"Dr. Chen, can you come to curtain 1?"
"Malucci, I told you to stop dumping patients on me!" She turned away from him and began to walk towards exam 4.
"No, that's not it. I need a translator."
"Again? Call upstairs."
"I did. The mother refuses to let a man translate for her. All the women who could translate up there are gone, Leia is on her day off and I think that other one...forgot her name..I think she moved, cuz I haven't seen her in a while..."
"OK, OK, I get the point, Dave. I'll go. But for the patient, not you."
"Thanks Jing-Mei."
"Well? Come on, tell me about it! I'm not going in there looking like a fool!"
"Seven year old girl, complains of...well, seems to have...foot pain. Anyway, her feet are covered in lacs, some infected, some new...the feet don't look right, the bones look broken, can't tell which though. We need consent for an X-ray. Stupid hospital policy."
"OK, let's go." Jing-Mei entered the room and began speaking in rapid Chinese to the hovering mother. All Dave could understand was when she introduced herself as Jing-Mei Chen. She turned back to Dave. "Alright, you've got your consent."
"Thanks."
"That all? Can I go?"
"Until the films are back."
"I'll be in 4 if you need me."
"Thanks."
****
"Jing-Mei, the films are back." neither noticed the switch from Dr. Chen to Jing-Mei, and if they did they didn't comment on it.
"You want me to talk to the mom?"
"Actually...can you come look at these films? I've never seen an X-ray quite like this, I want to make sure it's not a mistake."
"Sure, let me finish these sutures first." She finished quickly and threw away the tiny extra bits of suture string she had left over. She dumped the extra lidocane in the sink. "3 of lidocane." she noted. Disposal of drugs. It had become a big deal since the Carter thing. Always had to have a nurse or a doc around with you. Jing-Mei figured Dave would suffice.
They walked out into the hall. Dave pulled the films out of the large yellow envelope and secured them to the board. He flipped on the light and Jing-Mei gasped when she saw the image of the girl's foot.
"Is the other one like this too?"
"Actually it's a little worse." He switched the films and showed her the other one.
"Nearly every bone in her feet is damaged. Some are bruised, some have hairline fractures, and some are completely broken!"
"This is almost impossible. How can you break so many bones?"
"Holy sh*t...Dave, did you say she had foot lacs? how old is she again? 7?"
"Yeah, exactly. Why?"
"I've got to take a look at this girl's feet."
"Sure,sure."
Jing-Mei raced down the hall. Dave grabbed the films and ran after her, forgetting to turn off the light. He arrived at the entrance to curtain 1 and saw Jing-Mei carefully examining the young girls' feet. She was wincing more than the patient as she discovered each new lac and scar.
She began speaking angrily and even faster than before to the mother. The mother seemed defensive, but said little. When Jing-Mei paused for breath, the mother began to speak, only to be interrupted by the irate Jing-Mei. Dave stepped into the room when he saw Jing-Mei's face turn bright red. She was gettng much too worked up. He put a hand on her shoulder.
"Dr. Chen, what is it?" he always tried to be polite to the other docs in front of patients...even those who didn't understand him. It was one of the few rules he didn't mind following.
"I never thought I'd see this...never."
"Jing-Mei, what is it?" he tried to be polite. Sometimes it didn't work out so well.
"Footbinding." she glared at the mother.
"Footb...oh! I remember learning abo...damn...wow." The sudden memory of what it was stopped Dave mid-sentence.
"It's only been a few months, the damage should be reversable."
"Well that's good!"
"If we rebreak all the bones in this poor girl's foot and reset them. It will be painful...how could someone DO this to their child?"
"You want me to make the call?"
"Yeah. But call me when they get here. And don't call the orthopods, these lacs need to be sutured and bandaged first."
"Sure. Good pick up, Jing-Mei."
"Hey, anything for the patients. If we don't help them, who will?"
"The world is not all bad, Jing-Mei."
"Oh yeah? I'd like you to show me just one person....just one who..."
"Isn't bad?" she nodded. "Well, you're lookin at him!" Dave flashed his famous smile.
"Dave, if YOU are my source of hope for the human race, we're doomed."
"Hey! Come on, really...what about you? You're not bad...you're great, in fact."
"I've done more than my share of bad." She thought of Michael, her...not her...sweet little boy...she'd done enough bad.
"And you've done more than your share of good. Jing-Mei, you're a doctor! You save people's lives every day."
She smiled at him weakly, trying to believe him. Trying to get the baby's face out of her mind.
"I'm gonna, um, suture these lacs and admit her. Can you call now?" They walked to the admin desk.
"Of course." He picked up the reciever and dialed the number that he knew all to well. Satisfied, Jing-Mei left and headed to curtain 1. She sent the mother out of the room and got a suture tray from the shelf. When the young girl saw her with the needles and bandges, she bit her lower lip and tried not to cry.
Jing-Mei saw her trembling with fear. *No, no. This will help your feet feel better. It won't hurt at all. I promise we're going to make you better.*
The girl nodded tentatively and let Jing-Mei put the sutures in. She knew imediately from the gentle way the doctor was taking care of her that she could be trusted.
Jing-Mei reached for the gauze, realizing that there were too many lacs to cover them seperately. She would have to wrap both feet entirely to prevent infection and keep the sutures clean.
*I have to wrap your feet up now. Tell me if it's too tight. Stop me if I hurt you.*
The child didn't make a sound as Jing-Mei carefully wrapped her feet.
*Now lie down and rest, Anna. It's been a long day.* Anna nodded and Jing-Mei tucked the blankets carefully around her little body. She looked tinier than she had before lying in the huge bed. She was only seven...Jing-Mei turned and saw Dave standing in the doorway.
"DCFS is on their way. And I admitted her for you. How's she doing?"
"Scared, but OK. She's going to be just fine." Her eyes began to tear as she watched the sleeping child. Her tears fell onto her pale cheeks, falling onto her white lab coat. Dave reached out cautiously and put his arms around her. She cried on his shoulder, her tears soaking his tee shirt. He held her close and whispered in her ear.
"It's going to be ok."
****
"How did it go with DCFS, Jing-Mei?"
"OK, I guess. They're looking for a foster home for her. She's scared...but she knows it's best for her, I think. The prospect of living with strangers doesn't seem too thrilling to her." Jing-Mei had been translating during an interview with DCFS. "The mom's furious. She did this to her older daughter as well, but the older one moved out, to the father's house. They found out this was happening before, and they took the child out. But they forgot about Anna."
"Sounds like the system we know and hate. But Jing-Mei, it's all we have. It sucks, but it's the only thing we can do. Besides, Anna's going to have to stay here, up in Ortho, for... a while. At least until they reset her foot. She can stay longer, if need be. We can arrange a long stay, and then if they don't find a family right away..."
"Then she can have no one to rely on. That's just great for a kid in the hospital. Perfect situation for a scared, abused little girl."
"She's got us. I don't know about you, but I'm going to visit her. Like you said, she has no one. Besides us." Jing-Mei stared at Dave, amazed by his sensitive side. She had seen him like this a few times, and only...only in cases of child abuse.
"Dave, did something happen to you? As a child? I mean, whenever we have a child abuse case, you just...what's wrong?"
"Now that, Jing-Mei Chen, is a question that can only be answered over dinner. What do you say?"
"Do you ever stop flirting, Dave?"
"Not when I like someone."
"Dave..." She was going to protest, but she was too tired and emotionally drained. "Yeah...let me get my coat." He flashed her a smile as she headed into the lounge, opening her locker and staring at the picture of Michael she had taped up there. "Sorry honey...sorry I couldn't take care of you...it could be worse...right?" Trying to convince herself of that, she grabbed her coat and assured herself for the millionth time that she had done the right thing. She saw Dave, standing happily in his scrubs, not caring that it was freezing out.
"Ready, Jing-Mei?"
"Yeah."
They smiled at each other and walked out the doors to the El, leaning on each other for support. "Thanks for helping me today."
"Anytime, Dave. Thanks for..."
"Anytime, Jing-Mei." They both grinned and got on the train as she slipped her hand into his, marvelling at how good it felt to have someone there for her.