My Evening of Rest That Turned Into Not That

So, on Monday night, after the weekend I just described in the last post, I was excited about going home and playing with the kids a little, cleaning a little, reading a little, and going to bed a LOT!

I drove down the driveway at work, thinking exhausted , yet happy thoughts about the evening ahead.

At the end of the driveway I came upon a sight that I hate more than almost anything... a car accident. And this one was extra bad, because I knew the person involved. She was a sweet lady whom I had trained about a year ago. I parked in the gas station at the bottom of the hill and ran to see what I could do. Thankfully, it had happened several minutes before, and all the people were out of the cars.

Pat* was standing up, but had a huge gash on her right arm, and was looking like she was going to pass out. "Is there anyone we can call?" we asked her. "No," she replied. Her husband was driving on his way home from work and she didn't want him worrying about her as he drove.

She hadn't been wearing her seatbelt, and when her car was hit, not only did the airbags deploy, but she was also knocked around a little. Her neck was sore and her shoulder hurt, so the EMTs came running with a neck brace and back board.

I stood around, answering any questions that I could, and digging through her purse for insurance information when it was needed.

The ambulance came, and they loaded her into the back, and I let them know I'd meet them at the hospital.

Knowing what I do about confidentiality in the health industry (I train it every class I have) I knew that if I was at the hospital, chances were they wouldn't even let me in to be with her, but at least I'd be there if she needed anything.

The nurse came and got me in less than an hour and I went back inside her curtained room to sit with her. We called her husband, and he said that he would come right over. Pat* was thirsty, so I went and got her water, and then tracked down a nurse to get the ok for her to drink it. I also knew that she was diabetic, so even though her stomach was still all shaky from the accident, I made a little picnic of crackers and peanut butter for her on the turnde-upside-down standard issue hospital barf bucket.

After a while she sent me to the waiting room with a picture of her husband, to see if he had arrived yet. I saw a man who was kind of wandering around, so I went over, held up the picture and asked if he was Richard*.

Alas, the door was locked and we couldn't get back in... I also couldn't get any of the nurses attention, so I just walked up to a door that I knew to be unlocked (I'd watched others use it while I was waiting) and just pushed it open. A tentative voice from behind me said, "Should we be going in here?"

"The key is," I said to Richard*, "to act like you belong in a place. If you look like you know what you're doing, people don't ask questions."

He placidly followed along behind me, and we found Pat* finally getting her arm taken care of.

I left soon after that, and can only imagine the conversations that the nurses had about me after I was gone. I'm sure they were very grateful that Pat* had a low-key husband...

And that was my Monday evening.

*names may have been changed due to confidentiality :)