Picket Fences
Lisa Wheeler is a nurse at Sainted Heart Hospital.
During her break, she sits reading a romance novel while enjoying her snack of orange crème cupcakes. Lisa always believed her life would be filled with excitement, and the books she reads reflect that desire, often featuring female protagonists caught up in thrilling mysteries. However, tonight she is about to encounter more than she bargained for.
As she closes the final line of chapter one, her attention is abruptly pulled away by the sound of a code announcement blaring through the intercom. With a sense of urgency, she sets her book and half-eaten snack down on the table and hurries towards the emergency room floor, where a group of medical professionals are already sprinting to assist with a critical situation.
“Slip and fall with blunt force trauma to the head,” the emergency medical technician relays to the doctors as they approach the ER doors. “Patient presents with hypotension after receiving two liters of saline; his pulse is thready and at 130 beats per minute.”
The paramedic moves swiftly, clearly in command of the situation, urgency etched on his face.
“The patient lost consciousness at the scene and was poorly responsive.” He quickly lays out the necessary steps: “I need a trauma panel and an X-ray. Nurse Wheeler, please page Dr. Rhodes right away!”
In the hustle of the emergency room, the atmosphere is intense, filled with the sounds of rapidly moving feet, beeping monitors, and urgent voices, all working together to stabilize the patient in critical condition.
Angela’s black Mercedes-Benz S-Class skids to a stop at the emergency room doors.
Madalyn hops out of the car and runs inside, calling out, “Hank! Hank!” Angela follows closely behind her. “Ma’am, please have a seat. He’s in the back, and you can’t go back there,” a staff member says, trying to calm her down. Angela approaches from behind and gently guides Madalyn to a seat. “Let’s sit down. You need to calm down. I’m sure they’re doing the best they can.”
After waiting for hours, Madalyn hears her name being called. “Mrs. Walker.” Madalyn and Angela turn around to see the doctor wiping sweat from her forehead. “I’m Dr. Rhodes. Your husband is stable, but he’s not awake yet. I don’t want to force him awake because he could go into shock; there is trauma to the side and back of his head. We are going to monitor him all night and into tomorrow, so please try to get some rest if you can. If anything changes, I’ll call you,” Dr. Rhodes says.
“Thank you, Doctor,” the women reply as they walk away.
“You and Sydney will stay with us tonight,” Angela proclaims. Nurse Wheeler is at the nurse’s desk, already spreading the news about the Walker family on her phone. While talking, she glances down the hall and is shocked into speechlessness by what she sees. “You’re not going to believe what I’m seeing! The light in room 1113 is on; I think the Spalding just woke up. Girl, I gotta go!” she exclaims as she heads toward room 1113.
You see, Nurse Wheeler has always wished for a little excitement—be careful what you wish for.
