“Please tell me Garen wasn’t the one to put it in!”
Allyson was talking with Angelique. Angelique had woken up and was still confused from the earlier drugs and the current load on board. Somewhere in the fog, she knew she should have to pee, but didn’t feel like she had to. This was confusing to her. She also knew it hurt to try and get up. Allyson hear her small protests at trying to move and had come over to check on her. When Angelique told her she wanted to go pee, Allyson informed her she shouldn’t get up just yet, and besides, she didn’t need to pee, they had already taken care of that for her.
When she was told they had put in a catheter, her free hand flew to her crotch, a flush of embarrassment racing to her features.
“Garen is the best Paramedic I have ever worked with, but I actually put it in. Why?”
Angelique’s hand was still down there, trying to feel where the tube was and how it went in. When she realized how in depth and invasive the process must have been, she was even more mortified. When Angelique replied, her tone was a bit angrier out of frustration and embarrassment.
“Because the first time I have some guy poke and paw around my groin, I’d want it to be while I’m awake and wanting it done for pleasure, not roofied on some floor behind a rack of coffee mugs!”
With the sharpness of Angelique’s tone and emotion, Allyson had to replay some of their earlier encounters. She realized Angelique was a lot more shy and body conscious than she let on. This was an element they would need to take into account as the medical treatments for her injuries went on.
“Well, I was the one that put it in, so that should help some.” She needed to talk to Garen and update him on the conversation. Yes, she had put in the Foley, her first in the field. This was with Garen standing right over her shoulder talking her through it. Foleys were not normally in most Paramedics’ training, but were one of the skills needed for Prolonged Field Care and Remote Medicine. This skill, Chest Tubes, Suturing and a host of other skills were part of what the Center taught. She had done the training for many of these, but Angelique was her first in the field patient needing this.
Angelique seemed to get control of herself. She then slumped down into the bed some as if the outburst took a lot of energy out of her. After a few moments, Allyson started talking again.
“You rest for now. We will get you up and moving shortly. We need to figure what you can do, and make sure you don’t push too far too fast. You stretched the ligaments and muscles in your shoulder and hip horrendously. Have you ever sprained your ankle?”
A weak exasperated sigh was followed by her answer.
“Yeah, and it sucked!”
“Well, multiply that by 10, and you get where we are at. When you can get around some, Garen says the Foley can come out. We want you mobile soon, but not so soon you injure yourself and set things back twice as long. Bekka says she has a wheel chair around here somewhere from her foot surgery she will dig out this evening. No real weight bearing on your hip for a few days. We want the muscles and ligaments to tighten back up some so it doesn’t pop back out and you fall on your ass.”
Allyson was quiet for a few moments before she started up again.
“So, was he running at you, or were you running at him?”
Angelique looked over at her, puzzled.
“The guy who collided with you. Were you running to tackle him or was he running at you and you braced?”
“I was braced and he was running at me. How did you know?”
Allyson pulled down the strap of her tank top on the left side. A fine network of scars was visible.
“Because that’s how I got my shoulder broken and screwed up. Your guy was bigger, so that may have saved you some damage to your shoulder.”
“Oh, yeah? How do you figure that?” Angelique now had a puzzled look on her face and tone in her voice.
“He had so much mass you couldn’t plant hard enough to take the blow solid and he moved you. Me, the girl was closer to my own size and my cleats gave me traction to resist. I ended up with broken bones, a couple of surgeries and months of rehab. You got bounced off your feet and most of the damage was when he landed on where you had been thrown. What I was wondering, why did he end up on top of you instead of falling somewhere else?”
“I made him mad so he ran at me. I tried to slash him in the belly as he got to me but it pissed him off more. I couldn’t let him get away far enough to get his pistol out. I tried to stick on him like a spider monkey, slashing up close where he couldn’t stop me. I don’t know when we fell, but I couldn’t get away. He was too heavy and I couldn’t push him off me.” Her voice started to whine and she burst into tears.
Allyson moved forward to hold her and comfort her. The sobs were deep and wracking her whole body. Allyson tried for a soothing tone.
“It’s ok, we got you out, your safe now. It will be ok.” She repeated this over and over again. Finally Angelique fell back asleep. Allyson pulled the covers back up, tucking her in. She went out to brief Garen and start preparing for the night mission with Bekka.