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“Great,” she murmured under her breath. “I hope this isn't where Josh is headed.” Skipping school and arguments in the playground were bad enough—she couldn't take it if Josh started fighting.
With a sigh she logged into the computer to read through the initial information the triage nurse had collected. Blaine was awake and alert but only oriented to his name and place. He was confused about the date and time. Otherwise, his vital signs were stable.
After logging off the computer, she grabbed her stethoscope and headed into the room. Blaine was a tall, broad-shouldered and nice-looking kid. He had a large welt on his lower lip, but no other outward signs of trauma. With closed head injuries though, the worst part of the damage was hidden from the naked eye.
“Hi, Blaine, my name is Lindsey. I'll be your nurse. Can you tell me what happened?”
“I don't remember. From what I've been told, me and some of my friends were arguing with a couple of jerk football players and one of them slugged me in the face.”
“Hmm.” She glanced over at her patient’s mother seated next to him then looked back at Blaine. “Can you answer a few questions for me? What's your full name?”
“Blaine Michael Larson.”
“What day is it?”
“I don't know.” He glanced at his mother for help. Lindsey shook her head, indicating his mother shouldn’t answer.
“Do you know what month it is?” Lindsey persisted.
“Uh, July? No, wait, August.”
Not even close. She frowned. “What about the year? Do you know what year it is?”
“No.” Blame rubbed his jaw. “All I know is that someone hit me in the face”.
“Where are you now? What is this place?” Lindsey asked.
“A hospital. Sun Valley Community hospital.”
“That's right.” She smiled, taking a pen light from her pocket and flashing it in the boy's eyes. His pupils looked equal and reactive to light. They weren't overly dilated or misshapen. “Does your head hurt?”
“Not really.” He frowned and gently fingered his swollen lip. “Not as bad as my mouth. It really hurts.”
“I'm sure it does.” She glanced at Blaine’s mother. “Do you know if he lost consciousness?”
“Yes, apparently for a few seconds he did.” The woman's sighed. “I don't know why he was involved in a fight, he normally gets along fine with people.”
She nodded, thinking the same thing about Josh. In the past he'd gotten along fine with other kids at school. Only lately he'd been complaining of stomach aches in the morning. And his grades were slipping, no doubt a result of skipping school. With everything that happened after losing Sam, her son was turning into a complete stranger.
And she didn't know how to get him back.
“Okay, I need to listen to his heart and lungs. Then we'll have the doctor come take a look. He may want to get a CT scan of your son's head, just to make sure everything is alright.”
“I understand,” Mrs. Larson said.
Lindsey performed a quick assessment but other than his lack of memory Blaine appeared to be a healthy sixteen-year-old. After documenting her findings, she went out to discuss the case with the emergency department physician.
The physician on duty was Dr. Markham. He examined Blaine Larson and then ordered blood work and a CT scan of his head.
“What about a drug screen?” Lindsey asked. “I know he's only sixteen, but shouldn't we check, just in case?”
“That's a good idea. I'll ask his mother.” Dr. Markham took Blaine’s mother out of the room, and after a brief conversation he returned. “Yes. We're going to add a urine drug and alcohol screen. She said she's never caught him doing any drugs or drinking, but it's best to make sure.”
“Will do.” Lindsey called the radiology department to arrange the CT scan of his head, then quickly went into draw Blaine’s blood. Per Dr. Markham’s orders, she was to place a twenty-gauge capped IV in his antecubital vein. “You're going to feel a poke here,” she warned.
“Ouch,” he yelped when she slid the needle in.
“All done.” She drew blood off the line then taped the catheter in place and flushed it with normal saline in case they needed the IV access later. “One of our techs will be here shortly to take you to radiology. We're going to get pictures of your brain to make sure there's no bleeding in there.”
