Unexpected

3.

Luke

It was already pretty late but time didn't matter in a hospital. I was on call and was waiting for something to happen.

Soon i was paged, a young boy with a head injury. I walked into the room and saw a crying boy sit on the lap of a teenage girl. The boy had a bandage on his head and was crying very loud. The nurse handed me his information, 6 year old who fell down the stairs, in need of stitches.

I put the chart down and put on my gloves.

"So who do we have here?" I said in a soft voice to the boy.

"Jack" he said with a shaking voice.

"That's funny, i have a brother who is also named Jack. "

He gave me a small smile.

"And who have you brought with you today?"

"My sister Becky." He said proudly.

I briefly looked at the girl who gave me a faint smile.

His crying stopped and he started to calm down a bit which was exactly what i wanted. I slowly removed the bandage and examined the wound, he definitely needed stitches.

"What happend Jack?"i asked him while i shined my flashlight in his eyes, no signs of a concussion.

"I fell down the stairs." He said rubbing his eyes, irritated from the bright light.

I got up to grab the supplies. When i turned back around the girl had stood up and Jack was sitting alone on the bed. I only now really took notice of the girl, she looked familiar but i couldn't quite wrap my finger around it. She looked very stressed out and was texting somebody on her phone. Then i noticed her bruised hand, like she had gotten into a huge fight.

I sat down infront of Jack and explained to him what i was going to do. He started crying again when i told him about the needle. The girl immediately sat back down next to him and put her arm around him, calming him down.

"Okay you're going to feel a light pinch and you won't feel anything after that. Is that okay?" I asked Jack.

He nodded and closed his eyes as soon as he saw the needle.

"There that was it."

He exhaled reliefed and so did Becky. I made sure the area was completely numb so i could start the stiches. He ended up needing 4 stitches.

"There all done. You did great. You can lay down if you want, the sedative will probably make you sleepy." I didn't need to say that twice to him, he yawned and layed down on the bed , closing his eyes as his head hit the pillow.

I put all the stuff away and turned my attention back to the girl.

"Are the parents aware of the situation?"

She sighed and stood up with her phone in her hand. "I've tried to call my mother 4 times but it keeps going to voicemail and she's also ignoring my text messages."

"Is she at work?" I asked her, i wondered what their home life was like.

"No she's on a date with some guy." She gasped right after she said that and looked at my with wide eyes.

"She's on a date with a doctor who also works here. So the hospital might have his phone number and i can call him to inform my mother." She explained quickly.

"I believe his name was Ashton Irwin."

I looked at her confused, i knew that Ashton was on a date tonight with one of the nurses but that would mean that these were her kids. Ashton had never told me that Diane had kids.

She looked at me impatient. "Well do you have his information or not?"

"Yes i do, he actually is my roommate. I'll give him a call to explain the situation."

"Thank you...?.."

I let out a awkward laugh, i had forgotten to introduce myself to her. "Dr Luke Hemmings at your service."

She nodded.

I left the room to call Ashton. I looked at her though the window on the door, she was walking nervously around the room.

"C'mon pick up Ashton" i whispered to myself.

"Luke why the hell are you calling me right now." Ashton voice spoke irritated through the phone.

"Sorry to interrupt your date but I'm here at the hospital with Diane's kids. Her son Jack fell off the stairs and hit his head. He needed 4 stitches but nothing else is wrong." I explained to him.

"Jesus, I'll tell Diane and we will be there as soon as possible. Thanks for telling me."

"See you soon."

I hang to phone up and walked back into the room. "There on their way." I said to the girl.

I pointed to her bruised hand. "You didn't do this to your brother, right?"

She stopped with walking and looked at me offended. "What the fuck kind of question is that. Of course i didn't beat up my brother. Why would you even think that asshole." She snapped at me.

I wanted to correct her tone but stopped myself. "Just a question." I said as calm as i could.

She took a deep breath in. "I'm sorry i lashed out like that. I know you're just doing your job."

My anger disappeared, she was probably just tired and felt bad for what happend. "It's okay, I'm sorry for asking you that question."

She gave me a faint smile.

After 15 mintues of complete silence Ashton and Diane barched in. Becky immediately stood up and went to stand against the wall.

"Is he okay?" Diane aksed concerned.

"Yes, he is fine. He is sleeping right now."

She nodded, sat down next to him on the bed and stroked his head. "My poor baby." She whispered under her breath.

"I'll get the discharge papers." Ashton said while he was standing awkwardly in the doorframe.

As soon as Ashton had left the room Diane turned to Becky with an angry face.

"Would you like to explain what happend?"she said with a strict voice.

Becky moved farther back into the wall and looked at the ground. "Jack fell off the stairs after I had put him to bed. I..i thought that he was asleep."

"Well he clearly wasn't."

"I'm sorry."

Diane backed away and sighed. She didn't look angry anymore, just disappointed.

"I know you are sorry. But tell me Becky, what i am suppose to do with you when you start fights at school and you're not even responsible enough to take care of your brother."

Becky was clenching her fists tightly, her whole hand turned white. "I'm trying."

"Try harder." Her mom said firmly, ending the conversation.