The next day had Meghan back in the supply closet, standing on a ladder while Fred dug around in the attic, inventorying supplies. He had been passing along counts of some of the larger items while Meghan recorded them, and handing down some items they wanted out for the next class.

“Anything else we need down, Meghan?” he asked, face appearing in the access hole in the ceiling.

“Probably should go ahead and pull down a couple of backboards and a Stokes basket,” she replied. “I’ll stack them on the stretcher in the office until we need them.”

“Good idea. I was wondering where you were going to put them,” he replied. He disappeared, and she heard him rummaging through things and dragging them close to the access.

One of the students came to ask a question, and Meghan turned to answer and was thus distracted. So when Fred brought a backboard and started lowering it through the hole, Meghan wasn’t aware. “Meghan! Here,” he started.

She looked up just as the board slipped in his hands and caught the edge full in her face, directly over her right eye. “Ow!” She leaned forward on the ladder and grabbed her face as the board fell to the floor. It bumped the ladder and Meghan just about fell off but hung on to a rail for dear life with one hand, the other clutching her right eye.

“Meghan, are you okay? The board slipped out of my hands.” Fred looked at her worriedly. The student helped Meghan descend the ladder and sit in a chair at the nearest desk. Fred hollered for another student, and directed them to get Brad from the Fire class to come and take a look, then return to hold the ladder while he climbed down.

By the time Fred made it down from the attic, Brad was there with his response bag. “What’s going on in here?” He spied Meghan sitting down. “Are you feeling okay?” As he knelt beside her, she pried her hand away from her face. “What happened?” He was shocked at the swelling that already had her eye swollen shut and her face starting to bruise.

Fred stepped into the classroom. “I was handing down a backboard and dropped it. It hit her full in the face,” Fred explained, chagrined.

“Meghan, can you open your eye?”

She shook her head. “Nope. And Fred, you’re dead meat,” she warned.

Brad chuckled. “I’d say that you need to get checked out at the ER, Meghan. Get it looked at, make sure there’s not an orbital fracture. Where exactly does it hurt?” He gingerly felt around her eye.

“The eyeball itself doesn’t hurt, but all around it does, especially the cheekbone. I’m gonna have one heck of a shiner,” she sighed.

“You’ve got one already forming,” Brad agreed. “You’re not driving yourself to the hospital. How do you want to do this?”

“Not by ambulance,” she flatly stated. “I don’t know. I can call Mitch if he’s home, have him come get me. Can someone get my phone from the office? I’ve got him favorited.”

Fred excused himself to retrieve her phone and grabbed his, as well. He’d put Mitch’s number in his phone when Meghan had so many health issues. He dialed the number and put the ringing phone in Meghan’s hand.

Branston residence, Mitch speaking.

“Hey, Mitch, it’s Meghan. Are you home?”

Sure thing. What’s up?

“Well, I need someone to drive me to the ER. I took a backboard to the face, and my eye’s swollen shut. I can’t drive.” Meghan winced as something cold touched her face.

“Ice pack, Meghan,” Brad told her, holding it to her eye.

Oh, no! Yes, I can come get you. We should get that x-rayed. I can be there in about 10 minutes. Is someone with you?

“I’ve got Fred and Brad and the whole medic class,” Meghan stated, amused. “I’ve got plenty of caretakers at the moment.” She heard Mitch chuckle on the other end. “Okay, I’ll see you in 10. Thanks, Mitch.”

No worries, Meghan. Be there in a few.

She passed the phone back to Fred to hang up. “Mitch said he’d be here in about 10 minutes to drive me to the ER. I’ll need my backpack and phone and keys.”

“We’ll get those for you,” Brad reassured. “Let’s bandage those eyes, and then we’ll help you out to Mitch’s car when he arrives. And keep that cold pack on the area.”

Meghan sighed, not really wanting to have her good eye bandaged, but she knew it was the best course of action. The medic students had come around to watch her being treated. It wasn’t the most comfortable of situations, feeling a bit like an exhibit in the zoo, but she knew the reality of it – this is how they learned.

She heard the rustling of paper and plastic from the area of Brad’s response bag, and knew he was getting supplies out to bandage her eyes. She shifted the ice pack a bit to rest more on her aching cheekbone.

“Okay, Meghan. Some gauze pads first.” He carefully put the material over each eye. “And now some kerlix.” He talked through the process of bandaging her eyes for the benefit of the students.

“Shouldn’t we put something, like a cup, over the injured eye?” a student asked.

“That’s not necessary unless there was a penetrating object,” Brad answered. He finished wrapping the gauze bandaging around her head and taped the end in place. Meghan was now officially blind.

Fred directed one of the students to get a set of vital signs. Meghan gamely held up her arm for the cuff to be applied and let them poke and prod her until Mitch arrived.

After Mitch arrived, gentle hands helped her stand and guided her into a wheelchair. Fred wheeled her out to Mitch’s car, and he and Brad helped Meghan transfer into the front seat of the vehicle.

Fred leaned in and helped her with her seatbelt. “Once again, really sorry, Meghan.”

She waved him off. “It was an accident, Fred. You’re forgiven. I’ll call and let you know what the ER says.”

Fred shut the car door, and waved goodbye to Mitch. Mitch got in, fastened his seatbelt, and started the car. “On to the ER. Care to tell me what happened? I can already see a pretty good shiner forming where the bandaging doesn’t cover.”

Meghan shifted her ice pack. “We’ve been doing inventory and cleaning the supply closet in preparation for the EMT classes starting in 2 weeks. Fred’s area is the attic, where we keep backboards, Stokes baskets, mannequins… all of the big, bulky things. He was handing down a backboard, I was distracted, and it slipped from his hands and caught me full in the face.” She winced.

Mitch whistled. “No wonder you have a shiner! Where does it hurt?”

“Well, my eyeball doesn’t hurt, so that’s good. But the orbit around it does, especially my cheekbone.”

“Good thing we’re going to the ER,” Mitch stated. “I want to get x-rays, make sure nothing’s broken.”

“Yeah, I figured that was what would be happening. And I wouldn’t mind something for the pain – I’ve got a doozy of a headache,” Meghan admitted.

“Did you get knocked out or hit your head?” Mitch asked.

Meghan shook her head. “No, just got punched in the face with a 20-lb backboard falling at the rate of gravity. Just about fell off the ladder, though. I’m glad the supply room is small – otherwise the ladder would’ve taken me down with it when the backboard bounced off it at the floor.”

“I’m going to call ahead, let them know we’re coming,” Mitch decided. He dialed the ER phone number, and put his phone on speaker. The call, answered by the unit secretary, got forwarded to Bob.

Nurse Bob Bellarmine, how can I help you?

“Hey Bob, this is Mitch Branston. How busy are things right now?”

Not too bad right now, Doc. The waiting room isn’t full, and I’ve got a few curtain areas available.

“Good! Can you reserve a curtain bay for me? I’m bringing Meghan in for some x-rays.”

Meghan? Is she sick? Do you need a trauma room? Bob sounded very concerned, and Meghan cringed.

“A curtain bay will be fine,” Mitch assured. “She got beaned at the school by a backboard. We just want some x-rays to make sure nothing’s broken.”

Okay, Doc. I’ll keep a space open. Any idea when you’ll be arriving?

“We’re probably about 5 minutes away, Bob. We’ll see you soon.” Mitch said his goodbyes, and hung up the phone.

“You really didn’t have to tell Bob you were coming in on your day off because of me,” Meghan complained good-naturedly.

“Maybe, but Bob’ll know you’re there as soon as we wheel in,” Mitch countered, chuckling.

“With any luck, he’ll sic Stan on me for good measure,” she sighed. “Of course, I can always blame Fred.” She laughed. “Maybe that’s what I need to do – threaten Fred with Stan. They used to be partners,” she explained.

“Well, whatever you decide to do, decide quickly. We’re here,” Mitch said, pulling in to the ER driveway. “And it looks like we’ve got a welcoming committee.” He gestured to the waiting wheelchair. “Bob’s got a wheelchair with your name on it,” he said, remembering her eyes were bandaged. He put the car in park and hit the unlock button.

Bob reached out and opened Meghan’s door. “Meghan! This is not the way to come visit me.” He reached over and undid her seatbelt and carefully guided her out of the car and into the waiting chair.

“Wasn’t my idea,” Meghan protested. “I just got a little too good a view of the edge of a backboard falling from a 10-foot ceiling.”

Bob chuckled as he wheeled her into the ER and to a waiting patient room. “We had a patient leave, so you get your own room instead of a cubicle.”

“Who’s the doc on call today?” Meghan asked as she was guided to the gurney. She carefully sat down and did her best to get comfortable.

Bob busied himself getting her hooked up to telemetry. “Dr. Shultz is on today. I think I saw Dr. Branston looking for him, so they’ll probably be in here in a minute.” He pushed the button for the blood pressure cuff to cycle, and nodded in satisfaction. “Good news – your blood pressure is right where we want it: 112/78.”

“Yeah, I’ve not been having those issues for a couple of months now, thankfully.” Meghan smiled. “It’s good to be diagnosed and on the right meds.”

“I’m sure. Now, who wrapped you up like a mummy?” Bob reached in his pocket and confirmed he had his bandage scissors.

“Brad from the Fire school. Of course, the medic students ‘helped.’ I think Fred was too busy tripping over himself with apologies – he was trying to hand down the backboard from the attic to me when it slipped out of his fingers.” Meghan shifted the ice pack she still held.

A rap at the door announced people coming in. “Hey, Meghan! I see you’re a bit worse for wear. It’s Dr. Shultz, and I’ve got Mitch and Stan with me.” Dr. Shultz walked up to the bedside and placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Hi Dr. Shultz. Stan?”

“I’m here,” Stan said.

“You’ll have to help me get back at Fred for this,” Meghan deadpanned. Stan laughed.

“Meghan, Mitch told me what happened. How are you feeling at the moment?”

“I’m getting a doozy of a headache,” she admitted. “But most of the pain is my right cheekbone.”

“I see. I’ve already put in orders for Radiology to do some facial x-rays. I’m going to have Bob cut away the bandages, and Stan will bring some pain meds. I’ll have him put in a heplock, just in case.” Dr. Shultz turned to Stan, gave verbal orders for meds, and turned his attention back to Meghan.

Stan excused himself from the room while Bob brought out his scissors and cut away the bandages, letting Meghan remove the gauze pads from her eyes herself. The bruising to her right eye and cheek was already quite profuse. Her eye was swollen shut and tearing.

“Ouch,” Dr. Shultz commiserated. “Are you able to open the eye at all?”

“No,” Meghan stated. “I think it’s too swollen. It doesn’t hurt, though.”

“Once we get some pain meds on board, I’m going to have to try to open it just to check the eyeball, but then I’ll let it be.” Dr. Shultz heard himself being paged. “I need to answer that. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He left the room with Bob on his heels.

Mitch pulled up a chair close to her bed and sat down. “You’ve got yourself quite the shiner there, Meghan. Looks like Fred decked you a couple of punches,” he chuckled.

“Fred caused that?” Stan asked, entering her room again with supplies. He pulled over a rolling stool and settled near Meghan’s right arm.

“Yeah. He was in the attic and the backboard he was holding slipped from his grasp. I’d been distracted on the ladder by a student and managed to look up just as the backboard came down.” Meghan winced.

“Ouch,” Stan commented. “Okay, let’s get a heplock in. I’m on your right side. Hand or forearm?”

“Forearm, please.”

Stan soon had the heplock in and gave her some meds. “There you go. That should have you feeling a bit better soon. Need another ice pack or a blanket?”

“I’ll take one of each, if you don’t mind.” The pain in her face was starting to subside. “Meds are kicking in, thankfully.”

“Good! I’ll be right back.” Stan collected the trash, throwing it in the garbage can, then left to get the requested items.

When Dr. Shultz reentered her room, Meghan opened her good eye, ice pack covering the affected side. “Welcome back,” she said.

He smiled. “I want to check out that eye, Meghan.” He pulled on a pair of gloves and pulled a battery-operated ophthalmoscope from his pocket. “I’ll be as quick and gentle as I can.” He carefully opened her swollen eyelid with his finger, looked at the orbit with his instrument, and let her eye close. Putting the instrument back in his pocket, he felt around the orbital area and her cheekbone.

“Good news – your eye looks fine aside from some capillary bleeding in the sclera, and I’m not feeling any major deformity or broken bones. Has x-ray been by yet?” Meghan shook her head. “Well, hopefully they’ll be in soon. As long as we don’t see any breaks on the films, you’ll be good to go home.”

An hour later, Meghan walked out of the ER with Mitch. They made their way to his car in the ER parking lot, and headed to Meghan’s apartment. The x-rays had come back fine, but with only one good eye, Mitch had offered to take Meghan to her apartment to pack a bag and come stay a couple days with them.

Meghan quickly packed a duffel with a few days’ worth of clothes and a small knitting project, just in case, then carefully made her way down the stairs. Mitch carried the bag down for her, letting her keep her hands free to navigate with the handrails.

“Kelsey doesn’t know yet about the accident,” Mitch advised Meghan as he drove back to home. “I wanted to get home and know the extent of the injury before I contacted her.” He pulled into the drive. “Oops! Well, she’s home early. So much for warning her in advance.”

Meghan groaned. “I’m about to get read the riot act, I can already tell.”

Mitch chuckled. “Maybe, but it shouldn’t be too bad. I think the shock of seeing your face will be sufficient enough.” He grabbed her duffel from the back seat and escorted Meghan to the door.

Kelsey came out of the bedroom as soon as Meghan had entered the living room. She could almost hear Kelsey’s mouth drop. “Meghan! What in the world?! Are you okay?” She quickly made her way over to her sister.

“I’m okay, Kelsey. I just decided to watch a backboard drop from the ceiling and got too close of a view,” Meghan explained as her sister gave her a protective bear hug.

Kelsey glared at Mitch. “Please tell me you’ve been seen at the ER.”

Mitch held up his hands in mock surrender. “Just brought her home from there,” he stated, as Meghan nodded.

“No orbital fractures, and the eyeball is fine. Just spectacular bruising and swelling,” Meghan added.

Kelsey released her sister from the hug. “You’re definitely staying with us until you can see from that eye.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ve got a bag packed and everything.” Meghan looked at Mitch, who held up her duffel bag as Exhibit A.

“Well…” Kelsey’s surprise and sharp tone finally faded. She sighed. “I’m glad you’re okay, Meghan. You just took me by surprise. Are you hurting? Do you need an ice pack? I’ve got a few reusable ones in the freezer.”

Meghan finally felt it was safe enough to sit down. “It hurts, but not bad. They gave me some meds in the ER. I’ve got an ice pack that’ll work for now, but I’ll probably be hitting the stash later.”

Mitch excused himself to go stow her duffel in the guest bedroom.

Kelsey came and sat down next to her sister. “Did you lose consciousness? And who decided to send a backboard crashing down from the ceiling?”

Meghan shifted to be able to see her sister out of her good eye. “No, I didn’t get knocked out, or even knocked off the ladder I was on. I’ve been doing inventory at the school to get ready for classes in a week, and Fred was up in the attic. He was handing down a few things, had a backboard to hand down, when it slipped from his grasp and I caught it with my face. He’s very sorry, and will be in the doghouse forever,” she chuckled.

Kelsey harumphed, but nodded. “Good. Or else I’d be finding him to give him a matching shiner. Guess I can’t punch the guy for an accident, though.”

“No, please don’t punch Fred. You’d just hurt your hand, and we’d be giving Mitch two invalids again,” Meghan advised.

“Yeah, I don’t need both of you hurt at the same time again,” Mitch chimed in as he rejoined the ladies.

“Did they say how long until the swelling goes down enough for you to see?” Kelsey asked.

“No, they didn’t, and I didn’t think to ask. Mitch?” Meghan requested.

“Probably tomorrow, Sunday at the latest,” Mitch replied. “Just keep up with the ice packs, and I’ve got some good ibuprofen you can take for the inflammation. But it may be a week or more until that shiner goes away.”

“I can live with the shiner. I just need both eyes functioning.” Meghan sighed. “Not the way I’d planned for my weekend to go. Kelsey, you have an impromptu house guest.”

“And you’re more than welcome here anytime, you know that,” Kelsey countered. “Maybe we can tag team and fix dinner for tomorrow. I’ll chop, you cook. And Mitch can clean up behind both of us,” she teased.

“Ah, relegated to dish duty again,” Mitch teasingly groaned. The sisters giggled. “Well, if that’s what it takes to get a good meal here, then so be it.”