“At least they have ruled out any heart disease or heart related conditions,” Nick said as I slowly made my way back to the wheeled stool that was beside where Ryan’s bed was. “Russell, he will be okay. He’s young and healthy—”
“His hand was like a block of ice. He abruptly woke up from a nightmare and grimaced when he rolled his shoulders. He’s in pain, Nick. Something is causing this. To make matters worse his back was striped red from a flogging last night.”
Nick’s laugh made me smile, though I felt terrible for not having prepped Ryan of the possibility that they might ask about it. I told Nick that the doctor didn’t seem to pass any judgment but wanted to make sure he wasn’t in an unhealthy relationship.
“Did you tell the doctor that Ryan is in the healthiest relationship that he’s ever been in?”
“I didn’t, but Ryan and I know. I’ll let you know when we find something out.”
“Do you want me to come down?”
“No, it’s not necessary, but thank you my friend.”
I set my coffee down on the small table and opened Ryan’s wallet. I pulled out his collar tag; the one he carries around with him and that we attach to his play collar. I couldn’t wait to get that bracelet around his wrist.
They finally brought Ryan back and I noticed how much calmer I felt when he was in my sight. We talked here and there about light subjects while we waited for the results. It seemed like we waited forever, but finally the doctor came over with another doctor.
“Ryan, this is Dr. Gong, he’s a radiologist, and has taken a look at your results with me.”
“Nice to meet you, Ryan. Have you ever had any head or neck injuries?” Dr. Gong asked.
“No,” Ryan said as he looked back and forth between the two of them. “Oh! Wait, yeah, I think so. I had a concussion once in college.”
“How did that occur?” Dr. Gong inquired.
“Baseball. I played in college and went for a pop fly at the same time another guy. We didn’t call one another off and smacked heads.”
“Were you monitored?”
“Yeah, they had a concussion protocol and both of us were out for a couple games.”
“Did you feel any lingering affects?”
“No. I never really had any issues other than a headache for a few days following it.”
The two doctors looked at one another and then Dr. Gong put some slides from some x-rays up on the lightbox by the heart monitor. With a pen that glowed on film, Dr. Gong circled two vertebrae in his neck.
“These two vertebrae are basically to blame for your numb hand. What has happened is that there’s been a breakdown of fluid between these vertebrae. I believe this has happened over a long period of time, rather than a sudden occurrence. It’s pinching a nerve, that is why there is the numbness and cold,” Dr. Gong turned to look at Ryan and he guided the other doctor to tilt his head backwards. “This is the type of motion that is most likely the type that would have caused the injury,” Dr. Gong explained, hoping it might jar Ryan’s memory as to what could have happened.
Seeing the doctor’s head tilted back as it was, made all of the pieces fall into place. I felt sick and angry. Ryan’s parents did this. Grabbing his head and yanking it backwards to facilitate hideous things. Now that he saw the position of the doctor’s head, he knew too. I would vent later with Nick, but right now I had to keep it together for Ryan’s sake.
“Anything like that maybe happen?” Dr. Gong asked.
“No, not that I can think of,” Ryan lied. And I don’t blame him. I could tell that he knew; it was all over his face.
“Perhaps even a car accident,” the original emergency room doctor mentioned.
Ryan just shook his head and stared at the lightbox.
“Well, that’s what has happened, but there’s good news. This can be fixed, or at least made tolerable. We can inject cortisone, it’ll fill in the gaps and cushion the vertebrae,” Dr. Gong explained.
“Is surgery an option?” I asked.
I knew cortisone had a short life span and if he ended up in pain again a year down the road that he’d have to endure more shots.
“We have an orthopedist on shift and he’s going to stop by and discuss the shots and surgery. It is an option but, in my opinion, the shots are a better option,” the emergency room doctor explained.
The doctors left us alone and the original doctor said he’d be back once the orthopedist showed up. Ryan relaxed his head against the pillow and stared off into nothing. He was tired and had been through lots of tests, exams, and being poked. On top of which, he discovered that the damage done by his parents still impacted him.
