Hugh & Kate

Chapter Ten: The Hospital

The moment they arrived at the hospital everything was a blur.
The Burra hospital wasn't a busy place, compared to the Royal Adelaide Hospital for example, but that day it seemed that every person in the whole outside community had to be in hospital on that day.
Mothers and new born babies.
Farmers and cut hands.
Little boys with broken arms, and little girls with the flu.

There were very few nurses and even fewer doctors, so the hustle and bustle just seemed to get worse by the minute. Young children screamed, and parents argued as the two brothers were wheeled into the hospital in a frantic manner.

"EMERGENCY! We need two doctors here, right now!" Louise roared.

A doctor turned around, a sigh extinguishing from his mouth; "Louise, everyone is currently in a crisis, what makes you-

"Truck roll over, 2 casualties. 21 year old male tossed from the vehicle, suspected spinal, leg, and internal damages, potential collapsed lung and trauma to the head. 24 year old male, suspected head trauma, broken arm, both currently in and out of consciousness." Louise explained, the words spilling from her mouth at a rate Hugh could hardly keep up with.

He opened his eyes, and tried to peer over at Ben, but the neck brace meant no movement, he was stuck. His head pounded like a jackhammer was drilling into his skull, and as the doctor made his way over he couldn't quite fathom that he and Ben had just survived what they did.

"John! Why wasn't this called in?" The doctor was almost stunned.

"Because we've had two boys in a critical condition, and two paramedics. Am I calling medi-vac in or not?" John replied, matter-of-factly.

"You've got no choice, get these boys to Adelaide or they'll be suffering here for hours. You haven't got long - I see you've got Ally with you, my suggestion is you make them comfortable, call in Medi-Vac and call the Royal Adelaide in advance. They'll need theatres prepped." The doctor ordered, and that was that.

Ally, John and Louise didn't even flinch. They didn't even have to speak to each other.
John called in the the Medi-Vac helicopter, his voice low, and almost mysterious.
Louise pumped another round of morphine into the iv that was connected to Hugh's arm. It was cold and made him dizzy, but at least he wasn't in pain. 
Ally took their parents a side and began giving them the run down of what was going to happen while also on the phone to the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

"Hughie? You there?" Ben croaked, his neck was in a brace too, and his hands were shaking just like Hugh's were.

"Yeah Ben, I'm here." He replied quietly.

"Are you okay?" Ben whispered.

"I don't know," Hugh squeaked, "how 'bout you?"

"I don't know either," Ben replied.

Hugh felt Ben's fingers grip onto his stretcher, he had just enough strength to pull them closer to each other. He grabbed Hugh's hand and held onto it like his life depended on it.

"We'll be okay," he said, "God's got us, he always has and always will."

"I know, I've been repeating the Lord's Prayer over and over," Hugh muttered, his oxygen mask tight on his face.

"Me too," Ben sniffed, he gripped his little brothers hand even tighter. "We're alright mate."

-
The air ride to hospital made Hugh anxious, more than he'd ever been before. Ben drifted in and out of consciousness, Louise and Ally said he was asleep and Hugh understood why he would want to.

Since the moment he'd woken after being thrown from the truck, all he wanted to do was sleep. His racing heart was begging to be slowed, and they were sure he had a punctured lung, so the aching in his chest was starting to become increasingly unbearable.

"I hear you're both footballers Hughie," John said, drawing up another IV, "where do you play?"

"Um..." Hugh gasped, "I'm... on the... on the wing..." he forced.

He felt his hand go limp in Ben's and all of a sudden his eyes felt heavy and his vision blurry.
He felt a groan escape from his chest, as pain flooded his body, "Where's mum?" He asked breathlessly, as the machines around him started to siren.

Their manic voices became distant. Muffled and eventually silent.
Hugh closed his eyes, the vibrations of the helicopter became the soothing rumble of his Ute. The radio is on, humming a calm tune, and beside him is Kate. The kelpie dog sits proudly in her lap, and she tussles with her hair as the breeze moves it across her face.
He looks over at her from the drivers seat, one hand on the wheel, one hand leaning out the window.
She smiles at him, so softly it almost hurts, but he feels his heart start to pound, so hard he can hear it in his ears and feel it in his fingers.

🌾

In an instant he woke; his eyes darting around the hospital ward. It was quiet, except for the murmur of the footy on the TV. His eyes focused on the scoreboard in the corner of the screen, the Carlton Blues were playing the Essendon Bombers, and he was a big Carlton supporter. He watched the players dance around the oval and listened to the commentators call.

"Why can't they just learn to kick straight?" He mumbled, shaking his head.

"Hugh?!" Ben's voice echoed.

Hugh rolled his head over, his brother was propped up in bed, a shocked look on his face, a bandage around his head, his arm in a sling and an oxygen mask still lodged on his face, he still had his on too.

"Praise God," Ben yelled, "Mum!"

"Hugh you scared the shit out of me mate!" Ben's hand extended.

Hugh smiled, and took his hand; "we made it," he said.

"Yeah mate," Ben smiled back, "you nearly didn't, went into respiratory arrest, your lung was so deflated mate it almost stopped your heart. They panicked in the chopper. You've been out for nearly 48 hours."

"Gee, good snooze," Hugh chuckled, coughing immediately, "far out that hurts..."

"Doc said you broke 8 ribs, punctured your lung, cracked your sternum, fractured your pelvis and you have a fairly severe concussion. Did a good job considering you were thrown 15 metres," Ben explained, "could've been a lot worse."

"But it wasn't, and we're both alive which is insane. What about you?" Hugh clarified.

"Broken arm, smashed up knee and concussion, and I split open my head on the steering wheel. Seat belt saved me." Ben said. "I'm sorry Hugh."

"Wasn't your fault, I wonder who was driving that bloody car? At least we didn't have any stock in the back." Hugh squeezed his brothers hand, before wiping his face with the back of his hand.

Their mother appeared in the doorway, she looked tired and defeated.

"Oh Hughie darlin'," Grace sighed with relief, rushing to take him into her arms, "it's so nice to see your eyes."

"Hey Ma," he grinned, as she hugged him.

"How'd they go with my pelvis?" Hugh asked, "I wanna get back playing footy as soon as possible."

"They sorted it out, but you won't be playing for a while. Let yourself heal please. Your concussion takes you out for at least 5 weeks, and your sternum and ribs, probably longer. I'd almost call it for the rest of the season, for both of you." Their mother ordered.

The boys glanced over at one another and sighed, they knew deep down that she was right. Hugh didn't want to hear it, but the throbbing in his chest and head was enough to floor even the strongest of men.

"Righto Mum," Ben said solemnly, "when can we go home?"

"Give Hughie a few more days, maybe a week? Then I'm sure the doctors will have something to say," Grace explained, studying Hugh's chart, "for now, I'm going to get your father, won't be long. He's getting a coffee, reckons it's the best coffee he's ever had."

Their mother rolled her eyes, making the boys chuckle as she left the room. The two of them fell silent, still processing the major events that had occurred.