“Sanjana, I place a replacement patient in area four for you,” Merry Haines, the Hope.
County Hospital, the ER charge nurse, called out.
“Okay.” Sanjana Mehra finished documenting on her recent discharge and
then pushed aloof from the pc. The hour was a well past hour, but the
ER remained improbably busy on this Memorial Day Fri night. Or rather,
Saturday morning.
She crossed over to area four then again stopped suddenly within the door as
she saw the acquainted face of her patient. Seema, a fifty-year-old lady,
looking a decade older than she ought to, was seated on the stretcher cradling her
right arm against her chest.
No. Not again. The little hairs upraised on the rear of her neck in alarm. This was
the second time Seema had been here over the past month. The last time was for
a black eye that she swore wasn’t caused by her husband, Sandeep’s fist.
What would be her story this time? Sanjana took a deep breath and let it out
slowly before coming into space. “Hello, Semma.”
“Hi.” Semma, gaze barely met hers before skittering away.
“What did you are doing to your arm?” Sanjana asked, keeping her voice light as
she approached. She had the distinct impression the lady was on the sting and
wouldn’t hesitate to escape if treed.
“I fell off the front porch—you shrewdness klutzy, I’m.” Semma refused to
meet her gaze however unbroken staring down at her arm as if the injury would possibly heal itself if
she targeted exhausting enough.
“I don’t suppose you’re klutzy in the least,” Sanjana murmured. “Show Pine Tree State wherever it
hurts.”
“Right here,” Semma aforementioned, removing her paw to reveal an in darkness dappled
bruise peripheral her radiocarpal joint. Sanjana felt a touch sick staring at the injury, knowing
there were no potential means this had happened from a fall. She might envision a man’s giant hand compressing exhausting enough to cause this. She’d be
surprised if there weren’t some broken bones hidden below the dreadfully
discolored skin.
“Okay, I’m getting to get you a chilly pack for that, and I’m certain the doctor can
want X-rays, too.” She unbroken her voice calm with an attempt. “Do you wish
something for pain?”
Semma upraised her shove, a half-hearted shrug. “Maybe a medicinal drug would
help.” Sanjana nodded, thinking the poor lady required way more than a medicinal drug.
She batted a wave of helplessness aside. “Are you hurt anyplace else?” she
asked. “Maybe you hit your head? Or your ribs?”
“No, simply my radiocarpal joint.”
“All right, I’m getting to sign in with Dr. Allen, and so I’ll be right back.”
“Sure.” Semma gaze jerked away, inflicting Sanjana’s abdomen to knot
painfully.
She recognized the signs and symptoms of abuse. All too well. Dark
memories from the past vulnerable to overwhelm her, and she or he fought them back
with an attempt. Troubled to stay her emotions in restraint, she grabbed associate degree ice
pack from the provision rack and so went sorting out Dr. Gabe Allen, the
the physician responsible for the patients on her team.
He was on the phone lecture the inmate hospitalist a couple of patients he
wanted to be admitted. She hovered near, waiting till he finished his decision. He hung
up the phone and flashed a heat smile. “Hi, Sanjana, what’s up?”
His smile was so much too engaging, a bearing she’d been fighting for months currently.
So far, she thought she was an activity her feel as good. “I want you to
examine my patient in area four,” she aforementioned in a very soft tone in a very voice. “I’m
convinced she’s was physically abused.”
Gabe’s smile pale. “Are you sure?”
She’d solely been a nurse here at the Hope County Hospital for six months, but
she’d thought she’d well-tried her ability by currently. She scowled. “Trust me,
I’m sure.”
Gabe gave a concise nod. “All right, let Pine Tree State land up this inmate admission,
and I’ll be right over.”
“Thanks.” She fastback over to Seema’s side, compressing the disposable
ice pack between her hands to activate the reaction within. “Here, place
this around your radiocarpal joint, okay?” she tutored. “Dr. Allen is going to be here shortly.”
Seema winced, however, didn’t say something as she placed the cold pack over her
wrist.
Sanjana struggled to search out the correct words which may break through the
woman’s wall of denial. “Seema, you don’t need to place up with anyone symptom
you. we’ve got programs that may facilitate keep you safe.”
“No one’s symptom Pine Tree State,” seema fleetly denied. “I told you I fell off the structure.”
Her voice rose with anger, and instinctively, Sanjana knew she required to
back off, or the lady would possibly bolt.
“Okay, I’m sorry. I simply don’t just like the plan of anyone symptom you.” She forced
an encouraging smile. “You’re such a pleasant lady, and you definitely need to be
treated per se. Oh, look, here comes Dr. Allen now.” “How area unit you, Mrs. Singh?” he asked. “I perceive you will have broken
your wrist.”
“I fell off the structure,” Seema aforementioned, continuation her story sort of a parrot.
“Hmmm,” Gabe murmured as he removed the ice pack from her radiocarpal joint. His
eyebrows force along in a very dark frown once he saw the extent of the injury.
He probed the skin gently. His expression was severe. “We’re getting to want many
X-rays of this radiocarpal joint,” he said.
Sanjana fleetly logged on to the pc. “AP and lateral views?” she asked
as she entered the order.
“Yes.” Gabe replaced the ice pack and gave seema a stern look. “You know
this didn’t happen from a fall,” he aforementioned bluffly.
“Yes, yes, it did.” seema’s voice was getting down to sound desperate. “I’m
klutzy and that I fell off the structure.”
Gabe’s annoyed gaze bolted on Sanjana’s, and she or he knew precisely what he was
thinking. She gave him a little nod, acknowledging their difficulty, and then
turned toward Seema. “Okay, simply relax for currently. The radiology school is going to be here
shortly to require you over to induce the X-rays. Dr. Allen, does one suppose she might have
a dose of Percocet for the pain?”
“Of course.”
“Great, I’ll be right back.” Sanjana walked over to the machine-controlled drug-
dispensing machine and punched in her secret alongside Seema’s name and
ID number. The Percocet drawer popped open, and she or he removed one dose before
closing it up once more. Once she spun around, she nearly ran into Gabe.
“We need to appraise the Police department,” he aforementioned in a shallow voice.
“I know.” The Khan statutes were pretty clear relating to cases of
suspected abuse. Still, she knew that doing the correct issue might conjointly backfire in
a big way. “But you detected her. There’s no means she’s getting to press charges
against her husband. And I’m afraid that he’ll solely get angrier once the deputy
questions him. What if he takes that anger out on her?”
Gabe thrust his fingers through his dark brown hair. “You can be right, but
what alternative can we have?”
“I don’t apprehend,” she admitted, hating the sensation of helplessness. The system
was purported to work for victims, however additional usually than not, it created a vicious
cycle, one that couldn’t be broken unless the victim took a stance. However, too several
of those victims didn’t. “Let Pine Tree State confer with the caseworker 1st, okay?”
“Okay, however giving her pamphlets on violence isn’t getting to facilitate,”
Gabe aforementioned with a dark frown. “We need to decide on the authorities.”
She nodded, knowing with a sinking heart that he was right. She might solely
hope that the police might get through to seema higher than she and Gabe had been able to.
She closed her eyes and prayed that seema wouldn’t find yourself back within the ER
with injuries that were so much worse than a black eye or a broken radiocarpal joint.
Please, Lord, keep Seema safe!