All For Anna by Nicole Deese

by
heating the water to 104° and set the timer. It had to first soak and then
completely dry in order for any healing to take place. The hardest part for
Henry would be keeping it clean and sanitary so no more infection built up.
    “Henry, I know it will
be difficult for you, but your foot needs to be checked once a day and soaked
in warm water. Are you able to get to a place to do that, or will you need to
come back here?”
    “Well...I don’t have
anything fancy like this, Doc,” he said pointing to the plastic foot tub. “But
I can probably get back here if that’s what I need to do.”
    “The problem is if we
don’t get this under control now, it will fester and spread and could
ultimately lead to gangrene, or amputation. I will go and find you several
pairs of clean socks, but just make sure you are never putting the same ones on
twice. Don’t sleep in them, and try to keep your feet dry as much as you
possibly can, alright?” I asked.
    “Sounds good to me. I
always listen to pretty ladies,” Henry said, smiling.
    He winked at me when I
got up to go find him the hospital socks in the supply closet. For a moment I
thought of Kai— of his wink yesterday before he left the house.
    Had I really agreed to
go out with him?
    “Here you are Mr.
Albert, now make sure you change your socks, and come back to get checked for
the next few days so we can soak it and make sure it’s getting better and not
worse,” I said, handing him six pairs of hospital socks.
    “Thank you,” he said.
    His eyes welled up with
tears, dangerously close to spilling over onto his cheeks. “You helped an old
man feel dignified again. It wasn’t always like this for me ya know, my life
used to be different—normal. But there are things that happen in life and in
war that can rob you...I let that happen to me,” he said. “You’re a special
gal, Nurse. I’d see you any day over nurse Stick-in-the-mud . Tell her I
said that, too!”
    He stood up, grabbed
his cane and backpack, and tipped his hat to me as he left. I watched him go.
Strangely, I felt more connected to him than I did to most people I knew.
    What robbed him twenty
years ago?  
     
    **********
     
    The patient stream was
steady after Henry left. There was almost always a long wait within Emergency.
Patients were treated by medical need first, not by arrival time. It was an
interesting balance and often caused a lot of stress for the triage staff who
did the initial assessments.
    The beginning of fall
was always filled with soccer injuries, football fractures and concussions,
along with flu bugs that got out of hand during the newness of the school year.
The twelve-hour shift was full, to say the least. Sleep was all I could think
about when I climbed the stairs to bed that night.
    Just as I drifted off,
I heard a low rumble on my night stand. A new voicemail blinked on the screen
of my phone, begging to be heard.
    It was the one Phoenix number that I wanted to
delete: Dr. Susan Bradley’s number.

SEVEN
    Rolling out of bed the
next morning, I checked the outside temperature on my phone before dressing in
my running clothes. I may have promised I wouldn’t run in the heat wave, but I
never promised to stop running. The low 80’s were a huge improvement to the 100
degree weather that had oppressed Dallas just days ago. I wasn’t about to let
the temperature drop go to waste. I needed to plan out my next move, running
would help me do that. The anger that I had gone to bed with after hearing
Susan’s message was still seeping from my pores.
     
    “Tori, I know I’m
probably the last person you want to talk to right now and I get that. I know
you’ve been meeting with Dr. Crane. As upset as I’m sure you are about that, I
don’t regret my recommendation for your therapy. I care about you...I hope you
can make the most of the sessions. Take care.” 
     
    My sister was asleep when
I left the house. That made my escape much easier this time around—no one to
answer