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The voice sounds so far off. I close my eyes again because the lights rushing by are making me nauseous.
“Take her to x-ray, then to a room. She has family waiting, bring them in when she’s finished,” the voice tells another person.
I’m wheeled in a different direction, and I still keep my head down as directed.
“Alright, Ms. Shaw. My name is Joanna. I’m going to get some images of your shoulder for the doctor. Can you stand for me? I can assist if you need me to.”
“I think I can stand,” I say. I shakily sit up, my feet dangling off the edge of the gurney. Slowly, I slide off and my shoes land on the floor.
“Let me get you a gown. We need to remove your shirt and bra,” she says as she puts a gown on the x-ray table beside me. “I’m going to cut your shirt and bra off. Trust me, you don’t need to raise that shoulder in case there’s damage we can’t see.”
I nod in agreement, and she cuts away my clothing. She slides the gown over my naked top half, tying it in the back for me.
“Okay, now stand here,” she says, positioning me. “Take a breath and hold it for me, okay?” She walks behind a divider. I hear a click, and she comes out to reposition me. “One more, and we’re done, okay?” She walks behind the divider again. After another click, she returns.
“Let’s get you back on the bed,” she says, helping me sit down and lie back.
I close my eyes to avoid the bright as hell lights on the ceiling as she wheels me out of the room, heading back in the direction we came. At least, it feels that way.
“I’m going to get you in a room, and I’ll get your family, okay?”
“Mmhmm,” is all I can manage. My eyes feel heavy again. The pain is returning with fury, so I focus on my breathing.
“Andrea… Andrea… Baby, can you hear me?” Jack’s voice brings me back.
I barely crack my eyes. It’s still so bright, but at least I don’t seem to be moving anymore. Machines beep around me, and the pain in my shoulder pulses right along with it.
“Jack,” I croak out.
A sigh of relief comes from him, his face lined with worry. He shifts to a squatted position by the bed, so he’s eye level with me. His hand strokes my face.
“I’m here. I’m right here,” he says. Tears spring to my eyes. The images from earlier flood back into my mind. “Don’t cry, baby. It’s okay. You’re going to be okay.” He kisses my head. “You did it, Andrea. You got his ass.”
The curtain that divides the room slides open, and two nurses come in to examine me.
“Alright, sweet pea, let’s have a look at you,” the first nurse says, making her way over.
“Sir, you’ll need to step aside so we can get her cleaned up,” the second nurse says to Jack.
Through partially squinted eyes, I see his face shows he doesn’t want to be told to move, but he follows her instructions anyway.
They start by sitting me up on the bed and uncovering my shoulder. “Well, alright. Clean through, doll. We’ll have you fixed up in no time,” the first nurse says.
The second nurse checks the exit wound on the back of my shoulder.
“You catch the guy?” the second nurse asks.
“Yeah,” Jack says curtly.
“This is going to burn. Grit your teeth, hun,” the first nurse says as she applies what feels like actual fire to my wound. I scream out in pain, trying to grit my teeth, but the screams come anyway.
Jack is up and by my side, opposite the nurses in a flash. “Can’t you give her something first? What the fuck?” he says, his voice booming with anger.
“No, sir. We aren’t going to talk to each other like that,” the second nurse scolds. “She already had an injection of pain meds. We can’t give her anything else for a while. There’s no way around this. It’s going to be painful.”
If looks could kill, she would have been a goner the way he looks at her.
“No, we can give her something. We have lidocaine shots,” the first nurse says with a kind voice. This nurse is as sweet as she can be. The other nurse could take a page out of her book. “They aren’t pleasant, but they’ll numb the area, and they won’t interfere with your pain meds.”
