Page 14 of Beautiful Defiance

8

SEVEN

On the way to the hospital, Leigh goes in and out of consciousness. I step on the gas pedal. The scenery passes by in a blur. Soon, we’re at the hospital. I come to a screeching stop in front of the double doors of the emergency department and rush out of the truck.

I sprint around to the passenger-side door, and with Leigh in my arms, I run inside, calling out for help.

The staff come at me with a stretcher. I set Leigh on it and give the nurses the story. “Gash to the back of her right thigh. Might’ve swallowed bad pool water last night.”

They wheel her into a room and pull the curtains closed. Leigh moans, and her eyes flutter open.

“Seven?”

“I’m here.” I step around the nurse and lay my hand on Leigh’s shoulder.

Worry lines stretch across her forehead. “My clothes—”

“You decide what comes off.”

“Sweatpants and sweatshirt only.”

The nurses listen and help her out of her clothes. They get Leigh into a gown two sizes too big for her skinny body. One nurse puts an IV in the back of Leigh’s hand. Another hooks Leigh to a heart monitor and gets her vital signs.

Other people come into the exam room and ask a bunch of questions. I find out Leigh doesn’t have a middle name, she’s on birth control pills, and she’s allergic to strawberries of all things.

“Leigh, I should step out.”

“I’d like for you to stay if you don’t mind.”

Do I mind? Hell no.

After the nurse draws blood and starts a bag of fluids in her IV, the doctor comes in. He gestures for me to sit. I pull up a chair. Leigh reaches for my hand. I grasp her hand in mine. Her skin is hot, and her grip, weak.

“Miss Kim, I’m Dr. Anderson. The nurse showed me your vital signs. Your blood pressure is low, your heart rate is over one hundred, and you’re running a fever of 101.3. They said you have a gash on the back of your leg and that you swallowed pool water. We’ll get a chest x-ray. Make sure you don’t have pneumonia. May I see your leg?”

Leigh rolls onto her stomach. Streaks of red go up and down her leg.

“When was the last time you ate or had something to drink?”

“Toast for breakfast, but I couldn’t keep it down. Same with water.”

“Miss Kim, you’ll need to be admitted for antibiotics, something for the fever, and hydration.”

He instructs the nurse help Leigh onto her back. The nurse lifts the head of Leigh’s gurney. The doctor shines a light in her eyes. Asks her to open her mouth. He listens to her heart and her lungs. Zones in on her face.

“May I ask what happened to your temple and your lip?” He shifts his attention to me.

“Seven stays,” she says, preempting the doctor’s intention of asking me to leave. I get it. He thinks I gave Leigh the injuries.

“I heard a dog whimpering in the middle of the night last night. I thought it was hurt. I went after it, tripped, and hit my face on the tractor.”

I cry bullshit.

“And the gash on the back of your leg?”

“The dog ran past and scared me. I backed up and scraped my leg on something metal.”

Double bullshit. The doctor looks as skeptical as I’m feeling, but he doesn’t question her further.

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