Nursing The Doctor by Bobby Hutchinson Read Free Book Online

They’ll cast it as soon as the swelling comes down and the wound heals. They expect a good result.
    “And of course the fractured ribs will heal on their own. Bit painful, I’m afraid. The arm, now, Ben did an excellent job of splinting it, used a ski pole. Damned ingenious of him. Marvins put on a plaster cast and we’ll redo it in a few days. All in all, you came through very well, old boy, considering. We had to transfuse with whole blood, because you were well on the way to bleeding out. You’re going to be pretty uncomfortable for a short time, so we’ve hooked up a PCA.”
    PCA. A Patient Controlled Analgesic device he could trigger himself.
    He’d been waiting, steeling himself for the worst, and now, as Bellamy paused in his recital, Greg couldn’t wait any longer. “John. Spine? Damage?”
    Bellamy hesitated, and Greg felt vomit gather again in his throat as cold fear knotted his intestines.
    “None that we could immediately determine, but of course there’s too much swelling at the moment to be certain of anything. I can’t give you a written guarantee, Greg, but I would guess you’ll be fine once the swelling subsides.”
    It wasn’t exactly a promise, but tears of relief spilled from Greg’s eyes. Humiliated, he lifted his left hand to wipe them away and the movement caused agony in his chest. It hit like a heavy blow, and when he couldn’t bear it any longer, the blessed blackness once again took him down.
     
     
    “Greg? Are you awake, son?”
    Elise. Why was his mother here? He struggled for what seemed a long time to figure out where here actually was.
    Finally, through the fog, he remembered. They’d moved him down to the orthopedic ward late at night.
    Last night? He vaguely remembered the orderlies pushing the bed, the sensation of the elevator, the snoring of the other patient in the room.
    He’d wanted a private, he’d told them that, but they’d put him here in a semi. He remembered the old man in the other bed, shrunken and toothless, his mouth an open cavern.
    Elise’s soft voice and the pervasive smell of White Shoulders perfume that had always surrounded her wafted into his nostrils now, and in a panic he fought his way up through the thick gray fog, past the dream creatures that had been chasing him. It was daylight. What day?
    “Elise?” He’d meant it to be strong, but his voice was a hoarse whisper.
    “I’m here, Greg. Are you in pain, dear?”
    Her cool hand smoothed his hair back from his forehead, and although he couldn’t move far, still he shrank from her touch.
    “Your friend Dr. Halsey called me this morning. He told me about your accident yesterday. I’ve called your brothers and they’ll be here after work.”
    He had no reserves to call upon. The usual air of cool detachment he maintained around Elise was impossible right now. It took a supreme effort of will just to speak, because the pain in his chest was consuming him again.
    “Get...out. Don’t want you...here. Any of you. Leave...me...alone.”
    “Oh, Greg, please, dear, don’t say that. We’re all worried about you. Please let us be here for you.”
    He refused to acknowledge the pleading in her voice.
    “Nurse. Nurse!"" It was agony to raise his voice, they knew it was. It made him furious that they forced him to do it. And it hurt even more to move his hand into position so he could press the call bell. He pushed down and held it, wondering if it was even functional. They were all in it together, this conspiracy to ignore his needs, to cause him pain.
    At last a nurse appeared. “What is it, Dr. Brulotte?”
    “Want...this woman...out of here.”
    “Dr. Brulotte, she’s your mother, she’s concerned about you.” The nurse sounded shocked.
    “Don’t...want.. .her here. Want her...to leave.”
    Now the nurse sounded embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Larue. It might be best if you came back at another time.”
    “Yes, yes, of course.” Elise’s voice was trembling. “I’m