Chapter 4 #2
“Yeah, I’ll braid your hair, it’ll make you look badass once you get your arm taken care of. Let’s get you dressed first. Are you gonna leave it wrapped?” she asks.
“For the time being, yes. I’m pretty sure they’re going to have to debride it, especially since it got soaked in that nasty water,” I grumble.
“So, I figure scrub pants will be easier to get up and down one-handed,” she teases, once I finish getting dried off, “but I don’t think you can go bra-less.”
I look down at my chest and smirk. While I’m not huge, I either wear camisoles with shelf bras, a regular bra, or a sports bra.
The thing is, I know they’ll numb my arm which will make it pretty much useless.
“It still gets cool at night, so what if I wear a cami, then just put a button-up on?” I ask.
“That way, I won’t have to bother you or pull something over my head. ”
She rolls her eyes at me then replies, “As if you could be a bother, Fee. But I agree, that would be the best option for right now. We’ll figure out the rest as we go, okay?”
“Works for me,” I murmur, the nausea I’ve been keeping at bay through sheer force of will showing itself once more.
I’m not someone who has ever dealt with chronic pain, but I’ve had patients over the years tell me how they hurt so bad that they want to puke.
And I now understand what they meant, which is a shitty way of learning as far as I’m concerned.
Still, if it helps me handle someone who has chronic pain issues with a little more compassion, then so be it.
I’ll use this as a learning experience. An emesis bag is thrust at me, courtesy of Ella, and I grin.
“How did you know?” I ask as I let her finish dressing me while I try not to vomit on her.
“Well, the convulsive swallowing was my first clue, but the way you’re white knuckling the sink counter is a dead giveaway. Let’s go sit at our lovely kitchen table and I’ll get your hair braided so Thelma can put her eyes on you and give you some Zofran while she arranges your transport.”
“I don’t want to go by ambulance, Ella,” I reply. When she starts to protest, I stop her and say, “Bubba and Polly are here so I’m pretty sure we can borrow their truck and save the bus for someone who’s in worse shape. I can still walk and talk, so that’s not me.”
“Fine, fine,” she grumbles. “Let’s get this done so we can get going, my friend. I don’t want to think about what is cooking in that wound at this point.”
“Same, my friend, same,” I reply, looking at the gauze that she wrapped it with that’s now an ugly rust and red color as it continues to bleed. I can only pray that not stanching the blood has allowed some of the yuck to be expelled.
With my hair in two Dutch braids, we walk to the triage tent where Thelma is standing, her hands on her hips as she shakes her head. “Cortez, let me look.” When I start to protest, she barks out, “Now!”
I sit on the exam table as she and Ella both glove up.
Thankfully, they put a chux pad across my lap since I’m freshly showered and really don’t want anything dripping on my pants.
I watch intently as they remove the gauze, ignoring their murmured gasps when it’s finally exposed.
“Well, that’s gonna leave a mark,” Thelma muses, saying the same thing that Ella did when it happened.
“I know you’re heading to the hospital, but we’re going to do what we can to clean it out a bit, okay? ”
“Whatever you think is best,” I say. At times like this, when Thelma’s on a tear, it’s best to agree, because you won’t win.
“Good answer,” she retorts. “Ella says you’re nauseous, so open your mouth and I’ll pop in a Zofran.
” I watch her change her gloves before she’s miming for me to ‘open wide’ before she slips a tiny pill under my tongue.
I hate sublingual meds, but they do work quickly, which is why I won’t complain.
Once she’s happy with that, she changes gloves again and she and Ella begin cleaning my wound.
It’s jagged and wide thanks to the fact that it was a railroad spike that got me, and even now, several hours later, it’s still bleeding.
While I’m probably feeling a bit fanciful, it almost feels that with every beat of my heart, blood freely flows.
It doesn’t take them long to finish what they started and then Thelma takes her tablet and creates a profile for me.
“Thelma, are you putting in my last tetanus shot information?” I ask.
“Adding your whole medical profile, actually,” she says, not looking up from the screen.
“I’m putting in notes that based on what was observed in the field, they may want to do a tetanus titer on you to make sure you don’t need a booster.
Especially since you don’t know what was in the water you ended up sticking your arm in once the spike opened your arm. ”
“Talk about a crazy set of circumstances,” I reply. “Ten bucks says I end up with IV antibiotics which is going to be a pain in the ass out here.”
“That’s a sucker’s bet,” Ella goads. “And I don’t know why it’s gonna be a pain, it’s not like you don’t have me right here to administer them.”
“Because it’ll mean a damn PICC line. We don’t have covers for them out here, how can I keep working?” I question. I didn’t come up here to sit on my ass and twiddle my fingers, that’s for damn sure!
“We’ve got covers, Cortez,” Thelma states. “But you’ll probably need a couple of days’ rest. Although, I can still use you down here to triage folks. Your skills won’t go to waste, my friend, I promise.”
“Then I guess there’s nothing left to do but to head to the hospital. Ella, are you sure we can use Bubba’s truck?” I ask, turning to my friend.
“Yep,” Polly, his wife says, popping up by the table. “Don’t worry if it takes you some time, either, because we’ve started staying at the firehouse. Bubba feels better having all of y’all nearby in case something happens with Junior here,” she adds, patting her still-flat belly.
Since they’ve been trying for years to get pregnant, I can’t say that I blame him at all. “I appreciate y’all’s help,” I finally say. “It means a lot.”
“C’mon, Fee, let’s go and get this party started,” Ella says.
“They better give me the good meds,” I warn, “because this is the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced, and I had my tonsils out as a young adult!”