Page 58 of The Bitter Rival

“Dr. Lee? It was Dr. Silver who called in the consult. He’s in the physicians’ work area.”

“Thank you,” I offer as I stroll past her toward Dr. Silver.

“Dr. Lee. I wasn’t expecting to see you today. I heard you’re covering for Dr. Barnes.”

“Yes. What’ve you got?”

“I have a little old lady who has a foreign body stuck around her thumb. We haven’t got a clue how to remove it. How great to have a hand surgeon here?”

Is he fucking with me?It’s rare that an emergency room provider can’t find a way to remove a foreign body unless it needs to go to the OR. “Is this a surgical case?”

“I don’t think so. But I can’t figure out how to remove it, so I guess it could come to that-”

“Dr. Silver, your patient in room nine isn’t doing well. Her blood pressure is dropping.” A nurse appears with a harried look about her.

“If you’ll excuse me, Dr. Lee. The patient is Mrs. Hickson in room seventeen,” he adds before exiting the area.

I locate room seventeen and knock on the door and find an elderly black female seated on the stretcher, her face appearing downcast. Her husband is at her bedside, wearing a similar expression.

“Hi. I’m Dr. Sebastian Lee. I’m a hand specialist. Dr. Silver advised you had a-”

Mrs. Hickson holds up her right hand, which appears to be holding a pair of kitchen shears.

Confusion sets in. How is this a problem? I was expecting a ring or something small and tightly compressed about a digit. These kitchen shears are just dangling from her fingers.

“She was trying to cut open a bottle of superglue. But she must have hit the top of it because it dripped straight down onto her fingertips, and now her thumb and forefinger are glued together, and we can’t get them apart.”

Taking a closer look at her hand, the pads of her fingers are firmly glued in place, and the scissors dangle between them. “Well, we probably just need some acetone or something to get them apart.”

“We’ve tried all that. We’ve soaked it in nail polish remover and even tried rocking a knife slowly back and forth over the glue to try to separate them, but I’m worried about cutting her fingers because she’s on a blood thinner for her heart.”

Well, hell.I don’t have time for this ridiculousness.There’s got to be a way the doctors here can figure out how to get her fingers apart because she definitely isn’t undergoing a needless surgical procedure at her age, on blood thinners, no less. After completing a cursory evaluation, I excuse myself to meet with Dr. Silver.

“Yes, I’ve met Mrs. Hickson and her husband. She’s not a surgical candidate, and this is not something I have the time or inclination to contend with. I would contact the pharmacy and see if there is anything else they would recommend and consider getting some bolt cutters to remove the scissors.”

“Well, that’s unfortunate. I didn’t think she’d need surgery but hoped you could get her fingers apart. I guess I’ll have to use a scalpel.”

“You’ll do no such thing. The woman is on blood thinners,” I huff. “Hell, let me make a phone call.” I sit at the desk and call the hospital operator, requesting the inpatient pharmacist.

“Hello? This is Poppy.”

“Hi. This is Sebastian Lee. I’ve responded to a consult by the ER staff for a woman who has superglued her fingers together. Apparently, they’ve tried soaking in acetone without improvement. This woman is on blood thinners, so I’d like to avoid anything invasive in our attempts to separate her fingers.”

“Oh, I understand. Would you mind giving me just a minute, Dr. Lee? I want to check on something.”

“Sure, so long as it won’t take too long.” I sit on hold for what seems like an hour. For as much money as this hospital takes in, why they can’t get better hold music is a mystery.

“Dr. Lee?”

“Yes.”

“So, I think I’ve found something which might work. I can bring it right up if that’ll help.”

“Absolutely. Thank you.” I hang up the phone, grateful St. Luke’s employs one competent individual on their staff who is working today.

Moments later, I notice a beautiful blonde with a long white lab coat approach. She’s carrying the largest tub of petroleum jelly I’ve ever seen.

“Dr. Lee?”

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