“I’ve been looking for you for a long time.” He almost purred with pleasure over my response to his malicious glee. His finger brushed against my left breast and rib cage and he pushed down on the broken ribs. I gasped in pain.
I still held on to enough pride that I wouldn’t attempt to speak and confirm how much pain I truly was in. I’m pretty sure the hitch in my breath and my dilated pupils told the bastard enough. Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. I thought. I don’t normally curse, but I was a bit distressed with my current circumstances.
He actually chuckled as he drew back his fist for another punch. I reached out blindly and found the handle to the knife he had brandished prior to my sucker punch to his solar plexus. I palpated ribs. And a sharp pain penetrated my left chest. I watched in horror as blood poured around the bone handled knife protruding from my chest.
That isn’t how it happened. That was how I realized it was only a nightmare. Only. No, this was a doozy. My left side still hurt, no wait, those are my rib fractures. Did I reinjure my spleen? No I was being held down. My left wrist hurt where it was being pressed into the bed. I tried to tell them it was over. I was fine, but I couldn’t open my mouth. I willed myself to be still. I took a deep breath and opened my right eye. And glared at the nurse and officer peering into my face.
I nodded toward my splinted left wrist and attempted a moue indicating pain. “I’m so sorry Dr. Patel” Tracey, my nurse, let go of my wrist. I nodded understanding. She continued her explanation. “You were having a nightmare. I tried to wake you, but then you started thrashing around and I was worried you’d reinjure yourself.”
I nodded again in agreement. She continued to explain how she had asked the officer to help when I started getting violent. After ascertaining that I had not hurt her or the officer, I turned my head away and stopped listening.
It was a long night, deprived even of the oblivion of sleep.
The techs, phlebotomists, and nurses kept their hourly parade through my room, helping me stay awake. I recited anatomy lessons in my mind when not staring at the boob tube. There were Angel re-runs on. I turned it off after the first fantastical fight scene.
The trauma interns arrived around five in the morning. I was happy for the distraction. I knew Kennedy had to see more patients and was short on time this morning. But my jaw is wired, so how would I yell at him for being late?
Despite my best efforts, after having him remove my collar and elicit promises for orders to remove my IV fluids and foley and a milk shake diet, I couldn’t keep him in the room longer and was again at a loss for things to do.
I waited for my fiancé with more anticipation than I ever had. I know that sounds wrong, but we are such busy people. I’m usually too busy working to miss him and vice versa. Its probably why our relationship has lasted five years and evolved into this engagement. Last night I had asked Samir to leave when all the cooing and petting gave me a headache. I let him believe I was self-conscious about how I looked in front of him.
In between the annoying codling, he assured me that no matter what I had said, this case would disappear as an obvious self-defense. He poo pooed Officer, no Detective, Latino-accent’s advise and told me he would take care of everything. I regretted my inability to verbally remind him that I was a very capable person, hadn’t I just proven I could take care of myself in a very, what was his description, ‘graphic’ way?
But a night of staring at these four walls had renewed my appreciation for my fiancé’s company. Tracy returned to see if she could replace my ice pack. I asked for writing utensils. She flipped on a light and I blinked until the paper came into focus. My left eye was beginning to open now.
