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Renee Flores has been a registered nurse here at Grand Oaks Hospital for over five years now. During that time, her expert skills, warm demeanor, and gentle hands proved to be ideal for bringing comfort and calmness to patients under her care. As a result, she was soon hand picked to oversee all fracture patients in the traction ward, making sure their recovery is as swift and comfortable as possible.

However, in this specific case, things might be a bit too much for her to handle...

The complex traction frame needed for Alexa Vaillancourt's recent injury is going to take a while for medical technicians to set up due to the sheer size of her cast. As a result, Nurse Flores needs to requisition the needed equipment and finalize some paperwork in the office down the hall. This of course leaves Alexa momentarily unattended in her wheelchair at the foot of Shellie's bed.

The two new roommates share a most uncomfortable moment of silence, their eyes locked, one in uneasiness and the other in barely restrained fury. Only the steady methodical beeping of Shellie's heart rate monitor breaks the silence. Shellie thinks saying hello might be a good idea but before she can even open her mouth...

Without warning, Alexa lurches forward, propelled by her good leg in a hopping motion, swinging her crutches like a baseball bat directly at Shellie, all the while screaming obscenities. Shellie can barely react, let alone defend herself, as the myriad of traction slings, cables, braces, and of course large plaster casts prevent any sort of meaningful movement.

The first blow, courtesy of Alexa's heavy wooden crutch, lands squarely on the side Shellie's full leg cast. Though this cast is double padded, and slathered in twice the amount of plaster usually prescribed, the impact nevertheless causes an instant surge of pain.

Shellie screams!

Switching to her casted hand as a weapon as she closes in, Alexa throws plastered fists at Shellie's arm and leg as shards of white plaster go flying with every loud bang. Shellie's pleas to stop fall on deaf ears as the two soon form a tangled mess of flailing plastered limbs. The frantic, rapid beeps of the heart rate monitor are mixed with screams and obscenities.

Dashing back to a scene of utter chaos, a shocked Nurse Flores immediately seizes Alexa from behind but struggles to get a decent grip. A few moments of grappling ensue in which she manages to pull Alexa away with all of her strength. As Alexa flops backwards (ponderously due to the sheer weight of her massive spica cast), she manages to clutch whatever is at hand...

...which happens to be one of the traction cables.

What had been a device that gently cradled and elevated Shellie's leg suddenly becomes an instrument of war as her big casted leg is yanked upwards in a single sharp motion by the pull of the cable. The pain from moments earlier pales in comparison to that of having the traction sling hoisting Shellie's entire body skywards. Her cast smacks into the traction pulley above and is jammed there under tension in a nearly vertical position for several seconds- an eternity of pain as far as Shellie is concerned.

In the struggle with Nurse Flores, Alexa suddenly loses her grip on the cable and Shellie's leg comes crashing down onto one of the steel traction bars with a loud clank. This time Shellie is too overcome by the pain to even scream: she passes out instantly, breathing heavily, and covered in sweat.

Alexa, still screaming obscenities, is hauled out of the room by two orderlies.

Nurse Flores immediately tends to Shellie and with much relief, sees that there doesn't appear to be any major new injuries caused by this ordeal. However, one could say that the real damage was to Shellie's nerves.

With a recent pandemic stretching medical resources to the limit, it becomes apparent to the staff that there's no place else to put Alexa. She simply must be hosted in the only available traction bed beside Shellie, much to the disapproval of Nurse Flores who now feels a need to protect her patients from one another.

No doubt round-the-clock supervision will be needed to ensure this sort of event never happens again.

Authors Note:

This rather dramatic entry was quite a tricky one to get right due to all the various pieces and character interactions.

In reality, I doubt anyone wearing a hip spica cast could act so aggressively let alone do battle.

The whole traction "malfunction" idea was inspired by this classic Laurel and Hardy short "County Hospital" from way back in 1932 which is one of the earliest examples of a LLC seen in a movie.

In other news, things are starting to return to normal over on my end but I think we shouldn't let our guard down. A second wave is likely to hit and I intend to be prepared this time around. I suggest you all do the same!

Description

[<< PREVIOUS EPISODE ] [ NEXT EPISODE >>]

Renee Flores has been a registered nurse here at Grand Oaks Hospital for over five years now. During that time, her expert skills, warm demeanor, and gentle hands proved to be ideal for bringing comfort and calmness to patients under her care. As a result, she was soon hand picked to oversee all fracture patients in the traction ward, making sure their recovery is as swift and comfortable as possible.

However, in this specific case, things might be a bit too much for her to handle...

The complex traction frame needed for Alexa Vaillancourt's recent injury is going to take a while for medical technicians to set up due to the sheer size of her cast. As a result, Nurse Flores needs to requisition the needed equipment and finalize some paperwork in the office down the hall. This of course leaves Alexa momentarily unattended in her wheelchair at the foot of Shellie's bed.

The two new roommates share a most uncomfortable moment of silence, their eyes locked, one in uneasiness and the other in barely restrained fury. Only the steady methodical beeping of Shellie's heart rate monitor breaks the silence. Shellie thinks saying hello might be a good idea but before she can even open her mouth...

Without warning, Alexa lurches forward, propelled by her good leg in a hopping motion, swinging her crutches like a baseball bat directly at Shellie, all the while screaming obscenities. Shellie can barely react, let alone defend herself, as the myriad of traction slings, cables, braces, and of course large plaster casts prevent any sort of meaningful movement.

The first blow, courtesy of Alexa's heavy wooden crutch, lands squarely on the side Shellie's full leg cast. Though this cast is double padded, and slathered in twice the amount of plaster usually prescribed, the impact nevertheless causes an instant surge of pain.

Shellie screams!

Switching to her casted hand as a weapon as she closes in, Alexa throws plastered fists at Shellie's arm and leg as shards of white plaster go flying with every loud bang. Shellie's pleas to stop fall on deaf ears as the two soon form a tangled mess of flailing plastered limbs. The frantic, rapid beeps of the heart rate monitor are mixed with screams and obscenities.

Dashing back to a scene of utter chaos, a shocked Nurse Flores immediately seizes Alexa from behind but struggles to get a decent grip. A few moments of grappling ensue in which she manages to pull Alexa away with all of her strength. As Alexa flops backwards (ponderously due to the sheer weight of her massive spica cast), she manages to clutch whatever is at hand...

...which happens to be one of the traction cables.

What had been a device that gently cradled and elevated Shellie's leg suddenly becomes an instrument of war as her big casted leg is yanked upwards in a single sharp motion by the pull of the cable. The pain from moments earlier pales in comparison to that of having the traction sling hoisting Shellie's entire body skywards. Her cast smacks into the traction pulley above and is jammed there under tension in a nearly vertical position for several seconds- an eternity of pain as far as Shellie is concerned.

In the struggle with Nurse Flores, Alexa suddenly loses her grip on the cable and Shellie's leg comes crashing down onto one of the steel traction bars with a loud clank. This time Shellie is too overcome by the pain to even scream: she passes out instantly, breathing heavily, and covered in sweat.

Alexa, still screaming obscenities, is hauled out of the room by two orderlies.

Nurse Flores immediately tends to Shellie and with much relief, sees that there doesn't appear to be any major new injuries caused by this ordeal. However, one could say that the real damage was to Shellie's nerves.

With a recent pandemic stretching medical resources to the limit, it becomes apparent to the staff that there's no place else to put Alexa. She simply must be hosted in the only available traction bed beside Shellie, much to the disapproval of Nurse Flores who now feels a need to protect her patients from one another.

No doubt round-the-clock supervision will be needed to ensure this sort of event never happens again.

Authors Note:

This rather dramatic entry was quite a tricky one to get right due to all the various pieces and character interactions.

In reality, I doubt anyone wearing a hip spica cast could act so aggressively let alone do battle.

The whole traction "malfunction" idea was inspired by this classic Laurel and Hardy short "County Hospital" from way back in 1932 which is one of the earliest examples of a LLC seen in a movie.

In other news, things are starting to return to normal over on my end but I think we shouldn't let our guard down. A second wave is likely to hit and I intend to be prepared this time around. I suggest you all do the same!