Chapter 1122 V3 ch356 Kaylee’s Injury (1)
Things started to happen once Kyle made that call. The medics looked like they got Kaylee stabilized and loaded her up on a stretcher. Drew followed along with them, heading for the ambulance.
Marie told us a hospital name and said she would go straight there after the game with one of her coaches. Kyle hesitated on whether to go or stay, but Marie didn"t.
"I can"t be there so you have to be." She told him. "Would you want your younger brother to be alone at the hospital?"
Kyle glanced at me and Noah. "Okay."
Unfortunately Alisha was stuck staying at the field. She came with the bus and would have to leave with the bus. The chaperones wouldn"t let her just run off without a parent present since she came with them.
"I want updates. Constantly." She told me and Noah as she walked us towards the lot. "Make sure she"s going to be okay. Send me pictures. Videos. Any little thought."
"We will." Noah a.s.sured her. I nodded in agreement.
The four of us loaded into the family car with Kyle at the wheel. He glanced at Dave. "Call Mom and tell her what we"re doing. Grampa too. We probably won"t be home on time for dinner anymore."
Dave got to work, calling Mom first to let her know where we were going to be. She was still at Zeke"s game in San Francisco. He finished the calls just as we arrived at the hospital. Kyle found a spot and parked the car. We didn"t know where to go first so we entered through the emergency room, thinking she would be there.
No nurse would let us back to look and they seemed to be too busy to go check on her to let us know how she was. Noah had the bright idea to text Drew for an update. It took awhile, but he got back to us and told us to meet him at the main entrance.
We left the emergency room and went to the next set of doors which had less patients going in and out. Drew met us right in the lobby.
"Shouldn"t she be in the emergency room?" Noah immediately asked him. "She went with the ambulance. Marie said the bone went through her skin so what are they going to do about it?"
"We just got her admitted." Drew said with a sigh. "Right now they"re managing her pain through an IV and are about to go to imaging for some scans. They also have to call in an orthopedic surgeon so it"ll take some time."
"A surgeon isn"t just waiting here?" Dave asked.
"For orthro, not usually outside of business hours. Orthopedics aren"t usually emergent." Drew explained. "I can help you guys get registered as visitors and go see her, but I can"t promise that they let you stay."
"They should let us stay until her parents get here at least." Kyle said. "And Marie and her coach. She can"t just be here alone."
"That"s my job." Drew pointed out. "For right now, I"m considered her guardian until her parents arrive." He waved for us to follow him. "Let"s get checked in." He took us to the desk where a receptionist helped us get stickers to put on that said our name and our patient"s room number.
With Drew knowing where to go, he led us through the halls, past a cafeteria and a small garden, to an elevator. Up to the fourth floor. We checked in with another nurses station and went to an empty room. Real empty. Not even a bed.
"So she"s like getting x-rays done and stuff?" Noah looked at Drew.
"Yes, to make sure they know what"s going on before they take her for surgery." Drew answered.
"So it"s surgery for sure? I mean, like tonight?"
"Soon as the orthro surgeon gets here." Drew explained. "It"s going to be a two part surgery with an orthro and a vascular surgeon. Do you know what a vascular surgeon is?"
"For the blood vessels." I spoke up after seeing Noah shake his head.
"Kaylee"s injury has to be treated with quite some urgency because the break is through the skin." Drew talked about the injury some more.
Then we heard voices and the sound of wheels on the tile floor. Kaylee was on a bed gurney, rolled into the room, with the staff parking it near the monitors and machines. She was hooked up in a lot of places: IV in the left arm, non injured side obviously. A blood pressure cuff. A pulse monitor. Temperature gauge. A few ECG leads were visible, a sign that they were monitoring her heart.
"Aren"t you quite popular with the boys?" A nurse said to Kaylee with a smile.
"Sister"s boyfriend and his brothers." Kaylee answered, barely sparing us a glance.
Her right arm was lightly covered, elevated onto some kind of foam table.
"Okay, the doctor should be here soon." The nurse started to talk, mostly to Drew. "Don"t let her drink anymore water; certainly no food. The anesthesiologist will come after one more checkup and when we"re prepared to take her in for surgery. Do you know what time her parents will arrive?"
Drew stepped out of the room with the nurse, promising to call Kaylee"s parents for an update.
"I say, you"re handling this like a champ." Dave stated, trying to break the silence.
Kaylee didn"t bother looking his way; she only had eyes for the ceiling.
Dave gave Noah a pointed look and gestured for him to say something.
Noah walked to Kaylee"s left side. "Tough fall. They said it"s a break. So what? Maybe just a month in a cast? You"ll be ready by the end of summer."
Kaylee shook her head once and closed her eyes. "They said three months. Minimum. And if they"re saying that now, you know it"s only to get worse if there are complications."
I grimaced. "Open fractures take longer. So do fractures near the wrist." I inched closer and stood by Noah by her bed. "Are you in pain?"
She s.h.i.+fted and looked me in the eyes. And I could see it. The redness. She had been crying or maybe trying not to cry.
I looked away. "Sorry. Dumb question."
"Don"t worry, Kaylee." Noah told her softly. "They"ll fix you up and you"ll be on your way. Hey, isn"t this a good excuse to not help your family pack up the house?" He joked.
Kaylee"s lips twitched. She sniffled a little. "You"re right. I won"t be doing any heavy lifting for quite awhile." She showed a small grin. "Think it can get me out of homework and finals too?"
Noah laughed. "Homework? Maybe. Finals? No way. They would make you take them verbally if they have to." He got a little serious, glancing at the covered arm. "Are you able to feel and move your fingers alright?"
She looked at the hidden arm too. "Able to feel them. Not really able to move the fingers so much, but the paramedic that rode next to me said that it was normal with these kind of fractures. I won"t really know how bad it is until after the surgery."