excess air would have leaked further and additional complications would have ensued.”
“But she will be okay?” He asks with hope.
“She will be, yes.” I smile.
He rushes into me and embraces me tightly. His hold is firm, and I feel his body shake. “Thank you, thank you.” his muffled cry repeats on my shoulder.
My arms loosely fit around his back, relishing he’s hugging me. Even though it’s likely only because I’m here and someone bringing him good news about his wife, my mother.
I push away and wipe the moisture from my eyes. “I should get back there. If there are any additional updates, I assure that you receive them.” I turn around and begin walking.
“Kindra?” he stops me, and I turn.
“I’m sorry that I discounted you.”
I nod, smile, then turn around.
That’s all I needed to hear from him.
A few hours have passed and I’m exhausted. It’s been a long night and even though I’m thankful for the continuous work to get my mind off of Rogan, it wasn’t the kind that I was hoping for. I changed in the locker room and walk out of the double doors to the entrance of the ER.
My eyes catch on the figure in the corner, slumped against the wall.
Dad?
He looks a little pale, and I see discoloration on his side, where his shirt lifts by the way he’s positioned.
I walk over to him and shake his shoulder.
“Hey Dad, do you need a lift home, want some food?” I ask quietly.
When he doesn’t move or answer, I shake his shoulder a little harder.
“Dad? Dad?” I say with each movement. I feel his neck. He has a pulse, but it’s weak.
Oh, for fucks sake.
I rush to the front desk and slap my hand on the top to get her attention.
“I need a doctor and a gurney.” I tell her.
“I’m sorry ma’am, you must fill out these papers, and wait for your name to be called,” she says, her rehearsed line barely glancing up from her computer monitor.
“No, get me Dr. Quinn right now!” I say with my teeth clenched.
“Ma’am, you must wait—” I storm away from her and grab my badge out of my pocket as I buzz myself through the double doors with her yelling for me to stop.
“Hey, how did you get back here?” She stands with her hands on her hips as I storm by.
I see Rogan standing at the foot of a patient’s bed while speaking to a resident.
“Ro! Ro! I need you! Rogan!” I run across the space as he turns in confusion with the receptionist trailing behind me with security.
“What’s happening, why are you being followed?”
“She just came back here like she owns the place, guards, take her away!” She points.
“Stop!” Rogan shouts and stands in front of me with his hands up.
I pull out my badge and hold it up over his shoulder.
“She works here, she’s a nurse in this damn ER, now can someone please tell me what’s going on?” Rogan yells looking between me and the woman.
The guards back away and the receptionist stands there embarrassed.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I thought you were—”
Rogan turns around and looks at me. “Is everything okay?” He searches my face, goes down my shoulders, arms, torso and to my feet.
“My dad. He’s, he’s—” I point in the direction of the waiting room that I just came from.
Rogan turns and runs with me following behind him. I roll a bed out and lower it to the ground. Rogan is kneeling beside him, taking the pulse in dad’s carotid artery as I stand there with tears pouring out of my eyes.
One of the guards rushes to our side and assists Rogan with carefully lifting my dad and securing him to the bed. Rogan pushes him back through the doors and I trail behind, right on his heels. Rogan walks into a private trauma room, yelling all kinds of directions at nearby staff.
I push myself into the room and grab a pair of gloves. Rogan looks up and removes his hands from my father, then walks to me and grabs my hand to lead me out of the room.
With his hands on my shoulders, he bends and looks in my eyes.
“Kindra, you can’t be in here.”
“Why not? I’m just as qualified as anyone to be in there,” I protest.
“I’m not arguing that, but I think today has been traumatic enough. I can’t have you also working on your fathers’ case. I need you to get some rest, be a family member for a bit.”
“You can’t keep me out of here,” I look at him.
“I can, and I will if I have to. Please let me take care of him?”
I see the look of desperation and panic in Rogan’s eyes and know that if the roles were reversed and he would do as I would be asking.
I reluctantly agree.
“I promise you that I will do whatever it takes to make sure that he’s okay.” He tells me before stepping back inside the room with a squeeze to my shoulder.
The door shuts and I’m left standing outside the room feeling helpless as I see the shadows of everyone inside that room moving around my father.
The time from when I went out of the room until when Rogan came into the waiting room of the emergency room felt like an eternity. I’ve been up already for a solid twenty-four hours and the time that I sat there–waiting–my mind couldn’t stop running through a gamut of negative scenarios.
I stood ramrod straight when Rogan appeared, nervous for whatever he will tell me. And from the look on his face, I cannot get a gauge as to whether it’s negative or positive.
Damn his poker face.
“Care to come in the back?” he speaks after a moment.
“I would rather you give me the bad news out here,” I tell him, feeling defeated.
“Kindra, your father is alive. Now, care to come in the back with me?” he asks.
I nod and step into an easy pace with him.
“We spoke with the EMT’s that brought him in. He refused treatment at the scene and in the bus, but they checked his standard vitals. He presented fine.”
“Internal bleeding?”
“Yes.”
“I saw his torso looked bruised.” I nod.
“He seemed to have lost consciousness, and it was likely shortly after that when you found him. I asked security to look at the waiting room footage, and they reported that he passed out about ten minutes before you came. Any longer and he would be in very serious condition. We located the source of his bleeding as soon as we had him stabilized. And now, he’s on his way up to the OR to repair a blood vessel and remove the excess blood. He will be okay; I can promise you that.”
“Don’t make me promises, please, just don’t.” I shake my head and ask.
“As a doctor, you know that I wouldn’t normally. But I need you to know, that it will for you.”
“What’s next?”
“We’re going to give him some clotting compounds and complexes and go from there.”
“How long until I can see him?” I ask.
“In a few hours, go grab some sleep in an on-call room. I’ll wake you as soon as he’s out. We’ll put him in the r
oom with your mom.”
“No, I need to stay up and wait.”
“You will not be any good to anyone if you don’t get some sleep. I hope it’s okay, but I took you off the schedule tomorrow, so you can be here for both of your parents.”
“Thank you, Ro. For everything.”
“Hey, I got you.” He states squeezing my shoulder
“Yeah.” I nod, walking past him towards the on-call room.
My parents' condition didn’t change over the next twenty-four hours. And as much as I’ve tried to look at their charts, my access to their files are secured.
Damn technology for being airtight!
The hours continue to drag and the room that my parents share echo with the various beeping of the machines. I know there’s no immediate danger, since the beeps are steady and still low, which helps me relax.
I want to take part in my parents' medical care, but I know that I can’t. I’m too emotionally close and my actions—should something happen—would be clouded.
The door opens, and a nurse walks in. She checks vitals, taps on the screen, and then looks at her watch.
“Your mom's vitals have improved from last night. Once she wakes, we’ll make sure a plastic surgeon comes to speak to you guys.”
“A plastic surgeon? I believe the protocol is that we need to talk to her about that first, see what she wants?”
“It’s an option that I wanted to make sure that she knows it is available to her. Your mom and mine are close. All they talk about is beauty and stuff like that, so I’m just assuming that making sure someone is on call would be fruitful for her.”
“I appreciate your future-thought there, but again as her daughter, I think it would be better to speak to her about it.”
The door opens and Rogan walks in. He looks between the nurse and me as the nurse passes between us and out of the room.
“What was that all about?” he asks.
“She was making decisions without my mother's input. She thinks that just because her mom and mine are friends that she has a say.” I roll my eyes.
“I’m sure that she wasn’t doing it intentionally,” Rogan says.
I shake my head, “any news on them?”
“Everything is looking on the up and up. All tests came back well, we’ll begin to ease off some of the medications for your mom. Your dad woke up not too long ago, but he’s drifting in and out. They’re going to recover from this, you know, with the help of their daughter.”
Day two of sleeping in the on-call room and my neck is stiff and my body is sore. My parents are both awake and talking—but I’ve avoided them at all costs. I’m back on the schedule today, but my shift doesn’t start for a few hours.
I’m lurking outside my parents' room, I’ve walked by a few times to catch if they’re awake and I’ve snuck looks at their charts since my access to the hospital terminals is back on.
I’m on my third pass when my father calls out my name.
“You can stop pacing back and forth in front of our room,” he says.
My mom turns her head, and despite the cuts covering her face, she smiles.
“I’m not pacing.” I tell him.
“Have a seat, we know that you’ve been worried. Your father told me how you strong-armed him to not turn the ambulance around.”
“It was no big deal, it was medically necessary,” I reply.
“Nonsense, and then the night nurse mentioned how you saved your father's life.”
“It’s my job.” I shrug.
“You had perfect timing. We hear that if he would have been passed out in that waiting room for much longer, that I wouldn’t still have this annoying man beside me any longer.” Mom says.
“Yeah, it was good timing. I was just about to head home and grab some clothes, but I found him passed out. I almost got escorted off the property. They probably thought that I was a crazy patient or something.”
“Come and sit down,” my dad says, pointing to the only chair in the room against the wall. “So, this nursing thing, how did you get into it?”
23
Kindra
“I’ve never been to a baby shower, I thought that those were just for chicks?” Rogan asks while grabbing the gift bag from the backseat as we get out of the car.
“Some are, but this is a coed party. Basically, the ladies do one thing, while the guys do something else, but all in the same space.” I tell him.
“And who are these people again?” he whispers as we walk up the front steps to the brownstone.
“The mother to be is Becky. She was my college roommate for a few years, her husband is some guy she met at work. I honestly haven’t seen to them in a few years, I had no clue that they were expecting,” I whisper back.
“Maybe we’re just here so they can get an extra gift.” he jokes.
“Well, if that’s the case–let’s eat as much finger food as we can. Maybe even stuff some in your pockets.” I knock on the door.
Truthfully, my nerves are at a high level. I haven’t known too many people who had had babies. That’s one of the nice things about going to school and hanging out with a few people who wanted to remain single. I had a few friends who got pregnant and being around them was hard, especially once they had their babies, but I managed to get through it. But coming to this baby shower is entirely different, because Rogan is here. All in all, I’m not exactly sure how this party will go and I’m regretting my decision in inviting him.
If things were different, we would have had the baby shower all those years ago. We would have had our own baby, and maybe we would have wound up married like we planned when we were kids. But none of that happened.
Even though I was lost in my own mind, we navigated through the house and ended up in the living room. We’re facing one another and I hear Rogan talking, but I’m not getting anything that he’s saying. I blink and Rogan has a concerned look on his face.
“You good?” he asks.
I nod and hear a screech coming from the other side of the room.
“You came! You really, really came!” A very pregnant woman shrieks from across the room. She’s almost unrecognizable, but I see hints of my old roommate as I watch her waddle closer with her hands up in excitement. I don’t think that I’ve ever seen her natural hair color, but now a beautiful blonde stands in front of me. She’s got freckles across her nose and wow, her breasts are humongous.
“Hey you, when are you due?” I ask as she leans in and does double cheek air kiss.
Becky rubs her belly and smiles. “Two weeks,” she smiles, looking down.
“You need to be sitting! Please sit.” I grab a chair from a table nearby for her.
“Nonsense. Sitting hurts, after all. My inner parts are so scrunched up that whenever I sit, I need to pee, and then it’s tortuous to get up and Wayne is never close by when I need the help to get up, so walking and standing is good. I don’t want to pee my pants today. Who’s this handsome devil that you brought with you. I told Cass that I didn’t want any strippers.”
“Very funny. Becky, I would like to introduce you to my boyfriend, Rogan. Rogan, this is my old friend, Becky.” I point back and forth between them.
“Rogan, nice to meet you.” She leans in and takes his hand. “Rogan, why do I know that name?” She says to herself.
“Anyway, thanks for having us.” I say quickly, just as Becky’s eyes go wide and she looks at him.
“You’re not the Rogan? Are you?” She asks.
Rogan nods as Becky grins. “I’m going to assume that you have heard of me.”
“Well, all the more pleasure to meet you. I’m happy that you guys found your way back to one another. I have to pee. We definitely must chat later.” She pats me on the shoulder and waddles down the hall.
“So, you talked about me to her?” Rogan asks.
“I might have.” I shrug.
We walk around the space holding hands and I suddenly felt a range of emotions. I fight back tears an
d hide my sniffles. I felt like shit and each time that I look over at Rogan, a fresh wave of guilt ransacks my thoughts.
He could have had all of this. We could have had all this.
We were so dumb back then.
As the day went on, we ate plenty of miniature foods and did a lot of smiling. We made a lot of small talk and oooh’d and ahh’d over the cute baby presents that the eager parents received.
Even though neither of us had to work tomorrow, we passed on further plans in the city and instead came back home to Sunnyville.
“You okay?” Rogan asks as we pull up to my place.
I don’t immediately answer him until he reaches for my hand.
“I think we need some time apart.” I whisper.
“What?”
“I think that we should break up.” I say a little more confidently, looking at him.
“Here I am, thinking that we had a great day, in the city, with a few of your friends. Did I miss something?” He asks.
“Going to the baby shower was a mistake, we shouldn’t have gone there, at least not together.”
“That makes little sense. What happened today that put this in your head?”
“The whole situation, Ro.” I reply.
“I’m not following.”
“We almost had a baby, but then I ruined it. That, today, could have been us. But we didn’t make it that far, because I royally fucked up by getting high that night.”
“I thought we were past this?”
I put my head in my hands and take a deep breath.
“What if all of what happened back then was supposed to happen, because we were never supposed to be together? Not then, and not now. What if coming back home was a mistake? I mean, I couldn’t get my parents to think any different of me. Why would I think that you would forgive me for my sins, for leaving you for not telling you what happened back then?”
“Why? Why? Seriously, Kindra, why? Are you fishing for compliments, or are you fucking serious? Why? Because shit happens. We were kids back then, we made a lot of mistakes, but then we made a lot of good come out of those mistakes. Look at us. Back in high school, you had no clue what you wanted to do with your life, and I wanted to work at the record store for as long as they’d have me. But now, now we’re fucking professionals in our field. You’re a nurse, damnit, and I’m a fucking doctor. A fucking doctor! Who would have ever thought that? You can’t make this shit up. We were fuck up kids, who made something with their lives.”
Heartburn: An Everyday Heroes World Novel (The Everyday Heroes World) Page 9