Page 25 of Saving Veronica
“No, she was unconscious when I found her and never regained consciousness the whole time I was with her, and I found her around three in the afternoon, and was with her until medivac arrived around eleven.”
“Why didn’t you wash out her injuries?” another doctor asked.
“One, didn’t have anything except for running water at the bottom of the ravine and that shit was ice cold. Two, I didn’t want to remove the coagulated blood and start the bleeding again. Figured it’d be more sterile to do it here.”
“Were you a medic along with Dr. Atwal?”
“Who?” Finn frowned.
“Me.” Patch laughed.
“Oh, you mean Patch. I helped when I wasn’t doing my other duties.”
“Patch?”
“Yep, sometimes we could only throw a patch on them and send them on their way.” Finn and Patch grinned at each other. They started discussing the surgery for Finn when they paused, and watched as Ronnie was brought back in.
“Head clear. No bleeds or bruising. Just the laceration. Neck, spine and back clear, no trauma. It’s exactly as he said, enclosed broken collarbone, every rib on the right side is broken and the tib/fib fracture.”
“What about her shoulder?” Finn asked.
The man walked over and flipped on some lights and everyone looked at Ronnie’s shoulder. “Shattered,” several people said as one.
“I can fix it, she’ll need to have extensive physical therapy after it heals, but I can do it. What’s her temp?”
“Ninety-five.” A nurse called out.
“Okay, I think you guys need to work on her first. I’ll take Mr. Larson in and operate on him, then get ready to reconstruct her shoulder. Don’t worry, I know she’s studying to be a vet. When I get done with her, she’ll still be able to do that.” He left and over his shoulder called to get Finn prepped for surgery.
“Patch,” Finn said, and gripped his arm. “Pennyworth is on his way. I don’t know when he’ll get here and I’m sure Dad and Grandpa are heading this way too. Can you do something with Major until they get here?”
“Sure. How would you feel about him going to the children’s ward? It’s almost five in the morning, but I’m sure some kids would be awake.”
Finn watched everyone hustle around and prep him for his own surgery, and at the last minute he had them wheel him over to Ronnie. He took her hand in his and kissed the back of it. “I’ll see you soon, babe.” And then the medicine they gave him kicked in, and he didn’t remember much after that.
Chapter 9
Gerald helped his wife from the truck and met Eric and William at the entrance. Together the four of them hurried into the ER. William took charge and walked up to the desk.
“May I help you?”
“Yes. Our families were brought in by medivac hours ago. Could you tell us about Veronica Parker and Finnegan Larson, please?”
“Relationship?”
“I’m Finn’s father, that’s his grandfather. These are Veronica’s grandparents.”
They all watched as she pounded on the keys, then looked up. “Mr. Larson’s out of surgery and is on the eighth floor. Ms. Parker is still in surgery. You can take the green elevators and head up. I’ll call up, so they can expect you.”
William turned to talk to the others, but they only nodded and headed toward the elevators. “What the hell happened to Finn?” Eric asked Gerald in the elevator.
“I’m sorry, I have no clue what happened. It was raining hard, pitch black, and general confusion.”
“Don’t worry, Dad, we’ll find out.” They exited the elevator and walked to the desk. William stepped up and said, “Finnegan Larson?”
“Room eight twelve.” She pointed down the hall. “He just came up from recovery, so he should still be awake, but he might be woozy.”
“Thank you,” William said, and they hurried down the hall. They had to wait until the nurse came out and Maggie was the first one in the room.
