Plastic Bubble

Last night's game didn't exactly go as planned. A coworker of mine, I'll call her C, was pitching during the third inning. This was a slow pitch softball games in a "c-division" game.. basically it was T-ball for adults.. you could keep swinging until you hit the ball and everyone got trophies at the end (not really). Anyway.. the intent was that it was just a gang of us getting together after work to play ball and get to know one another and folks from other teams in a non-work environment.

I arrived late as I had to do a "baby-swap" with shiela.. I picked Ben up at daycare and then we took the T downtown where we met shiela at the Park St stop and she brought him back home with her and I continued to south of the city to the park where the game was being held.

During my first time out in the field, I swapped in for someone playing right field.. this was fine with me because I hadn't warmed up and it gave me the opportunity to get the feel for being on the field. I also got to step in a deep mud puddle to get the ball when it was hit in my direction.

Anyway.. about mid-way through the third inning, a player from the other team hit a line drive straight at C. She was hit in the face and hadn't had time to protect herself or even realize the ball was coming her way. I heard the crack and her yelp and saw her drop and this wave of adrenaline rushed over me. I don't remember running to her, but I know that I was one of the first, if not THE first to reach her. As soon as I knelt down next to her I knew that it was bad. The blood was pouring out of her mouth and nose and it looked like someone was pouring it out of a pitcher. I've never seen anything like that. It was literally like a faucet and the blood was puddling on the ground.

I guess my "mom-mode" kicked in.. because I basically took over and started telling people what to do. I also called her mom while the guys were calling the ambulance. I rode into the hospital with her in the ambulance and was able to "help" in that i could dig through her purse to get her ID to fill in the gaps for them with stuff like her birth date and address and insurance info.

Once we got to the hospital, I unfortunately felt "right at home" and knew what questions to ask and how to get things taken care of. I got her set up with some of those puke buckets and tissues and a few towels to wipe the blood with, although the bleeding had slowed significantly by then. I also was on the nurses to keep the morphine coming. The trauma team at that hospital was wonderful.

As a funny aside.. people kept asking if I was her "partner".. how stereotypical of them to assume that we're gay because we're softball players.. *laff* It was funny because one of the paramedics apologized after he asked and said "well you never know" and I said "well.. you were half right.. I have to call my wife and let her know that I'm going to be late".. and he laughed and said "me too, girl.. i knew you were in the club as soon as I saw your Nike Shox.." C just chuckled.

Anyway.. I talked to her mom this morning. C has broken both sides of her upper jaw (mandible?).. one side is a non-displaced fracture (it's cracked but nothing moved) and the other side is a displaced fracture. That much I could have told them last night.. one half of her upper pallet/teeth/bone was split and was dropped down in her mouth so it was just sorta hanging there. She goes in for surgery this morning and her mom will be contacting me when she is out to give an update.

I'm still pretty shaken by the whole ordeal.. it started to sink in later last night when I was at home after Ben went to bed (that's a separate story..). I ended up putting "The Omen" on tv and getting an ice cold diet coke and a brownie (talk about comfort food.. if i had ice cream i would have had some of that too) and zoned out in front of the tv. When we went to bed, i laid down with shiela in the twin Bed.. we really don't both fit on that bed, but I needed the comfort of being close. At some point I moved back down to the air mattress and this morning am a bit dazed.