26. The Last Patient I Wanted
26
The Last Patient I Wanted
Knock Knock
Who’s there?
HIPPA
HIPPA who?
Sorry, I can’t tell you that
Natalie
“Don’t you jinx it,” I warned McKenna, pointing my pen at her in a semi-threatening manner.
“What?” She raised her hands innocently and shrugged. “I was just going to say it looks like you’re having a nice--”
“Don’t jinx it!” I yelled at her.
Sherri poked her head out of the room.
“If you say a quiet or nice night, I will call your supervisor and report you,” she threatened before pulling back into the curtained area. “I will not have you ruining my ER with your nonsense.”
“Sheesh, you guys are no fun,” McKenna mumbled, but at least she didn’t say it was quiet.
Which of course meant that all hell came crashing down.
I could hear the baby screaming in the waiting area, the sound gaining volume as the triage nurse quickly whisked the patient into the back. I was next up for a patient, so I chugged some coffee, grabbed clean gloves and waited for them to come through the patient doors.
My heart plummeted.
It wasn’t just any baby.
It was my baby.
Well, I considered her mine.
Dylan was pale and shaking. He wasn’t wearing shoes as he ran toward me.
“I fell! She fell!”
Every syllable was a death beat as I ushered them into a bay.
“Call pediatrics!” I shouted to Sherri as Dr. Wood jogged to join us with a concerned look on his face.
“Put her on the gurney,” I told Dylan. My emergency calm voice took over. I let years of ER training take over, despite the fact that I wanted to run and scream. “Don’t take her out of the car seat. We’ll look at her in there first. Tell me what happened.”
Dr. Wood was beside me, checking pupil reactions, feeling her head as I tried to steady my hands and get the story out of Dylan.
“The fire alarm went off and Penelope bolted. She knocked me over. Ellie was in my arms and we fell,” Dylan said, desperation and guilt in his voice as he watched Dr. Wood inspect his daughter. Tears ran down his face. “I put her in her chair and drove as fast as I could. Please, please, make her okay.”
The terror in his voice nearly broke me. I grabbed his hand, holding it, trying to keep both him and me grounded.
“So she wasn’t in the car seat when it happened?” Dr. Wood asked, flashing a light in Elsie’s eyes. Ellie screamed her disapproval until Dr. Wood handed her the flashlight pen.
“No, she was in my arms when we fell,” Dylan explained. “I put her in the car seat to get her here.”
“Okay, so the car seat isn’t a part of this. Did she hit the floor?” Dr. Wood asked, carefully feeling Ellie’s head. “Did you land on her at all?”
“No.” Dylan shook his head emphatically. “I took the hit. I tried to protect her, but she started screaming.”
“So she landed on you?” Dr. Wood clarified, his hands still gently probing the baby. “Not the floor?”
“I made sure she landed on me,” Dylan promised. His entire body shook with fear. “Just make her be okay.”
Dr. Wood smiled at him. “She’ll be okay.”
“What?” The world went wobbly for a moment, and I had to hold onto Dylan and the gurney so my knees didn’t give out.
“Look, she’s already stopped crying,” Dr. Wood said, smiling at the little girl. “I think she just had the scare of her life. Didn’t you? I’d be screaming too if I was suddenly flying through the air.”
Ellie gurgled at him waving her arms around.
“We can run some tests, but I don’t feel any injuries. She’s not vomiting, no irritability, no soft or hard spots that aren’t supposed to be there,” Dr. Wood continued. “I’d say she’s fine.”
“She’s okay?” Dylan’s voice was breathless and he held onto my hand like he might fall over.
Dr. Wood undid the car seat straps and pulled Ellie out of her cars eat. He ran his fingers over her neck and spine, tickled her tummy, and watched her giggle.
“As long as she keeps this happy attitude and doesn’t develop any bruises, I’d say she’s good. You’re welcome to stay here under observation for a while if you’d like,” Dr. Wood replied.
“I would...” Dylan let out a slow breath. “Are you sure she doesn’t need x-rays?”
“We don’t like to x-ray babies this little unless it’s absolutely necessary,” Dr. Wood explained. “Since she’s not showing any signs and you said yourself she never even touched the floor, I’d rather not give her any radiation.”
“Thank you,” Dylan said to Dr. Wood, but he squeezed my hand. I felt like I might pass out now that I knew that Ellie was safe. I was still doing my own nursing check on her once I had her in my arms, but I trusted Dr. Wood enough to believe him. I just needed to make sure with my own skills.
Dr. Wood handed Ellie to Dylan. She happily curled up in his arms, as if she knew that he was still her safe person. She wasn’t afraid of him falling again, or if she did, she knew he would catch her.
“If you have any questions, I’m sure Natalie here can answer them for you. I’m going to go grab some more coffee.” Dr. Wood shook Dylan’s hand, gave me a professional nod, washed his hands and left the room.
“She’s okay...” Dylan whispered, sinking into a chair next to the gurney. I pulled another one next to him, needing to sit down myself. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more terrified in my entire life.”
“You and me both,” I replied.
“I thought you did this for a living,” he teased me, giving me a gentle shoulder nudge with his own shoulder.
“Yeah, just not with my own child,” I replied and then froze. “I mean, a child that I know personally.”
My face went hot and I looked everywhere but at Ellie and Dylan. Me and my big mouth. I’d known the man and his daughter for a week and was already calling her mine.
He didn’t say anything but reached his hand out to hold mine.
We sat there in the ER room, holding hands and watching Ellie suck on her fingers in the bright fluorescent light. A heart monitor somewhere beeped smoothly and regularly.
“I heard there was a baby that fell?” A woman in dark blue scrubs and a white doctor’s coat asked, stepping into the room. She smiled at the two of us. “I’m Dr. Lang, the pediatrician. I came down as soon as I got the call.”
“The more doctors that look at her, the better I will feel,” Dylan replied, standing up to put Ellie on the gurney for Dr. Lang to look at. He relayed the same story of the fall and Dr. Lang repeated most of Dr. Wood’s questions to get the same answers.
“I agree with Dr. Wood,” Dr. Lang said after looking at Ellie. “She’s a gorgeous little girl and I don’t think she took any of the hit. How are you doing, Mr. Callahan? That kind of spill can cause damage.”
Dylan was rubbing absently at his injured wrist. He stopped as soon as the doctor saw him doing it.
“I didn’t tell you my name,” Dylan said, eyeing her carefully.
“What can I say? I’m a huge fan,” Dr. Lang said with a smile. “I went to C State, so I have been cheering you on for a long time.”
Dylan sighed, but was apparently mollified by the mention of his alma mater. He let the doctor look over his shoulder and wrist.
“You’re going to get a bruise on that shoulder, but it won’t be anything new. I think your football skills are what saved both you and the baby,” Dr. Lang said. “I’ll let you relax and we’ll get you back home as soon as you’re ready to leave. Good luck in the next game. I’ll be cheering for you.”
She flashed Dylan a smile and left the room.
“Do you think she’ll tell anyone that I have a baby?” Dylan asked, watching the curtain sway from her departure.
“Nope.” I shook my head. “Dr. Lang is a professional. She won’t even tell people that she met you in the ER. That might kill her, since you’re her favorite player, but she won’t say a word.”
“I’ll make sure to send her some tickets.” Dylan relaxed a little bit. He picked up Ellie, cuddling her close to his chest and smelling the top of her head.
“You did really well, Dylan,” I told him. “You protected her.”
He gave a dry laugh. “Must be all those football drills finally paying off.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “You mean like holding onto the ball and protecting it at all costs?” I motioned to his injured arm. “And not hurting yourself in the process?”
He lifted his eyes from his daughter, but only to glare at me. “You’re trying to make a point but I have too much adrenaline in my system to see it.”
“Treat the ball like you just did your daughter,” I said. “Pretend the ball is Ellie and you won’t drop it anymore.”
“Like it’s that easy,” he mumbled.
“Why not?” I crossed my arms. “You know you can do it now. Your body knew what to do when your brain was too busy to realize it.”
Dylan sighed. “You sound like some sort of terrible TV shrink.”
“I thought I sounded like a football coach,” I replied.
“You weren’t nearly loud enough to be a coach,” he replied, flashing me a smile. “And you didn’t mention giving it 110%.”
I stuck my tongue out at him and he gave me a real smile in return.
“You did a good job,” I repeated.
“You’re sure she’s okay?” he asked, his voice steady but full of a quiet fear that I felt deep in my bones as well.
“Yes. Two doctors confirmed it,” I told him, as much for his sake as for my own. I frowned. “I guess I should be asking if Penelope is okay.”
“She was just standing in the kitchen when I left. She didn’t seem fazed at all by it.” Dylan shrugged.
“Wait, you just left her in the kitchen?”
Our eyes met and we both imagined a horror scene of Penelope loose in the apartment without anyone to reign her in. Or turn on Supernatural . Nothing would be left if someone didn’t check on her and put her in the bathtub to go back to bed.
“So should I call Alex, or should I skip straight to 911?” he asked with a slight grin.