The Memory of a Dream

Visceral War

When I walked in the soldier's room, Chip was already there. He was muttering random commands at the soldier and the soldier just looked up at him confused.

I keep forgetting he has a name now and I make it a point to mention it.

"Chip, this James Barnes....I thought you should know he has a name.", I said with a smile. "What do you prefer we call you?", I asked the soldier. He glanced at me and held the gaze and I felt the lump in my throat return. He said nothing.

"Okay, we'll call your Mr.Barnes until you tell us what you prefer.", I said to him.

"Alright soldier...er, uh, Mr. Barnes, stand up for me. We need you to undress so we can examine you for injuries or scars.", Chip says to him.

He doesn't move, he just stares up at Chip and his expression changes from confusion to anger. Chip immediately straightened his posture. "Mr.Barnes, this is not a request. Please undress, keep your shorts on and hand your clothes to me.", Chip commands in an authoritative tone. The soldier stands up, although Chip is large, he is nearly the same height as the soldier and they are eye to eye. Chips take a small step forward, they were so close they could probably feel one another's breath.

"This is the last time I will tell you, Mr. Barnes. Undress and hand me your clothes.", Chip sounded firm and intimidating, I could hear the drill sergeant in him and it wasn't the voice I wanted to hear from Chip. Typically, when this happened, most patients complied, but this one didn't. The soldier stood his ground.

I immediately got on my walkie and called for backup Code White which is a potentially aggressive individual. In less than a minute I heard running footsteps and heard voices over the walkie.

Three men entered the room, techs from other floors.

"What's happenin' Chip?", one of them asked.

"Not sure yet. This is Mr. Barnes and he won't follow my orders to undress so we can do his intake exam. I have asked him three times, he refuses and he is challenging me with a threatening pose.", Chips replies calmly.

One of the guys gently asks me to step outside the room. They continue to ask him to do what he was told and as they walked closer to him, his expression went from anger to fear and I knew that was a dangerous emotion for a cornered living thing.

Before I even had a chance to process, the soldier put Chip on the floor and the other three techs were on top of him. The soldier was aggressively fighting them as if his life depended on it. He was almost growling and I could hear the 4 men struggling to subdue him. Just then, a nurse from the ER rushes in and tells me to go my station. I started to walk back to my station, but I tried to go slowly so I could hear what was going on. I heard the soldier screaming, not in a scared manner, but a determined manner, as if he had a mission to accomplish and he wasn't giving up until it was done.

Then silence.

I stopped suddenly and stood still as if to hone my hearing in on the activity in the room. Melanie saw me down the hall and gestured me to come to the office.

As I walked into the office, I turned to peer down the hall and I saw the three techs dragging the soldier from his room. Each tech had an arm and his legs were limp behind him, sliding across the floor. The third tech had restraint straps in his hands.

Less than 24 hours and this guy did not heed my advice about avoiding the restraint room.

Chip and the nurse whispered quietly, glancing in the direction of the restraint room and then back at one another. They head down the hall towards the intake room and I quickly go back to the seat and pretend I am writing in his chart.

"Hey Jen, that guy managed to injure himself a bit. Nothing major, but I need a tech in there to clean him up while I make a few phone calls. Can you please?", Chip asks me softly. I nodded and gathered the med cart again and his chart.

The nurse swiftly left the ward and Chip sat down to make calls. I could tell by his tone he was trying to speak to the doctor who is due in on Monday. I am pretty sure he will arrive before then after this incident.....