To say she has certain expectations
on the way her world should operate is obvious.
The child has a speech impediment
and, rather than her feeling that she has to adjust the way she pronounces her
words, she thinks we all have a problem with our hearing.
Last week, her universe crumbled when
she made a miscalculation while exiting a vehicle. The result was slamming her
left index finger in a car door. This was a major problem.
I had just finished a 12 hour shift
in the ER when I came home to discover her swollen, purple finger. I packed her
up and drove right back to work. Neither of us wanted to go, but I needed to be
sure there were no broken bones.
Her criticism of the facility began
immediately. She was hungry. The cafeteria was already closed which did not
make her happy.
We had to sign in and take a seat
for a while because the waiting room was full. “We have to wait? I just want to
go home. Why can’t we just go home, Mommy?” She whined for a while until I emphasized
the need for an x-ray, explaining it was a picture of her finger bones.
A baby was coughing across from us.
The poor little guy sounded like he had a bad cold. “That baby just keeps on
coughing. He’s been coughing for like 9 minutes now. He’s really cute though
and his shirt looks nice on him.” I told her that the mother could most likely
hear everything she was saying because the room was wide open and she doesn’t
alter the volume of her voice. This didn’t seem to bother her in the least.
After being led into the back, we
were placed on a bed in the hall because all the rooms were full. “Seriously?
We’re not going to get a room? Let’s just go home. I don’t want to be here.” I
told her that we were definitely not going home until we finished what we came
there to do.
She showed me her temporary tattoo
on her hand that said “Love.” She asked, “Mommy, what is that little word at
the very bottom?” I told her it said “China.”
“Love China? What? Are you kidding?
Why would it say that?” She then burst into a fit of giggles while repeating
“Love China.” I explained that lots of things are made in China which is why it
was in small print. This spurred a discussion on world manufacturing and made
me feel guilty for not purchasing more American-made products.
At last, the Radiology tech arrived.
The old x-ray machine had to be used because the new one was experiencing
technical difficulties. “Yuck! I don’t like that one. It looks dirty.” We
convinced her it had to be done regardless of her opinion.
The end result was a tuft fracture
of the distal phalanx or, basically, she broke her finger tip. She has a metal
splint to wear for a while which will, sadly, only aid in her finger-pointing
abilities.
Maybe with the splint, she can feel
less squeamish about squishing ants.
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