The Pie Takes a Tumble

Hopefully, my quota for trips to the emergency room has been filled and we will never have to set foot in one again. Audrey had her turn in 2006 and this past Saturday was Maggie’s turn.

I don’t remember how I got from Point A to Point B. I just know that I turned the corner of an aisle in Sam’s Club and I saw my mom holding Maggie awkwardly and bystanders looking on, concerned. Then, I saw the blood. Half her face covered, Maggie sobbed and my mom yelled. Get here now. Now.

I grabbed her and rushed to the car, not understanding that, with facial cuts, the bleeding is much worse than the actual wound is. All I knew was that she was looking at me through blood tinged lashes and that she was hurt. It turned out to be a minor cut, most likely caused by her glasses, which broke the fall to the concrete floor. Later, she told me that a Cinderella book caught her attention and she wanted to read it.

When the nurse wrapped her in a ‘papoose’, she was calm and garnered praise from the nurse and doctor for her wonderful behavior. But when the numbing shots came (the shots which she screamed about all the way to the car, “No shots Momma! No shots!”), she let out bloodcurdling screams that broke my heart to bits. I couldn’t look, but I held on to her ankles (we weren’t allowed closer to avoid contaminating the sterilized areas) in apology and in the hopes that I could tell her that it would be okay. I don’t ever want to hear those screams again.

She’s okay now. She’s learned to use the injury for extra Christmas cookies and more TV time, but I’ve wisened up to her ploys. Everyone tells me this is what it’s like - having a kid. Everyone shows me the scar from their childhood tumble. But oh, to keep her from such pain. I would take her place in a second.