Page 69 of One Night Years Ago

“Right. Let’s get on with it, then. I can already see by the sloping of your shoulder that the humeral head has probably slipped out of the glenoid.” He pulled out an enormous pair of scissors and cut through the front of Hunter’s T-shirt. “Indeed. An anterior dislocation. We can take care of that. Is this the first time this has happened?”

Hunter shook his head. “Second time. It happened another time, almost ten years ago. I did a lot of work strengthening the muscles afterward, though.”

The doctor pushed and prodded at the joint. Hunter felt lightheaded with pain.

“Okay. This is good. Anything else I should be looking at?” he asked. “In the meantime, I’m going to take your temperature. By the look of your lips, I’d say you’re slightly hypothermic.”

“My right foot,” Hunter said. “I felt something crack as I landed in the water.”

The doctor arched an eyebrow, causing it to comically pop out from under his glasses. “That’s not real common. How high exactly was this jump?”

“About a hundred feet,” Natalie said from the corner.

“Well, then, I guess that could happen. Are you a tombstoning afficionado, Mr. Fowler?”

Hunter found himself inexplicably warming to the young doctor.

“Please call me Hunter. And no, this is the first and hopefully last time I do this.”

Dr. Boyle nodded. “Okay, your temperature’s around 95 degrees. That’s lower than normal. Technically speaking you’re hypothermic, but it’s very mild. We just need to keep you dry and warm, and you’ll be fine. Now let me take off your shoe and look at your foot.”

Hunter clenched his teeth as the boot was removed. The doctor performed a couple rotations and then nodded. “Definitely something here. I’m going to need an X-Ray, though. We won’t be able to do that until tomorrow. I can get you settled into a room as soon as we’ve fixed your shoulder, Hunter, and put you on the list for an X-Ray tomorrow morning. How does that sound?”

Hunter visibly reacted. “Could I come back for that, do you think?”

“Well, yes, but why would you want to—”

“Hunter doesn’t like hospitals, Dr. Boyle.”

Dr. Boyle smiled. “A man who jumps a hundred feet into the sea in the middle of a storm but doesn’t like hospitals.” He raised his hands in defeat. “Fair enough. You can go home, Hunter, as long as there’s someone with you at all times. You’re going to sleep like a baby anyway with everything I’m going to pump into you.”

“No painkillers,” Hunter said, hating the begging note in his voice. “Please.”

“Anything else you’d care to add? Want to keep telling me how to do my job?”

“I’m sorry. That’s not what I … It’s been a long night, and I would prefer to come back for the X-Ray tomorrow morning.”

“I’ll stay with him,” Natalie said. Again, the doctor arched his eyebrow.

“Okay then, I’ll perform a closed reduction of your shoulder, and you can be on your way. Let me know afterward how you feel about pain medication, alright?”

Hunter clenched his jaw to keep himself from groaning as the doctor bent Hunter’s arm, took his shoulder, and started rotating it with his hand on the humeral head. The pain grew. Hunter felt an enormous pressure as the doctor pushed it firmly back in and then, blessedly, a sudden and complete absence of pain. Hunter felt like he might faint with relief.

The doctor brought out a sling. “We’re going to immobilize your shoulder in an external rotation position. My official recommendation is to ice the shoulder, keep it immobilized, and keep the anti-inflammatories going to relieve pain and swelling. If you’re not willing to take the pain meds, at least do the other two.”

Hunter nodded. “I can do that.”

“I don’t want to do anything to your foot until I see the X-Ray tomorrow. In the meantime, avoid putting any weight on it.”

“So no walking,” Natalie said. Hunter was half-regretting asking her to stay.

“No walking on it. Ask the nurse on duty to lend you a crutch. Try to get some sleep, though honestly I doubt you’ll manage unless you change your mind about the painkillers, and I’ll see you here tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Hunter said, gingerly easing himself off the table onto his left foot.

Natalie picked up his other boot from the floor and walked towards the door. Just before they went out, the doctor spoke again.

“I’d like to hear more about that jump sometime. I’m a friend of Emma’s and grateful you were there,” the doctor admitted, his professional façade slipping for a moment.