Medical Imagines

A friendly reunion

"Kara your mom is here to pick you up sweetie." I hear the school nurse say to my 12 year old daughter. "So long story short she came to me complaining of chest pains. I took a listen to her chest and I heard quite a bit of crackling and she does have a pretty high fever that developed only a short while ago. I think it would be best to schedule an appointment or take her to the emergency room." The nurse says. I smile and nod. "I'll take her to the emergency room I would rather be safe than sorry." I say patting my daughter's hair.

I help Kara into the car and then I get in myself. "Hey so what happened?" I asked her. "Mima said you were fine this morning." I say as she rests her head on the window. You can hear the wheezing whenever she breathes.

We pull up to the ER and I park. "Hey Kara are you awake?" I ask looking at her through the rearview mirror. I see her nod tiredly and she sits up. "Mommy I want to go home." She says. I sigh and look at her. "I want to go home too honey but we have to get you looked at first." I say as I exit out of the car and make my way over to her side.

We get inside and I check us in at the desk. The desk lady was very nice and even gave Kara a book to read while we waited to get seen. There weren't many people here in the waiting room it's usually really crowded. "Mommy I don't feel good." Kara says holding her stomach. "Does your tummy hurt baby?" I ask. She nods and covers her mouth. "Crap." I say under my breath. "Can I get a puke bag please." I ask the front desk lady. She nods politely and hands me a bag. Just as I rush back over to Kara I see her throwing up on her clothes and on the floor. I sigh. "Sorry mommy! I'm really sorry!" She cries. I hand her the bag. I don't dare touch the puke. "It's ok baby. This is why we are here." I say hoping to calm her down without physical contact. "Kara Wilson." The nurse says. I wave over the nurse. "Here. She just had a little accident." I say to the nurse who is now walking over. "Oh dear it's ok. Let's get you cleaned up and into a room." He says. I nod in agreement and Kara just stays silent.

We start walking and the nurse talks. "My name is nurse Ryan and I'll be your assigned nurse. We'll get you all cleaned up and Dr.Davis will be with you." I nod. 'Although something about this nurse confuses me. And the name Dr.Davis, it sounds familiar in a way. But in what way?' I ask myself.

"Alright sweetheart your all cleaned up. I'm just gonna check your vitals." Nurse Ryan says as he pull out the blood pressure cuff. "This is gonna give you a hug on your arm dear." He says. Kara nods and lets him take her blood pressure. I sit in the chair that's next to the cot and I lay my head on the wall tiredly. "Blood pressure is on the lower side." He says while writing something down on the clipboard. "Ok honey I'm going to take your temperature. While I do so can you tell me how long have you been feeling sickly?" He says in a comforting voice. Kara tells him that she has felt this I'll for a few days but each day it just got worse. "Ok dear your temperature is high so the doctor might want to keep you guys a bit longer for treatment." He says mainly towards me. "And mom have you noticed any of these symptoms worsen over time?" He asks looking towards me with his pen ready to write. "Yes but I thought she had a common cold as that is going around her... her..." I yawn, "her school." I say tiredly. "Ok and did she happen to have a fever before she left for school?" He asks. I shake my head. "No she had a normal temperature of around 98ish. Anywhere between 98 to 99. But it's wasn't that high so I sent her in. Her fever raised in school." I say truthfully. The nurse nods and writes all this down. "Ok thank you. Has anyone in your house been sick recently?" He asks. I shake my head. "My mother has a very poor immune system and Kara is always around her." I say. He nods and writes more stuff down. "Ok I'm going to put this little device on your finger princess and I'll be right back." He says talking to Kara. He pulls out a meter thing that get put on the finger. "What's that?" Kara asks the nurse. "It's called an oximeter. It tells me your oxygen levels." He says. Kara just nods and lays back down coughing. "So mom I'm going to be right back I'm going to need a covid and flu swab. And with the cough I'll ask if the doc also wants a strep swab as well to just get that out of the way." He says. I nod. "Ok thank you." I say as Nurse Ryan heads out.