Well This Is Just Swell
Chapter 19: Another Medical Emergency
Rosco and Cooter arrived outside the Hazzard Salon shortly after Daisy and Hilery. Enos had gone into the church to gather the hair for evidence. The sheriff couldn’t believe someone had bested the young woman, but when he saw the damage, he starting having a mild fit.
“Jit, jit, oo, jit, nu....”
“Rosco, just take the pictures as evidence so that when Ellen gets here, she can fix this mess!” Cooter just about screamed at him. It caused the older man to jump and look at the town mechanic. The tone of voice didn’t help Hilery’s mood any. It caused the tears to flow heavier.
“Cooter, calm down,” Daisy said, hugging the younger woman. Hilery buried her face in Daisy’s shoulder. “Rosco, hurry up and take the pictures, please.”
“Nu… okay,” he said, picking up the Polaroid camera that was around his neck. Hilery let go of Daisy and let Rosco take the shameful photographs. By the time he was finished, Ellen had arrived.
“Oh you poor dear,” she said when she saw her. “Cooter, go back to the picnic with Rosco, Daisy and I can take it from here.” She opened the door to the shop and the three of them walked in.
Rosco and Cooter looked at each other for a moment before climbing back into the patrol car.
Ellen did a marvelous job on Hilery’s considerably shorter hair. She had given her side swept bangs after parting her hair on the side. As she looked in the mirror she had to admit it looked good, although she mourned her old style. She was visibly depressed.
“Dank new, Ewen.” Daisy and Ellen looked at each other.
“Hilery, sugar, are you alright?” Daisy asked, looking at her in the reflection of the mirror.
“I dunno…” was the reply. “Dun feew wighd…” And then she threw up on the salon floor. Daisy and Ellen looked at each other again when Hilery began wheezing.
“Ellen, call an ambulance,” Daisy said gently, rubbing the younger woman’s back to try to keep her calm. The beautician immediately complied, wasting no time in calling 9-1-1.
“Daithy, purth, epi…” Hilery said. Her speech was garbled, but the Duke woman understood. She grabbed Hilery’s purse and pulled out an EpiPen for her. She took it from her, opened the case, pulled the pen out, and removed the safety cap before jamming it hard against her thigh.
The EpiPen had no effect at first… then the wheezing became worse and became accompanied by a high pitched whistling sound. Hilery began to panic.
“It’s alright sugar,” Daisy told her, going back to rubbing her back. “Ellen’s calling an ambulance now.”
“They’re on their way.”
A high-pitched siren caused Cooter to look up from the conversation he was having with Jesse, Bo, and Luke. His heart sank as the ambulance drove past the church. “I’ve got to go,” he said, immediately making a run toward the center of town.
When he arrived, Hilery was being loaded into the back of the ambulance. The emergency medical technician looked at him as he ran up.
“I’m her cousin,” he told him, winded from his short run.
“Jump in,” said the technician, climbing in himself.
When he got a good look at his cousin, his heart sank. Her face was extremely swollen, and her tongue didn’t fit in her mouth. He could also hear her breathing which was troublesome. “It’s alright baby,” he told her gently, brushing her hair back from her forehead.
“We are going to meet the paramedics en route,” the EMT told Cooter. As he spoke, he took Hilery’s pulseox. When he saw it, he hooked her up to oxygen.
After he put the mask on the young woman, he turned to Cooter. “I’m going to need some information, Mr…?”
“Davenport. Cooter Davenport. This is my cousin, Hilery Davenport….”
When they arrived at the hospital, Hilery had passed out. The medics had started an IV and given her Benadryl, but it had only had a temporary effect… and even that was minor. As they wheeled her in, a nurse stopped Cooter from going back with her. Instead, he was directed to the waiting room.
He began to pace. He couldn’t sit still, and the coffee that was served in the waiting room didn’t seem appealing to him. He was too worried.
“Cooter,” a male voice yelled, entering the waiting room. It caused Cooter to look up, startled. It was Bo. He jogged up to the older man before asking, “how is she?”
“How…?”
“Daisy told us after the ambulance left.” Cooter could tell the Duke boy was quite worried. He looked past the blond to see Jesse, Luke, and Daisy enter the hospital. “How is she?” he repeated.
“I don’t know. She turned blue and passed out on the way here.”
“Oh God….”Bo ran a hand through his hair, clearly worried. It was then that Cooter realized Bo was as much of a nervous wreck as he was.
The rest of the Dukes were silent as all five of them took a seat. Neither Bo nor Cooter could stay still as they waited.
About a half an hour after Cooter and Hilery had arrived, a doctor came out. “Family of Hilery Davenport?”
“Right here,” Cooter said, getting up and going over to him. There were others in the waiting room, so they conversed softly. “I’m her cousin.”
“She’s a very lucky woman,” the doctor replied. “However, we had to intubate her.”
“Intubate?”
“We had to put a tube down her trachea to help her to breathe. She’s on a respirator. We already moved her down to ICU.” This news visibly upset the mechanic.
“She should make a full recovery,” the doctor told him gently. “It should only be for a few hours to a few days. I am puzzled that she didn’t react to the Benadryl.”
“She had a bout of this a few weeks ago. The allergist she saw seems to think it’s autoimmune.”
“I see…. You can visit her if you like, but because it’s Intensive Care, only family, and only one person at a time may see her.”
Cooter nodded. “Let me tell her friends how she’s doing, and then I’ll go see her.” Cooter looked at Bo, who had been watching them converse intently, and the rest of the Dukes who were sitting and waiting patiently, before stepping away from the doctor.
Hilery was still unconscious when Cooter arrived at her bedside. Tears fell freely down his face as he took a seat. He used the back of his hand to wipe them away before taking hers. He kissed it gently before rubbing the back of it with his thumbs. An IV line was attached to her other hand, giving her fluids.
“It’s alright baby girl,” he told her. He knew if she was awake, she would be scared. “The doc will figure out what’s wrong. I promise you.” He kissed her hand again as the tears continued to fall. Then he started to pray. He had never been as scared in his life as he had been while in the ambulance. Seeing her the way she was at that moment tore his heart asunder. He didn’t know what he would do if he lost her to this terrible disease like he had lost someone else whom he had held close to his heart.
After what seemed like a lifetime, but in reality had only been about twenty minutes, Hilery began to stir. Cooter didn’t notice until he felt her hand move. He released it and she gently touched his face. When he looked, her expression was one of pain. He rang for the nurse. While they were waiting, Cooter grabbed a small notepad from his shirt pocket, along with a pen. He handed them to Hilery.
It hurts.
“I know Hil, I know,” he told her gently. “I called the nurse. She should be here in a few minutes.”
What happened?
Cooter bit his lip and looked down. “You had another episode. You swelled up again and couldn’t breathe. They put a tube down your airway and hooked you up to a respirator to help you.”
Hilery looked away. She was ashamed for anyone to see her like she was, but she was also glad her cousin was there when she woke up.
How long will I be like this? She finally wrote after a few minutes.
“Doc said it could be a few hours, or a few days,” he replied. He looked up when he heard the nurse clear her throat.
“I see she’s awake,” the nurse said, smiling. She checked the monitor that held Hilery’s statistics before turning back to them. “Is there anything I can get either of you?”
“Yeah, she’s hurting.”
“How bad?” the nurse asked.
Hilery picked up the notepad and began scribbling on it. On a scale of 1-10, a 20.
The nurse nodded, seeing Hilery’s reply. “I’ll be right back.”
When she returned, the doctor was following her. He asked the same questions, as well as a few of his own to check cognition. The nurse hung back at the edge of the room, drawing medication into a syringe.
“I have prescribed a very strong pain killer,” the doctor said. “It will make you very tired, Miss Davenport.”
Hilery rolled her eyes. She hated strong pain killers, but she would give anything to not be in so much pain. She had tears streaming down her cheeks.
“What is it?” Cooter asked as the nurse came over. She wiped the IV line before administering the medication.
“Dilaudid. It works somewhat like morphine.” Cooter made a sour face, knowing how much his cousin would, under normal circumstances, be against using something that strong. When he looked back at her, she was asleep.
“Thanks, Doc.” Cooter said softly, reaching out and brushing her hair back.
The doctor smiled and nodded. “Of course. We keep very strict watch on visiting hours in this area of the hospital. Patients usually need their rest… and judging by the way you look, you could use some yourself.”
Cooter nodded. “I feel tuckered out.”
“Perhaps you should have your friends take you home so you can get a few hours of rest. She’ll be fine, and will more than likely sleep the entire time you’re away.”
He was reluctant to leave her bedside. He was scared of losing her.
“She’ll be fine Mr. Davenport. We will call you if there are any changes. She’s in very little, if any, danger right now. The machine is aiding her breathing and the tube is keeping her airway open. Please, go home and get some rest. I insist.”
Reluctantly, Cooter conceded.
“I’ll be back in a little while, Hil,” Cooter told her gently before kissing her forehead. “Everything will be okay. I promise.”
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