ELEVEN STITCHES!

The day started out like any other lazy Sunday at our home…we woke up late, ate a late breakfast at around ten. After that we watched some TV and napped a bit, the kids played with the computer while the hubby did some carpentry work for Kit’s cabinet in the garage. By 1:00 p.m., I started to prepare our lunch…I cooked the rice and was waiting for it to simmer 30 minutes later when all hell suddenly broke loose… I am writing this now…about two days after the incident happened…I guess I couldn’t bear to write it all down immediately after – the pain was still so vivid, the images in my mind too raw that I couldn’t bear to write it down just yet…this is one experience I hope no mother would ever have to endure --- I just knew the moment I heard the urgency in my son’s voice when he uttered just one single word – Tay! And my husband responded with an expletive…my heart suddenly felt like it fell to the ground. I immediately asked them what happened…alarm in my voice. But they never got to respond. The two of them immediately entered the house and proceeded directly to the kitchen…all that was left for me to see was the red trail of blood droplets that followed them…I asked the hubby and he confirmed my worst suspicions – my son is going to need some stitches to ‘repair’ his right hand – yup…that’s how worse it was – it needed to be repaired! I immediately sprang into action, went upstairs to get dressed, get some money, and as I was twirling around downstairs thinking what else to bring and discussing with the hubby what hospital we should bring him to…I was stopped by his seeming silence and I saw him slumped on the sofa, his face ashen and pale and he said – I don’t think I could drive…my son was by then sitting beside him, seemingly also on the brink of collapse. And so we waited a few minutes until the color returned a bit on both of their faces and I went about cleaning the droplets of blood just to keep myself busy. We left and finally decided on the Sapangpalay General Hospital. Upon arrival, I was overwhelmed at the huge number of people inside the emergency room and I was getting worried that my son might bleed to death. But the nurses were sympathetic and recognized that ours was an emergency case and so they prioritized my son. I decided I could not stand being in the emergency room and so I opted to stay with my daughter in the van (we don’t have any help with us kasi so we can’t leave her at home). But, in a little while, I asked them how they were and the hubby texted me that he was already being ‘stitched’ but that he was also getting dizzy and so I had no choice but to go there and take his place…there I was with my son’s head on my shoulder, my hand holding his other hand and my eyes carefully averted from what the doctors were doing on the table. But I did get one glimpse of the hand and it reminded me of one thing – lonnganisa – one that was quite puffed and split open in the middle – uh-oh I don’t think I would be able to eat longganisa again after this… I was doing fine naman except for the little pinch in my heart every time my son whispers aray! and presses hard against my palm. So I asked the doc why he is feeling some pain, and he answered that the anesthesia must be wearing off…It felt to me like eternity already and since I can’t bear looking at his hand, I asked Keith why it was taking so long and he says that they are just only stitching the second layer…not yet the skin…my God! I could not imagine how much longer I could take this…then the final straw that broke the camel’s back came when a new patient of a motorcycle accident arrived. He had broken legs (which thankfully I did not see) but I guess it was too much for me to take…so I texted the hubby to come replace me and he did… It was just so hard for me to see my son in pain…and I feel so helpless knowing there was no way I could help ease his hurt…I know he had always been like this around knives and all other sharp instruments (he gets cut more often than not when using those darn things!) but he never learns his lesson. I guess now he would surely be more careful when using a cutter. I am just glad that his entire thumb was not cut off, coz even if it was his right hand (he is a lefty) he would still find it difficult to move around with missing appendages…thank you Lord for saving his hand…