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I shrug a shoulder as I begin to clean up our garbage, handing him a dressing to cover the tubing.
“Just fine?” Our patient parrots over their shoulder. For a moment, I forgot they were even there.
Our patient leads into a story about when they were my age, and what they would have been doing on a weekend off. I try to listen, but my concentration is lost when Dr. Ryan slides past me for the door, hands gripping my hips as he does even though there is plenty of space for the both of us without having to touch.
“When you’re done here,” he says against the shell of my ear, “grab the doppler and meet me in our next one, 432.”
I stop him from exiting with a hand on his arm and give him a playful glare.
Within a second, he catches his error. “Please.” He smirks. “Please grab the doppler and meet me in 432.”
“Of course, Dr. Ryan.”
He finishes up with our patient as I wash up and make my way to our next patient’s room. I give a light knock on the door to say good morning, expecting to find her lying in bed with her legs elevated. Instead, the bed is empty, and I hear singing in the bathroom.
I knock on the bathroom door and open it a crack. “Elda?”
“Yes, hallo! Good morning!”
I prop my hands on my hips and catch her eyes in the mirror, taking in her five-foot frame. “Elda! You are supposed to be in bed, my dear. We need to be babying that leg that’s giving you trouble.” Normally if someone has peripheral artery disease as significant as she does, the lack of blood flow to their legs or feet causes incredible pain. They experience numbness and throbbing pain that limits their activity. Not for Elda.
“Sweetie, I’m Norwegian. We can handle anything.” She turns back to her reflection in the mirror. “I’m almost done, darling. I’d finish quicker if you helpedme with these rollers instead of standing there.”
Elda is full of spunk, and I love it. Since I’ve been at this hospital, this is Elda’s fourth stay with us. At eighty-nine-years-old, she is at the tail end of her heart failure journey. She will come to us unable to breathe with fluid overload. We treat her and release her, sending her on her merry way. Except this time, I read she’s here for a possible vascular consult.
We compromise and she takes a seat on the closed toilet lid while I finish removing the curlers, fluff her hair, and assist her back to bed. While adjusting her pillows and elevating her leg, we go over today’s plan which includes a likely vascular surgery consultation.I squirt a dollop of gel on the tops of her feet and turn on the Doppler, listening intently for the woosh that indicates we have some sort of blood flow.
I move the wand up and down her calf, her ankle, slowly over the top of her right foot, hoping for the telltale sound yet all I hear is static. “Elda, tell me about the pain in your legs. Does one hurt more than the other?”
She briefly shakes her head before continuing with more important questions. “Which doctor is working today?”
“Dr. Ryan will be caring for you today; have you met him yet?”
She pauses to think before shaking her head. “Name doesn’t ring a bell. Is he memorable?”
Oh, Elda, you just wait and see.As if beckoned by his name, Dr. Ryan knocks on the wall as he enters the room.
Elda’s wide-eyed reaction and raised brow tell me she thinks he is just as handsome as I do.
“Wow, hello, doctor.” She reaches her hand out for him to shake.
“Good morning, ma’am. I’m Dr. Ryan. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He envelops her small hand in both of his masculine palms.
“Same to you. So, Dr. Ryan, tell me about your wife.”
I prop my elbows on the computer cart and rest my chin in my hands, looking forward to watching Elda have her fun.
He blushes, actually blushes at her comment. “Not married, ma’am.”
“No.” She scoffs. “Engaged? A serious girlfriend?”
“Nope.”
A sweet smile crosses her face. “Well, let me introduce you to my nurse. She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” She gestures to me. “And such a sweetheart. You two would make quite the pair.”
“Is that right?” he says, responding to her but looking at me.
Without wanting Elda to get us off track, I turn the attention back to Dr. Ryan. “I’m glad you’re here. I’m having a difficult time finding a pedal pulse on her right foot. The whole extremity is cool to the touch and pale. She isn’t complaining of any pain, but—”
