Logs:Medicinal Legwork
| Medicinal Legwork | |
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Healing up at the Farm | |
| Dramatis Personae | 17 October, 2008 Sometimes you just can't go to the hospital. |
| Location | Plot(s) |
| The expanse of pastures at Atworth Acres are a set of lovely, curved swaths of green grasses held back by equally curved wooden fences. To the left of the driveway up to the Barn and Farmhouse is the Cattle Yard, filled with at least 100 head of cattle that look to be well fed and happy. The cattle range in color from tawny to black, with a few Brahman browns. There are exactly 3 bulls, with the rest being cows, a few calves, and heifers. You can find Brangus, Angus, and Hereford cattle at Atworth Farm. To the right of the driveway, the horses play in their Horse Paddock or are allowed out into the Horse Pasture during the day. Of the 20-odd horses there are 4 stallions, 2 geldings, and the rest are mares or colts. Their coloring and breed varies from bay or chestnut-brown Quarter Horses, a few black or nearly black Andalusian, to a couple of striking gold and pale Champagne Thoroughbreds. Behind the Barn there is a sweeping field that at various times of the year is filled with tall hay, or drying bales. The land itself is healthy and resplendent, with a winding irrigation creek running through it that keeps everything bright and green. The Barn and Farmhouse have fairly obviously been painted within the last year or two, and likely by the same person. The Farmhouse is a single story, painted primarily white with gray trim. The Barn is a broad, tall building that's been painted primarily gray with white trim. Both buildings look very well maintained and are close enough to one another to keep trudging back and forth a short trip. The sky is brilliant blue and cloudless, the sunlight is warm and bright, and a breeze blows from the coast. Fiery red, gold, and orange leaves rustle and blow past you, swirling in the wind. Those trees that never lose their leaves or change color remain verdant and lush.
Wren himself was moving between the farmhouse and the barn, likely having finished some task or another and starting onto the next. He was dressed for his usual day of work, and looked the part of a man who worked the land for his living. Blue jeans rested comfortably on him, and looked like they'd been aged through hard work. His feet were covered in a set of worn, aged, cowboy boots that had started life likely a nice, smooth, tan leather but had been left a dull, pale, beige color with dark brown stitching after years of use. For a shirt, he wore a blue Tshirt that fit him snuggly against his broad frame, over which he wore a flannel shirt filled with dark blue, light blue, and purple plaid lines. His hair had been brushed back from his face and it's fairly obvious he didn't bother to shave this morning, leaving the day or two's worth of stubble on his jawline.
She opens her car door once. The heat released spills out into the early morning. She uses the car door to haul herself out and hold her up while she locks her brace on her right leg in place. Leaning on her crutch she slowly walks step away from the car. She is dressed in dark navy-blue scrub pants and a matching scrub shirt with her name and degrees embroidered on the pocket, not only that the shirt also says where she works. She pauses as she makes her brain work as she tries to recall where the doctor is on the farm.
Wren came out of the barn at a dead run, his brilliant blue eyes flashing with the attentiveness that one might expect to see on the face of a hunter, or protector, or both. He scanned the farm, inhaling deeply through his nostrils, and as soon as he spotted Healani he started toward her. It was an understatement, though, really, as he actually burst into a rush of speed as his legs ate up the distance between them and he stopped only a few inches from the point that he'd actually have run into the woman. He wasn't breathing heavily, but he leaned closer and sniffed at her, examining her from head to toe, as the scent of male sweat, though clean, and the scent of horse lather and that warm, delicious smell you get when you inhale at the side of a horse's neck came loud and clear, obviously emanating from the man. "Healani... You're hurt." He jerked his head to the side and let out a single, hissed sound... at which point all of the horses and the cows stopped making the noise they'd started. They even started to calm down, horses no longer rearing up, cows no longer stamping against the ground. Wren looked at her face a moment and shook his head. "Alright, well, let's get you off that leg." Without another word or even a request, Wren stepped closer, put his arms gently behind Healani, and lifted her up like she weighed literally nothing. In fact, his arms hardly felt flexed under her back and behind her knees as he scooped her up and held her against his broad chest. "I'm betting you're here because you want to see the Doc?" He hadn't quite overcome the wyldness that seemed to exude from him, and the scent was likely a bit overwhelming, as was the fact that his eyes still had that odd glow, almost like they reflected the light more like an animal's. He leaned his head closer to the top of Healani's and sniffed in deeply. "If you're angry, beautiful, make sure you hit me and not the doc." There was some slight humor in his words, and Wren's lips curved into a slanted smile, as he started carrying her toward the back pasture, beyond which a small house waited, but it was going to take a little bit of a walk to get there. Must faster with longer legs, of course.
As they made it to the small house at the far side of the hay field, Wren knocked on the door via a soft kick from his feet. When it opened, an Asian man that was putting on a set of glasses looked at Wren, then at Healani, and gave a brief nod. "Aloha kakahiaka, Wren. Miss." The man, maybe 5'8" as he stood in sock feet, stepped back from the doorway and held the door open so that Wren could walk Healani inside. "Go ahead and take her to the operating room, I'll be in after a moment. If you could, get her shoes off, and I'll find a spare pair of pants." The doc shut the door after Wren walked through and then turned to head off in the opposite direction Wren started walking, through a small door, and the sound of running water could be heard a moment later as he started washing his hands, presumably. Wren walked Healani down the hallway, then pushed open a door that had a pressure release handle rather than a turning handle, before walking Healani into the moderately sized back room. It was simple, white, with white subway tile on the floor, and up the walls, all the way to the ceiling. The overhead lights came on when Wren touched the controls with his elbow, and they were bright, florescent, that lit up the whole space. In the center of the room was a table that looked large enough to handle a man about Wren's size, covered with a fresh sheet of white paper, and that was where Wren softly laid Healani, smiling down to her. Machinery in the room was protected with thick, leather, covers, all of which hid them from view, save for their plugs all set into the industrial outlets along the wall. The one counter in the room was a simple, many-drawered, wooden cabinet with a heavy, white counter top that held a tray filled with surgical implements, all covered by a blue, anti-bacterial sheet.
When she is brought to the door doctors. She offers a bow of her head to the doctor when he appears and speaks to them. "Aloha, Doc, I am really sorry. This is not a great way to start the morning." She says to him. "It is not bad, just needs to be cleaned and a few stitches. I am very sorry." She blushes with embarrassment. "There is no need, just cut the pat off a little bit above the leg. I have more pairs of scrub pants than I can shake a stick at." Then they are moving through the hallway. She has grown quiet and cannot help but look with wide eyed curiosity as she looks around the place. When they enter that room and the lights go on she winces. She is still shivering and sweating. She is laid on the table and she cannot help but move her head from side to side as she studies this particular room. Her eyes come to rest on the metal tray that contains the sterile barrier. When he lays her down small specks of sand break from her clothing and fall against the white paper. She struggles to sit up and take off her shoes. Her shoes are sensible. They are tennis shoes that are wide and have anti slip tread, the color is black. She shifts herself so that her feet are little over the edge of the bed. "Thank you, there will be sand." She explains.
When Doc Keawe entered the room, he was still dressed in a set of simple, rather comfortable looking cotton, drawstring pants and a white Tshirt that looked like it had been either brand new or well enough cared for that there wasn't even a hint of a stain on it. His feet were still bare, and he offered a subtle, soft smile to Healani, before he looked up at Wren and raised his brows. "Go ahead and plug in the irrigation machine for me? And I'll need the trench set up." Doc Keawe moved over to the cabinet at the side of the room and pulled free a white blanket with two blue lines that ran along the top, hospital standard issue. He also grabbed a large pillow, covered in a white pillow case. When he came back over to Healani, he smiled down at her while he unfolded the blanket. "I'm Doctor Keawe, miss. What would you like me to call you?" As he spoke, the doc laid the blanket over Healani, covering all of her save for the wounded leg. He reached behind her neck, hand moving down between her shoulders, then placed the pillow behind her head, elevating her just a touch. "And what happened to your leg?" He glanced at the wound, pulling over a rolling stool to take a seat next to the table where Healani now laid. Wren, for this part, moved immediately over to the covered machines and pulled the thick cloth off one of them, revealing what looked like a dental irrigation machine, but large, obviously not meant for human teeth. Moving over to the counter, a long hose at the end was threaded into the spigot at the sink, and then the machine came to life with a low purring sound as its pressure generator came on with the flick of a switch. After rolling the machine next to the table, easily within reach of the Doc, Wren opened up the cabinet under the counter top and pulled out what had to be 'the trench', lengths of white tubing, cut in half, that extended out and seemed to be attached to the wall under the sink.
She looks at the doctor. "Thank you, please call me Healani. It is a puncture, wound through the rectus femoris and it went straight through. Unfortunately, they pulled it out and not in a very nice manner. Thank you, it happened a while ago and on the beach. There might be few critters that got in it. I am not certain. I wrapped it but did not have the time or the equipment to do more. Though I can take the temperature of a liver. What I can tell you is that no arteries were damaged or major nerves. Never stick your nose into a frey when two sisters are duking it out. They are bitches, like neither of them but this time the one was being the instigator. So I told them both off, mostly the instigator." The blankets and the pillows that are given to her cause her to offer the doctor another gracious smile. "Thank you and I am babbling. I am in good health and have no allergies. Last major surgery was long a long while ago. I am older than I look."
The Back Room at Doc Keawe's house is marked by a door that had a pressure release handle rather than a turning handle. It was simple, white, with white subway tile on the floor, and up the walls, all the way to the ceiling. The overhead lights are on and are bright, florescent, that light up the whole space. In the center of the room was a table that looked large enough to handle a man about Wren's size, covered with a fresh sheet of white paper, and that was where Healani is laid out, covered in a blanket over all but her left leg, with a pillow underneath her head. Machinery in the room was protected with thick, leather, covers, all of which hid them from view, save for their plugs all set into the industrial outlets along the wall. The one counter in the room was a simple, many-drawered, wooden cabinet with a heavy, white counter top that held a tray filled with surgical implements, all covered by a blue, anti-bacterial sheet. Wren was just finished setting up some machinery, what looked like a dental irrigation machine, but large, obviously not meant for human teeth. Over at the counter, a long hose at the end was threaded into the spigot at the sink, the machine on with a low purring sound as its pressure generator ran smoothly. Lengths of white tubing, cut in half, extended out and seemed to be attached to the wall under the sink. Wren looks like he's dressed for his work on the farm, but has obviously had reason to forego that to help out Healani. Doc Keawe is sitting next to Healani on his rolling stool, looking relaxed in a set of simple, rather comfortable looking cotton, drawstring pants and a white Tshirt that looked like it had been either brand new or well enough cared for that there wasn't even a hint of a stain on it. His feet were still bare, and he seemed to be giving Healani a warm, quiet smile as they speak regarding her injury.
Doc Keawe looked at the leg in question, nodding to Healani. "He le'ale'a, Healani. It looks like you're doing quite well for someone suffering from a quite intense puncture wound. I've got a local I'm going to inject you with, to numb the major nerves, do you have ill-reactions to Caine-based anesthetics I should be worried about?" Turning as he spoke, Doc Keawe opened a couple of drawers in the cabinet, then pulled free a set of scissors, an ampule of lidocaine, and a disposable syringe. "I'm going to have to remove the dressing you've placed around the wound, numb it, then irrigate the wound. You shouldn't feel much of anything beyond cold, but I've got more blankets we can get to cover you up." Doc turned back toward Healani and offered her a slight smile, looking at her face intently. "Wren, in the cabinet at the far wall there are Gluco-tabs, why don't you bring over three of them, so that Healani can let them melt under her tongue while I'm getting everything cut away?"
However, she pauses a moment by the door to the back room, knocking softly on it before entering quietly, not wanting to interrupt or break his concentration. Still, peering around and spying not an animal, but a vaguely familiar woman laying on the operating table, and injured no less, Iara's eyes widen in concern, stepping towards the small group. "Aloha Doc, Wren, and..Healani?" she pauses a minute, glancing at Healani as she remembers her name from their few meetings. "May I be of assistance?"
"?A?ole?o ia, aka e?ai i na hua'opiopio." She switches to English and translates. "Sorry, no it is not fun, and I would rather eat rotten fruit. Just shocky, thank you, I was trying to get Wren to give me coke and he said no. Glucose tabs work wonderfully. I will be okay with the Caine-base, my only concern is that I am on call and I have to drive home. This is also my good leg so the more feeling the better. Not to be pain. I think I am doing well is because I am still angry and there is still Adrenaline in my system. When I wears off it will be another story." Another enters and Healani looks startled. She frowns when she sees Iara. "Aloha, yes I am Healani."
Doc Keawe looked up as Iara entered and nodded to her. "Why don't you come and cut away the leg of her pants for me, Iara. I need it up to the hip, but be careful as the blood might have dried some of it to her skin. Don't want to cause any extra pain, but at least there's no matted fur to worry about." Doc held out the surgical scissors to Iara and turned his head to look up at Healani again. "Ke hana nui nei'oe, Healani. Iara works as my assistant while she's going through school. Now, as much as I admire your dedication, I might suggest a day off work after you go through this. I can likely write you a note, though I'll have to say it's about a dog or cat, or your favorite cow." He gave Healani a good natured smile, waiting while Wren settled another blanket over the woman, and then he took one of the gluco-tab packets from Wren's hand and unwrapped it, motioning for Healani to open her mouth, so he could drop it onto her tongue. "Under the tongue, let it dissolve, it'll help you with the shock you're in, as will the blankets. Relieving the pain will help as well."
Nodding to Doc, she takes the offered scissors, sitting opposite Keawe as she looks down at Healani, "Alright, try and sit still.." Very carefully, Iara cuts away at the pant leg, doing her best to very gently peel the material away from the dried blood on her leg in a few places where it is more sticky. Fortunately, she is used to the sight of so much blood and seems to have a strong stomach for it, among other things. "You alright, Healani? I hope that didn't hurt..May I ask what happened?" there is still some concern in her voice as she looks over the woman's wounds, but relieved that she found Doc when she did.
Doc Keawe nodded as Iara cut away the pants leg, then he pulled out a finer set of scissors from the same drawer and began removing the gauze from around the leg. "Nice work, Iara. Why don't grab me the topical anesthetic from the cabinet, please?" This of course asked of Iara as the doc continued to cut away gauze from the wound on Healani's thigh. When he looked up at Healani, he offered her a slight smile. "Sounds like you've got this all figured out. This is going to smart a little, but I'll make it quick, just be cautious and no jerking the leg, please?" Then Doc pulled away both the gauze at the front and back of the wound, which allowed blood to seep out in slow, languid drips as it flowed from the back of Healani's leg. It wasn't a high pressure bleed, luckily, just a slow drip. "Which sisters were you dealing with this morning that decided to stab you through the leg for your efforts? Was it the Kehale twins? They seem to have the spines for it." Doc Keawe grinned and seemed to go about his business, not really responding to any of Wren's teasing with a positive or negative.
She merely smirks at Wren, "Hmm, I would have thought you'd rather work at a hospital, then you'd get to see lots of pretty patients coming in all the time, and not just animals. But it seems you get your fair share of human patients here nonetheless." despite her light chatter, Iara is still focused on her work, nodding to Doc as she gets up and grabs the anesthetic, handing it to him before sitting down opposite once more, holding Healani's injured leg still and making sure the cloth is clear of her leg completely as he begins to cut away at the gauze. She is already getting some more gauze ready for him, but does not apply it, setting it on the nearby workbench as she waits for him to do his work. She arches a brow, at his comment though. "Kehale twins? Who are they..?"
When the bandage is removed they will see a large puncture would that is a few inches in diameter and jagged. There is sand in it. She leans forward towards the doctor and whispers to him in Hawaiian. Realizing what she has done she quickly leans back knowing she is about to get scolded. She grows quiet and bites down on her lip. The blood drains from her face. She is waiting for the shots to happen. "I am ready for the cold and the shots mentioned. I will not move again I promise. I am very sorry, I am a horrid patient today." She then says suddenly. "No not those twins." She lowers her gaze to her lap. Healani whispers "Pele and Namaka, they are fuckers. They are fighting again on the beach this time. How many more times do the two of them need to fight until they destroy the island. I am so mad, they interfere with my work and now this."
Looking back to Healani, Wren grinned softly and shook his head. "I don't think you owe us anything, but I'm sure that anyone in this room would feel lucky to get you at dinner. You're good company to have, Healani." Once she laid back down, he softly stroked her hair back to smooth it, possibly helping to remind her to leave her head down on the damn pillow. "After we're done here, and before you run off to the next call, I'll fix you up something for breakfast just to make sure you've got more than straight sugar in your system. If you get a call, you can always take off, but I figure a little relaxing before you have to walk around after this might be the best idea. And Mahalo, by the way, I'd never even considered working toward the bettering of mental health." Wren waggled his brows at Healani, playful, teasing. "Just wait til I drive you crazy, Miss Uhane, then you'll tell me the opposite." Doc Keawe accepted the anesthetic gel from Iara and nodded to. "Mahalo, and the Kehale twins are a couple of girls that grew up down the road from here, and belong to a steer rancher. They're about as friendly as Brillo pads left outside in the rain to rust." Doc grinned and gently smoothed topical anesthetic near the wound on Healani's leg, at the front side, then moved to the back to smear more of the thick gel onto it. "Alright, going to give that just a moment while I prepare the lidocaine." He inserted the syringe into the ampule he'd carried over himself earlier, filling it so that there'd be plenty, because having to redo the process and gaining another needleful made time stretch too long. After the cooling gel had time to numb the first few inches of flesh, he reached over and rubbed his finger on a patch of Healani's skin, which was now completely numb. Looking up at Healani, Doc Keawe smiled softly. "Can you feel this?" And when she shook her head to indicate she couldn't, or straight up told him no, Doc started injecting her with lidocaine, large amounts of it too. Enough that the skin of her puncture started to look more swollen. It likely stings a bit. "I think you're doing just fine for a patient that had a large object shoved clean through their leg this morning, Healani. And you're doing great, because you can talk to me in English or Hawaiian and at least I don't have to get Wren to translate like he does when I talk to the horses, cows, and goats." Doc glanced up and winked at Healani, then continued making more injections around the wound, at the top and bottom of the leg, even inserting the needle to the inside and outside of Healani's leg once it had numbed up. Irrigation would hurt like hell, otherwise. He was precise, and remarkably quick, likely because he was used to working around animals that liked to move when they didn't enjoy getting stuck with needles.
"Wren thank you, it hurt. It feels fine now. Coke or cake for breakfast. I still have the cake in the car." She says softly to him. She looks tired now that pain is gone. Lines of weariness have replaced the pain. "That is such a relief." She murmurs softly. "Thank you," she closes her eyes and leans into his touch. Between the pain going away and the glucose tabs she is doing so much better. Even her pallor is changing for the better. "You both are very kind to say that. I just hate being in this position. Ya those girls are jerks, I have heard some interesting stories about how they treat their dates not to mention the bullying, they are trying to peg the suicide of Kamala on them. They are bad news those two." She shakes her head. "Nasty business, but they will get their just deserts in the end."
While Wren talked to Healani about breakfast, Doc Keawe got to work with the irrigation system, pulling the half tub out and forward and putting it under Healani's leg, and then he began rinsing her wound after he stabbed her gently a couple of times with the syringe to make sure she couldn't feel anything inside of the rough hole through her leg. The water was cool, and he looked up at Wren and nodded to the third blanket, indicating he should get it onto Healani. The steady sound of water began then, as he rinsed over the inner tissues of Healani's leg for quite some time, sand and other small debris falling onto the little channel that had been set up underneath to catch it. "I appreciate the marriage proposal, Healani, but I feel it's unfair to hold you to it while I'm the one relieving your pain. That seems like it might not hold up well as a reason to marry me." Doc Keawe chuckled softly, using another surgical tool to clear out more sand while the water ran.
Doc Keawe looked up and smiled slightly to Healani, shaking his head. "As kind as the offer is, and as alluring, I'm pretty sure we should keep our relationship professional, at least until I've removed these stitches in 10 days or so." Doc chuckled and completed the long process of irrigating everything out of Healani's wound, and it took a solid 10-15 minutes or so, but he was thorough as they come. Once that was over, the irrigation rig was pulled away and he began prepping her for stitches. Since she couldn't feel anything, he cleaned her up well, and then delivered the precise, delicate stitching to hold her skin together, 4 stitches in the front, only two in the back. "For such a deep wound, it's always so surprising just how little there is to actually stitch up." Keawe patted Healani's leg softly, closer to the knee so she could feel it. "I'm just going to wrap this up now, and you'll be good to go. I brought in a spare pair of scrub pants you can change into, so that you're legs are both warm." And then, Keawe bandaged and wrapped up around Healani's leg expertly, leaving her looking like there wasn't so much bad with her leg after all.
"Wren you are a good man and your people are good. " She says softly. Her eyes are bright. She yawns, her eyes close again. "Tell me Doctor how can I repay you for this, because you heard what I was going to do? I owe you. Wren I owe you too."
Once Doc Keawe was done with the wrapping of Healani's leg, he looked over at her and smiled lightly. "She's young, in her late teens or early twenties somewhere. A student wanting to go into veterinary medicine, so I let her work with me here, and she stays in the guest room. From what she's mentioned, she's had a crappy love life for someone so young, so I just let her do what she does, and I give her work to do around the farm. She also assists me when I need to perform any surgeries or work with any of he animals. Iara's alright, or at least she has been so far. A little shy and quiet maybe." He nodded to Healani. "We'll talk about the need for payment and what not another time, Healani. For now, go on back to the big house, relax, put as little stress on the wound as you can. Lots of fluids, lots of good meat, and if you can avoid it, don't pick at the dressing until tomorrow when you can change it for a fresh bandage." Doc Keawe patted Healani's leg softly, just above the knee on the side she could feel, and then went about gathering up everything so he could cover her wounded leg with the blanket and give more warmth. "When you take her over, just take the blankets with you. I'll pick them up later when I do my rounds this afternoon with the colts." And then, Doc Keawe gave both Wren and Healani a smile before walking out of the room.
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