Page 10 of Dr. Grump's Surprise Baby

The emergency department was quiet for the first few hours of the day, and Emily was just beginning to wonder whether it might not be a bit of a throwaway day when a call came in from the paramedics.

“Inbound,” Dr. Berger told them. “Nine-year-old female struck by a car while riding her bike. The parents are coming separately. She was with the babysitter when it happened.”

Emily’s heart went out to the babysitter. What a terrible thing to have happen while you were in charge.

When the ambulance arrived, the interns all crowded around Dr. Berger to watch him work — all but Emily. She made a judgment call, knowing that it might be wrong. If it was, she’d take the consequences. Someone needed to talk to the babysitter.

The girl was in her mid-teens — maybe fourteen or fifteen years old — and she was shaking badly. Emily sensed that she might be going into shock. She guided the girl over to a chair and grabbed a cup of water.

“What’s your name?” she asked gently.

“M-Maggie.”

“Hey, Maggie. I’m Emily. Did you see what happened?”

Maggie nodded. Her eyes were unfocused. “Is Kenzie going to be okay?”

“I think she will be. Dr. Berger is a really good doctor. You did the right thing by calling the ambulance. You did everything right, okay?”

“I didn’t know she was playing in the street. I should have been watching…”

“That’s not what the paramedics say,” Emily said gently. “They spoke to the driver. Kenzie wasn’t playing in the street. She was riding her bike in the driveway. I bet that’s what you told her to do, isn’t it?”

Maggie nodded. “I was just getting some sodas, and then I was going to come out and sit with her…”

“The driver says she was in the driveway, and then an animal ran in front of her and she steered out into the street to avoid it. A cat or something. It was just an accident. It wasn’t your fault, okay? Drink that water.”

Maggie squeezed the cup but didn’t take a drink.

“Maggie,” Emily said. “I need you to take a drink of that water right now.”

The command worked where the request hadn’t. Maggie took a sip of the water. Emily rubbed her hand in slow circles on the girl’s back to try to keep her grounded. “I’m going to check your blood pressure, okay?”

Maggie nodded, apparently too disoriented to question that.

There was a cart nearby with a blood pressure cuff. Emily pulled it over and wrapped it around the girl’s arm. Her blood pressure was low, but not dangerously so. “Stay right here, okay?” Emily said. “I’m going to grab you a cookie.”

Maggie buried her head in her hands.

Emily went to the nurses’ station and grabbed a couple of the chocolate chip cookies that were kept there. She hurried back to Maggie’s side. “No nuts in these, but they do have chocolate,” she said. “Are you okay to eat chocolate? No allergies?”

“No,” Maggie said, and Emily handed over one of the cookies.

Chad came around the corner. “That was intense,” he said to the room at large. Then he caught sight of Emily. “What happened? You get squeamish?”

“No,” Emily said. She didn’t feel any particular need to explain herself to Chad.

“Well, you missed all the action,” Chad told her as Dr. Berger came around the corner.

Emily ignored him. She rose to her feet and went to Dr. Berger. “Doctor, is the little girl going to be all right?”

“Broken ribs and a concussion, but no internal bleeding. She should be fine.” Dr. Berger gave her an appraising look. “And where were you?”

“The babysitter who came in with her was showing signs of shock, so I checked her over and made sure she was all right.”

“And is she?”

“I think she’s fine, just a little shaken up. That’s her over there, if you want to check for yourself.”

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