She was wise beyond her years....
We walked in for the evening shift at the emergency room; my friend and co-worker stepped in the door in unison with me that night. I said, “It’s Saturday night, bet things will be hopping all night!” Nancy said, “If it ain’t, something is wrong.”
I looked at the schedule to see which physicians were on duty. The physicians who are on the shift make all of the difference in a good night and a horrible night. I was very happy to see two of my favorite doctors were there. I smiled as I dropped my purse and lunch in my locker and headed into the emergency room to see what kind of cases we had and what cases were waiting to come back.
Nothing earth-shattering yet, but the night was young. The shift was going to be a good one for sure as I noticed Rod and Lisa (two of the best nurses ever), walk in the door.
At the beginning of our shift, there was a 3 year old girl who had been bitten by a neighborhood dog as she reached out to pet him. She wore a pink and yellow tu-tu over her bright yellow tights. In her hair was a bow half as big as her head, in matching yellow. Her pink blouse, now stained with blood, lay across the foot of her gurney and a hospital gown was tied on in its place. The faded pattern on that gown was Sponge Bob Squarepants and that seemed to brighten her spirits She required 14 stitches to close up the gap the dog had left in her right cheek. She quietly allowed the work to be done, unlike most children at that age. Her demeanor was calm and sweet as the stitches were set in place..
When the physician finished the last stitch and stepped back, she began to talk. I was amazed when she first said, “Thank you doctor, you did good!”; as she raised her hand for a high five! This tiny little girl had a presence about her that still sticks with me as I recall her that night. She interacted with us all on a level that was more mature than most of the staff. It was impressive.
Someone asked her parents what kind of dog had attacked her, it was then that her father said, “It is soon to be a DEAD dog!”
The little girl quickly spoke up and said, “Daddy, please don’t hurt the dog, he didn’t mean it!”
How wise this small child was as she begged her father to give this dog another chance and as she told in detail how the events unfolded and how she was the one who had provoked the dog and he was only reacting to her.
Later that evening when things slowed down in the ER, my mind drifted to that dog-bitten child and her calm, intelligent presence. I decided if she was an example of future members of our community, we were going to be ok.
Hours later we had a lady come in who was in cardiac arrest. She was so thin and frail. As I watched Rod doing chest compressions I worried that her frail chest might snap from the pressure. She was not able to recover, there just was no bringing her back. When the family was advised of her death, they wept. They wept softly and with great pain. One daughter spoke of her kindness, her spirit and her joy. She told of the long fought battle her mother endured to be with them as long as possible. Then it was like a ton of bricks had landed on her suddenly, as she began to speak of the rest of her life without her mother.
Each shift in the ER is filled with sadness, loss, deep sorrow; yet there is laughter, and funny things that happen too...so to me it is like the journey of life in fast motion with all emotions coming and going with an ebb and flow unlike anything you could imagine.
I found it to be invigorating and exhausting at the same time.
Another shift was over, I grabbed my things from the locker in the break room and scooted out the door, happy to be alive.
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