Page 58 of Tacos & Toboggans
“Honor!” I called out, jogging into the emergency waiting room. “I just heard what happened. How’s Audrey?”
Honor hugged me and motioned for me to sit in a chair. “She’s hanging in there but refuses to leave Uncle Alan’s side. They’re waiting for Dr. Warren now. He’s on his way.”
“He’s here. I rode over with him.” I didn’t realize what I’d said until Honor lifted her brow. “Ivy called me right after the hospital called him. Since I was already at his place, I just jumped in the car with him.”
“You were at his place at nine-thirty on a Saturday night?”
“I live there, Honor. I mean, not there, there, but I’d made Spanish rice for dinner, and we were talking. No big deal.” I waved my hands as though that was the end of it, since there was no way on God’s green earth that I’d admit we’d been making out on his couch.
“Not what I heard,” Ivy said. Her sudden appearance scared me, and I yelped, much to Honor’s enjoyment. She hugged Ivy, who sat on the other side of her. Honor filled Ivy in on how little she knew, and then Ivy took to eyeing me.
“What?” I asked innocently. “We’re here for Audrey and Alan. No third degrees allowed.”
“No third degree,” Ivy said, waving her hands by her chest. “I was just wondering if you had a chance to talk."
“Yes,” I said with a sigh, because she wasn’t going to let this go. “But I’m not going to discuss it here. Honor, tell us what happened to Alan.”
She glanced between us as though she was missing a massive part of the story, but finally answered. “Uncle Alan was in the yard and tripped on something in the dark. Luckily, Audrey was home and heard him yelling. The ambulance brought him in, but Dr. Russel was already backed up with cases from a car crash. He didn’t want Uncle Alan to wait, so he called Dr. Warren.”
“And he was happy to help,” I assured her. “Not that I knew who his patient was,” I clarified. “But after Ivy called, and we were both headed to the same place, I bummed a ride.” A little white lie wouldn’t hurt anyone, but it would protect Major.
“I just hope he can avoid surgery. The man has been through enough,” Honor said with a sigh. I bit back that Dr. Russel already said he needed surgery, because maybe Major would change his mind once he saw him.
“We’ll be here for Audrey,” Ivy said. “Whatever she needs, we’ll make it happen.”
There was a commotion from the back, and we turned to see Major and Audrey walking toward us. Audrey’s shoulders drooped forward as though the weight of the world was on them, but Major had his arm around her. Honor stood and led her aunt to sit.
“Nice to see you, Dr. Warren,” Ivy said. “Are you here to take care of Alan?”
“I am,” he agreed. “Audrey asked me to explain the situation to you before I head into surgery. Alan has what we call an intertrochanteric fracture. That’s where the bone is fractured, not up by the ball of the femur, but further down. He’s fortunate because those are easier to fix and heal, and they don’t affect the blood supply to the bone. That means I can repair it rather than undergo a full hip replacement. However, I’m uncomfortable doing the surgery with general anesthesia because of his lung condition, and his pulmonary physicians agree. He’ll be comfortable and awake during the procedure, which should take no more than a few hours. Once he’s done, he’ll be here in the hospital for a few days on the surgical floor and then transferred to the rehab floor for up to a month, depending on how he does. With his lung condition, he will need close observation during physical therapy until we’re confident he can be at home safely.”
“That makes sense,” Honor said with a nod. “I was extremely worried about the surgery. Not in your skills, but with his lungs.”
“Understandably,” Major said.
It was fascinating to watch him work. He was the kindest, most down-to-earth surgeon I’d ever come across in my life, and I’d known many due to my yaya’s health.
“We’ve called in our anesthesiologist who works with our maternal patients to ensure Alan’s spinal block is adequate for the surgery. Once he’s done that, our high-risk anesthesiologist will take over his care for the procedure. We did offer to transfer him to Saginaw, but Alan and Audrey were both comfortable with the plan and want to proceed.”
“Alan doesn’t want to recover in Saginaw,” Audrey said firmly. “He knows no one here would agree to do the procedure if they couldn’t do it safely, and I concur.”
Honor rubbed her aunt’s back with a nod. “Thanks for coming in, Dr. Warren. Our family appreciates it.”
“No thanks needed,” Major said with a smile. “I’m more than happy to help as needed when things get busy. As a former army doc, there isn’t much I haven’t seen or done, so I assure you, this is one I can do with my eyes closed. I won’t, but I could,” he said with a lip tilt.
We all chuckled, and he pointed at me. “Could I talk to you for a second?”
He led me to a spot by the counter and leaned against it. “What’s up? I told Honor that Ivy was the one who told me, not you.”
“I’m not worried about that,” he assured me. “Your splint, on the other hand, I am worried about. It needs to be fixed. I called up to the rehab floor, and they’re waiting for you there. They’ll make you a new splint.”
“It’s ten o’clock at night,” I said with a shake of my head. “You worry too much.”
“It can’t wait, and they’re here whether someone needs them or not, so you may as well take advantage of being here. Besides, that frees us up for tomorrow, and you’ll be ready to start your new job this week without needing time off to get it fixed.”
“Fair point,” I admitted. “I’ll head up there in a few minutes. Wait, why do we need to be free for tomorrow?”
“You mentioned going to see Dawson. We could maybe do lunch before or after?”
