Page 16 of Kept By the Loan Shark

Chapter Five

“Cassie? Cassie? Can you open your eyes?” A booming male voice drew me out of the lethargic darkness. “Hey! There you are!”

Unable to focus, I saw two of the same face above me. His dark eyes were kind but concerned as he flashed a pen light in my face. “I’m Shawn. I’m a nurse here in the ER. You’re at Memorial Hermann. Can you tell me your name?”

“Cassandra,” I croaked. “Cassie.”

“Last name?”

My brain knew the answer, but my mouth wouldn’t make the sounds. I felt as if I were drowning in quicksand, my whole body sinking into the depths of something heavy and suffocating.

“Do you know what date it is?”

“Tuesday,” I answered, my thoughts all muddled. My tongue felt wrong in my mouth, and I slurred as I spoke. “No. No. It’s Monday. Plasma physics. Monday. Wednesday. Friday.”

“Who is the president?”

“Apprentice,” I murmured, feeling sleepy again. A stab of pain on my left arm jolted me awake momentarily. Blearily, I lifted my head, my sore neck protesting the movement, and saw another nurse working a large needle into a vein.

At my whimper of pain, Shawn touched my shoulder. “Your IV blew. We’re putting in a new one. We need to be able to give you fluids and medicine.”

I didn’t even try to protest as they cut away my clothes and moved my body for x-rays and to catalog my injuries.

“Okay. What’s happening with our patient?” A commanding female voice filtered across the din of beeping machines and nurses talking. “GCS?”

“Nine when EMS picked her up but she’s trending down…”

I closed my eyes as Shawn spoke to the doctor and gave her a rundown of my condition. I didn’t fight against the uncomfortable testing that followed as the doctor poked at my feet and prodded other places. My head spun as she barked out orders for more tests and asked for an operating room to be reserved, just in case.

“Cassie, I’m Dr. Choi.” A beautiful older woman appeared over me and gave me a reassuring smile. I blinked rapidly as I tried to focus on the double images of her. Which one was her? Which one was the extra? “I’m a neurosurgeon, and I’ll be taking care of you tonight. You took some bad hits. Your boyfriend told the paramedics it was coins?”

“In a sock,” I managed to say. “Hagen is here?”

“Kyle,” another nurse interjected. “He’s in the waiting room.”

“Not my boyfriend,” I said. “Hagen is.”

“Cassie,” Dr. Choi checked my pupils, “I am very concerned about what’s going on in your brain.” She frowned and started to palpate my head. “Your skull feels intact, but I’m worried you may have bleeding underneath it. We’re going to do some more tests, but it’s possible I may need to operate to relieve pressure if there is bleeding.”

I couldn’t hold back the tears or my pathetically weak sob.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Dr. Choi said as she gently squeezed my hand. “You’re in good hands here.”

Shawn took control as the doctor left, and before I knew it, I was rolling out of the ER and down a hall to the CT room. It was a quick test, and I was back in the ER, waiting my fate a short time later. The nurses and techs who streamed in and out of my room were so kind. They soothed my panic with their sure hands and warm smiles. My fuzzy thoughts seemed to clear as the minutes ticked by, and I managed to convince myself that I wasn’t going to die after all.

“Cassie?” Dr. Choi returned to my bedside. “I’ve had a look at your CT.”

“And?” I asked, terrified to hear her answer.

“You have a small epidural hematoma. We can treat it conservatively. I can have you admitted and kept under observation.”

“But?”

“But there’s a risk to waiting,” she explained carefully. “It takes time to get a patient who is crashing down to the operating room. When you’re talking about the brain, those seconds are precious. I think you would benefit from having the bleeding removed now while it’s small.”

“How?” My voice sounded so small and childlike as I imagined the horror that awaited me.

“It will be a very short and simple procedure. I’ll make a tiny incision on your scalp. I’ll drill a small hole into your skull. We’ll suction out the blood to relieve the pressure on your brain. I’ll place a drainage tube that will stay in place until the bleeding is resolved. You’ll be in the operating room for less than an hour. If everything goes well, you’ll be home and resting in a week.”

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