Chapter Three
Once the anaesthetic wore off, Morgan felt alert, but weak. A team of doctors and technicians stopped by his room. A young Indian man with thick hair that parted on the right flashed a light in his eyes and checked his pulse. Then the surgeon listened to Morgan’s heart and breathing and narrated as he examined him. Morgan’s mother and father watched and listened.
“You were very lucky, Morgan. The bullet cleanly fractured the humerus, your arm bone, then split into three fragments. We were able to remove them with minimal complications. Since you’re a strapping young lad and this bone is well supplied with blood I would expect the bone to mend with no problems, however, you really need to stick to our recommendations to avoid complications down the road, got it?” He pointed at Morgan.
Morgan nodded.
“You’ll feel groggy for the rest of the day as the anaesthetic wears off. Drink a lot of fluids. Eat a healthy diet. Get exercise. You have a high risk for fainting today, so take it really easy. No school for at least a week. Now, let’s remove this soft cast and we’ll get you into a hard cast.” He looked at Morgan’s parents before he started snipping. “Don’t freak out, it will look worse than it really is.”
He snipped off the soft cast with a pair of shears. Morgan felt the cool air against his skin as the cast opened. He looked to see what happened to his arm. There was another layer of bandages beneath the soft cast. It was caked with dried blood and brown with iodine solution. Two nurses supported his arm as the surgeon removed the bandages. He sponged away blood and caked on gauze.
The arm was mottled angry dark purple, red and black shades. There were was a line of stitches on the back of his arm at the entry wound, then a scattering of short stitches where the bullet fragments had been removed.
“You’ll be able to impress the ladies with those scars!” One of the nurses joked. He had short black hair and was only a few years older than Morgan.
His Mom interjected, “He saved his girlfriend’s life!” She clasped her hands together and then wiped a tear away with a crumpled tissue. The night had been an emotional trial for her. The police banged on their door at about 1AM and they drove to the hospital with a full police escort. They stayed while Morgan was in surgery, then went home. She’d been dazzled by Demetria and Morgan’s friends and still wasn’t sure what happened, but knew her son was a hero.
“It all looks good.” He stood up and smiled at his handy work. “You’ll be back in here for a follow-up in a month. With some luck, the cast should come off, then rehab.”
He turned Morgan over to the technicians. The surgeon shook hands with Morgan’s parents and continued on his rounds. The technician quickly wrapped the arm in a hard cast from the shoulder down to Morgan’s thumb. When they were done, an orderly rolled him out to the curb while his dad pulled the car around.
While they waited, Morgan’s Mom said, “That Demetria is such a beautiful girl and is so kind. I’ve been so out of it since I started working second shift. It’s like I’m on a different planet! I had no idea. You did really well. I am so proud of you!”
“She’s really incredible.” Morgan said. His mind was reeling at the prospect of trying to explain anything he’d seen in the past few weeks of his life to his parents, so he just said, “don’t feel bad you missed out on anything. It all happened so fast.”
The orderly helped him climb into the back seat. “Thanks!” Morgan said to the man.
The man leaned in through the door and spoke to all three of them, “Be careful when you get out of the car at home. Don’t faint and break some other bone, alright? I hate it when people come right back here for round two. Believe me it happens!” The man said. He patted the roof of the car and closed the door.
The Chardon Chronicles: Season Two --- The Winter Page 3