Emergency Room, Early Thursday evening
The charge nurse looked at me, "Michelle, can you prep the patient in 101. He's under Police guard. Bruises and a cut on his head. Never lost consciousness."
I looked at the name on the chart, Cory Heinz. "Can you assign this one to Marsha? I'll work up the diabetic in 115 if that's OK with you." She nodded yes and was off. I know that Marsha has some real difficulty with this diabetic. Along with his COPD, this man has a couple of months to live. He's gone out of his way to not take care of himself. What a shame, 52, 120 pounds overweight, alcoholic and soon to be terminal. He's lost the feeling in his toes three years ago and was in a permanent wheelchair because of falling last year. I get the OK and move toward 115 when I hear my name called.
"Michelle?" I looked around and saw Paul Murphy was smiling at me. "Can you break away sometime this evening? I'd love to give you an update," he paused, "about my roses. I'm here for Heinz in 101, when he's cleared, he goes directly to the station." We both smiled.
"I've got a work up to do in 115, so in about 20 minutes?" He nodded yes and I went into 115 and started. After I was finished, it was time for my break. Marsha told me that 101 had to go for head x-rays and would be back in 30 minutes. His partner Jeannie was with that patient. I flagged Paul over and we hit the cafeteria again. He had the biggest grin on his face.
When we finally sat down, he started talking. "Thank you so much for your gardening tip. My roses look so much better. It was great. I can't thank you enough." He looked around and spoke in a softer voice, shielding what he was saying. "Did you know that Alicia P was the daughter of my boss Lt. Parker? We pulled the car over by the forest preserves for a broken tail light.
"He pulled over and his passenger made a break for it. My partner Jeannie nailed her about 1,000 yards away. She handcuffed her and came back telling the squad cam that whoever it was got away to the north. I had Heinz handcuffed and in the back of the squad by then. He took a swing at me and I nailed him. All on the cam.
"After inspecting the trunk, I had called in for backup and made sure that Parker was going to come, saying that it was a drug bust. When he showed, I gave him a hand written report to read. It started off stating that the squad cam was voice recording, so don't say anything. I wrote that his daughter had been in that car and was handcuffed down the path to the south with my partner Reynolds. She never clearly got on film because of the way I pulled up behind him. Both my partner and I would do whatever he thought was best. It was his family and he should choose. I found a couple of bags of white powder in his trunk and had seen him come out of the storage place. Enough to quiz the attendant and now get a warrant.
"Parker was shocked, but thankful. A couple of phone calls and her mother and an uncle showed up. While the rest of the team was looking north for the passenger, Parker and his family slipped away to the south. They picked up Alicia and disappeared. Parker returned to oversee the search to the north.
"The daughter was officially at home and is now on her way to a drug treatment facility out of state. Heinz will be charged with a couple of drug felonies, assaulting a police officer and as a flight risk, will probably have bail denied. Jeannie and I are being fast tracked to the open detective positions we've been working toward for the past several years. We've got a great friend in Lt. Parker."
I was elated. This turned out much better than I ever expected. Coke and ecstasy was never going to get into the house again. One asshole down for real and for a long time.
Sunshine cures all ills. One down.
It was over an hour later when an ambulance brought in Kevin. His face was bruised, a tooth was missing and he had welts on his back and arms. He was holding his side. I'd make an educated guess of a bruised or broken rib. It was painful for him to breath.
I took the history this time. He stated that he fell down a flight of stairs. These were not injuries from falling down stairs. His wife Carmen showed up an hour later. He was fearful and she was angry. I don't know much Spanish, but being in the ER long enough I learned the Spanish words for asshole, jerk, cheater, dead to me, my brothers and whore. He was hearing a whole lot more that I couldn't understand. I made it a point of leaving the room at the time it looked like she was going to slap him. She didn't, but he started talking to her.
From the nursing station right outside of his examination room, I heard him tell his wife some of the same stories I heard from their poker night last week. He wasn't pulling any punches on what he did. Bodily harm did it? It sounds like her brothers gave him another chance, another chance for life. A life without being permanently maimed or worse. Talk about getting religion, from a baseball bat and a pistol butt.
Sunshine cures all ills. Two down.
After 9 PM the third of the fab four arrived by car. It was Horacio with his wife Shannell and their sister-in-law Dawnelle. Both Horacio and Dawnelle were pretty bruised and there were several gashes in both of their heads. Medically, it didn't look very serious, but dried blood had dripped over their faces make it look bad to someone without ER experience. Creative shaving and stiches were the norm in cases like this. They both were going to end up with some unique hair cuts. Marsha was assigned to Horacio and I got Dawnelle.
I immediately swabbed the wound to get an initial evaluation. When the wound did not appear to be overly serious, I started to chart the cause of the accident. Dawnelle reported that she tripped and fell through a plate glass window at their apartment building's foyer. It was an accident and she wanted to leave the hospital as quick as possible. We were swamped again this evening. It was a warm humid summer night with a full moon. Leaving early wasn't going to be the case. She was going to have to wait at least several hours, the critical cases always come first.
I was passing by Marsha's room. Horacio and Shannell were quietly talking. His eyes were looking down at the floor, words were leaking out of her clenched jaws. She had some small fresh scars on her hands. I wonder what she hit them with?
Sunshine cures all ills. Three down.
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At 10:40 two ambulances arrived. The first one was a code blue that they called in. It was a cardiac case and we were prepared for it. Rooms were cleared and machines were readied. People milling in the hallways were ushered to the waiting or patient rooms. The guard was able to get the wife to Marcy, the lead nurse for this patient to answer the immediate medical questions. I listened to the paramedics' reporting while we prepped him.
There are a half dozen standard orders and we automatically worked them like clockwork. It's not a game, it's real life and death. There is no time for anything but this patient right now. We're in 117 and I've slapped the electrical blood pressure cuff and O2 sensor on him. Oxygen was transferred from the paramedic equipment to the hospital system immediately. These numbers, his color and his responses were not good and the team automatically started to do what was next. That was when I glanced out into the hallway. Mark was being wheeled into 118. Our eyes meet for a millisecond, and then I was back to saving a life.
It was touch and go with the patient for the next 45 minutes. Twice they had to shock his heart back to life. Clear means clear, only the Doctor with the electrical paddles could touch the patient or even the bed. Everybody else jumps back. Finally his heart was working on its own. His breathing, although not great, was adequate. We've gotten him stabilized enough for him to be rushed to Cardiac ICU.
That rush was over and I collapsed against the wall. I needed to catch my breath, and then deal with Mark in the next room. My shift was over 30 minutes ago.
It's been a week of planning, a week of pain, and rage and anger. It's been a week of preparing for the showdown. I'm not a mouse anymore, I won't let him lie to me and sweet talk me into giving him a break.
But there was something I learned from my lunches with Helena, I have to be who I am. I have to do this all with my head held high. I didn't do this to him. I only allowed his actions to catch up with him.
Last night I realized that I needed to give him a chance to come clean to me. I don't think that it would change my decision, but it might be enough to start counseling, or not. I don't know yet. It will have to depend upon what he does.
Starting at the nursing station, I reviewed his chart. Knee was x-rayed and the results weren't back yet, but from the movement tests, it didn't appear to be broken. Multiple bruises, a couple of cuts and it looks like there were probably bruised ribs. All painful. Painful to breath now. Nothing life threatening. Some pain meds were ordered, but the cardiac case took all the nursing personnel. His assigned nurse will get to him when she gets to him. She didn't question my asking her to take her time.
I looked and found the paramedic team that brought him in. This was a new team that didn't know me. "What can you tell me about 118?" It must have been a long day and I know they are on duty for another 24. "Picked him up on the street. Conscious, unable to put pressure on his right knee." That's when he looked at my name tag. "Do you know?" and he glanced back at his report, "Mr. Mark Baumgart?"
It's late on a humid summer night with a full moon, this guy is sharp. "Yes, I do. Please continue." This was a very sharp team.
"Are you related?"
"Yes, I am. I am also working in the ER. Please continue." Why in the world is this guy giving me grief? He looked at his partner and the two of them spoke quietly to each other. I'm damn impatient for them to get their act together. What's the state secret? I know that my impatience is starting to show on my face when the squad that brought him in joined us. Len and Alisha were some of my regulars. Len looked at me then at the paramedics.
I looked at the four of them and commanded their attention. "I need to know what happened. All of it. And don't hold back. Don't try to spare me or him. I know that he's been sleeping around." The four of them exhaled. The cops nodded ok to the paramedics, then Alisha started first.
