Suddenly the resistance gives way, I pitch forward with a jolt – and lose control of the tool.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
NYLA
Jaden’s hedge trimmer howls. He curses, I look up. Slightly bent forward, he’s standing next to a gnarled shrub, the hedge trimmer is lying on the ground, and he’s clutching his shoulder.
There’s blood.
Slowly it wells out between his fingers. My stomach clenches.
‘Jaden!’ I drop the loppers and start running.
‘I slipped, no idea how. It all happened so fast.’ He sucks in a sharp breath.
My gaze sticks to his shoulder. ‘You need a pressure bandage.’
Jaden jerks his chin toward the street. ‘There should be an emergency kit in Ray’s car, the key’s in my pocket,’ he forces out.
I help him sit up, take the key, sprint to the car, pull the first-aid kit out from under the driver’s seat, rush back, disinfect my hands, pull on rubber gloves, and grab the gauze bandage.
‘On three,’ I say.
He grits his teeth.
‘One… two… go.’
With a face twisted in pain, he takes his hand away. I rip his shirt open and check the wound. It looks bad. If dirt or bitsof plants got in there, it could turn into a nasty infection. With growing concern, I start on the initial treatment.
‘This needs to be cleaned and stitched.’ Looking around for something to secure the gauze with, I spot my belt. That should work.
Jaden says nothing, and my gaze flicks to him. He’s pale, too pale.
Hurriedly, I loop the belt around his shoulder and fasten it. Then I grab the phone to call the ambulance. Jaden doesn’t protest, and that’s when I know how serious it is.
Until the ambulance arrives, I monitor his vital signs as best I can without equipment, check mobility and sensation in his arm, watch his overall condition, keep him conscious. Then, finally, I hear the siren.
His colleague Alex is the first one I see. With the emergency backpack in hand and a serious expression, she appears on the sidewalk.
‘Deep laceration on the shoulder, possible tendon or muscle involvement, contamination likely,’ I call to her as she forces her way through the overgrown garden. ‘Mild circulatory problems, pulse 120, respiratory rate elevated.’
Jaden groans a quiet greeting, Alex drops to her knees beside me and takes off the emergency backpack. I help her carry out the initial assessment and insert an IV line.
Five minutes later we’re in the ambulance and there’s nothing more I can do for Jaden. Jaw clenched, he lies on the stretcher, his eyelids keep drooping shut, but he fights against it.
‘Man, Jaden, how many times have we told you not to play the hero all the time?’ Alex winks at him while my thoughts are on a roller coaster.
What if that was a deep-lying artery? Slow blood loss can be tricky. We definitely need an ultrasound check.
‘Looks like it’s one–nil for the hedge trimmer.’ Jaden’s voice is quiet, but at least the muscles in his face slowly begin to relax.
The painkillers are working. Still, with every meter we get closer to Halifax Harbor Hospital, I grow more uneasy.
If a hematoma forms or the swelling increases, it can raise the pressure in the tissue and cut off the blood supply. Then there is a risk of tissue death.
I know it’s only a cut, yet one horror scenario after another flickers through my mind, and by the time we reach the emergency room, my thoughts are on a roller coaster.
We take Jaden inside, I accompany him into the examination room and it doesn’t even occur to me to leave the treatment to anyone else. As if in a trance, I administer a local anesthetic, clean and disinfect his wound, and apply a fresh bandage. The whole time he is far too quiet. He has lost a lot of blood.
