Burning Flames ¦ Evan Buckley

Chapter 71 - Lump

Things were a blur after the death of Laura, nothing really seemed all that real to El. With her arm clearly damaged to some extent she was taken to the hospital straight away, Buck not leaving her side once, even once entering the hospital.

By the time El was taken into one of the examination rooms, Buck was asked to leave her side due to Covid restrictions. She sat herself down onto the bed, her arm throbbing in pain. The doctor came in, introducing himself as Dr Cartright.

"So we have a suspected dislocation on your right arm. Is that correct?" He asked politely.

"Yeah..." El nodded, "That's what the paramedics said" She confirmed.

"You happy if I take a look?" Dr Cartright asked, making sure to be kind, having been given the rundown of what had happened by Buck.

"Yeah, that's fine," El confirmed with a soft nod.

Dr Cartright approached her and began to gently examine her arm, "Definitely dislocated, would you like me to reline it for you now?"

"Please, I need to get back to work" She confirmed, not even thinking about the fact that she may not even be allowed back to work.

Dr Cartright gave another look at her arm before placing his hands down and readying himself, "Ready? On three, one two-" On two, with one swift movement he realigned her arm back into the socket correctly. El yelped slightly at the sudden surge of pain that travelled through her arm and across the rest of her body. "Try moving it around for me please?"

El nodded and began to move her arm around in various motions, it now feeling as if nothing had happened. "Think you did it" She laughed a little, "Thank you..."

"No problem...any more issues with you, you come straight back" Dr Cartright confirmed as he continued examining just in case there was any other issues. "Can you turn your head away from me for a second" He asked, El obeying straight away.

Gently, the doctor began to examine her neck, his fingers running over her skin, "Are you aware of this lump on your neck Miss Rhodes?"

"What..lump?" She asked confused, her hand running up to the location where he was touching. As she ran her calas fingers across the surface of her neck, she felt the large lump in which he was referring too. "No...it's probably just a pulled muscle from this right?" She asked, looking at him with worried eyes.

"I'm not too sure" He spoke leaning back, trying to get a better full image of it, "Just to be safe, I will refer you for an ultrasound" He confirmed.

"W-why, what do you think it is?" El asked.

"Could be a goitre or a large lymph node, or like you said a pulled muscle. I would rather rule anything suspicious off the table" He confirmed in a solemn tone.

"Wait...do you think it could be..cancer?" She asked, her brows clenching together in a confused and anxious motion.

"That's why I'm going to refer you for an ultrasound, see if we can rule that out. But you're 25, I highly doubt it is" Dr Cartright confirmed, placing a hand on her shoulder, "You go back to Mr Buckley, I will sort things out my end" He nodded, "You'll hear from us shortly"

"Okay...thank you.." She nodded, a loud gulp escaping into the quiet air. She stood to her feet and headed for the door, taking a moment to herself before opening it up. She had to keep this a secret.

-

The team returned to the firehouse, their shift still not being over. It was a silent ride back, no one really knowing what to say and El had far too much running through her head. "Why don't you hit the bunks for a bit?" Bobby spoke softly to El, knowing this was her first personal loss.