Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Three Word Wednesday - Trip









The rules, if you wanna call 'em that, are here.
Today's Words: Hassle, Inject, Wealth

Trip (A True Story)

Yesterday began with the usual hassle – Getting ready for work. My girlfriend and I left the house around 6:00am and stopped at a local convenience store so she could get some milk for cereal at work. I parked and she got out. She was wearing white denim pants and a pretty, pink, silk blouse I’d got her for Christmas in 2008.

It was still dark. I watched her turn to her left as she approached the door to the convenience store – a wealth of bounce and happy in her step. Suddenly she tripped and fell forward. Her legs raced to catch up with her upper body, which was sprinting ahead. Her legs lost the race, and she stumbled about four feet forward, landing hard on her left knee. She continued her fall. The top of her head hit the shatter-proof glass of the door and bent her neck back. She collapsed on the hard concrete.

I leapt out of the car and sprinted to her. I kneeled next to her and asked her what hurt: “My neck and my knee.” She was crying. I immobilized her neck and told the store clerk to call an ambulance. Five minutes later, an off-duty paramedic, at the store for coffee on his way to work, stopped to help. The local EMTs arrived five or so minutes later.

I was calm and (I hope) comforting throughout, but my heart broke; it cried deeply as I wished I could bear all the pain she was feeling.

It took about 35 minutes for the ambulance to get her to the hospital. I was in her ER room soon after arriving, asking how she was. I watched the nurse inject her with morphine to ease her pain. The kindest, gentlest, and most peaceful woman I’ve ever met in my life – a woman I love – was in pain, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

After several X-Rays, a CT scan, and a few hours, the neurosurgeon came in and announced that she had a deep contusion on her left knee and that a small piece of bone had broken off of her fourth cervical vertebra. Fortunately, no surgery is required – just a cervical collar.

We arrived home in the vicinity of 3:30pm. We changed clothes. Shelley sat down on the couch and drifted off into a deep, peaceful sleep. The house was quiet, except for the sound of my sobbing heart.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Best wishes for your lady love to get well soon ! god bless you both .

Deech said...

I am sorry to hear this Carlos! Best wishes to Shelly for a very speedy recovery!

Rinkly Rimes said...

A clever intermingling of words. And not true I hope!

Gemma Wiseman said...

This story rings with controlled, but very deep emotion! I checked back to the beginning and noted that you bracketed that it was a true story!. So I presume it is a true story about your experience!

To you both - Namaste!

anthonynorth said...

A frightening experience. Hope she makes a full recovery.

Rimpy Rimpington said...

Poor Shelley! What a scary experience. I hope she feels better soon. Nice storytelling, too.

~willow~ said...

o.u.c.h!! what an awful thing to happen to anyone. You state it's a true story: hopefully writing about it helped lessen the trauma you yourself experienced.

Robert Lloyd said...

This was very well written and at the same time so very unfortunate for you two. I hope all is well with your lovely lady. Sobbing heart indeed.

Jay R. Thurston said...

Here's wishing Shelley a quick recovery!

As for the story, Gemma said it perfectly, this has "controlled and deep emotion." Well done!

Anya Padyam said...

Oh! that was really unfortunate! I hope everything gets back to normal soon!

a speedy recovery!

What a second can change!! the uncertainties of life...

Best wishes always

Thomma Lyn said...

Awwww -- beautifully and touchingly written, suffused with your love for Shelley. I hope she's feeling better soon.

Stan Ski said...

If only it weren't a true story. Hope all will be well soon.

Linda Jacobs said...

Hope she recovers soon! Love this line, "a wealth of bounce and happy in her step." Very poetic!

Amity said...

What a terrible day for you and your lady love...

May Shelly get well soon. I could feel that feeling you have when you can't do anything except to sooth and assure her that everything will be fine in the middle of her pains!

It was just too sad Carlos!

Let your smile help her get well soon! That's what I can say as written in my rendition of the prompt!

Carlos said...

Ladynimue Thank you so much.

Joker: Thank you, neighbor. :-)

Rinky Rimes: Gracias, kind sir; unfortunately, it was very true. Happened just this past Tuesday. I can’t get the sight of her falling out of my head.

Gemma: Thank you for the kind compliment.

Anthonynorth: Very frightening. And I hope she recovers well, too. Thank you very much.

Rimpster: Very. As I said in my response to Rinky, I can’t get the sight of her falling out of my head. I keep asking, “Why couldn’t that have been me instead?”

Willow: It was quite awful. And writing (something I’ve used as an outlet for years) did help. Not the most creative venture of my amateur writing “career,” but it was therapeutic.

Robert Lloyd: Thank you, kind sir. She’s doing well, all things considered. The Vicodin is helping. It’ll be hard to keep her resting – she hates restraint.

Jay Thurston: Thank you very much!

Just Someone: Very unfortunate! I’ve thought about that second very frequently since her fall. What if I’d pulled up a few more feet? What if I’d stopped at a different store? Everything would likely be different.

Thomma Lyn: Thank you! She’s getting better, though I imagine different aches and pains will come on in the next few days as other parts of her body react.

Stan Ski: If only :-)

Linda Jacobs: Thank you for the kind words!

Amity: Thank you so much. I’ll keep my smile handy for her in the coming days.

Tumblewords: said...

Best wishes to you both!

Thom Gabrukiewicz said...

You were there for her and that's all that matters. Hope she's feeling better.

TC said...

I'm so sorry to read this :-/ I hope she's doing better now, and that you're doing better as well.