Chapter 4
The shears were still in his hand. I could hear the frosted door rattle a little when the man on the other side shifted his weight.
The surgeon didn't finish cutting. He left the last piece of gauze hanging against my arm and stood up slow. His gloves made a soft sound when he flexed his fingers. He looked at me first, not at the door.
"Hey, buddy, I'm gonna step right here and talk for a second, okay? Nurse Jen will stay right here with you," he said. His voice was low and even.
I nodded. I couldn't really breathe right. My hand was still clutched to my chest like I was holding my shirt closed even though it wasn't. The nurse who'd been by the computer stepped closer to my bed. She was younger than the surgeon, dark ponytail, navy scrubs, and she didn't look at the bruise. She looked at my face.
The surgeon walked to the door but he didn't slide it open. He cracked it maybe four inches, just enough to put his shoulder and his back in the gap. I could see he was doing it on purpose, blocking the view in. The light from the hallway cut across his blue scrubs.
From the hallway a man's voice came through, loud. "What's the hold up? We're ready to go. He just fell at the playground."
I knew that voice. I felt my stomach drop. He wasn't yelling, but he was using that tight, annoyed voice he used when people didn't do what he wanted. The same voice from the car.
The surgeon kept his body in the doorway. He didn't move back. "I'm Dr. Reyes," he said. "I'm taking care of him tonight. Are you dad?"
"Stepfather. I've got authority. We don't need all this. Just wrap it and we can head out, we got a long drive," the man said. "He plays rough, you know how kids are. That mark is nothing, he bruises easy."
I watched the surgeon's shoulders. They didn't move much but his head tilted a little. The nurse beside me shifted her stool just an inch closer to my bed so I couldn't see the hallway at all. She put her hand lightly on the edge of my blanket, not touching me.
Dr. Reyes spoke calmly, same level voice. "I hear you. I know you want to get home. What I'm seeing on his arm doesn't match a playground fall. It's shaped exactly like a hand, four fingers and a palm, and it's deep purple. That means someone gripped him hard."
There was a pause. The hallway was quiet except for the carts rolling somewhere far off.
"You're saying I did that? That's ridiculous," the man said, louder now. "Let me in there. He's my kid, I have the right to be in there."
The door tried to slide a little more and the surgeon held it with his forearm. He didn't push, he just stayed there.
"I need you to stay in the hall for just a minute so we can follow hospital policy," Dr. Reyes said. "Anytime we see an injury we're worried about in the emergency bay, we have to pause discharge. We bring in our child life specialist and our social worker to make sure every kid is safe before they leave. It's not optional. It's the same for everyone. We can't discharge until that consult happens."
The man laughed, but it wasn't a real laugh. "Policy? Come on. You're going to hold us hostage over a bruise? I don't have time for this."
"It's not about time," Dr. Reyes said. "It's about safety. I can't let him leave with an unexplained injury. Our social worker is already on her way down. What I need you to do is wait in the family waiting area just past the nurses' station. It's got chairs, water. A staff member will be there with you and bring you back when we're ready to talk together."
I was listening so hard my ears hurt. I realized what was happening. Before, the door had just been blocked by a shadow. Now it was blocked by something else. The surgeon wasn't letting him in, and he was saying the hospital wouldn't let me leave even if the man tried to take me. The rule itself was standing in the doorway.
The man stepped back from the glass. I could see his shape get less dark. "Fine. This is insane. You better not be scaring him in there," he said.
"We're going to keep him comfortable," Dr. Reyes said. "Nurse Jen will stay with him the whole time. Someone will come get you in about twenty minutes."
He slid the door closed the last few inches and turned the little latch at the top that made it stay. The frosted glass was empty again, just bright hallway light, no silhouette. For the first time since they'd pulled the curtain around my bed, the room felt bigger.
Dr. Reyes let out a slow breath I hadn't realized he was holding. He looked at me and his face softened.
"You did good staying still," he said to me. "He's going to wait down the hall where our team can see him. You're going to stay right here with us. Nobody's going to take you out of here until we say it's safe, okay?"
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The nurse nodded. "I'm right here, honey. Do you want a sip of water?"
I didn't answer at first. I stared at the door that was now just a door, not a wall with a man behind it. My hand slowly came down from my chest and rested on the blanket. The bruise on my arm throbbed under the cool air. I realized I wasn't waiting to be grabbed anymore. I was waiting to see what the hospital would do next.
