“Here,” Shay said as he opened his wallet and withdrew a card. “That’s Erin Riceman, she’s in charge of everything. Tell her what you want to do. She’ll probably hire you. Anyway, I do know that you’ll have to go through an extensive background check.”
“The question is, would she have room for me?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, okay, I’ll call her later. Now, do you have the physical x-rays with you?”
Shay handed her the envelope Faith had gotten from Caleb, and they watched as she put them up to the light source. She shook her head several times.
“Good news, nothing’s broken.”
“Bad news?” Faith asked.
“Without an MRI, I can’t tell if there’s anything torn.”
“I understand, Caleb said the same thing, that’s why I’m here.”
“Okay, let me examine the injury.” She watched as Shay unsnapped the side of his sweatpants, impressed that he had taken the initiative to be prepared, and sucked in her breath when she saw how black his leg was. “Oh, my.” She immediately put on a pair of gloves, knelt down, and felt it. She removed one of the gloves, and felt it without the glove on. “I don’t feel any unnecessary heat, that’s a good sign.” She looked at him as she stood up and squirted hand sanitizer on her hands.
“What type of pain medication did Dr. Lassiter prescribe?”
“Nothing, he said he can’t write prescriptions. Last night, I took two extra strength over-the-counter Tylenol before going to bed. That’s all I’ve taken.”
“Damn, that’s it?”
“Yeah. I do know that it feels like the center of my knee has its own heartbeat.”
“I imagine so. Let’s get you over to MRI. Once I get those results I’ll know what I’m dealing with.”
“How far away is that?”
“In the basement of this building. All you have to do is take the elevator down and it’s right there. I’ll call down to have you expedited, then come back here. I should have the results before you’re back here.”
“Thank you,” Shay said as he snapped his pants back up, and Faith pushed him out of the door. Seven minutes later, he had unsnapped both sides of his pants, removed them, and lay on the bed of the machine. Ten minutes after that, they were back in Dr. Johnson’s waiting room, but were immediately called back.
Dr. Johnson was in the room waiting for them. “Good news, bad news.”
“Hit me,” Shay sighed.
“Good news, nothing broken, nothing torn. Bad news, there is severe swelling and bruising, that’s why your leg is black. I’m going to give you a knee brace to wear for the next six weeks. I want to see you back here then and we can reassess the situation.” She looked at him sternly. “The only time you are not to wear the brace is while showering or sleeping. Otherwise it has to be on. You can wear it over your jeans. I’ll show you how to adjust it.” She looked at him and nodded once. “I’m going to write you two prescriptions. The Oxycodone is for extreme pain, do not exceed two pills a day. It’s also very addictive. The next prescription is two strengths higher than the highest over-the-counter Tylenol you took last night. You can take up to eight pills a day of these. Both medications are PRN.”
“What’s that?” Faith asked.
“As needed. Tell me about your job.” She listened as she worked on her computer, and nodded several times. When he was done, she nodded again. “I sent it to the pharmacy on the first floor of this clinic since I didn’t see any listed in your papers. Take the Oxycodone at night. It will relax you enough to sleep. There are only fourteen pills. They should last you for fourteen days.”
“And if I don’t use it every night?”
“Then use it when you need it. That’s what PRN means. You know your body, you know your pain level, you know when you need relief. However, because of the strength of the Oxy,don’t take them during the day. They may or may not make you drowsy.”
“Can I take them a couple of hours before bed?”
“Yes, but only one. The Tylenol you can take two at a time, six hours apart.”
“Thank you. What restrictions will I have?”
“No weight bearing for more than a few minutes at a time.”
“But, I’m two hundred and ten pounds.”
