Chapter 37 – Food Critics
Adventures of the Melee
Nolan 17, Lissa 17, Ryder 13, Olivia 10
Annabelle 5, Victoria 5, Lucas 3½
Later the same day as Chapter 36
In the Exam Room, Amelia held Lucas tightly and swayed left to right hoping to calm him down. More out of fear and exhaustion than pain, Lucas continued to cry as they waited for someone to stitch him up. Alex, hearing from Jo that the Shepherd-Hunts had a 2nd hospital patient, headed downstairs as soon as Jo made it to Ria's room to switch places with him.
"Hey, Brave Man, I bet the floor looks worse than your cut," Alex declared as he entered the room. "Can I take a look, buddy?" Hesitantly, Lucas nodded as his cry turned to a whimper.
"When's the last time he ate?" Alex asked as he measured the cut and analyzed its depth.
"Ummm…he… oh, Owen, he hasn't eaten at all," Amelia confessed. "This all happened right when he woke up."
Alex grimaced at Amelia and locked his eyes on hers, "Mmm Hmm…" Mumbling out of the side of his mouth, he observed, "That's why he's an emotional wreck."
Hiding his hand over his face in embarrassment, Owen picked up the phone and buzzed the nurses' desk. When a medical assistant answered the line, Owen requested, "Shelly, could you get a peds meal in here pronto? And maybe some juice and crackers while we're waiting."
Within a minute, expecting to see Dr. Hunt treating someone else's child, Shelly entered and paused in surprise. "Here we are, Dr. Hunt," she announced as she set down a tray holding a juice box and graham crackers. Seeing them, Lucas motioned his hand into a fist and then wide open repeatedly until someone placed the snack in his hand.
As tears stopped flowing and sat on the edge of his lower lids, Lucas sniffled and said, "Sank you."
"Oh, you sweet boy. You're welcome," Shelly responded as she grasped Luke's hand. "Dr. Karev, anything I can do to help?"
Still studying Luke's lac, Karev responded without making eye contact, "Thanks, Shelly. I need a peds suture kit – internal and external, a nurse needs to irrigate and numb him up, and let's get him a fresh ice pack."
"Right away, doctor," Shelly responded as she stepped out of the room. Almost immediately, she opened the door a crack and handed Amelia the ice pack.
Joe entered with a tray in hand. He was a retired and former hospital transport man who worked in the cafeteria because he found retirement boring. Everyone knew Joe. "Good afternoon, Drs. And who's this cool cat?" Joe held out his hand to shake Lucas' hand and showed he was impressed when Lucas reciprocated. "They told me, 'Joe, you better get to the ER in a hurry. Chief's son…his tummy is growling.' Is your tummy growling?" Joe inquired.
Alex played along and put his stethoscope on Luke's tummy, "Oh, man, it's loud in there. Lots of growling and grumbling."
Lucas giggled at the playful distraction as Alex rubbed some numbing cream around the wound and requested, "Hey, Joe, do you suppose you could keep that going while we get things going back here?"
"As long as you write me a doctor's note for not getting back to my post, Dr. Karev," Joe joked. He stole the doctor's stool from behind Alex, who was standing, and rolled over in front of Lucas. "You and me, we're not supposed to sit on these. We don't wear the white coats, but," leaning in to whisper quietly, Joe explained, "if you don't tell on me, you can sit here later and try it out." Joe flashed a giant ear-to-ear grin at Lucas as Lucas whispered his promise not to tell.
A nurse, Susan, came in the room carrying a tray. The syringe was hidden under a crisp towel. She smiled with relief when she saw that Joe was there distracting Lucas – she wished Joe could assist with every peds case. After greeting Owen and Amelia, Susan stood by Karev as she slipped on fresh gloves.
"I'll stick if you pinch," Karev explained to Susan. She was wonderful to have on peds cases because she was consistently able to translate his code words into medspeak.
After nodding at Joe, Susan told Lucas, "I need to move the skin by your cut, buddy. I'll be quick. The most you'll feel is a tiny pinch."
Joe heeded his cue and pointed out the chocolate pudding, "Maybe you should start with this, huh?"
"Ok," Lucas smiled.
Handing the tray to Amelia, Joe instructed, "In just a minute, we will, ok? First, I need you to squeeze my hands as tight as you can and hold your breath in until your cheeks pop out like this." More than anything, the exercise served as a distraction. "Ready? Go!... C'mon you can squeeze harder than that, I know you're stronger."
Lucas gritted his teeth and puffed out his cheeks as his arms held Joe's hands tightly and shook from the grip. In a split second, Susan pinched and Karev injected. Lucas hadn't even noticed the shot. Joe laughed and praised Luke's strength as he handed him the pudding.
"You three are quite the team," Owen observed. "Well done."
"We'll give that a few minutes to numb up and I'll be back. Susan will be back to irrigate and shave in the meantime. You two holding up?" Alex asked.
"Who's with Victoria?" Amelia questioned. Alex explained that Jo was reading to her and not under any time restrictions. She'd wait until they could get there.
Feeling the phone vibrate, Owen reached into his pocket to check the incoming text. It was from Nolan. Dad, hey… everyone hates me and Liss. Guess we did well on the consequences. How's little man?
Owen laughed heartily and typed a response, Just numbed up, stitches soon. Joe brought food and his smile. What were the consequences?
Only telling if you never use them on me or Liss, Nolan wrote back with a winking emoticon.
Owen's phone rang and Nolan shared all the details. With Lucas becoming squirrelly, Owen asked Nolan to chat with his brother and pass the phone around to the other siblings. Listening to Lucas tell his story became more and more entertaining. He was a fisherman in the making for sure.
By the time Lucas had spoken to Nolan, Anna, and Ryder, the listener would have gathered that Lucas was about to enter an emergency surgery with the world's most skilled surgeons.
Lissa was the final entertainee. "Hi Lukey," she exclaimed with energy.
After an enormous sigh, Lucas offered a breathy response, "Hi, Wissa. I'm at the hopspital."
"I know. Does your owie still hurt," she inquired.
With a weak voice made for the stage, the tiny martyr disclosed, "It's not a owie anymow. It's a lac."
Lissa giggled. Before she could say more, Lucas warned with a deeper voice, "It's serious, not funny."
"I'm sorry, Luke," Lissa offered as she held back laughter.
Interrupting Lucas' conversation with Lissa, Karev walked in with Susan and instructed Lucas, "Your stock trade is going to have to pause, there, Mr. Hunt. Say goodbye to your broker."
"What?" Lucas wondered aloud.
"Sorry… guess that one doesn't work with the 3 year old set. The babies love it," Alex winked. "The phone – can you say goodbye?"
"Here, Wissa. Here's Mommy. It's time for sutures," Lucas stated as he handed the phone to Amelia. Smiling that the doctors' kid used the proper medical term, Owen wondered how many three year olds would be as savvy.
"We'll be in touch when we get to Ria's room, Lis," Amelia offered before saying goodbye.
Susan irrigated as Karev coached and assisted by holding the wound open. With fine scissors, Alex prepared to snip some of Luke's hair away from the lac. "Mom…you want to save the curls?"
"Yes," Amelia smiled with a tinge of embarrassment. Susan held open an envelope as Alex cut a small section of Luke's hair. Once the irrigation and hair were completed, Alex began to suture.
Both Amelia and Owen leaned over Karev's shoulder and analyzed each stitch. While close supervision was the norm during his training, Alex found the practice slightly annoying after becoming an attending. "Any critiques?" Alex questioned.
"No…no…looking great," Owen assured him.
"How many internals do you plan on?" Amelia quizzed.
Alex took a slow, quiet, deep breath and replied, "See where the lac curves about 15mm down? I'm thinking 3 above and 2 below that point."
"Hmmm…" Amelia responded with a tone of doubt.
"You'd prefer?" Alex inquired.
Amelia smirked, "This is your gig. You're the doc."
Owen glared at Amelia with a touch of embarrassment and a hint of frustration as he coached, "More than one way to skin a cat."
"Yep and to sew up a kid too," Amelia quipped in her 'go get em' tone of voice. Seconds later, unable to contain herself, she added as casually as possible, "For what it's worth, I'd place the internals 1-2 mm apart and go with a horizontal mattress stitch externally."
Karev puffed out a breath of air mixed with a chuckle and glanced at Owen. In response, Owen shrugged his shoulders slightly and leaned his head to one side as he offered a non-verbal apology.
"What's so funny?" Amelia stated plainly.
"Nothing. Nothing at all," Alex responded as he added more internal sutures.
Oblivious that Owen and Alex were holding in laughter at her detailed and unsolicited advice, Amelia leaned closer and beamed at Karev's additional stitches, celebrating, "There you go."
Clearing his throat, Owen suggested, "Mia, why don't you sit down and face Lucas? He's going to start getting antsy." Amelia casually agreed and began to make up a story to keep Lucas entertained. Soon thereafter, the sutures were completed.
Alex moved around and declared, "Lucas, you are the very best patient I've ever worked on. Good job staying still." He offered a high five and gave Lucas a quick overview about letting his parents brush his hair and keeping his head away from water for a few days.
Owen scooped up his son and enthusiastically suggested, "Let's go see Victoria." Lucas clapped and celebrated.
In the elevator, Amelia glanced at Owen and then looked away. After three rounds of the same action, Owen gazed down and inquired, "What?"
"Was I rude to Alex? Should I have kept my mouth closed?" Amelia pondered aloud.
"You were fine. A concerned mom keeping track of her kid's wellbeing," Owen offered with his eyes fixed on the elevator door.
Wincing, Amelia groaned, "I was a concerned Mom? That means I was annoying. I was, wasn't I? I'm going to have to apologize to him."
Leaning down and kissing the top of her head, Owen reassured her, "You were fine, Mia. Let it go."
"I feel like I was bossy," she mused.
"You didn't boss Dr. K, Mommy. You are bossy at home but you not bossy in the ER," Lucas offered.
Amelia closed her eyes and grinned at the left handed compliment. "Thanks, sweetie," she managed to utter.
Entering Ria's room, Amelia held her arms out to her side as she came around the curtain and exclaimed, "Victoria!"
"Mommy!" Ria squealed happily. "Dr. K is reading to stories to me."
Owen followed Amelia into the room, grabbed two gloves, and patted Ria on the knee as he slipped her leg out from under the sheet, "I'm going to take a look, sweetie." With lowered brows and a quizzical gaze, Owen carefully removed the support cast. He surveyed the incision site and gently poked around it. "It looks good, Mia," he reported. "Wilson…sorry, Karev… come take a look. You won't see this technique very often."
Jo smirked and stood by Owen. He explained, "The trick with this closure is ensuring…" On and on, Owen offered a mini-lecture to Jo on the specialized stitch, its benefits, and the potential risks.
Amelia climbed next to Ria in bed and, after multiple attempts to wiggle out of Owen's arms, Lucas was set on the bed by his daddy. He crawled up by his mom and sister, interrupting their conversation, "Ree, I was at the me-mer-gen-cee room. My head got cut."
"Can I see?" Ria requested.
"There's a dressing on it right now, honey," Amelia explained as she turned Lucas' head slightly and showed Ria the site.
"What happened?" Ria wondered aloud.
Lucas, aware that he had a set of fresh ears, began to recount his adventurous tale with dramatic arm movements, widened eyes, and varying tones of voice. His sister was captivated by the tale and believed every single word. Amelia leaned back on the pillow and let the presence of her sweet, adorable babies wash over her as Luke's recounting went from a small slip to a made-for-TV movie.
Once Owen finally finished his mini-lecture, Jo thanked Owen and explained that she needed to get back on the floor. She hugged Ria and said goodbye to the rest of the family before stepping into the hall.
Still at her surgical site, Owen quizzed Ria as if he were checking up on his own patient. For the most part, she did not know the answers to his questions. She consistently shrugged her shoulders and offered an endearing grin.
"Daddy…" Amelia, her eyes closed, warned from the pillows, "you're not her doctor."
"Ha! I didn't say that to you in the ER," Owen quipped with a half-laugh.
Opening her eyes, Amelia huffed, "You told me I wasn't bossy."
"I was trying to be nice," he flirted with a glimmer in his eye.
Lucas, who had missed his naptime, began rubbing his eyes. He became quieter as he yawned and insisted he wasn't tired. Owen pulled out the sofa bed and spread out the sheets and blanket, encouraging Amelia to nap first and suggesting Lucas could give his mommy a backrub to help her fall asleep. Within five minutes, both Amelia and Lucas were snoozing and Owen had Ria all to himself.
"When is everyone going to come see me?" Ria wondered with a tinge of loneliness as Owen kicked off his shoes and stretched out on the bed.
"Our whole day has been really crazy. Ryder, Olivia, and Anna are all in trouble, but maybe everyone else could come up and eat dinner together later. How's that sound?" Owen offered, wrapping his arm around his daughter.
Ria smiled and shared, "I don't know how to eat dinner alone 'cause we always eat together. And I don't know how to eat without my Anna because we grew together inside Mommy."
Gently touching her nose with his forefinger, Owen grinned and beheld Ria's presence. "You are a brave, inspiring, and incredible girl."
"What's inspiring mean?" Ria inquired as she rested her head on Owen's shoulder and nestled into the space between his chest and arm.
"It means that when people see or know you, you give them energy to try to be better people," Owen attempted.
"Wow…I do that?!" Ria responded with wonder. Owen squeezed his daughter a bit tighter and beamed.
"You do… just by being you," Owen praised. "Now which stories did Dr. K read and which are left?"
Although Jo had read The Very Hungry Caterpillar five times, Ria picked up her favorite story and handed it to Owen.
"In the light of the moon, a little egg lay on a leaf…" Owen began.
Ria interrupted, "That's gonna be the capatiller, Daddy."
"Yep," Owen smiled as he continued. "One Sunday morning, the warm sun came up and pop! Out of the egg came a tiny and very hungry caterpillar."
"Now he's gonna eat everything," Ria giggled. "Silly capatiller!"
"He started to look for some food. On Monday… he ate through…" Owen slowed.
"One apple. But he was still hungry!" Ria expressed with widened eyes.
"On Tuesday, he ate through…" Owen's voice sung with anticipation.
"Two pears! But he was still hungry!" Ria finished with a different tone than she'd used for Monday.
The routine continued as the father and daughter shared sentences and giggles. Owen added in his own questions and commentary, asking, "Could you eat that many oranges?" and "Boy, he really likes fruit."
Nearing the end of the story, Owen arrived at Ria's favorite part. Even when she and Anna took turns naming what the caterpillar ate, Ria consistently insisted on reading the list for Saturday. Owen spoke in a leading tone, knowing what was coming, "On Saturday, he ate through…"
Ria took a large breath and attempted to point and name each item without stopping, "chocolate cake, ice cream cone, pickle, cheese, salami, lollipop, pie, sausage…" She paused for more air, "cupcake, and watermelon."
Together, she and Owen ended the section, "That night he had a stomachache." Adding his own words, Owen teased, "Then he went to the ER for one blood sugar test, two shots of insulin, three bowls of bran cereal, four specialist consultations, five liters of saline, six thousand dollars in medical bills and seven…"
"Daddy! No!" Ria giggled mightily with a beaming smile, anticipating Owen's actions."
"… minutes of tickling!" Reaching for the sides of Ria's torso, Owen tickled and tickled then stopped by blowing a raspberry on her tummy.
Through her giggles, Victoria declared, "You know it doesn't say that, Daddy," as if she was surprised by what Owen always added.
"It doesn't? My copy from medical school had those words," Owen, feigning confusion, explained.
Ria leaned her head heavier onto Owen and laughed, "Daddy, this isn't a book for doctor school."
Shrugging, he retorted, "It was where I went."
From the couch and with closed eyes, Amelia interjected, "By the time I attended Harvard it wasn't. But Daddy's super old – older than mommy."
"Ria? Look at this part," Owen encouraged as he winked at his daughter and slid quietly off the bed. "I haven't seen these words before," he continued as he glanced back at his daughter and held his index finger up to his mouth. Victoria covered her mouth with both hands, managing to not laugh out loud.
Owen continued, "These new words say 'seven minutes of tickling…Mommy!" Amelia slowly opened an eye and quickly opened both eyes as Owen tickled her and kissed her.
"Stop," she giggled and wiggled, "You'll wake up Lucas."
"Nothing wakes him up," Owen countered.
"Really, O, stop," Amelia ordered unconvincingly with laughter. Owen was smart and knew he'd tickled enough. He stretched out next to Amelia, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her a few more times.
Then he returned to Victoria and finished the book, reading aloud the last few pages and ending with, "And he was a beautiful butterfly."
"Again! Again, Daddy," Ria begged.
Nearly always a softie when it came to his girls, Owen read and re-read the book four more times. Each version included the same side questions, medical commentary and tickling, but the tickling became more and more mellow with each presentation.