Scared Of Healing

The Expert

"Can I get an ultrasound in here?" I ask, just to the general population of the ED. Ash quickly comes over to me, "I'm free" he says and I smile, knowing that I can trust him with my nervous patient. "Awsome, I need an abdominal ultrasound, not really sure what we're looking for but I need to cover my bases" I say and he smiles and I walk to grab the ultrasound equipment with him, "I've got Baker with me as well, I need him to just watch our bedside manner, he really needs to work on it" I inform him, "Josh Baker?" he asks, "yeah" I sigh, "ok" Ash says shortly, I can tell he has more to say but is holding it in. As we walk, I give him a little more information on Ellie, "ok, so this girl's name is Ellie, she's 16 but pretty underweight. She has said one word to us since she's been here which has been her name. She is very hesitant around touch and I reckon she's been abused" I explain. "Sounds like a tough one, are we looking at a pelvic exam?" he asks, "I hope not, I was gonna get your opinion though" I reply, knowing that he is an OB/GYN.

We walk into Ellie's room together to be met by her and Baker, who is standing at the door, staring at Ellie as she plays with her hair, "hi sunshine, this is my friend Ash, he is going to help me for this next part, is that alright?" I ask watching her nod to me before looking at Ash. "Hi sweet girl, Mikey has asked me to do a little ultrasound, have you ever had one of those before?" he asks softly, prompting a confident nod from Ellie, "have you had quite a few ultrasounds before?" he asks and Ellie continues nodding. "Ok sweetie, I'm just gonna get you to lay down for me so I can have a quick look" Ash says before Ellie complies. He sits on a stool and pulls the machine closer to him, "hit the lights, Baker" he instructs to which Baker immediately complies and the lights are turned off. Ash and I turn back around to see that Ellie has already lifted her shirt the right amount, "alright sweet girl, are you able to tuck this in a little, just so I don't get jelly everywhere?" Ash asks, handing her a towel which she quickly tucks into her waist band, just as a professional would. Ash and I share a look, she has definitely had a few ultrasounds before. "You seem like a bit of an expert at this sunshine!" I comment, prompting a small smile to tug at Ellie's lips which I quickly return.

"Ok my sweet girl, I'm going to start now, you can push my hands off if it gets too much, yeah?" he explains as he stretches on a pair of gloves, to which Ellie nods. He then squeezes some jelly onto the probe and gently places it onto her abdomen. I watch Ellie's face carefully, making sure that she is as comfortable as possible. She was really good throughout the whole thing, complying perfectly with every instruction that Ash gave, only struggling when she had to hold her breath for more than 20ish seconds - which concerns me but we'll work on it. "Alrighty my sweet girl, you did really well Ellie" Ash praises, exhaling as he carefully uses the towel to clean off her abdomen. 

Ellie easily falls back into her thoughts, expertly ignoring Baker's existence, before Ash sends me a look and nods towards the door for us to talk. We both stand up and walk outside. Ellie takes no notice of us as we do this. We get out of the door and Ash stops, covering his face with his hands, "Ash... you're scaring me" I say. He looks up to me, "sorry mate, I'm just thinking" he says. "Does she need a pelvic exam?" I ask anxiously. Ash sighs heavily, "it would be ideal" he mumbles, obviously knowing that this is not going to go well.