"He's first! Nurse, go prep him and then scrub up. I'll meet you in OR!"
Erin nodded as she and Porter carried the litter holding the unfortunate young man. "Yes, doctor!"
This one was bad. He was to be operated on first. From her initial glance, Erin could see the devistating damage, and despite how horrible it was, she had gotten to the point of numbness that she hardly ever felt bile rise to her throat.
His arm- what was left of it- had been bandaged together in the most primitive manner. His entire left side was covered with debris and dirt. His bloodied uniform showing the aftermath of getting too close to a grenade.
After having prepped their unlucky patient and having scrubbed up, Erin met Dr. Evans in the OR to assist with surgery.
"Looks bad, how far are you goi-"
Evans shook his head and sighed, "just above the elbow," he replied, interrupting her.
Erin sighed as well. "Looks like he just won a ticket state-side."
"Yeah... scalpel."
"Scalpel," she responded, handing him the sharp tool.
/scene/
"Hey sleepy head, how are you feeling?"
The man looked up at Erin, who was taking a seat on the stool beside his cot. He gave her a weak smile. "Good, I suppose it could be worse."
Erin frowned as she checked his bandages. "How'd it happen?"
"It started gettin' pretty rough out there. Me and a few of the others in my troop jumped in a trench to shelter ourselves. Next thing I know, one of my buddies shouts 'grenade'. There's a live one that rolled down in our trench. And I... I did the first thing that came to mind."
Erin stopped her work. "You mean you picked it up?"
He nodded. "I had to throw it. If it had went off so close to the other men then they'd be..."
Erin felt a pang in her heart. The man's selflessness almost bringing her to tears. "...that was very brave of you."
He smiled bitterly. "I almost hate myself for regretting it. If I hadn't have done it I wouldn't have to live... like this, we'd just all be dead." Sighing, he readjusted his pillow and turned closer to Erin. "But, at least it's just one missing arm instead of four dead men."
"At least you get to go home. Family, friends, you get to be free again."
"I suppose that's one ray of sunshine."
"You got anyone waiting for you?"
He nodded. "My wife and little girl. Jenny just turned eight last month."
She watched as his eyes glazed over at the mention of his daughter and soon the warm tears rolled down his cheeks.
"You know, I played baseball in college. But after I married and Jenny came along, I'd play it with her from the moment she could hold a bat." He wiped his face off with the back of his hand and pulled the blanket over him tighter.
Oh god. One of the hardest parts of being an army nurse must have been hearing things like this. The wounds that went deeper than the skin. That was the worst.
And now he wouldn't be able to play with his daughter anymore.
"Who knows, maybe she'll end up being the best athlete you've ever seen."
He smiled, "she already is. There's probably thousands of baseball players out there, but only one of them is my little girl."
Erin sat up from the stool and walked to the end of the bed and leaned against the post. She checked his chart, and glanced at the name on the board. "So, Private Raymond, what city do you call home?"
"Chattanooga, Tennessee. Not far from the mountain view."
"I hear it's real nice over there in June."
"It is. Too bad I missed it."
Erin game him a faint smile. "Well, you'll have July, hoping you'll be home within two weeks."
The private smiled back as Erin turned to leave. "Yeah... and thanks for the talk, nurse."