Page 5 of What If I Knew You

I can tell she’s trying not to cry. “Mhmm.”

“I’m just going to wrap this cuff around your good arm right here so I can take your blood pressure, okay? It’s going to give your arm a hug.”

“Mhmm.”

“And this is little thing is going to help me measure your pulse.” I hold up the fingertip pulse oximeter to show her. “It’s just going to go right over your finger, like this. Doesn’t hurt abit,” I tell her as I press it open and close it over her finger. “Good girl. You okay so far?”

“Mhmm.”

Working as quickly as I can, I wrap the blood pressure cuff around her arm and push the button on the receiver for it to inflate. “Can you tell me what happened?”

“I fell off the ladder at recess.”

“Oh no. That must’ve been very scary.”

“Mhmm.”

“Well, you are being so super brave right now.”

I take note of her normal blood pressure and pulse and then gather the supplies needed to treat her laceration. “We’re going to get this nasty cut cleaned up and make sure we don’t need stitches and then we’re going to get an x-ray on your arm so we can see what we’re dealing with.” I make sure to keep my focus on her even though I’m also keeping her parents aware of my plans. “How old are you Mandy?”

“I’m nine.”

“And what grade are you in?”

“Fourth.”

“Oooh fourth grade. I loved the fourth grade when I was your age,” I tell her. “We got to do so many fun things in fourth grade. What’s been your favorite thing so far this year?”

She thinks about it with a furrowed brow but then winces when her right eyebrow moves. “Um, we got to do a living wax museum.”

I gasp excitedly as I dab her laceration with a gauze pad. “Oh, that sounds like fun. Is that one of those things where you get to pretend to be someone famous or historical? Like you’re really them in a museum?”

“Uh huh.” She nods. “And I was Queen Elizabeth.”

I lift my brows. “Oh, then I should curtsey in front of you since you’re such a royal young lady.”

My curtsey makes Mandy smile for the first time since she was wheeled in here.

“Did you know I used to live in London?”

Her little eyes grow. “You did.”

“Yep. I lived there for two years. That’s where I was living right before I moved back here.” I don’t bother telling her that I only moved back because my boyfriend cheated on me with an Attending at the hospital where I worked and my job and enthusiasm for what I do started to fade. I’ve always loved being a nurse though and knew if I stayed in London any longer, I’d end up a nasty old hag feeding the birds in the park instead of living my best life.

But back to my patient.

“And you probably know from your project that London is where the Queen lived.”

“Did you ever see her?”

I nod. “I did see her once, yes. She was outside her huge palace and had flowers in her hands and she was saying hello to all the people who were standing around wanting to get a glimpse of her.”

“Did she say anything to you?”

“Nah.” I shake my head. “Sadly, I couldn’t get close enough to her.”

In my very best attempt at a British accent, I tell her, “Well, your highness, the cut above your eye seems to have stopped bleeding for now so I think we can patch it up with no need for stitches.” I finish cleaning the small wound and place a band aid over it. “And if you’re ready, we’ll wheel you down the hall so we can get a good look at that arm.”

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