20160807 (head trauma 3)

My "head trauma" selfie.  Not great focus, but when you can see neither camera nor subject, it's pretty good, no?

The first nurse introduced herself,

Sat at the computer and began

Verifying my information which

Appeared on the screen to make 

Certain I was in the right room.

We’d gotten to confirming my 

Meds when a dude in black with

A goatee says something, off she

Goes, and he finishes up, when

A nurse in all white takes over

And brings me an ice bag to hold

Against the wound as I recline

On the bed. I lost track of how

Many staff I dealt with by that

Time and felt like a prom date being

Passed off to partners of less and

Less desirability, although Veronica,

Who was the last, was quite nice,

Affable, who put up with my 

Stream of guff as I related the

Trail to injury which she dutifully

Digitized. Out she went only to

Be replaced by an angel in blue

Who introduced herself (I felt like

Part of the procedure involved

Testing my short-term memory)

And described my forthcoming

Medical treatment. She peered

Into the gap, which the angel in

White had gently cleansed, and

Seeing not much out of order

Entered some data and proceeded

Elsewhere. Then Dr. Rios comes

In, we banter a bit about the 

Accident, I admit it occurred on

My own property but that I still

Felt like I should sue somebody

Nevertheless. He said I needed

Stitches but that they’ll administer

Lidocaine next. I said I heard

Verced was far preferable but

He said no. I then suggested an

Article in a recent New England

Journal of Medicine reported old

Men watching scantily-clad young

Women dancing nearby felt less

Pain than those given only 

Novocaine. No, he wasn’t going

To arrange that either. I gave him

My card (I had some in my pocket)

And he decided against calling

Security. Out he goes and the

Physician’s assistant (blue angel)

Returns, puts on fresh gloves and

Says she will give me several local

Shots. Not bad I thought and we

Palaver about the medical life.

Waiting for the juice to numb me 

Up. Soon enters another angel in

White with a wheelchair. I give

Her a card and during the travel

Try my best lines. She’s unimpressed.

Not only has she heard it all but

She’s seen through it all with

X-rays, CAT scans, and MRIs.

They find in the exam my brain

Is no more remarkable than the

Next guy’s which comes as a

Disappointment to me but a 

Comfort to all else. Back at 18

Bluie puts on another fresh pair

Of gloves and advises that staples

Are where it’s at for me and that

She’ll use the actual red stapler

From the movie “Office Space.”

I tell her there are one too many 

Comics in the room. She says,

“That’s OK. You’re leaving.”

Except I wasn’t. The final vitals

Check showed I had a pulse of

Only 39. The guy in black shows

Up and pastes twelve leads to my

Chest and watches the lines form

On the screen. Everybody watches

The lines on the screen and keeps

Asking if I feel light-headed or 

Dizzy. After many denials and

Undisrupted consciousness, 

They flip a quarter, rip off the

Lead pads, make sure I know to

Have the staples removed in a

Week. Veronica’s back, we chat

About family, hers all work for

The Clinic as nurses except her

Mom who’s an administrator.

I use the old line about “Nothing

Is finished until you’re done

With the paperwork,” I give her

A card and promise not to return

Except for the staple removal.

She points to the exit, but I get

Lost anyway. When I leave

I head straight for the Middle

Eastern restaurant across the street

For a Kan Zaman Special to take

Home for supper and to tell the 

Kids about my adventure. They 

Indicate supper is late and they’d

Rather I fill their bowls.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016