Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2012 23:52:38 -0400 From: Jessie Subject: Being Seen Pt 12 Wind whizzed around my face as I urged the horse ever faster. A thousand questions and worries raced through my mind? Would I be too late? Even when I got him to the hospital, would Seth be all right? Three bites! Could anyone even survive three bites from a timber rattler? Finally the dark house loomed into view and I saw Seth's rusty old truck. But would I even be able to make the damned thing budge? And yet again the answer came into my mind; I had to! Though I feared the task would prove futile, after only two attempts I had the truck rumbling along the road. I chanced a glance out of the corner of my eye. Seth lay slumped against the passenger door, barely conscious of his surroundings. "Seth hold on. I'm getting you there as fast as I can!" He attempted to mumble something, but there was no recognizable response. When the dirt road from the farm met the main road into town I frantically changed gears, the clutch and transmition grinding as I did, and roared along the highway toward town. I'd gone no more than two miles from the driveway to the farm when I saw blue lights in the rearview mirrow. No! Of all times. At first I thought about simply continuing on; I'd pay whatever ticket or do whatever jail time was necessary later, but then I thought better of it and swerved onto the grass along the road. A young deputy, fresh on the squad, I recognized as being about two years older than me from school came strutting up the the car. "All right, what'd you think you were doing, tearing along like that? Don't you know the speed limit's just 45 up through here?" I trained my voice and features to remain calm as I attempted to reason with the officer. "I'm sorry officer. It's just that my friend here has been....." The deputy glanced over at where Seth lay slumped against the seat. "Been on the bottle, hasn't he? And you're trying to get him home, is that right?" "No, that's not right. He's been......." "I guess you've been drinking too, but thtough you were a little more sober, is that it?" Finally I reached my limit. "No! That's not right, you stupid jackass! I've been trying to tell you that he's been bitten by a snake, as timber rattler! Now, if you've finished being an arrogant son of a bitch, I'll be taking him on to the hospital!" And with that I left the young deputy standing by the road, his mouth agape. In the 1960's most hospitals, at least in the south, did not allow family past the doors into the emergency room. You were expected to wait as patiently as was possible in the waiting room until some word was brought back about your loved one; I didn't wait. Though the nurses begged and pleaded with me, I shoved past them as Seth was wheeled into the emergency room. During all the jostling and moving he'd gained a bit of consciousness again and begun to moan. It didn't take long to realize why. By the time we'd reached the hospital his leg had swollen so that the nurses were unable to simply pull his jeans away from his body, they had to be cut. Two disting puntures were obvious upon removing his jeans, the skin blackened around them. Another scratch along his shin was guessed to be the third strike. His leg was swollen at least twice as thick as usual, so much so that I couldn't help but imagine his skin breaking open at any moment. He reached for my hand. "Jesss......Jessie...." "I'm here Seth. Tell me what I can do to help." "My.....my leg hurts so bad. It....it burns." The nurse who'd finally given up on forcing me out of the emergency room stepped up. "That's pretty typical of snake bite. We've called for the doctor. He's just upstairs." "No, I'm here now. What's the trouble?" Dr. King hurried into the examination room. It's amazing how a familiar face can bring such relief and comfort during a crisis. Though I didn't particularly know Dr. King that well, the sight of his time-worn elderly face brought a sigh of relief. At his insistance I did finally leave Seth's side, though the sight of his hand reaching for mine through the mass of bodies surrounding him almost broke my heart. I strained my ears to hear what was being said between the doctor and the nurses. "This is a bad case. I've had bite before, but this......" "So what are we gonna do?" "With that much venom, we may be looking at amputation."..........."No!" Seth had heard the doctor's whispered observation. His eyes were wide with fear. "Please, please tell me there's something else!" Dr. King's withered hands gently pushed him back onto the bed. "We're going to try everything possible, but I'm not gonna lie to you. This is bad. One bite wouldn't have been such a terrible thing, but three is much more serious. Right now we're gonna start pumping you full of medicine, but you're gonna be in pain, so you best be ready for it." Dr. King turned to me. "Jessie, right?" "Yes sir." "Well, you've done all you can for him now. Why don't you go home and get some rest." "No!" Though it was one word, it was spoken by two voices. But what both shocked and frightened me most was the look of fear and panic on Seth's face, like the face of a small frightened child. "I want him to stay here with me." Dr. King studied us both for a moment before shrugging. "It's your choice, but this isn't the Hilton. Not gonna be very comfortable." I tried to smile. "I'll mannage." Dr. King was right, the hospital wasn't a Hilton! After hours of IV's and medicines in the emergency room, Seth was finally taken up to the CCU where he could be constantly monitored by the nursing team, and his medicines could be updated promptly. His pain seemed to progress as the nigh lingered on, eventually leaving him writhing as his lower body wracked with pain. The small country hospital could only offer an extra blanket and pillow for me to find the softest bit of floor I could manage during those brief times when Seth's pain gave way enough for him to drift into uneasy sleep. Nurses were constantly in and out of the room, checking vital signs monitoring his body as the snake venom and medicines fought and battled in his body. One time his heart rate skyrocketed, and he began convulsing, practically jumping from the bed. I found myself reduced to tears as I saw his body twist and contort from the effects of the snake venom. Dr. King came in every hour to monitor his condition. Finally, when Seth had drifted into another restless sleep, I called the doctor aside. "Doctor?" The elderly man stared at me for a moment, as if reading the questions that were unspoken. "I don't know son. It's like I told him. If it had just been one bite, I wouldn't have been so worried," he motioned toward Seth," but when that much venom's pumped into a human body, it's usually not good." "So....so.....will he....." "He'll probably live, if we can get him through this first night. I just don't know about that leg." "Well, is there anything else that can be done, any other medicines?" Suddenly I saw the age that lined the old man's face. "We're doing all we can for him now. He's tough, or he wouldn't have done as well as he has, but I just can't make you any other promises." He placed a withered hand on my shoulder for a moment and walked into the hallway. Though I'd expected nothing less than what the doctor had just old me, I found myself surprised at the tears streaming down my face. This shouldn't be such a surprise. I wasn't the experienced outdoorsman Seth was, but even I knew that three bites from a snake couldn't bode well! I rushed toward the bed where his form now lay still, taking his rough, calloused hand in mine. "Now you listen here Seth Johnson! You're my world, my life. For fifteen years I walked through life, feeling as though no one could see me for me. It was like all they saw was that damned soap opera between my parents, but then you came along. You saw me for who I was, just me, not my parents or their shit. You saw me when no one else did. Seth I love you, love you more than anyone else on this whole earth! Seth.....Seth I can't lose you!"