Short Story by Elaine Carlson
"I feel uncomfortable with this helicopter."
Ye, gads what is this all about? I wished he would have discussed the subject with me before he called dispatch.
"We left Chase and are heading to Rich," he said. "I will be able to get to Peters Point."
Rich is short for Richardson Medical Center and I have never heard of Peters Point. I think I know where he is headed but just never knew the name of that landing spot.
"Is this plane broken?"
So, the patient heard and that is not good. I know it is wrong to lie but I think it would be better to make up something rather than tell her I don't know what's wrong.
"The helicopter is now only able to go twenty miles and it is a little over two hundred miles to the hospital," I said. "The landing spot isn't more than 8 or 9 miles."
"Do you think he will get lost?" she said. "And maybe it will take a long time to get there?"
"No Carla," I said. "Cliff is a very good pilot and he knows where he is going."
I was surprised when she smiled. So, she meant that question as a joke. I ended up laughing.
"What are you girls laughing about?"
"She just asked me if maybe you will get lost going to Peters," I said. "And that we might not make it there before the helicopter conks out."
"I am not lost. We should be there in ten hours."
Suddenly it was all three of us laughing.
"The base is sending us another copter and we should get in thirty minutes."
It was a hopeful sign that the patient was alert and talking. But still I worried about her.
"How is the pain?"
"Oh, it is not bad," she said. "I feel something. Sort of less than a pain but not nothing."
"Is this feeling in your legs?"
"No. It is around here."
"You had some breaks in your pelvis," I say. "It is good you can feel something."
"We are almost there," he said. "Make sure she is anchored and don't forget to pin yourself down."
I tell her it won't be long. I almost feel like I am tucking in a child when I make sure the sheets, the blanket and the seat belts are secure and not loose. I sit down and am hooking my seat belt when I feel and hear the clump, clump onto the ground.
I look outside and I see what he called Peters Point is the place I thought it would be. I also see an ambulance and two cars. I know it is standard procedure to send an ambulance for back up.
"How come there are two cars?"
"One car is to take back the pilot," he said. "The other belongs to the doctor they sent."
"They sent a doctor," I say. "They cleared her for transfer so why would another doctor have to examine her."
"I don't know," he said. "But I think sending a doctor out here is crazy."
Pretty soon I hear some noise and realize Cliff is letting the door out. A large man is approaching the opening. He steps in through the opening and bends down so he can make his way through the cabin.
"I am Dr. Anderson," he said, "And I guess you are Deborah Ryan."
"I am glad to meet you."
"I read the original intake report and your notes," Dr. Anderson said, "I see how she was seriously hurt. But do you think things look good for her?"
"She is conscious and is not in a lot of pain," I say. "I am sure her outlook is good."
He then turns and introduces himself to Carla and starts to speak to her.
"When is the helicopter going to get here?"
"It should get here pretty quickly," he says. "I read your medical report and now I am going to ask you some questions."
"Are you going to be my doctor?"
"No. The hospital just wants me to examine you and find out if you are well enough to travel."
She looks at him but doesn't say anything. He is ready to question her.
"How were you hurt?"
"I was out riding my horse," she said, "I was going to meet my sister and a few friends at the end of the trail. We do that every Saturday."
"So, you are not new to riding?"
"I have been riding most of my life," she said. "In our family we joke that kids get put on a horse and start learning how to ride before knowing how to walk."
"So, what happened?"
"She is a new horse and I have been training her several hours a day for the past three weeks."
He listened and didn't say anything.
"Everything was fine," she said. She paused and he nodded to let her know to continue.
"And then a group of hikers came down the trail. They all had dogs. So many dogs.
"I guess about ten. And they all started to bark at me and my horse.
"She got spooked and reared up. "
He shook his head. He wanted her to know he understood her story.
"You had multiple pelvic fractures and your legs broken is what I saw in your medical report."
"Yeah," she said. "Also, they were worried about infection and if maybe I had a head injury."
"It is a good sign that you are alert," he said. "And what about your horse? Do you have a sister or friend who can train her before you are able to get back to normal?"
"I am pretty sure my sister is going to do that," she said. "I just hope they don't get so attached that when I get better, she won't be my horse anymore."
"That wouldn't be good."
Dr. Anderson bid her good-bye and turned toward the front of the craft.
"Ms. Ryan, I examined your patient and I think she is well enough to go back to Chase. It will take some time for her to recover so she will be there for a while."
"But I thought she needed to go to Ped," she said. "Like you know to get the better attention she can get at a bigger facility."
"What they were worried about, and why they wanted to send her so far," he said, "was that she was in shock. And might have had a head injury."
"Now she is completely aware and is not suffering from shock. She will be okay at Chase."
"As soon as the helicopter gets here, we can put her on and get her back there lickity split."
"No. She will get there fine in the ambulance."
So, Cliff and I and the pilot for the helicopter they brought to us all got together and transferred Carla to the ambulance. I never heard about her later, but I am sure everything worked out for her. She was just that kind of a gal.