UP ALL NIGHT
It was only 2 in the afternoon but Kyle already felt like he was done for the day. He has pulled an all-nighter at the hospital, being left in charge of looking after a patient that had just come out of a risky surgery which involved extracted a bullet from the man's lung. Since Kyle's morning shift started at 8, the only chance he had to get any sleep was in the on-call room sporadically through the night. On top of tending to his post-surgery patient, he had to assist in a handful of emergencies that night as well. To say that he was running on very little steam was an understatement. Kyle was currently resting with his head on a table in the cafeteria, hand inches from a coffee cup. He then felt his beeper go off signaling he was needed once again in the E.R. Groaning, he downed the last of his coffee, ran a hand in his hair and hurried down to the Emergency Room.
"What do we have?" he asked around.
"A 26-year-old male will be arriving shortly. He was injured at work," replied one of the nurses who was setting up a room.
"Injured how?"
"We don't have the details, only that he has several lacerations and other such wounds."
Kyle put on a brave face and nodded, knowing that the injuries this said man sustained could be very minor to something very major. He had to be ready to help the on-call resident doctor, Dr. Fletcher, at any moment. A few minutes later the doors to the E.R. opened and the paramedics wheeled in a young man who was on his side in an almost fetal position.
"Twenty-six year-old male, mauled by wolves during work," spoke the female paramedic as the team wheeled the patient past Kyle.
"Put him here"- Dr. Fletcher pointed to the awaiting room.
Kyle could see through the various people hurrying around a head of black hair on said patient. His blood ran cold. Bits of information came together like puzzle pieces. A black-haired 26-year-old male mauled by wolves on the job? What kind of job would that be? Kyle nearly knocked over a nurse as he ran over to get a better look at the patient.
"Stan?!" he nearly shouted.
"Oh, hey dude…" the man grimaced. There was no mistake he was the best friend of Kyle for twenty-two years of his life. Stan was on his side with an oxygen mask over his mouth, cradling his left arm. There were scratches and wounds all over his body. He had no shirt on; Kyle could see dressings running down his back. He could also see moss-green work pants that were cut below the knee on his left side exposing his bare ankle which also held a dressing with blood seeping through.
"Do you know this man, Dr. Broflovski?" Dr. Fletcher asked.
"Yes! His name is Stanley Qunitin Marsh. Birth date October 19th, 2008. Height, 5'8", weight 136. He's my best friend." Kyle then felt brand-new energy run through his veins like an electrical current. He no longer felt as if he had only gotten two hours of sleep the past two days. He went into action as he took out his stethoscope. "What's his B.P? His oxygen levels? He's mildly asthmatic, how is his breathing? Dude, just let me fucking do my job"- Kyle bit back as he tried to listen to Stan's breathing but he swatted his hand away.
"Dr. Broflovski, maybe it's best you don't assist on this case," Dr. Fletcher placed a hand on the intern's shoulder.
"Like hell! No one in this hospital knows him like I do, I have to be assigned this case, so help me if you fucking take me off it," Kyle glared at the man that was slightly shorter than him.
"You know we can't have our doctors assigned on cases to those they personally know, it can affect how they are treated," Dr. Fletcher spoke.
"The only way this man's case will be affected is he will be treated better than if anyone else took him in. He's my best friend so I will be treating him; I'm more than capable and you know it. I'm taking over and that's final."
At that moment the E.R. doors opened again and another team of paramedics and nurses hurried in.
"12-year-old girl, victim of a car accident. Possible spine injury!"
Dr. Fletcher gave Kyle a curt nod before he hurried over to the latest patient. Kyle turned over to the two nurses as he placed latex gloves over his hands. "Priscilla- vitals, now. Kim- get all the information you can from the paramedics." He shook his head before trying to get his friend's arm away from his chest. "Dude- I- I mean Mr. Marsh, what happened?"
Stan gave Kyle a look while the nurse, Priscilla, wrapped a cuff around his arm and placed a thermometer in his mouth simultaneously. "Is there really no one else who can see me?"
Kyle glared. "Why? Not comfortable with an intern examining you?"
"Not comfortable with the guy who's seen me puke on our kindergarten teacher twenty years ago examine me. Ahh!" Stan hissed as Kyle made a move to look at his wrapped ankle.
Kyle bent down so only Stan could hear. "Just let me do my job today, okay dude? You know how stressed I've been lately here. I need to get some confidence back. To show my superiors I am a good doctor. Give me this chance, man."
Stan glared but didn't say anything. Kyle took this as a sign that he had won and he went back into professional mode. "Priscilla?"
"BP's 130/90, doctor. Temp is 99.1."
Kyle nodded and went to listen to Stan's lungs. "Respiration is 25… vitals are slightly elevated but that could just be stress. Are you having troubles breathing Mr. Marsh?"
Stan sighed. "No. Doctor."
Kyle peered into his eyes and mouth before taking in the multiple wounds. "So what exactly happened?"
Stan winced as he moved his arm. "Was told to head to some guy's property to look in on his dogs. There's been complaints by neighbors about how aggressive the dogs are and how he might be neglecting them. Well, turns out he's been keeping two wolves in his backyard all this time." he grunted in pain again. "I went to the back to get a better look since the guy wasn't answering his door. And, well, was attacked…"
"Was no one else there? Why didn't you wait for your supervisor?"
Stan looked down, a scowl on his face and murmured, "I thought I could handle it…"
Biting his lip to prevent himself from going on a rant of how stupid that sounded, Kyle began to look over the wounds while the nurse took notes on an ipad. "Superficial abrasions to the left cheek and chin... from what I can see, the worst is to the left forearm, left ankle, as well as these wounds to the back… Mr. Marsh, I'm going to have to strip you down so we can make sure we don't miss any other wounds you may have sustained."
Stan drew in a breath. "Strip me down by how much…?"
Kyle frowned. "Well, we'll give you a dressing gown if that helps…"
Stan could feel his face flush. "Dude, I didn't get bit in my ass or anything."
"If you need Priscilla here for assistance that's fine. I'm going to leave for a moment and make sure your wife is notified."
"I'll go fetch a gown for you Mr. Marsh," the Hispanic woman spoke and left behind the exam room too.
Kyle arrived several minutes later to see that Stan was in a gown, hunched over. Kyle cleared his throat as he put on a new pair of gloves.
"Just make this quick," Stan said mournfully.
Trying to not imagine how embarrassing this was for his friend, Kyle quickly checked him over the areas that had been previously covered by clothing to make sure there weren't any hidden marks.
"See? There's nothing. Can you just fix me up already so I can go?"
"Let me take a closer look at the scratches and bites you do have Mr. Marsh so I can properly put together a treatment plan. I can already see that there are several wounds that will need sutures. This one on the back, your arm, and ankle are most concerning…" there were four deep wounds in the small of Stan's back made from the claws of one wolf, several deep puncture wounds and scratches to his left arm, and similar marks to his left ankle. When the wolves did jump him, he tried shielding his face as much as possible and in the chaos, was repeatedly tossed around by the animals as one latched onto his arm as he tried to protect his face and another grabbed onto his leg. Kyle sighed as he took off his gloves. No one else was in the room now so he spoke to Stan like a friend again. "Honestly dude, you could be looking into some minor surgery to fix some of the marks. If anything, be glad they didn't get to your front, you could have been looking at internal damage. However, your ankle really looks messed up at the moment. There could be underlining tissue and muscle damage, I'll have to see when I try to suture you up. Not to mention these were wild animals… they could have rabies and infections that could have penetrated the areas as well. I'm going to have you sent in to get X-rays of you left arm and leg as well as several blood tests to rule out any and all infections. If anything, you are lucky you're an animal control officer Stan. You've been vaccinated against many potential hazards months ago so you should be okay, but we can't be too safe just yet."
Stan's head shot up. "Wait- how long are you keeping me here for?"
"Honestly? At least overnight. I called Kara; she'll be on her way soon."
"I can't stay overnight; I have a wife and child to look after."
Kyle raised a brow; sure Stan was a great husband and father so far, but he knew his friend still had anxiety when it came to hospitals. The handful of times Stan did have to stay overnight in his life still made him queasy. Kyle watched as Stan cradled his injured arm to his chest again.
"Stan, I would advise allowing us to start you on some painkillers. Look at yourself- you can practically see your muscle through some of these wounds. That can't feel good."
Stan shook his head. "No way man. I- (ahh) I'll be fine."
Kyle's eye twitched now. Why did he want to take over his best friend's care again? "Mr. Marsh, you're bleeding in several different places from some very deep wounds. Refusing to get pricked by a needle or two to relive some of that pain is just stupid. If it makes you feel any better, I won't be the one doing it. Nurse Kim? C'mon here again, please."
Kyle instructed Nurse Kim on all the infections he wanted labs drawn for and to start an IV drip for some morphine; he informed the woman that he was going to call radiology to make room for Stan as well. With that, Kyle left the room. As much as Kyle wanted to look into every single test his best friend was going to have done and find out the results as soon as possible, he had to keep himself busy until then. Thankfully as soon as he was assigned to another case did he see Kara walk in carrying baby Ayda in her arms. Knowing Stan was going to be okay for now Kyle went to give his full attention to the ailing elderly man that had just been brought in.
Two hours had gone by and Kyle was able to catch another break at the break room. He technically was supposed to be off by now but he had to be there for every moment of Stan's accident. The redhead suddenly looked up when he saw attending physician Dr. Fletcher walk in. The elder handed over a cup of coffee which Kyle took up.
"So, how's your best friend doing?"
Kyle took a sip of the steaming cup. "Haven't really gotten a chance to go over any tests yet. I'm not sure if he's been to radiology yet. Dr. McKennon didn't tell me that he's seen him yet. The first round of labs should be in by now however… I'm waiting for them to page me."
Dr. Fletcher nodded. "So do you have an idea of treatment yet?"
"Depends on the results. I think he'll be okay; he's an animal control officer so he's been vaccinated against the usual risks that a wild animal might carry. If anything he's just going to need a hell of a lot of sutures. He may have broken a bone in his leg or ankle or left arm. Again, still waiting to hear from Dr. McKennon."
Dr. Fletcher sat down next to the intern and straightened his glasses.
"Um… sorry for yelling at you earlier. I just didn't expect to see my best friend come in. I- I had to be the one to see him. It's the kind of boost I needed. But I am sorry, he was your patient," Kyle rubbed the back of his neck.
Dr. Fletcher nodded. "Apology accepted. Normally we don't allow for such behavior but I understand if you really felt the need to treat- Mr. Marsh is it?"
Kyle grinned slightly. "He'd be a tough patient no matter who was treating him really. Stubborn as hell, fear of needles. But I know all that by now so I wanted to be the one to deal with such a person. As a doctor, not as his friend. I mean, if I can't get St- um, Mr. Marsh to cooperate then what the hell am I even doing here?"
Dr. Fletcher raised a brow as he lowered his own coffee cup. "Are you happy here overall Dr. Broflovski?"
"What? Of course, I didn't go through four years of medical school to toss it aside," Kyle bit back.
"The way you stress over things and allow small problems to become big ones… investing too much time into people that sometimes we simply can't save…"
"I like what I'm doing Greg. I can't see myself doing anything else." At that moment Kyle felt a vibration on his hip. He looked down. "The results of the first of Mr. Marsh's labs just came in…" he got to his feet.
"You're a good kid Kyle and have a big heart and are very smart. I'd just hate to see you waste it in the wrong field. You still have plenty of time to find an area in medicine that suits you if emergency medicine becomes too much."
"I"-
"Think about it. I have to run; I need to check in on my 12-year-old car accident victim…"
Kyle only stared blankly back as he watched his mentor leave. Grumbling, he hurried off to phlebology. He barked at the technician there for Stan's files and quickly scanned over them once before going back to look at the fine print. He felt a weight lift from his shoulders as he continued reading. A smile spread on his lips; so far Stan was in the clear from any infections. He still had a few more labs to be drawn up and would probably have blood drawn before he was discharged but so far he looked okay. Kyle's beeper went off again and his heart raced again- X-ray results had just come in as well so he hurried off to radiology.
"What do we have?" Kyle drew up a chair next to radiologist Dr. McKennon. Results from X-rays were instant these days however Dr. McKennon waited until Kyle was available to look at them.
Dr. McKennon pulled up images of Stan's left arm first. "Everything looks okay so far Dr. Broflovski."
Kyle frowned. "And his left leg?"
The next round of images appeared and Dr. McKennon scrolled over them with his cursor. "Looks good too, I don't see any damage to his limbs at all."
"Are you sure? Did you triple check these images, Robby? You know there's a possibility of minute fractures that often go unlooked."
"Check for yourself, everything looks normal Kyle. I know he's your best friend but I do know how to do my job. There are no fractures."
Kyle indeed looked intensely at the computer screen before rubbing his eyes tiredly and nodding. "I guess you're right. Sorry. Well at least that's out of the way… I can get started on suturing him up. Thanks Rob." Kyle touched a few buttons on the computer screen and left. At that moment he felt his cell vibrate. It was his fiancée, Meghan. He took a seat on a chair in the hall. "Hey Meg… sorry for not checking in for a while… yes I'm still here. Yeah, finally getting the results of Stan's tests in… yes I know I should have been home by now. Yes, I am completely exhausted but I can't go home now. Dr. Fletcher allowed me to stay on this case so he's now my responsibility… yes I want to go home, what a stupid question… yes I know Meg… Geez… no I can't have anyone else take over, I need to still stitch him up. Yes I have to be the one to do it; he has some pretty serious wounds that might require surgery to fix… I'm fine Meg; you don't need to bring me anything. Look, I'll be home as soon as possible. I need to get these stiches started. He's going to have to stay the night anyway for observation. I promise as soon as I'm done I'll come straight home. Yes. Yes hon… okay, I will. Okay. Love you. 'Bye." He let out a growl and yawn at the same time. He sat with his arm over his eyes for five minutes before finally going down to tell Stan the latest.
Stan was currently sitting up in bed talking with Kara, who was holding onto baby Ayda.
"Hello again Mr. Marsh. Mrs. Marsh. And of course you sweetie," Kyle smiled at the little girl who smiled back.
"So, am I dying?" Stan sarcastically said.
"No… so far your labs have come back free from any infections. Your X-rays also look normal."
"So he didn't break anything? Thank goodness," Kara sighed.
"I still want you to stay overnight for observation. For now, let me try to start on some stitches. This is probably going to take a while so if you wanted to leave and come back Kara…"
Kara took a hold of her husband's hand. "I'll stay. In case he needs something to squeeze," she teased.
Stan glared, wincing as he moved his injured leg.
Kyle slipped on a fresh pair of gloves, pulled up a chair, supplies, and a light over to his friend's left leg. He looked it over once more before sighing. "Honestly man, I can't promise I'll be able to fix this up. These are some deep bite marks so you could be looking into minor surgery to fix it up."
Stan sighed as Kara helped him lower down to his side yet again. "Just try… and try not to fuck up."
"I know how to suture wounds you dick," Kyle had to bite back. Drawing in a deep breath to get back into doctor mode, he went to clean the wounds, trying not to get too annoyed that Stan wouldn't keep his leg still. "Calm down already, I haven't even numbed the area yet," he indicated the syringe lying next to him.
"Fuck this already, this shit hurts dude," Stan spoke, biting his lip.
Kyle inspected a couple of the deeper marks. "Sorry, sorry dude," he mumbled as he touched the area a couple more times. He didn't want to sound like a failure, nor alarm his friend, but the wounds were indeed very deep. Finally he got up and took off his gloves. "I'm going to have to ask the leading attending doctor what he thinks Stan. This looks bad; I really don't think simple sutures will hold it. I don't want to poke your leg a dozen times to numb it only to be unable to suture it back up. Hold on a sec…"
Kyle came back with Dr. Fletcher in tow. The older man slipped on gloves himself and looked at Stan's ankle, as well as he arm. He got to his feet.
"Sorry Mr. Marsh but I think minor surgery is the only way to fix these wounds up."
"Fuck it," Stan swore, arm over his eyes.
"I'll see when the next available O.R. will be, however it might be a bit of a wait. Unfortunately other surgeries are more of a priority. We will tell you when you can be seen as soon as we can, okay?" Dr. Fletcher clapped a hand on Kyle's back. "I think you've done great so far Dr. Broflovski, however it might be best if someone else took over for now."
"No, I will suture the less serious wounds Dr. Fletcher. I have to stay on this case," Kyle almost pleaded.
"Dr. Broflovski, you need to get some sleep. We can't have you making any mistakes if you're sleep deprived."
"I've stayed up longer than this. It's only stitches."
Dr. Fletcher looked at Stan as he tried to get himself comfortable over his injured back and left side of his body without tangling his IV line up. Kyle watched on too, feeling like and probably looking like shit right now. He hadn't showered in almost two days and his eyes were nearly bloodshot with heavy bags and his usual mess of red hair even more unruly.
Stan's eyes darted from elder to intern doctor. He bit his lip. "Um, no offense dude but maybe you should get some sleep."
"But Stan"-
Dr. Fletcher had a hand on his 'student'. "I'll have Dr. Wexer help out your friend, okay Kyle? And I'll make sure to get someone just as good for his surgery, okay?" with that, he stepped out from the curtain.
Kyle gave Stan a hard look.
"Dude, I trust you, really, I do. But you look like crap. Go home to Meghan. Heh, I'll make sure to cut my hand open sometime soon so you can stitch me up, all right?"
Finally defeated, Kyle nodded. He waved goodbye to the little Marsh family before finally clocking out of work.
I wanted to write a scene where Kyle has to evaluate his position as an E.R. intern, wondering if this is the path of medicine he should follow. If you follow my other SP adults stories you'll know he eventually chooses family medicine. I have more SP as Adults tales coming soon so please review and offer suggestions if there's something you'd like to see. I also have a new story, Getting to Know Me, where various SP characters answer a fun questionnaire. Check it out.
Lots of love: Rose, October 12, 2018