“I think Baylor is the closest,” Nikki said, already halfway out of the downtown area and headed toward the interstate.
“That’s fine. Whatever you think.” I leaned my head back on the seat and closed my eyes, every single worst case scenario running through my head. What if we had to cancel the rest of the tour? What if I couldn’t play guitar again? What if I wasn’t treated in time? This had happened before. I knew it was a blood clot and I knew if it moved to my heart, I was dead.
“I’ll park and come find you,” Nikki pulled right up by the emergency room door.
“I don’t want you walking by yourself out here at night. I can walk.”
She leaned over and kissed me “I love you. More than anything. You are so busy taking care of everyone else you barely take time for yourself. Go inside. I’ll be in in a minute.”
“Fine. But if you aren’t inside in five minutes, I’m sending security.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Name and Date of birth?” The registration clerk asked.
“Clarke Isaac Hanson. 11/17/1980”
“New patient?”
“Yes.”
“Symptoms?”
“My arm is purple and hurts like hell.”
She just nodded as she typed in the information. “I need your ID and Insurance card. Are you allergic to any medicines?”
“Not that I know of.”
“I need to you sign here and here.”
Once I gave her the forms back, she handed me an ID bracelet and my cards. “Have a seat. The triage nurse will be with you shortly.”
I sat near the door and strained to look so I could see Nikki when she came in. Just when I was about to text her, she came rushing through the door.
“Have you seen the doctor yet?” She asked, out of breath from walking so fast.
“Not yet.”
“Should I go see what’s taking so long?”
Just then, a nurse came around the corner. “Clarke Hanson? Follow me, please.” Nikki followed us to the small room.
“Have a seat. What’s going on with you today?”
“Well, my entire arm is purple,” I pulled up my sleeve to show him.
I watched his face for any changing expression, but he didn’t seem fazed.
“Alright. I’m going to get your vitals and get you into one of our exam rooms.”
He ran through the routine processes rather fast, and I wondered if that was just habit or if he knew that I needed treatment sooner than later.
“Okay, follow me. That arm is pretty bad. I’m putting you in priority. A doctor should be here very soon.”
Nikki sat in a small chair near the wall while I sat on the exam table. There was only a curtain separating us from the rest of the small cubes. We didn’t talk, but we had developed a way of communicating without saying a word. The nature of my career demanded it. You never knew when someone might overhear something and start a rumor. We saved all our serious conversations for home. I knew she was worried. So was I.
The ER doctor came in soon after that. “Mr. Hanson?” He barely looked at me before he went to the computer in the corner of the room and started typing.
“Okay, I need you to verify your date of birth for me.”
I gave him the information.
“What can we help you with?”
I pulled up my sleeve to show him. The doctor just nodded and started pressing all around my arm, which made the pain even worse. I tried not to pull away from him. I must have shown the pain on my face because Nikki came up and grabbed my other hand.
“A bit tender there?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay.” He stopped pressing on my arm and started typing again. “I’m going to order some tests so we can see exactly what’s going on. Change into this for me, please.” He took a hospital gown out of one of the drawers under the table. “I’ll be back in to check on you after we get all the results in.” He left the room just as quickly as he came in. I could see that Nikki was even more concerned than before. I had to be brave for her. I squeezed her hand and pulled her close to kiss the top of her head.
“It will be okay, babe.” She wrapped her arms around me, put her head on my chest, and nodded. She murmured something into my shirt. “What, sweetheart?”
“I just said I love you.”
“I love you, too.” I could have stayed like that forever, but she finally raised her head.
“I’d better help you get changed.”
I had just barely gotten settled before a nurse came in to take vitals and blood samples.
“When is the last time you ate? Sometimes that affects the lab results.”
“I had a little bit to eat before the show.”
She raised her eyebrow at me. I guess she wasn’t familiar with Hanson time.
“I had dinner about 7.”
“Okay.” She typed the information into the computer and left without another word. A orderly came in the door with a wheelchair as she was leaving.
“Hi. Mr. Hanson?”
“Yes.”
“The doctor ordered several chest x-rays and an MRI. I’ll need to take you downstairs to radiology,” he said
“I can walk.”
“Hospital policy, sir. We wouldn’t want you to get dizzy and fall. Ma’m,” he addressed Nikki, “The space downstairs is a bit cramped. You are welcome to stay here, I’ll bring him back as soon as we are finished.”
“That’s fine,” she said.
“If you’d like to stretch your legs, there are vending machines right down the hall, you can get coffee or a snack.”
“Thank you.”
“Okay, before we get rolling, I just need you to verify your date of birth.”
“Again?”
“Yes. Hospital policy and new privacy practice laws.”
“11/17/80.”
We went down a long hallway for what seemed like forever before we took elevators down to the basement level.
“Are you claustrophobic?”
“No.” But getting impatient with all this shit.
“Good to hear,” he put my chart on the door marked “X-ray” and knocked. “I’ll be back to bring you upstairs in a bit.”
He walked off and left me sitting in the hallway. I waited for about 10 minutes before someone brought me into the x-ray room.
X-rays, an MRI, then I was left waiting in the hallway again. Finally, I made it back to the room with Nikki.
“The doctor will be in as soon as he reviews your test results.”
“Okay.”
“Taylor and Zac are here. Nat and Kate are watching the little ones,” Nikki told me. “They only allow one person back at a time. Do you want me to get Taylor?”
“Did you tell him anything?”
“Only that they are running tests and we won’t know anything for a bit.”
“Okay. Let’s just leave it at that for now.”
After about an hour of waiting, Taylor peaked his head around the curtain.
Nikki stepped just outside the room, I could still see her shadow. I was glad she didn’t go too far.
“How are you?” He asked
“Still waiting on test results.”
“Ok. I told Bex to go ahead and cancel the show for tomorrow.”
“Why did you do that?”
“Isaac, it’s 2AM and we still don’t know anything.”
“You and Zac should go on. Nikki is here with me.”
“We can’t play a show without you, Isaac.”
Well, that was a revelation. I thought they just kept me because Mom would be pissed if they dropped me.
“Yes you can. Will and Demetrius can pick up the slack for me.”
“Ike, we are canceling the show.”
“Fine. But you and Zac go on back to Tulsa. I know you both want to go home. At least take the walk tomorrow. But don’t cancel any more shows without letting me know.”
“We won’t.” Taylor patted me on my good shoulder, then said “Zac wanted me to let you know that he and Kate will be praying for you.”
I nodded, “Tell him to take care of himself.”
“You do the same. See you in a day or so?”
“Sooner than that, I hope.”
“Take care.”
“You, too.”
Nikki came back in as soon as Taylor left.
I started to tell her what happened.
“I heard,” she sighed. “I hope they tell us something soon. Maybe this is a good sign. If it was something serious, they would be moving a little faster, right?”
“Maybe so,” I rubbed my arm.
“Let me look,” Nikki stepped over and looked at my arm. “No change really. Are you still in a lot of pain? You’d think they would have given you something by now.”
Yes. I didn’t know what to tell her. I didn’t want her to worry any more than she already was.
“I guess they need to know what they are dealing with first.”
“That’s true. Ok, more waiting I guess.”
“Hopefully not too much more.”
After another hour, the same doctor from before came in.
“Hello. Well, I’m sorry you had to wait so long,” he sat down with my chart open in front of him. “So, the good news is that you came in right away. Your x-rays show blood clots in your lungs and a pinched vein in your arm. Most likely, the blood clots traveled from that vein to your lungs. The blood flow to your heart is restricted as well.”
“Wow,” That was way worse than before. “So, what now?”
“I am going to recommend surgery to correct both as soon as possible. I’m writing an order to go ahead and admit you to the hospital overnight. We need to monitor you to make sure that your arm doesn’t get any worse. Our PE specialist will look over your charts when he comes in and recommend a specific course of action.”
“How long will I be in the hospital? My band is on tour and I need to get back on the road.”
“I’d say at least a few days, depending on what you surgeon recommends. But you probably don’t need to use your arm for a while.”
“I play guitar. I’m going to have to be able to use my arm and soon.”
The doctor closed my chart “I can’t make any promises. You are quite lucky to be alive, actually. If it wasn’t for your arm, you may have never known there was a problem. They call pulmonary embolisms silent killer for a reason.”
“Isaac, it will be okay. Your brothers will understand,” Nikki spoke up.
“What about the fans?”
“They will be fine. They may be disappointed if you have to cancel shows, but they are loyal to you.”
“Alright.”
“Good,” the doctor signed a form on the chart. “We’ll get you assigned to a room and I’ll have an orderly take you up as soon as possible.”
“Fine.”
“I guess I need to call Taylor and tell him, then.” I said when the doctor left.
“He is probably asleep. Why don’t you wait until you hear from the surgeon, then you can give him more details.”
“That’s a good idea,” I yawned. I was going on 24 hours without sleep since we had to wake up early that morning for radio interviews.
Nikki came over and took my hand.
“Why don’t you look into getting a hotel room for the night? You haven’t had much rest, either.” I told her.
“I think no rest is going to be a way of life now that we have Everette. I want to stay with you.”
“I wouldn’t mind that at all.”