“Ah, you are finally awake, Mr. Tinley. How are you feeling?”
“About as well as I look.”
“Yeah,” she says sympathetically. “I’m afraid you’re not going to have an easy go of it.” She takes vials and a syringe out of her pocket and places them on a table before gently picking up the wrist of Jesse’s least injured hand. She checks his pulse. At least that is what I assume she is doing before she types into a computer. Then she takes his blood pressure and then puts that into the computer. After checking his eyes, ears, nose, listening to his heart, and checking his temperature, she adds medication to his IV tube running to his arm. “This should help with the pain.”
Nurse Gretchen tosses the syringe into the red hazardous material protection bucket and returns to his side. “Are you hungry?”
“A little. I think.”
“Well, you haven’t had any solid food in three days, so I’ll get something light, like Jell-o and soup, to start you off on and we’ll see how that goes.”
“Thanks.”
“In the meantime, drink lots of water. You were under anesthesia for a long time, have fractured ribs, and have hardly been awake since Sunday. We don’t want you getting pneumonia on top of everything else.”
That is the last thing he needs. It’s going to take weeks, if not months, for his body to heal as it is.
“Thanks,” he grunts.
“You have a number of visitors here,” she announces.
Jesse raises his eyebrows in surprise and then winces in pain. There probably isn’t a spot on his body that is pain free.
I know that some teachers had stopped by but when they saw he was still asleep, they left.
“Colleagues of yours. They saw each other, and there has been quite a gathering in the waiting room. Had they not run into each other, they would have probably left, but they’ve stayed, talking, waiting for you to wake up.”
I had no idea they didn’t leave. There had to have been nearly a dozen people who stopped by this morning.
“I’ll let them know you’re awake.” I’ve been sitting with him. He should see his friends. I can always come back.
“Only two at a time though. We don’t want to over tire him.”
“I’ll tell them.”
“I’ll let them know when the first visitors can come in,” Nurse Gretchen says.
“Are you leaving?” Jesse asks with a bit of alarm. I don’t want him worried, but I’m kind of glad he doesn’t really want me to go anywhere.
“I think you have about a dozen visitors waiting.”
“Yeah, but you’re here.”
I smile and return to the bed. “I’m going to run home and shower and I’ll be back in a bit. Visit with your friends.”
“Okay.”
“Is there anything I can bring you?”
“Can you check on Cam for me?”
I squeeze his fingers. “Of course. I’ll let your parents know you’re awake and stay with Cam so they can come up.”
“You don’t mind?” he asks with concern.
“Not at all,” I assure him. “I’ll be back a little later. Call if you need me to bring anything.”
He simply nods.
“Okay, let’s check those dressings before your visitors come in.” With that Nurse Gretchen pulls the curtain. She was probably waiting for me to leave so she could do just that since it will require pulling the blankets down and lifting his gown. We may have gone on a few dates but I’m pretty sure Jesse would prefer a bit of privacy.
One the way down the hall I stop in the visiting room. All of the people who had stopped in his room earlier are sitting around talking and drinking coffee. “He’s awake and can have two visitors at a time. The nurse is checking his bandages and will let you know when.”
They nod and thank me, and I head out. I’m exhausted since I haven’t really left the hospital since Sunday except to go home and change and catch a nap. But, there is no way I can sleep now and I did promise to check on Cam, which I will do as soon as I shower and grab a bite to eat.
I take a deep breath as I step outside in the spring morning and for the first time in days I finally relax.
The soup was good, but I’m glad the nurse didn’t bring me anything solid to eat. I hadn’t even realized how sore my jaw was, or that I have some loose teeth. Is there any part of my body not injured from those asswipes in the jail?
After changing my bandages, she wanted me to eat before any visitors came in. I’m kind of glad she did wait because the adjustment of the bed caused more pain than I anticipated even though it was only slowly raising me to a seated positing. Then, I spilled about three spoons of soup on my chest. The hospital gown is now changed and my first visitor will be here shortly. That is, if they still waited around.
Surely Deirdre was exaggerating about a dozen people being here to see me.
The first person to step into the room is Mag Bradley and my stomach tightens. She isn’t simply a colleague. She’s on the administrative staff of Baxter. She’s carrying a vase with different colored calla lilies and places them on the table by the window.
“Thanks.”
“How are you doing?” Her eyes and mouth are tight, like she’s worried. I’ll probably get the same question over and over for days.
“Lucky to be alive.”
“I want to assure you that you will be on medical leave.”
My stomach begins to relax.
“We don’t want you to have to worry about medical insurance coverage.”
“I appreciate that.” These bills are going to be astronomical. Even after insurance kicks in, I’ll have a lot coming out of pocket.
She takes a seat beside my bed. There is still worry in her eyes and I know I’m not going to like what
