As Kevin shifted positions, Ellie wondered what he would do. As he bent over her he thought he might give her a hug but instead his lips brushed against her forehead. Ellie closed her eyes, savoring the gentle touch that for some reason made her blush. Ellie squeezed Kevin’s hand once more before a man in a white coat approached her bedside.

”Hello, my name is Doctor Scott and I’ll be taking care of you tonight. Now let’s see here…” he said, picking up her chart, ”Hm, ice skating accident I see.” The doctor took a moment to read over the report and check her vitals. Setting the clipboard down at the end of the stretcher he said ”Alright, let’s take a look.” He felt the back of Ellie’s head, gently probing, before removing a small flashlight from his pocket which he shined in her eyes. He asked her a number of question and nodded after each response and marked some notes on her chart.

”Alright, let’s take a look at that leg now,” he said, carefully folding back the covers. The paramedics had cut off a portion of her pant leg and applied a temporary dressing. Ellie watched as the doctor peeled the dressing off and let out a moan when she saw what as underneath. Her knee was blackened and bloated with blood oozing out of the broken skin. Ellie laid her head back and closed her eyes, swallowing hard and taking a few deep breaths to quell a sudden bout of nausea.

She didn’t reopen her eyes until the doctor replaced the bandage and pulled the blanket back over her. ”It looks like you hit your head pretty hard, you have a concussion. I’m going to prescribe an anti-inflammatory and you’ll need to take it easy for a while. You might experience some headaches or dizziness and have difficulty concentrating for a couple weeks. As for your leg, I’m going to order an x-ray. I’ll know more once I can see what’s going on under the surface. If you need anything, let any of our nurses know and they will be glad to help.”