Present Perfect(87)

A small, dark haired nurse stepped out, scanned the room, and said, “Amanda Kelly?”

Shit, I was up. I didn’t react. I hadn’t had enough time to adjust. I needed more time. The nurse called my name again. I felt the eyes of my parents and sister on me.

Mom leaned over and whispered, “Sweetheart, it’s time.” My dad walked back to us as Mom, Emily and I stood.

The nurse approached our little group. “Amanda Kelly?”

“Yes.” That one little word had me almost in tears.

“You can come with me.” All four of us started to follow her, when she abruptly stopped, looked at my parents and said, “You’ll be able to come back once we have Amanda all set up. I’ll come get you.”

I lifted my head up to my mom with pleading eyes, not to let me go alone. Her eyes overflowed with sorrow. I knew it was killing her that she was powerless to make this all go away for me. “Amanda, we will be back there the minute they say we can.” I just nodded my head and desperately tried to hold back my tears and tamper down my nerves.

I was led down a long sterile hallway. I tried to stay focused on my nurse ahead of me. I was afraid to pay too much attention to the sights and sounds around me, like a doctor possibly running past me laughing in a demonic way as he revved up a chainsaw. So, my eyes and ears stayed glued to my nurse.

Her shirt was covered with cartoon puppies and the squeaking noise her shoes made across the sterile floor seemed to bounce off the walls and echo the entire way. She opened the door to a small holding room with a stretcher, a couple of chairs and an IV pole. I stood there waiting for instructions.

“My name is Sarah and I’ll be your nurse today. You can sit up on the stretcher.” She flipped through some papers and then asked. “Can you tell me your name and your date of birth?”

“Amanda Kelly. March 23, 1990.” She snapped an ID bracelet on my wrist.

“And what type of surgery are we having today?”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m having my left leg amputated.”

She glanced up from her papers and gave me a slight smirk. Placing the papers at the end of the stretcher, she pulled a flimsy gown, and plastic bag from the built in cabinet behind me.

“You can go ahead and get undressed and put this gown on. Here’s a bag to put your things in. Make sure you take off all jewelry. The anesthesiologist will be in soon and I’ll be back to start your IV.” She left closing the door behind her.

I dressed in the fashionable gown and placed my clothes in the bag. As soon as I had crawled under the covers, the door swung open. A happy smiling man dressed in scrubs came in, followed by another nurse and then Nurse Sarah.

The nurses took positions on either side of the stretcher as Dr. Smiles extended his hand to me. “Amanda Kelly?” I nodded. “Hi, I’m Dr. McFadden, anesthesiology.”

“Hi.”

He sat down in one of the chairs and flipped through a folder. “Can you tell me your date of birth and what type of surgery you’re having done?”

“March 23, 1990 and left leg amputation.” I felt like I was on a demented game show, The Wheel of Misfortune.”

As Dr. Smiles was rattling off how he was going to knock me out, the nurse to the left of me took my blood pressure at the same time Nurse Sarah was tapping my right arm in various places.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“I’m looking for a vein to start your IV.” She tapped the top of my right hand a couple of times and uttered, “That one looks nice and plump.”

The doctor was still rattling on, the other nurse was shoving a thermometer in my mouth, and I saw a huge needle headed towards my hand. There was too much happening at one time. I couldn’t focus on any one thing. I had never felt this helpless and unsure of what was going on. I winced as the needle pierced my skin. A few tears began to trickle down my cheek.

Nurse Sarah looked up, her expression apologetic. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” I wondered if she thought it would feel great as she shoved a sharp pointy object into my skin.

Things were being done without anyone asking me first. Before leaving, the doctor said, “I’ll be back in a bit to give you some happy juice.” I didn’t know what he was talking about. I was too focused on the mound of tape Nurse Sarah was wrapping around my IV.

She finished torturing me and then said, “I’ll go get your family. Dr. Lang will be into check on you before we take you back.”

“Thanks.”

“Can I get you anything?”

“Out of here.” I smirked.

Both nurses gathered all their things and headed out the room. Before closing the door, Nurse Sarah leaned in and said, “I know it’s pretty scary. Dr. Lang is one of the best in the country.” She gave me a small smile. “I’ll go tell your family they can come back.”

Minutes later Mom, Dad, and Emily filed into the tiny room. Mom and Emily sat while Dad remained standing. He looked like a caged animal. Sitting and waiting were not his forte. He was more comfortable doing something than sitting and staring at the four walls. This whole situation was hard on both my parents, but I think Dad was slightly more affected than Mom. He was used to being my protector and he couldn’t do that now.

At 6:30 Dr. Lang came in to check and reassure me that he thought I’d do fine during the surgery. After he left, Nurse Sarah came in and told me and my family I was about to be taken back, so we needed to say our goodbyes.