The Unexpected Hero

“Yeah.” Krissie could understand his frustration. With something like this, every minute counted, and because they didn’t have all the bells and whistles, the minutes were stacking up.

Then she looked into David’s eyes, and saw the same ghosts that must be in her own. He visibly shook himself and started back to the E.R. She and Charlie followed.

“Maybe,” she heard David mutter, “we need to start a fund-raising drive for some new equipment.”

“I’ll help,” Krissie said promptly.

He looked at her, appearing slightly embarrassed. “That wasn’t meant for general distribution.”

“I know. But it’s still true.”

“Stabilize and transport usually works.”

“I know.” And she did. That’s mostly what they’d had to do in field hospitals. Even in major metropolitan areas, only one or two hospitals were equipped as trauma centers. Stabilize and transport was a medical dictum in many places, because it was the only efficient way to use resources.

An hour later, they’d cleared the accident victims. Two had gone to surgery, two had been moved to the general ward, the rest had been transported. Krissie hurried to take a shower and change into clean scrubs before going up to relieve the day-shift charge nurse.

Denise Albright greeted her like a savior. A small woman with surprisingly broad shoulders, she had pretty gray eyes and a huge smile. “Girl, am I glad to see you! My feet are screaming.”

“Been busy?”

“You wouldn’t believe. I guess the last week was the calm before the storm. In addition to the two accident victims you already know about, we got four more.”

“What’s going on?”

Denise grinned. “The usual. Accidents. You shouldn’t stand on the edge of the bathtub to change a light bulb.”

Krissie compressed her lips to stifle a laugh. “New rule.”

“Definitely. Lucky it was only a broken arm and a concussion. Then we have Mr. I-got-careless-with-the-farm-equipment. He needed twenty-nine stitches, a unit of blood and is on IV antibiotics. We have a first-degree burn case which is highly painful and resulted from splashing grease. New rule: watch it when you dump those frozen fries into a big pot of very hot grease. She’ll be okay, she was lucky to be standing back far enough for the grease to cool some, but the pain is enough that she’s on some powerful meds, so she needs watching. Also, they said she seemed a little shocky when she came in.”

“Got it. And the last one?”

“Now this is my very favorite.” Denise paused for effect.

“Another new rule?”

“Yup. When you get mad at your husband, don’t punch your arm through a plate-glass window.”

“Oh, my gosh!”

“Two units of blood, seventeen stitches, IV antibiotics and an emergency restraining order. I doubt she’ll get any visitors tonight. No one has showed up so far.”

“I’d be worried about who would.”

At that, Denise laughed. “Yeah. Anyway, Julie and Nancy are making the rounds, so you have time to read the files and get up to speed. Me, I’m off. I need my supper. See you tomorrow!”

Krissie settled in to read all the files, finding pretty much what Denise had told her. Except, the burn patient niggled at her. Linda Nelson had been admitted by Dr. Randolph at 4:30 p.m. with extensive first-degree burns on her stomach and abdomen, and a much smaller second-degree burn on her arm. The wounds had not been inspected since they had been treated and bandaged.

At once, she left the nurses’ station and went to find Linda Nelson. The thing about burns, even first-degree burns, is that when they first presented, you didn’t always see all the damage. Also, more damage could appear later and the body sometimes produced an immune reaction to burns, which could make them worsen.

Everyone had been busy with the mess in the E.R. so it wasn’t surprising that the nurses had forgotten to check the burns again.

She found Linda groggy from morphine, but still conscious. “It hurts,” the patient said plaintively.

“Burns are the worst,” Krissie said sympathetically.

“You’ve seen a lot?”

“Too many.” Another mental image to shove out of the way. “I’m going to check them, okay? Someone needs to look every so often.”

“Will it hurt more?”

“I’ll be as gentle as I can, I promise. Sometimes though, when the air hits a burn, the pain can spike a little.”

Linda bit her lower lip, then nodded. “I get more morphine soon, right?”

“As soon as I can give it to you. I won’t forget.”

“Okay.” She screwed her eyes shut. “God, I can’t believe I was so stupid. But Tommy screamed just as I was starting to pour the fries into the pot.”

“Tommy?”

“My four-year-old. I guess Sally, his older sister, accidentally hit him in the head with a ball…I don’t know. He just screamed, and I jumped.”

“Accidents happen,” Krissie said soothingly. Gently, she opened the woman’s gown and began to ease the huge gauze pad away. “I know you, don’t I?”

“Maybe.” Linda drew a sharp breath. “I was six years behind you in school, but everybody knew you because you were the sheriff’s daughter.”

“That was a curse, I can tell you.”

“I bet. Every bit as bad as being the preacher’s kid, probably.” Linda winced and gasped.

“I’m sorry.” She was even more sorry when she saw the reddened skin beneath the gauze. Widespread blistering had begun. Gently she laid the pad down. “I’m going to get the doctor in, okay? But first let me check whether you’re due for more morphine.”

“God, I hope so! I swear, it’s hurting worse.”

“It probably feels that way. Must be time for another shot.”

It was. She administered the morphine immediately through the IV port, then promised to come back in ten minutes.

Outside Linda’s door, Krissie saw Julie coming down the hall. “Stay with Mrs. Nelson while I get the doctor. Put her on the monitor and watch for shock.”

Julie’s eyes widened a hair. “Got it. What’s going on?”

“The burns are deepening.”

“Oh, no.” Julie’s step quickened, and she entered the room with a squeak of rubbery soles.