Bike incident - I

Chapter 1


"Aah..ah", I groaned taking in the heaviness of my forehead, looking ahead from where I was. I saw an elderly woman sitting beside me on the side-walk and staring at me in a concerned manner. I dismissed her and looked ahead to see the university bridge, I looked around to see the East lake avenue. The university bridge sounded familiar since its close to the university, but the Eastlake avenue..seemed vaguely familiar. All this was very surreal and..
"Are you alright?" asked the woman interrupting my efforts to know what was going around here. I looked at her, looked behind to see a van approaching me and looked at her again. "Am I in a dream?", I asked her.
No..no, you just fell off your bike..
"I am actually a bit disoriented here.."
Yeah I can see that.

**********
Can I have your name sir?
"Eh..is this an ambulance?", I ask with my eyes half open.
Yes sir, you just had a bad fall. Your name please.
"I will tell you everything. I want to, because I don't seem to recollect much of anything...Please ask me as many questions as possible.."
Do you know what month this is?
"huh..Novemeber..its 9th or 10th I guess"
Do you know what happened before you fell off the bike?
"Uh..I..wait..yeah..I was riding on the East Lake ave..wait I was riding from my home..yeah.so I was riding on the East lake avenue and I don't remember what happened after that"
Do you know where you were headed?
"I must have been heading towards the university"
"Is the injury severe?"
Well, the hospital guys would take a good look at you..but yes you have had some abrasions and deep cuts from what I can see.
Do you know where you live?
"I..I live at..."

**********************

20 minutes hence

Could you tell me where you are from?
I looked up and vaguely saw a man in white clothes, and from the movement of the walls around me, I guessed I was being wheeled to a ward.
"I am from India. Where are you from?...."


*************************
I am Dr. Solzberg and this is Melissa beside you..
"Hi Melissa"
We are taking you to the ER ok, we will get you covered up as you seem to be shivering and Laura would take care of you from there on.

Hi..Mr..uh..C?
"Yeah, that's me"
I am Laura, me and Melissa here would make you feel comfortable and see what needs to be done. Sound good?
"Yeah..do you have another sheet"
You mean a blanket?
"Yeah"

Ok, now we need to wrap this collar around your neck. Hold still while we do that.
No..no don't move your neck..don't help us, we need to ensure your neck is as stable as possible.


************************

Hi.
"Hi..you are..", I exclaimed as I saw a guy coming into the room.
I am Dr. Solzberg, I wheeled you in.
"Oh..ok..yeah"
"Where are you from?"
North dakota..I am actually a norwegian. I told you that remember?
"When you wheeled me in?"
Yeah
"Oh..I dont seem to recollect that.."
"So you are from the land of midnight sun eh"
he he..yeah.
Ok, let me just look at your cheeks here..Hmm..looks like a laceration and a deep gash around your eyebrow, that might need some sutures. Your shoulders seem to be swollen, minor bruises on your hands. Looks like your legs and hands are doing fine, it could have been worse.
"oh.."
Yeah, a lot of people involved in bike incidents come in here in a real bad shape.
"Oh.."
Yeah..you know..broken bones..
"Hmm.."

Hi..I am Dr. Allen.
"Hi..", I looked around to see another white clothed person come into the ward.
So what speed were you driving your bike at?
"Uh..Must have been around 15 miles an hour?", I replied as I wondered if this was
a general enquiry.
So how much is that in Kilometers?
"24 kms/hour"
Must be around 27 kmph..
"No its 24kmph"
Good..your are not doing bad. Ok, I got to go now, you are in good hands with Dr. Solzberg.
"Ha..ok".


We don't know if you have had any head or neck injury, but its standard protocol to take CT scans and xrays ok?
"Allright"
Allright, lets get you started here. I will call in an assitant to wheel you into
the radiology department. Till then, if you need any help, press this button on the remote and watch TV if you like.
"Thanks man"
Sure, no problem.

*************************
1 hr past

Hi..
"Hi..Laura"
Good, you do remember my name.
"Yeah, I seem to have had a short term memory loss and now I am clear about what happened during the incident and can recollect stuff better"
Good, ok we are just gonna change you into this gown ok..
"Fine.."
So, what hapenned?
"I was riding my bike towards the university.."
And you fell off the bike?
"Yeah..it was raining, the roads were pretty slippery and I was late for a meeting"
Hmm..
"Do you know where my bike is?"
I actually don't, the paramedics or the police might.
"The police?"
Did you see any police vans at the accident site?
"I..I actually was blacked out for sometime till the paramedic van came to the site. But I don't recall seeing any police car"
Hmm..ok, you should check up with the Seattle police, they usually clear the site, before letting the paramedics in.
"But mine wasn't actually an accident.."
Oh..well I should still say you contact the paramedics that got you in and the police.
"ok.."

"So, Laura, you are from here?"
Well, my parents are biregional.
"Oh.."
Yeah, from korea and America.
"yeah you look..you look..hmm.."
Ok, I am gonna go out now, but you can press that button anytime you need help before you get wheeled in for a CT scan.
"ok..."

*****************
90 minutes later

Dr. Solzberg walks in with a grim face.
"So what's the scan say", I ask.
Well, I want you to stay calm. Do you have any kind of pain at the back of your neck?
"No..I mean this collar is a little painful for me to move my neck around..but nothing that's painful"
Ok, let me just move my hands around your neck and tell me if you feel any pain anywhere.
"Well..there..yeah there..Its just a tenderness at that point..but no pain"
"But what do the reports say??"
The radiologists' reports indicate that you might be having arteriosclerosis somewhere in the region of your neck.
"What?? You mean hardening of..."
Arteries...which is unusual for a young man like you.

To be continued