Page 63 of Hear Me Roar

Doctor Jennings shook his head solemnly, a simple gesture that spokevolumes.

“And my car? I assume it's totaled?” he asked, shifting his attention to where Isat.

So, I nodded because although I hadn’t seen the car myself, I’d been informed it was notsalvageable.

“Well, at least I'm alive, right?” He forced a laugh. “What's going on with my legs,doc?”

The good man clicked through several screens and pulled up x-rays of Luis’ legs. Gnarly was the only word that came to mind when I looked atthem.

“You sustained comminuted fractures from your knee capsdown.”

“What does thatmean?”

“Each of your bones splintered in several places, causing a shatter effect as you can see here,” he said, pointing the different areas. “Because the bone fragments were jammed together, we performed an open reduction with different nails, plates, wires, and screws to reconnect the brokenpieces.”

Luis took a deep breath and shut his eyes. “That doesn’t soundpromising.”

“On the contrary. With lots of rest, patience, and rehabilitation, I expect you to make a fullrecovery.”

“And how long will thattake.”

“It really depends on your body and your bones. For some, it takes longer to heal than others. But I’d say, given the extremity of your particular situation, at least six months before the casts can comeoff.”

“Six months?” Luis’ eyes snapped open. “I can’t go that long withoutworking!”

“I’m afraid you don’t have much of a choice, Mr. Fonseca,” the doctor concluded, his tone sympathetic. “How are your legs feeling rightnow?”

“Is boneless blobs ananswer?”

Jennings nodded only slightly as he typed something into the computer. “And your pain, on a scale of one to ten – one being the lowest and ten being unbearable – where are you rightnow?”

“I’d say a four, maybe athree.”

“That’s good, that’s good.” He typed that in. “Due to this specific type of fracture, the pain at times will be almost unbearable. When you feel it coming on, simply click the call button and your nurse will come in to increase your drip. Do not try to play the macho card and convince yourself you’re okay. If you’re in pain, that means your body is stressed, and if you’re stressed, your body won’theal.”

“What is the drip?” Luis asked, following the IV line secured to hishand.

“Morphine. These first several days, sometimes even weeks, will be particularly painful. Once you’re handling the pain better, we’ll drop you down to somethingmilder.”

Another knock at the door had us all turning our heads toward the sound as my girl padded back in with the phone clutched to her chest. She smiled at the good doctor and took the seat beside me, shoving her phone back into herpurse.

“What’d Rey say?” I whispered while Luis asked the doctor a fewquestions.

She leaned closer to me, keeping her eyes on our dear friend, and whispered back, “She’s spazzing out, obviously, but she and Liv are gonna try to make it hometonight.”

“I should probably call Manny and fill him in too,huh?”

“I tried calling Maya when I hung up with Rey, but she didn’t answer. I’m assuming she’s stillsleeping.”

“That, or she and Manny boy are, as Rey would say, canoodling,” I countered, to which she rolled hereyes.

“Pleeease, yeahright.”

“You’ve seen them lately, all attached at the hip and shit. Don’t try to act like youhaven’t.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She feigned innocence, and this time it was me who rolled my eyes, because anyone could seeit.

Something was brewing there and I was calling it from now. Mark mywords...

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