“Okay, can you tell me what happened?”
“I got punched.”
I waited for Chase to explain a little more about what happened, and it looked like the nurse was waiting, as well. But he didn’t continue on with his story at all. Instead, he was silent and just looked at the nurse.
“Okay, I’ll have the doctor come visit with you shortly. Are you having trouble breathing?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, let me get this oxygen on you for now.”
The nurse was efficient and had Chase out of his suit shirt and hooked up to oxygen in under two minutes. I just sat off to the side and waited patiently.
“I’m sorry, Jordan,” Chase said as he lay in the hospital bed.
“What for?”
“All of it. This isn’t how I wanted you to see me.”
“Well, if you want me to stick around, you are going to need to tell me exactly what is going on.”
“Okay.”
Chase closed his eyes for a minute and looked like he was just about to tell me everything when the doctor came in.
“Mr. Foster, I’m Doc
tor Jones. Tell me what happened.”
“I got punched.”
The doctor looked at Chase and then over at me as he waited for the rest of the story. When he was sure that Chase wasn’t going to elaborate, Dr. Jones moved on to examining his patient.
“Tell me where it hurts,” the doctor said as he started to press on Chase’s ribs.
“Fuck, yes, there…it hurts there,” he said at the first spot the doctor touched.
Instead of continuing, the doctor ordered the x-ray and then went to talk with the nurse. He seemed more concerned after he talked with her, and they looked at the chart that was in front of them. I really didn’t know what they were looking at that could have had them so concerned, but whatever it was seemed to get Chase into the x-ray rather quickly. Before we knew it, he was done and back to the room.
The doctor came in with the nurse about fifteen minutes later. He had a dire look on his face, and I had to hold back from trying to ask any questions.
“Do you want to tell me what really happened, Chase?” Dr. Jones asked.
“I think we can move forward. What’s the prognosis, Doc?”
“Well, you have two broken ribs and four fractured ribs. Luckily, none of them are loose or in danger of puncturing any of your organs. You will be really sore for a few weeks, maybe even a couple of months. But if you take it easy, everything should heal.”
I was relieved at the news, but shocked at how many fractured and broken ribs Chase had. It was amazing to me that he was even able to move.
“Thanks, Doc,” Chase said as he started to unhook himself and move to stand up.
“Just a minute, Chase. I’d really like you to stay here overnight just to make sure everything is all right. Your oxygen saturation is really low, and we need to get you some pain medications that won’t reduce your respirations.”
“You’re just trying to get me to stay because you know my father.”
“Yes, I know your dad, but that’s not why I think you should stay. You could stop breathing, with the combination of pain medication and your low oxygen rate. I can’t let you leave, Chase.”
“So, I won’t take pain medication. Problem solved.”