Though the Monsters

Chapter 16

What One Finds

            The ER was packed but from the ambulance bay it was fairly clear.

"Did not want to be coming back here again like this." Hadlee muttered, running her hands down her red face.

Cassidy smiled and laughed.

"Not to be rude but we don't particularly like bringing people in like this either sweetheart," She said. "When did you last come in by ambo?"

"Last year, I had a six-and-a-half-minute seizure and then like three more shortly after. I was in a coma for a few days." Hadlee explained.

Cassidy cringed.

"Be glad it's not because of that again." She said.

Hadlee laughed.

"I am." She said.

From the ambulance bay Hadlee was carted through a number of different departments. From the ambulance bay to the ER, to X-Ray, MRI, CT, and finally back to the ER where they waited for the results. Jethro, Maggie, and Harrison all sat in the chairs around Hadlee's bed. Well, Jethro and Harrison sat in chairs, Maggie had opted to sit in Harrison's lap, letting her legs hang over the side of the arm and nestled into Harrison's chest. All four of them sat in silence while they waited.

"Okay, so we have Miss Hadlee Reid." The curtain was pulled back revealing a man in scrubs, a white coat, and a clipboard.

"That would be me." Hadlee said.

"My name is Dr. Katz." He said.

"Brennon! I didn't know you were working today." Maggie said from her spot on Harrison's lap.

"Maggie? I know you aren't working today." Dr. Katz said.

"Well, be that as it may I am here for Hadlee today." Maggie said.

"I can see that and this must be the famous Harrison I've heard so much about," Dr. Katz said, reaching over to shake Harrison's hand.

Harrison hesitantly accepted the handshake. Dr. Katz laughed lightly at his hesitance.

"How's Devon doing? I haven't seen him recently; I've missed my lunch buddy." Maggie said.

"Devon's doing alright, he's just been fighting off some kind of flu for a few days," Dr. Katz replied and Maggie cringed. "Yeah, my thoughts exactly."

Maggie laughed and Dr. Katz took a breath before turning to Hadlee.

"From what I've heard from Maggie and read in your chart, you, young lady are quite the handful," Dr. Katz said. "But past aside, this appears to be your first dislocation."

"That it is." Hadlee confirmed.

"Okay, so we'll go through this and I'll explain everything to you and just stop me if you have any questions. Sound good?" Dr. Katz asked and Hadlee nodded. "Okay, so you dislocated your right leg after having a seizure and falling backwards down a set of stairs. Is that right?"

Hadlee laughed. When it was put like that it did sound pretty ridiculous.

"That's the jist of it anyway." She said.

"Wow, I don't think that I've heard that one before." Dr. Katz replied.

"And you probably won't again." Maggie laughed.

Dr. Katz nodded and cleared his throat to continue.

"Looking at the test results and the scans it looks like there are minor tears in a couple of the ligaments around your knee cap. Normally tears would require surgery but these are so small that I'm confident that they'll heal on their own with proper care. Six weeks minimum for healing sometimes it does take longer so let's say between six and nine weeks to be safe. I'm going to put you in a full leg brace for the foreseeable future and crutches to stay off of it. If you're not moving around elevate it to the best of your ability." He explained.