Meghan finished making the hot chocolate and passed a cup to Mitch, who had seated himself at the kitchen bar. He took a sip and watched as she made her way around the bar to sit on the stool next to him. They drank in silence for a moment.

“This was a good idea, Meghan,” Mitch said, breaking the quiet.

She smiled. “I thought something warm and comforting was called for,” she confirmed.

“What happened here? The full story. I need to know.”

Meghan shook her head. “Not tonight, Mitch. I’ll tell you in the morning if you want, but not tonight. Neither of us needs our dreams haunted tonight by the details.”

Mitch reluctantly agreed. “You’re right. But I will want you to tell me.”

**********

Neither one got good sleep that night, but Meghan woke to the smell of coffee wafting down the hall. She got up and went into the bathroom to take care of her business and see to her personal attentions of brushing her teeth and hair. She frowned as her brush made its way through greasy hair.

Meanwhile, Mitch, who had already started the coffee pot, was sitting in his office and working through his first cup of coffee. He checked his email and saw that the radiologist’s report on Meghan’s MRI had come through. As he started going through the report, he heard the water running down the hall. Meghan’s awake. Good.

The report was as he had expected. Her right ovary had a large dermoid cyst about 8.3 cm in diameter, which was quite large. No wonder she’s in a lot of discomfort. I need to get in touch with Kevin Meyers. As he was contemplating the next steps of Meghan’s care, he realized that the water had been on for a while. Growing concerned, he got up from his desk, made his way down the hall, and knocked on the door.

“Come in!” Meghan called.

Mitch pushed the door open. “Meghan?”

“In here!” he heard from the bathroom. He stepped further into the room and stopped in front of the open bathroom door. Meghan stood in the bathroom, head hung over the sink. Her hair was dripping wet, draining into the sink. “Could you hand me that towel, please?”

Mitch handed her the towel, which she wound around her hair. “What are you doing?”

She wrung out her hair with the towel, then settled the towel around her shoulders. She reached for her brush and starting working out the tangles. “Washing my hair. It felt greasy, and I’m sure there’s going to be a while before I’m able to shower again.”

He shook his head, amused. “I made some coffee if you’d like some. Want me to go pour you a cup?”

“You know me – I never turn down coffee! I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Mitch nodded and left the room, giving Meghan her privacy. He made his way to the kitchen and doctored her coffee the way she liked it. Should I tell her now about the MRI results on that cyst? No, I’ll talk to Meyers first.

Meghan appeared and took the proffered coffee gratefully. “Mmmm. Coffee!”

Mitch gestured to the barstools, and she made her way there, perching where she sat last night. He joined her, and they drank in silence for a bit before he cleared his throat. “Meghan, you said that you’d tell me today what happened. Would you, please?”

**********

Meghan knew that Mitch would ask, but that didn’t stop the hesitation that she had or the lump in her throat. “Kelsey was prepping veggies for tacos for dinner. She had been working at the island and went to wash off the cutting board and knife. She had placed the knife on the board to carry them. I think she tripped or something because the next thing I knew the knife slid on the board and punctured her right wrist.” Meghan made a motion with her left hand to indicate what she meant. Mitch nodded, and Meghan continued.

“I had been on the couch and saw it happen. I went to her, grabbed a towel, and put pressure on it, but I could already tell it was arterial. I had left my phone at the couch, so I tried to have her hold pressure while I retrieved it. By the time I made it back to Kelsey, she was already going into shock and passed out in my arms. I lowered her to the floor, went to open the back door, and back to her.”

“How’d you manage that on that leg?” Mitch asked, slightly amazed.

“Hopped,” Meghan replied curtly. “You’d be amazed what you can do with enough adrenalin pumping.”

“Not casting blame, just wondering. Go on,” he encouraged.

“I called 911, wrapped another towel around her wrist, and tried to slow the bleeding. I was glad when the fire guys showed up. They got her legs elevated, covered her with a blanket, and, most importantly, had pressure dressings. They did vitals, and they were crappy.”

Mitch watched the different emotions play out on Meghan’s face as she spoke. “Do you remember what they were?”

She shook her head. “Not really. Sinus tachycardia and her blood pressure was in the 70s systolic. I remember barking at Bill about IVs as soon as he stepped foot in the door.” She paused, thinking. “The pressure bandages weren’t being very effective, I remember. I took over direct pressure on her wrist, and would up also using a brachial pressure point on her upper arm.” She chuckled. “They tossed me up on the cot, straddling Kelsey for the whole ride. I didn’t come down until after Dr. Shultz clamped the artery.”

Mitch nodded. “Thanks for telling me, Meghan. Not a good ordeal for anyone, but especially hard with family. And now my mind has details instead of envisioning all kinds of scenarios.”

Meghan nodded and sipped the last of her coffee. Mitch gestured, and she passed her cup to him. He got up and refilled the cups before sitting back down.

“Mind if I ask a question in return?” He nodded. “What happened on your end, when you found out about the accident?”

Mitch sighed and took a sip of his coffee. “The EMT called in on the landline, which got answered by the unit clerk. She told Bob,” referring to the head nurse in the ER, “who told another one of the techs. They almost literally pulled me from another patient’s room and hustled me into my office, where they broke the news to me. I, of course, wanted to be there when they brought Kelsey in, but Bob wouldn’t let me. In fact, he wouldn’t let me out of my office until after she was in and being treated. My first view of her already had a clamp attached to her wrist. I didn’t see you anywhere, but they did say that you came in with her.”

Meghan nodded. “I was probably with Beverly in the locker room, cleaning up and changing into scrubs. I told her to just throw away my clothes.”

“Then someone told me you had collapsed and they’d just wheeled you into a room. I was so scared that something had happened to you as well and we just didn’t know about it.”

“You did seem relieved, although I wasn’t really sure what was going on at the moment,” Meghan confirmed.

“Let’s just say that I never want to have to undergo anything like that with this family again,” Mitch replied solemnly.

“I don’t blame you. I don’t want to, either.” Meghan finished her coffee and looked at her brother-in-law. “So what are the plans for today?”

Mitch finished his coffee, collected their cups, and rinsed them in the sink. “I thought that we might go visit Kelsey around 11 and stay a few hours if that’s okay with you.”

“Sure thing. Let me go change and grab my knitting and I’ll be ready.”

Mitch smiled. “You’ve got 2 hours. Will that be enough?”

She laughed. “Oh, yes, plenty.”

“Good,” he chuckled. “I’ve got a couple more things to take care of in the office before I leave.”