Note: Again... not a doctor please disregard by errors.
Chapter 10:
At 7:30 a new doctor came in.
"Good Morning… Julie Taylor?" He whispered.
Both her parents and Tim were asleep.
Tim was in a chair at the foot of the bed and his legs were draped over the plastic foot board and his feet were tucked under her blanket. His boots were on the floor.
Eric was just passed out with his head leaned back on the wall.
And Tami was curled onto Eric's shoulder with her feet on the floor.
"Yes sir." She whispered back. She shifted accidentally kicking Tim. His eyes blinked a few times and then stayed open when he noticed someone new in the room.
The doctor came over to her right side to speak with her softly. He figured no one had gotten much sleep. He had looked over her chart and noticed the police presence. He knew this child was going through something awful and he was going to try to help.
"My name is Doctor Collins. Most call me Sam though."
"Uh… Julie."
"Well Julie, I am the pediatric orthopedist and I consulted with Dr. Jones. He would feel more comfortable if I perform the procedure since I am more familiar with pediatric patients and then i'll be your doctor for the remainder of your stay."
"Okay… I'm… that's fine with me. It will be the same procedure though? He gave me information to read and I read it already." She pointed to the table to her left where the papers sat.
"Yes. The same. The only difference is that when we talked he mentioned he hadn't told you about the possibility of pins."
"Pins?" She asked nervously.
"Yes. I would like to place a dissolvable pin on each side of your wrist to make sure the bones stay where they belong. You are young and healthy and I'd like you to stay that way. The pins will make for a smoother recovery."
"But a bigger incision right?"
"Not really… maybe a tiny bit bigger. They are pretty small. Small and mighty I'd say."
Tim chucked.
"Sounds like her."
Julie blushed.
Dr. Collins smiled and nodded.
"Any questions Julie?"
"Yes. Sorry!"
"No no… ask away!"
"Is the recovery still 8 weeks?"
"Well everyone heals differently. I'd say that's an accurate estimate but it could be more or less."
"Will I have a soft cast first?"
"Ohh… did Jonesy say that?"
She nodded.
"Well it'll be more like what you have now. Except over the stitches will be some steri-strips… little bandaids. The benefit of a soft cast is you don't have too much trouble showering. Just cover the stitches and don't get them wet and of course try not to move the wrist around."
"Will it be hard to shower?"
"Well I see you also have 3 injured ribs. You are going to have a tough time to be honest. A nurse will probably offer to help you shower before you leave and I would recommend taking them up on that. You will be tired and weak and I recommend having someone with you. Maybe your mom. Even if she can just sit in the room with you in case you need her. Also doing your hair things will be almost impossible until you get used to doing things one handed so you may need someone to wash your hair and it's honestly just a lot of little stuff we all take for granted until we can't use a hand. Are you right handed?"
Julie nodded.
"That will make it harder. But… looks like you have a good support system." He said looking around the room.
Julie smiled. "Yeah… I'm probably going to snap at them a lot."
He nodded and Tim smirked.
"That's part of it too. I always tell parents that broken bones can sometimes turn their kids into little demons. They just have to take it day by day and you do too."
"Thank you."
"Oh you are so welcome. Any other questions?"
"Um when?"
"Oh I have 1 impatient little gremlin before you. So it will still be around 9."
"Um and this is a completely stupid question I'm sure but can I eat breakfast? I'm hungry."
"It's not a stupid question and i'm glad you asked. Unfortunately I'm going to say no. It's policy but after you are done, I know where the ice cream is."
Julie smiled.
"Hey Doc, how long is the surgery and will she be sent home today?" Tim asked.
Julie didn't even think of that question.
"Oh… typically the surgery is anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. No. After the surgery Julie will be in recovery for I'd say about an hour to 90 minutes, then she will be admitted to the pediatric unit for the day for observation. You may be released tomorrow or more likely Monday morning just to be safe since you do have multiple injuries."
"Well damn." Eric said waking up and only hearing the doctor's answer.
Julie shook her head.
"You should escape Dr. Collins while you can…"
He smiled.
"Let a nurse know if you or your family have any more questions."
"What'd I miss?" Eric asked.
Tim stood up and stretched then sat back down.
"They will be back around 9 to get me for surgery." Julie said not wanting to repeat everything.
Eric nodded and looked at his sleeping wife.
He thought about what he heard. Julie will probably be here till Monday morning. It is only Saturday morning. That's 2 more nights here. They gotta go be with Gracie Belle… Julie's gonna be alone. Maybe Tami can go home and I'll stay or I'll go and she can stay… either way we can tag team it for our girls.
They heard a commotion in the hallway.
Tim and Eric both moved towards the door to investigate.
When they opened the door they noticed the 2 guards were with 2 others just down the hall.
Then they all heard it.
"GET OFF OF MY SON! HE IS ONLY FIFTEEN! HE IS JUST A KID!" Joe McCoy bellowed.
"Sir. Calm down. He is under arrest. Follow us quietly please."
"THIS IS A MISTAKE. COME ON. HE IS JUST A BOY."
Julie shivered as Joe McCoy's voice rang in her ears.
Eric and Tim stood in the hallway and saw JD led out by an officer and his parents.
Tim locked eyes with JD.
Eric locked eyes with Joe.
"THIS IS A SHIT SHOW! I WILL HAVE ALL OF YOUR BADGES!"
Tim didn't need to see anything else. He stepped back in the room and squatted down on the side by Julie's left hand. Her mother was somehow still asleep.
"It's okay. Breathe."
She was about to cry.
Tim offered his hand and she interlaced their fingers.
"I…"
"No… shhh. Julie, You haven't done anything wrong."
She nodded and tried not to cry.
Eric briefly stepped back in.
"Jules? Are you okay if I go call Tyra to check on Gracie Belle and maybe get some coffee?"
She knew he just needed to see them leave and have a minute to himself.
"Yeah dad… go. I have Tim." She got out before bursting into tears when the door closed.
Tim wanted to hold her but didn't know how.
"Okay… shh. I want to hug you or hold you but you have this IV and then your arm."
She squeezed his hand.
"I'm okay. You're here. I just… I hate them all. I'm glad they are leaving the hospital so they aren't near me. I know he just wants to protect his son but his son hurt me and would have raped me. It's all just shitty." She whispered the word raped.
"I know Julie. He's going to jail."
I hope. He added in his head.
"He scares me Tim and his father... what if he tries something?"
Tim leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead.
"I'm not gonna let him or his father anywhere near you Julie. I promise."
Julie moved her hand and wrapped it around his back pulling him in for a hug.
"Jules, I don't want to hurt you."
"I don't care. I need a hug."
He sighed and carefully wrapped his arms around her neck and placed his left cheek right against hers.
They stayed this way for several minutes. Julie just cried and tried to melt into him.
He let go and stepped one step back then pulled Eric's forgotten chair right up against the side of her bed and flicked on the TV then held her hand.
"How is your mom still sleeping?"
Julie laughed.
"I have no idea."
The truth was Tami was still sleeping because she was exhausted from worrying the whole way there they had made about four trips to Dallas in the last month helping Shelly with her new house and Tami was just pooped. Plus she'd been up strange hours with Gracie and then leaving Gracie Belle with Tyra and seeing Julie hurt. She was just exhausted physically and emotionally.