Urgent
Care Summer
I'm
at a fair
watching
hog wrestling with family
ketchup
and mustard in my hair
and
on my jeans -
Noah
smeared it there
and
I'm thinking he's such a brat
when
my grandpa gets a call from my dad, who said
I
need to get home stat
my
little brother had been burned
and
had been flown to Portland, and that
he
wasn't sure how long
we
would need to stay at the McDonald House -
how
many months we'd be gone.
We
drove all night to the burn center
Justin
was fourteen and not very strong.
When
we got there he was covered in gauze,
blisters
and ooze and greasy tears
Doctors
had shoved a feeding tube up his nose.
In
the next few weeks he endured great pain
just
watched him stay alive inspired applause.
At
one point when they put him under
to
scrape off his dead gray skin
he
woke up during the procedure and wondered
why
he could hear and feel but not see or move.
He
was allergic to the sedative – it was a frightening blunder.
Slowly,
Justin recovered
he
plagued the poor psychologist lady
because
he hated the way she hovered.
The
doctors gave him milkshakes and grafts
people
sent so many cards he nearly smothered.
While
he healed, our family picked peaches,
caught
up with relatives,
enjoyed
Seaside's beaches.
Justin's
grafts healed well -
the
doctors didn't have to use leeches.
He's
doing much better now
besides
some nightmares and PTSD
I'm
glad he pulled through, and surprised at how
sometimes
we forget he looks unusual at all.
His
will to live has left me cowed
Not
all the effects were deleterious.
Though
he was self-conscious for a while
all
those scars just make him look mysterious
and
now he tells the story
to
anyone who is curious.