F is For Falling (and other complications)

Ch. 5

Karen was sitting in her room, day eight of her extended stay in Hotel Rampart, looking out the window and watching the traffic outside. Dixie had delivered her back to her room an hour before after Joe and Kel had to perform a second I&D on her leg in less than three days. Thankfully, it hadn't been too bad the second time around. This time, however, Joe explained to her that he would be packing the abscess with wicking. This was to pull the rest of the infection away from the wound and allow her to heal from the inside out.

She was grateful that the penicillin had started to work the day before. She was also relieved that the swelling, redness and tenderness was finally going down in her leg. But sitting in the room, by herself had started to take a small toll on her. She didn't really understand it. She loved when the guys came by, but she was still haunted by how bad the infection was and could have been. She had it confirmed by Doctor Brackett just the day before. He had told her that if she had not been at the station and had prolonged the time in seeking treatment, based on the severity of the infection, it would have most definitely turned into sepsis and could have possible taken her life.

She continued to stare out the window, watching all the goings on outside the hospital with some interest. She saw an ambulance back in with a squad following. I wonder what happened? Is it a pregnant woman, about to give birth for the first time? An accident victim? Someone having a heart attack? She realized that she was longing to be the one in the ambulance, helping the victim, whatever they were going through.

Karen sighed, knowing that she was really missing her job. Since her parents died ten years ago, working as a firefighter had been the biggest part of her life and had kept her going through the worst times. Then, one day, a few years after the accident, she decided that no one needed to go through what she had been through. Becoming a paramedic had been the best decision she could have ever made.

But, as she stared out the window, old insecurities began to nudge their way into her mind. Being the only woman in a station full of men really made her question how close she really was to them. Oh she knew that on a rescue they had her back and wouldn't let anything happen to her. That was the kind of brotherhood she belonged to. But off the job, she just didn't know.

She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. That medicine is really throwing me for a loop. I mean, at least one of the guys has been here to check on me everyday. And they did bring me all those books and magazines and everything, to keep me from being bored. She smiled as she glanced over at the wall near her bed and saw all the cards that the DeSoto kids had sent to her. They had brightened up her room more than they would ever know.

As she looked back outside, trying to shove the negative thoughts back, she did vow to herself that she would not put the guys out by asking them to help her once she was released from the hospital. She knew she could do it on her own and they had already done so much for her.

It was that moment she heard a knock at the door that pulled her momentarily out of her mind and the thoughts that were coursing through it. "Come in!"

Kel and Joe poked their heads in, expecting to see Karen in bed, but surprised to see her up in a chair by the window, her leg propped up with a couple of pillows, thanks to one special head ER nurse.

"How are you feeling Karen?" Joe asked, taking a seat across from her, Kel choosing to stand near her feet and lean on the chair.

"Good. Glad that you did that I&D again. But the drainage is tickling my leg. I want to scratch it so bad, but I can't," she said with a smile, proving her point by lightly trying to scratch at the bandage on her leg.

"I bet. It's the wicking draining the infection. That's a good sign that its working."

"I'm glad that it is," she replied, glancing out the window when she heard a siren in the distance.