Seeking The Right Break

However the doctor did eventually come back. Maybe he had gone to read up on the techniques for repairing a bad break that was healing poorly? I was hoping he had, given the misdirection we had just experienced with him asking the nurse to cut off the wrong arm (cut off the arm cast that was). However, he arrived back and went back to examining the x-rays. The solid plastic sheets with the ghostlike negative impressions (These were great for making painting stencils. They were always solid enough that you could cut out complex patterns). I had quite a significant folder of x-rays at this hospital (and had only lived in the area for a few years). In fact, there was a bit of a joke among some of the staff that they had to buy a new filing cabinet to fit our families medical records (Hey, there were eight kids in the family). However the doctor cast his critical eye over my x-ray on the wall mounted light board, then turned back to me. Pulling down the x-ray from the clip, he came around the bed I was sitting on (to the correct arm at least), and gently picked up the limb. He asked the nurse to hold up the x-ray while he manipulated the arm up and down. Apparently he was trying to locate the part he was concerned with. My wincing didn’t prevent his twisting the joints about. He set about somewhat enthusiastically compressing and poking the damaged limb. Trying to match the negative to the real thing.
Eventually like a blind reader scanning a Braille dictionary (Now there is an amazing skill) he seemed to find what he was looking for, and made that universal identifying sound only specialists (or doctors) can make. “Ahhhh!”. Not just any, ‘Ahh’, but, that very complex, ‘Ahhhh” (Count the ‘h’s”). The sort of “Ahhhh”, that takes all those years of studying, and qualifications, to be able to pronounce just right. That “Ahhhh” that says more than just, “found it!”. The sort of ‘Ahhhh’ that is meant to comfort and relax the patient. He made it. I started to relax. Then he made another sound. “Ouoohhh” That too is a sound that is somewhat universal, but doesn’t take as long, or as many qualifications to learn how to say. In fact it can be made by anyone in many ways and none of them suggest all is well. In fact it I have heard that sound made when cakes have fallen, People spill things, lose control of things, or when things have been dropped into toilet bowls (however, since mobiles came in to the world, lost keys in the toilet bowl was about the only other thing that caused that noise to be made in a bathroom), or people have encountered something they were not actually expecting (Note: Try never to make that sound when somebody proudly passes you their newborn baby. I honestly couldn’t help it).  It certainly says a lot in just a few letters.
(Continued tomorrow)