Code Blue Read Free

let's see what else might be injured." Marcus took her left wrist and gently probed with his fingers. Apparently satisfied, he proceeded up along the bones of the arm. His touch was gentle, yet firm, and Cathy found it somehow reassuring. "We'll need some X-rays. I want you to help me figure out the right parts."
    "I can't help you much. I'm hurting pretty much everywhere," Cathy said. "But I haven't felt any bones grating. I think I'm just banged up."
    Marcus turned his attention to her right arm. He paused in his prodding long enough to touch her chin and raise her head until their eyes met. "You're like all of us. You think that because you're a doctor you can't be hurt or sick."
    "That's not true. I don't— Ow!" His hand on the point of her right shoulder sent a flash of pain along her collarbone.
    "That's more like it. We'll get an X-ray of that shoulder and your clavicle. Seatbelt injuries do that sometimes. Now see if you can finish telling me what happened."
    This time she got through the story without tearing up, although Marcus's efforts to find something broken or dislocated brought forth a number of additional flinches and exclamations.
    "I really do think I'm fine except for some bruises," she concluded.
    "Really?"
    "Okay, I'm also scared. And a little bit mad."
    A tinny voice over the intercom interrupted her. "Dr. Bell, is Marianne still in there?"
    "I'm here," the nurse replied.
    "Can you help us out? There's a pedi patient in Treatment Room Two with suspected meningitis. They're about to do a spinal tap."
    "Go ahead," Marcus said. "We can take it from here."
    No sooner had the nurse closed the door than there was a firm tap on it.
    "Jerry?" Marcus called.
    "Yes, sir."
    "Come in."
    The door creaked open, and Cathy turned. The pain that coursed through her neck made her regret the decision. A man in starched, immaculate whites strode into the room and stopped at an easy parade rest. A smattering of gray at the temples softened the red in his buzz-cut hair.
    Marcus did the honors. "Dr. Sewell, this is Jerry O'Neal.Jerry retired after twenty years as a Marine corpsman, and he's now the senior radiology technician at Summers County General. He probably knows as much medicine as you and I put together, but he's too polite to let it show."
    "Pleasure to meet you, Doctor," Jerry said.
    Marcus handed the clipboard chart to Jerry. "Dr. Sewell's been in an auto accident. She has a scalp laceration I'll need to suture, but first, would you get a skull series, films of the right shoulder and clavicle?" He thought a bit. "Right knee.Right lower leg. While we're at it, better do a C-spine too."
    "Yes, sir," Jerry said. "Is that all?"
    Marcus looked back at Cathy. "If you catch her rubbing anything else, shoot it. Call me when you've got the films ready."
    Cathy half expected Jerry to salute Marcus. Instead, he nodded silently before helping her offthe exam table and into a wheelchair.
    "Don't worry, Dr. Sewell. You're in good hands."
    She tried to relax and take Jerry at his word. "Why haven't I seen you around before this?"
    Jerry fiddled with some dials. "I work weekdays as a trouble-shooter for an X-ray equipment company in Dallas.I'm only here on weekends. It fills the empty hours."
    That's why I was taking a drive on Saturday afternoon. Filling the empty hours. That started a chain of thought Cathy didn't want to pursue. Instead, she concentrated on getting through the next few minutes.
    The X-rays took less time and caused less discomfort than Cathy expected. She could see why Marcus thought so highly of Jerry. Soon she was back in the treatment room, lying on the examination table. Jerry put up two of the X-rays on the wall view box and stacked the others neatly on the metal table beneath it.
    "I'll get Dr. Bell now. Will you be okay here for a minute?"
    Cathy assured Jerry that she was fine, although she finally realized how many bumps and bruises she'd accumulated in the crash. Every movement seemed to make