CH.7 - What On Earth?!?

"Here we are." Brandy announces as we walk into the CAT scan room. I see a few people standing behind the window with Dr. Habib and a nurse getting the special die ready to inject through my IV. Brandy helps me onto the table. The technician comes in and asks Brandy to hand him the pillow from the shelf. She quickly brings it to him. "Miss. Brandy would you like to inject the die?" The nurse asks. Brandy looks at me seemingly as if she was asking if it was ok with me. I nod. "Yes I would like to." Brandy says as she takes the die from the nurse. "Miss. Ellen, we are going to be scanning your entire body today. Could you be or are you pregnant?" The technician asks. "No." I answer. "Have you ever had any surgeries?" He asks. "Yes. My gallbladder was removed... and I've had three wisdom teeth removed and ingrown toenails fixed... but I don't know if that counts" I answer. The technician checks to make sure that I am positioned correctly. "Okay we're all set to start." He says. Everyone walks into the room with the window and the machine starts. The machine is so loud even with earplugs in.

After passing seemingly a billion times through the machine the scan was finally done. Brandy helps me back into the wheelchair. "Man... I'm so exhausted." I say to Brandy. "Don't worry you can get some sleep once I get you back in bed." Brandy tells me. Just before getting to my emergency room room I can see mom, Auntie Sissy, and Uncle Bob sitting in the room. Auntie Sissy sees me before the others in the room. "Laura!!!!" Auntie Sissy nearly screams making everyone jump with surprised looks on their faces. We enter the room and auntie sissy is immediately by my side. "What did the doctors say about your scans!!! Are you okay?!?" She asks still almost screaming with a horrified worried look on her face. "Auntie Sissy I just got back the doctor still has to look at it. I'm sure I'm going to be okay." I say trying to calm her down some. The nurse from earlier came in. "Okay honey we've got you a room upstairs. We've got too many people in the ER and someone else is on the way in an ambulance, plus you are going to be here for a while so that the doctor can look at your scans to figure out what is going on." She kindly says. She turns to my family, "One of you can come help her settle in, but afterwards everyone needs to leave because visiting hours on the floor are over. You can come visit her tomorrow from eight am to eight pm and anyone under eleven years can't go up they will have to wait in the waiting room." Mom begins grabbing my things and gets them ready to be brought up with me. "Don't worry I'll keep everyone updated on what's going on." I say. "Can you keep my mom in the loop on what my condition is especially if I'm unable to?" I ask the nurse. "Of course sweetheart." She replies. "Before we take you up we need to get another blood sugar reading." The nurse says as she pulls out a lancet and test strip from a box in the cabinet. She preps my finger and pricks it. I whence as the lancet pricks my finger... "Huh? That didn't hurt... come to think of it none of the other stuff hurt like it usually does... that's weird. Maybe they have me on some sort of pain medicine???" I think to myself.

"Alright Miss. Ellen, your blood sugar level is perfect. Are you ready to head up now?" The nurse says in a cheerful tone. "I guess so." I reply trying to match her cheerfulness. I give everyone hugs and kisses good bye before the nurse helps mom with one of the bags she brought for me from home and places it on the back of the wheelchair. Saying with a smile. "Alright momma you seem to be the one who's going up to the room with Miss. Ellen." Yes unless Laura wants someone else to go." Mom answers and looks at me as if she is asking "Did you want me to go? I kinda just assumed that you would want me to go with you..." I smile and say, "Yeah I would like you to come." "Okay then let's head up." The nurse says.

We head out the door toward the elevators when an ambulance team rushes into the emergency room pushing a very badly bloodied young man on a gurney. He's wearing hunting gear and looks to have been attacked by some sort of blood crazed animal. The ambulance team and nurses are cleaning a path through the hallway to the emergency surgery room. The whole place seems to be in a rushed panic. We wheel out of the walkway to let them pass. An older man in hunting gear with a look of shock and horror on his face rushes behind them to the emergency surgery room. A nurse stopped at the door. She told him he couldn't go in. Then asked what his son's blood type was and if he would accept blood. And took him into another room. The ambulance technicians came out and began giving report at the nursing station. Two police officers jog up to the station. "We're you able to kill that thing?" The lady ambulance technician asked the officers. "No. But we managed to shoot off one of its ears. We brought it in for rabies testing." The blonde haired officer says. "The damn thing just won't die no matter how rounds we put in it." The dark haired officer says with fear and aggravation in his voice. "All that from a deer?" The male ambulance technician says. "A deer from hell!" The blonde officer replies. "They were hunting near the nuclear reactors! Maybe the thing has some sort of radioactive rabies." The lady ambulance technician says. "You should have seen the thing trying to eat the poor kid. That's just something that you can't un see." The dark haired officer says. The officers' Radio goes off as we reach the elevator. "It what!?! The officers yell. "How did it get away! We're on our way!" The blonde officer exclaims as they run out of the hospital. The elevator door opens and we get on each of us looking at one another with confusion. "Do I dare ask what on Earth that was about!?!" I think as I look over at the nurse. "No... I guess she's as confused as I am..." I think as I study the look on her face.

We arrive at my room and I get settled in. The nurse leaves as quickly as possible to see what was going on in the ER, and mom makes sure I'm comfortable. We say our good byes and mom tells me she'll be back tomorrow. I fall asleep very quickly and was sleeping pretty heavy... until they started waking me up every hour to draw labs.