The Girl Opposite The Boy

Emergency Room

The paramedics leave and a doctor and nurse are left in the room with me, "hi bud, my name is Noah, can you tell me yours?" the doctor asks, "uh, Zach" I answer, slightly loopy from the pain meds, "alright Zach, this is April, she is going to help me fix your leg is that alright?" Noah asks leading me to nod. "Ok, unfortunately, the pain meds that you were given by Sylvie are going to wear off soon, so I want to give you something a little stronger" the doctor says, "woah, hang on does that mean needles?" I ask nervously. Noah takes a deep breath but April steps in to answer, "sweetie, what I want to do is give you one little needle and I can give you medicine through that so I don't have to keep poking you, do you think you can handle that?" she asks, "I-I'm sorry, I just have a really bad thing with needles" I mumble, "ok, that's alright sweetie, I might get someone else in here to help us then" April says, "no... no, just don't do it" I say firmly. April and Noah both sigh as Noah makes his way to my foot, "can I get you to wiggle your toes for me bud?" he asks and I comply, "great, and can you feel this?" he says as he starts prodding at my foot, "yeah" I answer, "ok bud, that's a good sign, it means we have a little time to help you through this, alright" he says. I give him no response leading both of them to sigh again. I then see April subtly nod her head towards the door, signalling for Noah to leave the room. He complies with the nurse's request as she comes next to me and takes my hand, "it'll be ok Zach" she whispers.

Noah soon re-enters the room with two nurses following behind him, "ok Zach, this is Doris and Maggie" Noah begins, "oh my goodness Zach, Doris and Maggie are the best nurses in the state!" April chimes in, giving me a slight sense of comfort, "hey darling, let's get this leg fixed for you hey?" Maggie says, I nod slowly as the two new nurses walk closer to me. Maggie takes my hand from April and Doris holds my other shoulder and hand. My breathing starts to pick up as I know that they are going to stab me soon, "hey, Zach, can you look at me" I hear Doris say and I turn my head to look up at her. "Good boy, take some deep breaths for me" she continues, taking deep breaths for me to copy as I feel Maggie's grip on my arm tighten. I whimper at this, "calm down, you're doing really well" Doris says, continuing her breathing for me to copy. I feel the cold wipe on the crease of my elbow and start to try and move away, "no" I whimper. This leads Noah to get involved and hold my side so I can't interfere, "relax Zach, stay nice and still for us" he says. I contemplate putting up more of a fight, but my original pain meds are starting to wear off and I am not enjoying how my leg feels at the moment.

I feel the needle being slid into my vein and whimper, "you're ok, you're doing great" Maggie praises. I then hear April quietly say to the staff in the room, "sharp out" before I feel something sticky over the area and I assume it is a band aid. I am released by the nurses and am able to look at my arm. I panic when I see that there is a tube sticking out of my arm, "hey, hey, honey, calm down, it's just so we don't have to give you any more needles, we can give you all the medicine through this instead" Doris says, calming me down, "I want it out" I say, "alright sweetie, I'll give you some more pain relief then we might take it out, how does that sound?" April asks. I just nod to her, "alright, thanks ladies" she says as Maggie and Doris leave the room. She then turns around and I see her filling up a syringe with some clear liquid before twisting it onto the tube in my arm. A cold sensation runs up my arm as I feel her inject the medication, I think I make a face signifying my uncomfortableness because Noah comes over and takes my hand, "you're alright bud, you'll feel better soon" he says. I feel the medicine get to my head and start to feel loopy. Both April and Noah can see this, and I hear Noah say, "let's get this show on the road" as he grabs a pair of gloves. I have no idea what he is gonna do but I don't really mind, I am happy in my own little world for the moment. I feel hands on my leg and some pulling. I know it hurts but I don't really register it, and I let them do their thing.

After a while, I think the medicine starts to wear off because I become more lucid and am able to actually focus on my surroundings. I see that my knee has been put in a brace and that April is behind me checking my vitals and doing nursey stuff. Suddenly, I realise that there is still a tube in my arm and start to freak out. April notices this because my monitors start beeping indicating an increase in heart rate. "Hey, hey, Zach, calm down for me, what's going on?" April asks as soon as she notices my distress, "get it out" is all I can say, "ok, ok, I need you to take some deep breaths, I can't get it out until you're calm" she says as I follow her breathing. Eventually, I calm down enough, "good boy, I just need to get my supplies, then I can get rid of it for you, alright" she says, and I nod. She nods back to me before scrimmaging around the room, filling a kidney dish with the stuff she needs. She then comes back to me as she stretches on a pair of gloves. "I'm just going to use this special wipe to make the dressing less sticky, so it doesn't pull too much" she explains, ripping open the packaging of the wipe. It smells really weird, but it works pretty well, soon all of the edges of the dressing are lifting and April can pull most of it off. "Alright sweetheart, I need you to look away for me, take a deep breath in through your nose and when I say, let it out really slowly through your mouth" she says, looking at me calmly. I nod before turning my head away, "deep breath in..." she instructs, "...and out, nice, and slow for me" she says as she pulls out the line. It feels really weird, but it doesn't hurt, "good job sweetheart, all done, Noah will be back soon" she says, pressing a cotton ball to the site, "hold this for me honey, keep lots of pressure on it for me" she continues, and I do. Once she can let go of the cotton, she disposes of the waste and leaves the room.

She soon returns with Noah, and he begins to explain what is going to happen next. "Alright Zach, we are going to have to keep you here for a few days so we can make sure your knee heals properly, I will have a nurse come down from one of the wards to take you up within the next 10 minutes" he explains as I groan, I am not a fan of hospitals and want to leave as soon as physically possible, "sorry bud, we'll have you out of here as soon as we can but we don't want you to go home and make it worse because that might mean that you'll need surgery and we don't want to have to put you through that" Noah says in response to my groan. I nod in agreement, really not happy about the thought of surgery. "I'll leave you with April so she can get you ready for transfer, I might come visit you if you're still here on Saturday" he finishes before wishing me luck and leaving the room. "So, Zach, is there anyone you want us to call so they can bring some things for you?" April asks, "uh, my brother might be able to bring some stuff, but I can call him later" I answer, "ok, I'll just give you a gown and then we'll wait for a nurse from the wards" she says, and I nod before she hands me a thin piece of fabric that has been labelled as a gown. I let April help me change into it because I can't stand by myself. She then helps me back into bed and we wait. Shortly after this, a friendly looking woman enters the room. "Hiya sweetheart, you ready to go upstairs?" she asks cheerfully. I nod to her, "alrighty, let's get you set up for the best holiday of your life!" she jokes as she unlocks the wheels of my bed and starts pushing it out of the room. I quickly thank April before I am wheeled out of the emergency department and into a lift. The nurse presses the button for level 3 and the doors of the lift close.