The Paramedic's Brother-In-Law

Chapter Two

Assured that Meghan was stable and out of danger, Dr. Branston stripped off his gloves and his protective gown, tossing them in the wastebin. “Sharon, I’ll be in the call room if you need me. Let me know when she wakes.”

“Sure thing, Dr. Branston.”

Dr. Branston made his way into the cramped, private call room and took a seat at the desk. He ran a shaky hand through his hair and stared at the phone for a moment before picking it up. He dialed a number in-hospital and listened to it ring.

Unit 300 Surgical Floor, can I help you?” the unit administrator answered the phone.

“Yes, this is Dr. Branston from the ER. Could you connect me to Kelsey, please?” he asked.

Sure thing, doctor. One moment.” He heard the ubiquitous hold music for a minute before a different voice came over the phone.

Nurse Kelsey Branston, can I help you?”

“Kelsey, it’s Mitch.”

“What’s up, hon?”

Dr. Branston sighed. “It’s Meghan, Kelsey. She’s in the ER.”

Shocked silence came over the phone, followed by Kelsey’s voice, now shaky. “Is she okay?”

“She was hit by a car while on a car wreck scene. She’s pretty banged up, has a tib-fib fracture that’s going to need Ortho’s opinion, and I’m pretty sure she has a bad concussion. She’s still unconscious. I wanted to let you know as soon as I was able to step away from her side.”

He could hear the tears starting on the other end of the phone. “Your sister’s going to be fine, honey. But I thought you might want to come down and see her. She’s in Trauma 1.”

“Yeah, I would… and my husband too, for a minute. I’ll be right down.” Kelsey drew in a ragged breath, trying to control the tears.

“Have them page me when you get here. I’ll go in with you,” Dr. Branston offered.

Kelsey hung up the phone, and Dr. Branston took the opportunity to try to stuff the lump in his throat down. Any medical professional would tell you that it is very difficult to treat a family member, and Mitch was no different. He was very fond of his sister-in-law and took great pride in seeing how well both she and his wife – a gynecological surgical nurse – were at their jobs. He started at a knock on the call room door.

“Dr. Branston? It’s Sharon. Your wife is here, and Meghan just woke up.”

He hurried out of his chair. “I’ll be right there!” He found his wife standing at the circular nurse’s station and opened his arms towards her, enveloping her in his embrace as she sobbed in his shoulder. He stroked her hair. “Shh, sweetheart, it’s alright. Sharon just said that Meghan’s awake. I’m going to go look in on her. Come with me?” Kelsey nodded into his chest.

They walked into Trauma 1 and came to Meghan’s bedside. She was pale, wires and tubes everywhere, clad in a hospital gown and with the c-collar still on. Her left leg was still in the original splint, tucked under the warmed blankets. Her face had sprouted numerous bruises and abrasions, and she had a split lip, but her eyes were open and trying to focus on the environment around her.

Dr. Branston donned a pair of gloves and bent over her. “Hey there, Meghan! Don’t you know you’re not supposed to play in traffic?” He grabbed a wrist, feeling the pulse while glancing at the monitors. Kelsey gently took hold of her other hand and held it, reassuring herself that her sister was there and awake.

“Is that why I feel like I’ve been run over? I don’t really remember what happened that has me flat on my back in the ER and feeling like crap.” Her voice was weak, and she wasn’t putting up much of a fight about her current location. Branston frowned – this was so not like his normally spunky sister-in-law. "What’s the damage and prognosis, Mitch? Am I going to die?” The corners of her mouth quirked slightly at him.

He smiled gently at her with a glance at his wife. “I would be in the doghouse forever if I let that happen. We know you have a tib-fib fracture to your left leg, and I’m waiting for Ortho’s opinion as to how to handle that. I think you have a pretty good concussion, though, seeing as how you’ve been unconscious for a couple of hours. I’m also still waiting for the final word on your CT scans before I take off that C-collar. How do you feel? What’s your pain level?”

“I’m hurting pretty bad, probably about an 8/10, mainly my leg, but this headache is no joke either.” She squirmed as she tried to find a more comfortable position on the gurney.

“I’ll send Sharon in with some pain meds, and then let you rest for a bit. We’ll be right back.” Dr. Branston motioned to Kelsey to come with him. She patted Meghan’s hand and rose to join him.

Outside the room, Dr. Branston instructed Sharon to administer some pain meds. He turned to his wife. “I think she’ll be fine, Kelsey, but I’ll need to admit her for overnight observation at least, depending on Ortho’s opinion of those fractures.”

Kelsey shook her head. “She’s not going to want to go along with that, Mitch, you know her. She’d sooner sign out AMA, even with the leg. I think you’d have to hogtie her to the gurney to keep her here overnight.”

Dr. Branston ran a hand through his hair. “I know, you’re right. But she’s going to need assistance and monitoring, especially with the concussion. And there’s no way she can handle the stairs to that apartment of hers, not with it being on the third floor.”

Kelsey thought for a moment, then gave him a meaningful look. “We can do it at home. Lauren said I could take the rest of the day off if I needed, plus I’m off the next couple of days, as are you. Plus, the suite is done and ready. “

He gave her a long, assessing look. “You’re sure?”

She nodded decisively. “Yes. Bring her home. What kind of a sister would I be if I didn’t take care of her when she needs me? I’ll go home and get the room ready. I’m assuming you’ll want to examine her again at home?” He nodded. “I’ll get that set up too.” She stood up on tiptoes and planted a kiss on his cheek. “I love you!”

Dr. Branston smiled. “I love you too. I’ll let you know when we’ll be coming home, but it’ll probably be closer to 7, when I get off shift.”

Kelsey waved and headed out the ER doors. Dr. Branston watched his wife go, and started to go check on a couple of other patients when the phone rang.

Dr. Branston, Line one. Dr. Branston, Line one.

He walked to the nearest phone and pressed the button. “Branston speaking.”

Hey there, Mitch. This is Rick Brant in Orthopedics. I just finished looking at the x-rays on one of your patients.”

“Which one? The clavicle or the tib-fib?” he asked, referring to a football player in Room 6.

The tib-fib. The fibula looks like a clean break with well-approximated ends, but that tibia is gonna need a couple of pins. I’ve already talked with the scheduler, and we can do that on Tuesday morning. I would say to splint it well, keep the weight-bearing to a minimum, and control pain until we can get her up to OR.”

Dr. Branston nodded as he heard the recommended course of action. “Sounds good, Rick. It’s my sister-in-law, so my wife has already ruled she’ll be staying with us a few days. We’ll keep her off it and comfortable.”

Dr. Brant chuckled. “Well, then, good luck and I’ll see you bright and early Tuesday. Let me know if anything pops up between now and then.”

Dr. Branston ended the call. He had a few patients to see but peeked in on Meghan as frequently as he could.

A couple of hours later found him walking into her room. Meghan seemed to be sleeping, but she stirred as he entered. “Hey there, sleepyhead.”

“Hi yourself. When are you going to spring me from here? My own bed is much more comfortable than this gurney.” She yawned.

Dr. Branston smiled. “Well, sis, as much as you want your bed tonight, it ain’t gonna happen. But I’ve gotten the results back from everything, so I’ll spill on how you’re doing.” He put on some exam gloves and drew the curtain around her bed, giving her privacy from the rest of the ER.

“Well, I’m pretty sure I’m going to live. Did you hear back about my leg?” Meghan asked.

“I did, but first things first. Your CT came back normal, and I can confirm that you do have a brain, so I’ll get rid of this,” he said, removing the c-collar from around her neck.

She stretched her neck from side to side to remove some of the kinks. “Feels good to get that off.”

Dr. Branston then unhooked the cardiac leads, leaving the pulse ox probe on her finger and the BP cuff on her arm. “I’ll let you get the patches.” He slung them over their hook and removed his gloves. He pulled up a rolling stool next to her bed and sat down. “So, I got a call from Ortho. You have a pretty bad tib-fib fracture. The fibula is a clean break and will heal on its own. The tibia, though, is going to take some pins. They have you on the OR docket for Tuesday morning.”

Meghan nodded. “I figured it was going to be a surgical repair since no one’s made a move to put a cast on.”

Dr. Branston nodded. “Yep. The biggest concern really is your concussion. By protocol, I need to admit you for a couple of days…” he started, but Meghan was shaking her head no.

“Uh uh, forget it! I hate staying in the hospital! You don’t get to sleep, the food sucks…” she tried to sit up but was pushed down by Dr. Branston. “Dr. Branston, I’m not staying!”

“If you’ll let me finish…” he gave her a look. “Kelsey and I already discussed this. You’re coming home with us. I’m off at 7, and you’ll go home with me.”

“Dr. Branston, I appreciate the offer, but I don’t want to put you and Kelsey out. Really, I’ll be fine at home…” Meghan protested, but her protests trailed off as she saw the genuine concern in her brother-in-law’s face. “You’re sure?”

“Absolutely. Kelsey’s at home getting everything ready for you. C’mon. Think of it as a sleepover, a chance to really catch up on everything that’s been going on.” Dr. Branston grasped her hand.

“Well, if you insist. It’d be good to hang out for a few days.” She then held him with a glare. “But I’m not going home with a catheter!”

He laughed. “No, I promise the catheter will be removed. But think of the bright side,” he said.

She looked at him suspiciously. “What bright side?”

“It was a witnessed clean-catch specimen. We took care of all the inevitable drug screen stuff your company would have insisted on.” He wagged his eyebrows at her.

She laughed. “You’re right… but get this thing out of me!”

He patted her hand and released it. “I’ll send one of the nurses to remove the catheter and one of the IVs. We’ll keep one in just in case for pain meds. I need to get a better splint on your leg, and then see if we can’t get you into some scrubs. A couple of hours, and we’ll be on our way home.” He left her room and went to find a nurse.

Comments

Dr Marcus Welby 3 years ago  
Dragonflies369 3 years ago  
wernwal 3 years ago  
bbw4doc 3 years ago