Linda collapsed against the counter; she could not believe what she was hearing. Louise was hurt bad enough to need an ambulance? She was used to calling that one of her children had been injured at school. They got hurt almost as much as they got in trouble. Most of the injury calls were as simple as being informed there was an open wound, they needed to keep clean and watch for a few days or asking for approval to give them an Over-the-Counter pain killer. Each child had endured at least one school injury that required medical attention. When Gene was in the third grade a bigger kid hit him square in the face with a dodgeball, breaking his nose in two places. When Louise was in second grade, she went down the slide on her stomach and broke her arm. They both were checked out and driven to the hospital. When Tina fell on those platform shoes and broke her ankle. They didn't even worry when both her and Bobby were busy, and they couldn't check her out right away. For Louise to be injured it was bad enough to need an ambulance. This must be something serious. The rest of the call was a series of uh-huhs, and I understand.
"Lin? What happened?" Bob asked.
"Louise got hurt at school." Linda replied.
"Yeah so? Louise gets hurt at least once a week. Half the time she's exaggerating the severity to get out of class." Bob commented.
"Bobby, she fell off the monkey bars. They called an ambulance." Linda explained.
"No" Bob gasped biting his lip.
To Tina the world may as well have stopped spinning. Louise was lying on the ground surrounded by paramedics who were lifting her onto a backboard. They were putting her on a backboard because she could not feel her legs. If Louise could not feel her legs. That meant she was paralyzed. The medics were asking Louise questions, that she was answering them with relative ease, considering all that she was going through. Tina could tell her sister was scared to death, but she was keeping her brave face. Louise was so strong and for that Tina was grateful.
"Is my sister going to be paralyzed?" Tina asked as the medics lifted the backboard onto a stretcher.
"From what she tells us it seems that way, but she could have just shocked her spinal cord. They will run more thorough tests once she arrives at the hospital." One of the paramedics explained.
"I have to ride in the ambulance with her." Tina insisted.
"I am sorry but nobody under sixteen unless they are a patient." The medic apologized.
"Please my parents aren't here. She shouldn't have to ride alone." Tina begged.
"I was going to go with her." Ms. Labonz offered.
"LOUISE!" Bob cried, racing across the playground.
"Oh, my baby! My sweet baby! We are here! We are not too late!" Linda cried heading straight for the stretcher.
"Are you, her parents?" The medic who had talked to Tina asked.
"Yes" Bob replied.
"See your parents are here. It is OK." The medic assured.
"We've got to go. Only one parent in the ambulance." Another medic declared.
"Bobby, you go." Linda insisted.
"OK" Bob replied. He did not want to do this but knew Louise needed him.
It didn't make any sense to Louise. She was just a little girl, and she may be paralyzed. Why didn't they let her have both her parents with her in the ambulance? And Tina and Gene were too young to go with her? Didn't they see how scared she was? Didn't they see how much she needed her family. She knew that Linda was following behind the ambulance, and they would be reunited soon enough, but when? Surely, she would be rushed away for tests upon arrival. Those tests would probably take hours. Hours of pain and fear before being allowed to see her family again? It just didn't seem fair.
The ambulance jolted to a stop in front of the hospital. The paramedics rushed Louise off and through the sliding hospital doors. She was strapped to the board and could only see what she was above but managed to read the sign on the doors. This was not Seymour's Bay General where she went when she broke her arm and where Tina had her tonsils out. They were at Devereaux General Hospital. Where Courtney went when she had issues with her heart. At least it wasn't the big Children's Hospital in Bog Harbor, but Louise knew it must be pretty serious if they brought her here. Seymour's Bay General was only maybe a ten-minute drive, but Devereaux was almost half an hour away. Unlike Courtney she did not have a specialist at this hospital. If they brought her this far away. It was because they knew how badly she was hurt and knew she would need a specialist.
"It's going to be OK, Louise." Bob assured, squeezing her foot. Oh, how she wished she had felt it rather than just seeing it with her peripheral vision.
Hours ticked by and the Belcher family clung to each other for dear life. Louise was alive, that was the important thing. She was alive; and she was awake and responsive. They also held onto a thin thread of hope. That Louise had actually just shocked her spinal cord and would regain full movement soon. If that weren't the case, they prayed the injury were not as severe as the doctors feared, and she would eventually recover. Even if it took months or years, if there was hope for a cure. They would do anything to get Louise back on her feet.
"Belcher family?" A doctor called from the doorway.
"That's us." Bob replied standing and heading towards the door. The rest of the family followed suit.
Bob, Linda, Tina, and Gene followed Dr. James down a dank hallway to a small office. Dr. James took a seat behind the desk. Bob and Linda sat in the empty chairs in front of the desk. While Tina stood in the middle, Gene climbed awkwardly onto Linda's lap.
"There is good and bad news." Dr. James announced.
"Cut to the chase, doc. Is my sister going to be, OK?" Tina questioned.
"I am going to start with the bad news. The bad news is that Louise has suffered a complete Spinal Cord Injury. The injury occurred almost directly between the L1 and T12 vertebrae. I am afraid that she will never walk again. She will also experience incontinence. At the moment she has a catheter placed for urine and a diaper for feces. Though we do recommend she eventually have a permanent catheter and colostomy bag placed. A colostomy bag is a surgically placed hole in the abdomen where a bag is placed. It will basically allow Louise to have her bowel movements directly into the bag. Rather wearing a diaper and risking further complications. Another complication that will not be an issue for at least a few years is that Louise will not have sensation in her genitals. Er I would still have the talk with her when she comes of age. Because she may still have er desires or well, she may fake it for the sake of her partner. There are resources to handle that when the time comes." Dr. James explained.
"So, you are saying that my baby sister is completely paralyzed from the waist down, incontinent, and may never be able to have SEX, but there is still good news? Well, what the hell is it?" Tina demanded.
"Tina" Bob warned feeling guilty that Tina was doing so much of the talking but he was still processing the shock of it all and Linda was struggling to keep from breaking down completely.
"Sorry" Tina muttered.
"The good news is that as far as Spinal Cord Injuries go Louise's is considered to be mild to moderate. Yes, she will never walk again and yes there will be a multitude of permanent effects. However, with therapy she will be able to regain a good amount of independence. She has full use of her arms. So, she will still be able to feed and dress herself. She will be able to operate her own wheelchair and transfer herself from her chair to her bed, the couch, or another seat. She will be able to bathe herself. She will be able to cook and clean for herself. When she gets older, she will be able to live completely on her own, drive with the help of a specialized vehicle, and with a few obvious exceptions she will be able to have a regular job." Dr. James explained,
"She will be able to do all those things, but everything will have to be at her level. The thing is we live in a tiny apartment above our restaurant. It is almost completely inaccessible. In fact, we have to go up a narrow stairway just to access the bedrooms. We do have a small room downstairs, but it is completely open and smaller than the converted closet that Louise currently uses as a bedroom. Her bed is a loft bed. Even if we took down the bed and replaced it with her old bed. The room is still too small for a wheelchair. Of course, we will do whatever it takes but we are talking about a complete renovation. We cannot afford that." Bob rambled.
"Well, there are charities that assist families like yours to make the appropriate modifications. However, because Louise's injury occurred at school. You could always get a lawyer." Dr. James explained.
"But I've heard about lawsuits bankrupting schools! Although Louise would love that." Tina commented.
"Look I would recommend talking to Louise to see what exactly caused the fall and reviewing security camera footage. I would also recommend having an investigation done into the playground. Because if Louise's account of landing on her back is correct. That was a relatively short fall to cause this severe injury. Typically, when you see paralysis from a fall off of monkey bars. The patient fell on their head and suffered a cervical injury. Which is another way she is lucky. Because that could result in quadriplegia or even death." Dr. James explained.
"Why would they need to look at the playground?" Linda wondered.
"Because I suspect that Louise fell on a rock or something else that should not have been underneath monkey bars or anything else with a high fall risk and that is what caused her injury." Dr. James explained.