Medically Speaking

Chapter 20

I don't think my butt has met a chair since I walked through the door over twelve hours ago.

There's an organized chaos to emergency rooms and pediatric ERs aren't any different. You never know for sure what's going to walk through those doors. With it being a Saturday, it could be anything from a UTI because the regular doctors' offices are closed to multiple fractures and a brain contusion. Even on days where it doesn't feel like we have constantly revolving doors, I'm always half afraid to sit down because it tempts fate.

My day started off with a two month old baby who had stopped breathing in his sleep. He was breathing but unresponsive when the paramedics came rushing in with him, his hysterical mother not too far behind. She'd gone to check on him after going to wake up her other children and blamed herself, even though it's highly likely she had done nothing wrong. If she hadn't found him when she had, they most likely would have chalked it up to SIDS.

The poor woman was there alone. There hadn't been anyone to watch their kids so her husband had stayed at home, but he called several times while she was still down in the ER wanting updates and to check on how she was doing.

There was no chance to rest once that baby had been transferred up to the PICU. I had washed my hands and then I was strolling into a room with a four year old who had stuck a marble from his dad's collection up his nose. He had screamed the entire time he was there while his parents ignored him, opting to bicker over whose fault it was—the father for keeping his collection too low to the ground or the mother for not watching him closely enough.

Sometimes when the parents get like this, I want to bash their skulls together and tell them to be grateful that their kid is going to walk out in a few hours because not every parent on this floor is going to be able to bring their son or daughter home. Stress can bring out the worst of you in a strong, steady relationship so I try to be understanding, but it's frustrating when their own shit comes between them and being able to calm their traumatized child.

The rest of the day was similarly chaotic. A kid with a compound fracture kept me from lunch after he had tried to rollerblade down the incline of their detached garage to do a jump trick that involved a ramp, a concrete driveway, and the questionable common sense of a group of twelve year old neighborhood boys. A kid who was dehydrated from puking too much threw up all over my leg before the doctor got the anti-nausea med orders in. And then I ended my shift with my noncompliant 6 year old patient pulling her IV out and having to fight through placing another.

Days like today weren't the ones that had chased me away from the ER, but it did make me miss my teenagers.

Drained and ready to do nothing for the rest of the day, I was making my way towards the elevators so I could head up to my locker when I heard a familiar voice. "Hey, Joey! Are you on your way out?" I turned to smile at Sean as he strolled towards me, looking like he was coming from the direction of the primary ER. He gave me a sympathetic look—I must have looked as done as I felt. "Rough day?"

Some people might have taken offense, but I didn't. I've been puked on, bled on, hit, kicked, and more today. He had every right to say I looked like shit because I'm confident that I do. "I was in the Peds ER," I explained as I smashed the up button. "It was one of those days where I was glad they squash our creativity by forcing us to wear hospital issued scrubs."

He nodded knowingly. "I was just doing a consult on a patient in the main ER. Looked like they're swamped on all fronts down there today. There was a shark bite victim and everything. Axel's going to be thrilled when I tell him."

The elevator doors opened and a couple stepped out while Sean and I stepped in. "Why is that going to make Axel happy?"

"He's a marine biology researcher," Sean explained as we leaned against the handrail, our bodies angled towards each other as we talked. "Since the aquarium is closed tomorrow anyway, he'll most likely be out in his boat looking to see if he can identify a reason why one might have felt inclined to bite. Something to do with schools of fish or the phase of the moon. I don't know. That's his area of expertise."