by Kay Edwards
Chapter Twenty
Dalton looked at the blood on his hands. He kept waiting to wake up because in his mind there could not possibly be a family this full of accident prone people. He was also trying to keep his cool. The Bishop's family seemed to be doing their best to kill each other. He looked over at Misty who was crying hysterically into her hands. He then looked at Wyatt and realized he would not be any help at all since he couldn't stop laughing. The fact was that this could be a serious wound that Brock had.
Brock glared at his sister. "You shot me!"
Misty started to wail. "It was an accident. We agreed we were going to wait until everyone shot. What were you thinking going out there?"
Dalton had to agree with Misty. Brock had started to go to the target without making sure all the arrows were indeed shot. He knew he couldn't take the arrow out yet. Taking a deep breath, he asked Wyatt again if he would please go and call 911.
Wyatt saw the look in Dalton's eyes and sobered. He jogged back to the house as Dalton started to assess the damage. He tried to calm Brock down. "It looks like it hit the upper quadrant of your butt. That is actually a good thing. The other good thing is that we are all using regular tips. If this had been a broadhead, it would have caused a bunch more damage."
Brock yelled at Misty again. "You shot my butt!"
Misty watched as her parents came running with Wyatt. The look her dad gave her made her cry even harder. Dalton was not letting that stand. "Misty didn't do anything wrong."
Brock disagreed loudly. "She shot me!"
Wyatt looked at Brock and tried to calm him down. "Brock, you walked right out in front of her. You can't blame her for this. Look at her she is terrified for you."
Brock looked at Misty and felt horrible. The fact was that he was mad at everyone but himself. He flinched as Dalton started to rip the material around the wound. He knew he had to let his sister know it was not her fault. "I'm sorry Misty." He looked at his mom and dad. "They are right. I walked right out in front of her. It isn’t her fault."
Dalton looked at Misty. He spoke firmly. "I need you to go into the house." She looked hurt, but he didn't have time to comfort her now. He looked at Chad. "Do you have a knife on you?"
Chad reached into his pants and pulled out a pocketknife. "Will this do?"
Dalton nodded. "I don't think she hit the superior artery, but I want to make sure he isn’t losing too much blood."
Terry put her hand on her face as she saw the wound. To her, it looked like a lot of blood to Dalton it looked like it was supposed to look considering the man just got shot in the backside. He looked at Terry's face and spoke. "You need to go back to the house."
Terry was getting ready to protest when Dalton spoke again. "I know he is your son, but if you faint, I will be taking treatment that he needs away from him and giving it to you. I have this. Please, Terry, go in with Misty."
Chad nudged his wife toward the house. Wyatt knelt beside Brock. He looked at Dalton. "Should we take the arrow out?"
Dalton shook his head. "No, we need to get a picture of where the tip is at before we do that. I can't see inside, so I'm guessing when I say I don't 'think' it hit an artery. I'm not going to put that theory to the test."
Chad watched as the ambulance came up the drive. He saw Misty point toward them.
The crew got out and started for them. Dalton spoke to each of them giving them explicit instructions. When one gave him a questioning look, his voice was like steel. "Is there a problem?"
The crew member was honest. "I’m just hoping you are a doctor. You act like one but …"
Dalton understood. "I'm Dr. Nelson. I work at the medical center in Houston. Sorry for not letting you know that up front."
They got Brock loaded and into the ambulance. Dalton rode with them. It never occurred to him that he was not at his hospital. When they got to the ER, the group of nurses and doctors just went with it. If they had, to be honest, it looked like this man was used to these kinds of injuries. Every order Dalton gave was approved by the ER Attending physician that was standing behind him. Dalton was utterly clueless to the curious stares.
When Brock was carted off for his x-ray, Dalton looked around and realized what he had done. He took off his gloves and washed his hands. Turning back to the attending he said with an apologetic grin and an outstretched hand. "Dr. Dalton Nelson from Houston…"
The attending gave Dalton his name as he shook his hand. "I'm Dr. Fisk. That was some pretty impressive work."
Dalton shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sorry about hijacking your ER. I guess I kind of forgot where I was."
Dr. Fisk smiled at the younger physician. "If you are interested in moving to this area we have one of our Fellows leaving in two months. I'm thinking we can avoid a lot of interviews if you just say yes."
Dalton looked at the older man. He remembered what Misty had said about the older doctors knowing her. He couldn't resist. "You may need to know that I'm kind of involved with Misty Bishop Adams."
Dr. Fisk's eyes widened in recognition of the name. He looked at the empty doorway that Brock was just rolled out of. "Was that her brother? I usually know them all on sight, but all I could see was his backside."
Dalton laughed. He ran his hand through his hair as he said. "She kind of shot him. It was an accident. He walked right out in front of her. That family is never …dull."
Dr. Fisk started laughing. "Most ER physicians run when they see Misty. You really are a glutton for punishment."
Dalton laughed. He asked about the job. "When would I need to give you my answer about working here? I would like to pray about it and then talk it over with Misty."
The two men headed for the waiting room as Dr. Fisk explained the details to Dalton.