THE PARAMEDICS INSISTED I lie on a stretcher that was too narrow and too short, then moved me quickly into the ambulance and hooked me up to the cardiac monitor. The pain from the pressure of the tourniquet and the embedded glass had taken hold. Everyone kept telling me I was going to be fine, but my leg sure didn’t feel that way.
Before I knew it, the ambulance door flew open, and my tiny stretcher was flying down a sterile hall into a room where I was circled by an offbeat chorus of voices and a range of different sizes of hands that began cutting clothes off me and taking my blood pressure.
A young doctor examined my leg and removed the tourniquet. He looked up and said, “Well, it’s not a pretty sight, but all in all, you’ve been pretty lucky—no damage to any arteries. We’re going to remove the bottle, repair a couple of smaller blood vessels, and sew you up. I don’t think we’ll need to sedate you. We should be able to make you comfortable with a local anesthetic. If you’re okay with that, we can have you out of here pretty quickly.”
A beer bottle stuck in my leg—it felt pretty ignominious. “Sure, but if you don’t mind, I’d rather not watch.”
A dreamy-eyed nurse told me that Beth and Maggie were on their way to the hospital. I say “dreamy-eyed” because she was covered in surgical scrubs, mask, and hat. All I could see were her eyes. I concentrated on her eyes rather than whatever the doctor was doing to my leg. Before I knew it, he was finished, and I had to take my eyes off the nurse because the doctor was talking.
“You were lucky. The bottle came out clean. I didn’t find any evidence of broken glass or slivers. The nurse will give you instructions about treating it, changing the bandages, and follow-up. I’ve prescribed a mild painkiller and an antibiotic. Has it been more than five years since you’ve had a tetanus shot?”
“Uhh …”
He turned to the nurse and instructed her to give me one before I left. She nodded and left the room, off to get the shot, I guessed. Oh joy.
“You can walk on your leg. Just don’t go jogging, okay? Your leg will hurt like hell for a couple of days, but it’s a whole lot better than if you’d been hit by that car.”
He shook my hand and left.
The nurse came back in with the syringe. I was relieved to get the shot in my arm. She had removed her mask, and I realized that her eyes were quite alert. I must have been the one with the dreamy eyes.
“I couldn’t help but notice. You’ve been in the ER before. That’s a lot of scar tissue. Were you in a car wreck?”
“Something like that.”
“Yikes—must have been awful. Your family is bringing you some clothes. They should be here soon, so why don’t you lie back and rest?”
I dozed off but not for long, as Beth came charging into the room and threw herself on top of me. She didn’t talk, just wrapped her arms around me, her head on my chest. After a few moments she sat up, wiped her eyes and gave me a small smile.
“Maggie’s dealing with hospital paperwork. The nurse said you can leave. Thank God you’re okay. What happened? Did someone actually try to run over you?”
“I don’t know,” I said, acutely aware of how inadequate my answer sounded. “Where are my clothes?” Clovis walked into the room carrying my gym bag. He must have seen Maggie.
Beth took that as her cue to give me some privacy. My leg was beginning to throb, and the bandaging stretched the limits of my sweat pants. But with a little help from Clovis, I got them on, along with a clean T-shirt.
“Not really. The police don’t seem to be too interested, even though I gave them a good description of the car. My bet is, they’ll tell the press it was probably a drunk driver and not spend a lot of energy trying to find the bad guy, unless you want me to push the issue.”
“Let’s talk about it later. I’m ready to leave. Tell me the press isn’t here.”
“A few of them are outside the main entrance, but don’t worry. I’ve got the car waiting around back. Do you need a wheelchair or a crutch?”
“No.” I stood up and almost buckled to the floor. I grabbed the table with one hand and Clovis caught me by the other arm. “Maybe I need to go a little slow.”
I leaned on Clovis as we made our way toward the door. The bandaging and stitching tugged, but with each step, I felt a bit steadier. Maggie and Beth were waiting outside the door, trying to look calm. I gave Maggie a hug.
She gripped me tightly, but kept her tone light. “Okay, Jack. Careful now, we don’t want to lose you. Let’s get back to the hotel.”