by: KK Duke
This story is about an operation that KK will have. From what I read the website at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/encyclopedia_Bl-Bz.htim, under bone graph what I describe might be possible. I’m not sure if it would work but since this is only fantasy the truth can be stretch a bit. If anyone knows if could work I would like to know. Thanks!
The Missing Bone
Social Services had made their weekly call to the Duke farm to inquire about KK. Uncle Jesse wanted to know why no one had picked up on her broken right ankle.
“Truth be told sir, we were unaware of the problem,” the lady said on the other end of the phone.
“The doctor here received files from Detroit that said the bone was missing in the first place.”
“Like I said, we were unaware of the problem.”
“What do you need to know?”
“How is everything going?”
“Everything is fine. KK is adjusting well.”
“Okay then, we’ll be calling again next week,” and the phone line went dead.
“Social Services, my …” Uncle Jesse didn’t finish his sentence because Luke and Bo came in the house.
“How’s the little one?” Bo asked.
“Oh she’s fine. Sleeping for a change.”
“In other words, she’ll be up all night,” Bo said.
“No, I just put her down. Social Services just called to make sure that KK was still here. I swear they’re no help at all. I asked them about her right leg and all the lady could tell me was that they were unaware of the problem. Her hospital records in Detroit have it marked, but they were unaware,” Uncle Jesse complained.
“That’s government for ya,” Luke chimed in.
“Boys, sit down for a moment would ya. I need to tell all three of you what’s going to be on the next week or so. Daisy will be out of her room in a moment.”
A few minutes later Daisy appeared. She had just gotten off of work from the Boars’ Nest and wanted to change her clothes for the date she had with Enos.
“Going out tonight?” Bo asked.
“Oh don’t worry. It’s only Enos. He says there’s a movie he wants to see. Some sci-fi flick. Something movie about a character named Luke Skywalker who saves the entire universe.”
“Before you scattered for the evening, I have spoken with Doc Appleby and he has suggested that KK’s right leg should be operated on as soon as possible. The sooner it’s done the quicker she’ll be able to walk. I want you all to go with me to the hospital to support KK. They don’t know if this can be an out patient or she’ll have to stay overnight, but whatever the case I want you all to be there.”
“Let’s see, today is Thursday and the next day off I have is Tuesday,” Daisy said.
“Is that fine with everyone?”
“Fine with me,” both Bo and Luke said.
“Luke – she’ll be fine. Doc Appleby wouldn’t recommend an operation unless it was necessary. I’ve already been in contact with the hospital and have everything set except for the date,” Uncle Jesse said.
“I’m not worry. I know she’ll be fine. She’s made it through this far,” Luke said and excused himself to go to his room.
“Is there anything else, Uncle Jesse?”
“No. Thank you guys for doing this.”
“Oh sure not a problem,” Bo said. “I’m off on a date with Elley Sue, so I’ll see y’all later.” Both Bo and Daisy went out the door for their respective dates.
A few moments after Bo and Daisy left Uncle Jesse went to search for Luke. Uncle Jesse knocked on the bedroom door that Luke shared with Bo.
“Luke,” Uncle Jesse called.
“I’m in here, Luke said.
Uncle Jesse came in the room. “You two need to clean up this room,” Uncle Jesse said trying to break the tension.
Luke was sitting on his bed facing the window with his back to Uncle Jesse. “She’ll be fine Luke.”
“I know that Uncle Jesse, but it still doesn’t stop me from worrying about her.”
“Me neither. But from what I understand their getting the best orthpeditic doctor in the state to do the surgery if that makes you feel any better.”
“It should but it doesn’t.”
“Luke, it should only take a few hours. She probably won’t even remember it.”
Tears silently roll down from Luke’s eyes. “She’s more than my cousin. It’s like she’s mine to protect.”
“Like she’s your daughter.”
“I guess that what you could call it.”
“It was the same feelings that I had when you three came into my life. Don’t get me wrong Luke, I love her as much as I love you guys but she’s needs someone who has much more energy than me.”
Suddenly crying could be heard from the other room.
“Somebody knows I home,” Luke said wiping his tears away. Luke got up and left the room to see what KK wanted.
He entered KK’s and Daisy’s room. KK was screaming her head off but Luke couldn’t figure out why. He tried to calm her down with soothing words but to now avail.
“What in the world is wrong with you?” Luke asked out loud. Luke checked to see if she was running a fever but she wasn’t warm. When she opened her mouth to scream in pain, Luke noticed some blood on her tongue. KK had somehow bitten her tongue so hard that it was bleeding.
“Hey Uncle Jesse, come in here for a moment,” Luke asked.
“What is it?”
“She must have bit her tongue so hard that she made it bleed. I have never had a baby do that. Is that possible?”
“I don’t know. Probably.”
What Uncle Jesse and Luke did recognize was that the reason that KK bit her tongue was that there was a bone in her right ankle that was about to protrude out from underneath the skin. She was in pain and she couldn’t tell them. All she did was cry and cry. Nothing that Luke or Uncle Jesse did would quite her down.
“Come on KK, calm down,” Luke tried to coo her every so often but nothing was working.
“Now what do you suppose we do? Do you think she’s in pain?” Luke asked.
“She could be,” Uncle Jesse said. Luke laid KK down. “Try to keep her calm as possible,” Uncle Jesse said, although both of them knew that was impossible.
Uncle Jesse started with her head and worked his way down. As he went, he because increasingly aware of what the problem was with KK. As soon as he finished with her left leg, he looked at her right and noticed something odd.
“Luke, no matter how much comforting you do with her will make her stop crying. We have to get her to the hospital.”
Alarmed, “Why, what’s wrong?”
“Come over here and look at her right ankle.”
Luke looked at it and was shocked at what he saw. “Well I guess it’s on to the hospital then. At least there she can receive some type of pain relief.”
“I’ll write a note for both Bo and Daisy and then we’ll be off,” Uncle Jesse said and left the room.
Luke wanted to bring something with them to comfort KK. He looked around the room and found the teddy bear that had been passed between the three of them and now it belonged to KK. KK had quieted down some what but Luke could tell she was in pain still. Her little body was rigid to the touch like if she didn’t move anything it would go away. “Hey there little one. We’re gonna go to the hospital soon so that pain in your leg will go away, okay?” Luke could see the trust that she had for him in her eyes. He was worried about her, but also was in pain because she was in pain and there was nothing he could do for her.
“Hey, I’m about ready to go. Pack a few things for her, would you Luke?” Uncle Jesse asked. Luke looked around the room. He figured she would need one of her toys to play with and some clothes. He wasn’t sure what else to bring for her. He left her for a moment to go into his room and grabbed a couple of pictures. One was of him and Bo and the other one was of her. He took the picture of her and caressed it lightly.
“Ready, Luke?” Uncle Jesse yelled, breaking him out of his trance.
“I believed so,” Luke replied back as he walked back to where KK was.
Uncle Jesse went to where they were at, “I’ll take the stuff, and you take KK.”
Very gently Luke picked up KK and carried her to the pick up. Uncle Jesse knew that he was more worried then ever and tried to comfort him. “Luke, she’ll be okay. Once it’s done than she won’t be in anymore pain.”
“I know, but I won’t have the control over her. I have to leave her in the hands of the surgeons,” he said trying to hold back the tears.
“Yes, son I know. But we can pray that the surgeons do a good job and that she’ll be okay.”
Uncle Jesse was thankful that KK didn’t scream her head off during the trip to the hospital and fell asleep. He had called Doc Appleby who met them at the hospital with her. He took one look at the leg and said that it needed to be operated on soon than later. If that bone would to protrude though the skin without anyone knowing it, she could have potentially bled to death.
“Jesse, I called Doctor Kervish and he said he would be here within the hour. They are now preparing a bed for this little one so that she can be prepared for surgery. They’re not going to do it until tomorrow morning but there are some tests that will need to be done tonight.”
“Okay.”
“Once Dr. Kervish gets here he will be able to explain what will happen with the surgery and any follow up that will be needed. I’m gonna finish getting her registered. They’ll be some forms you’ll need to read and sign; Jesse and I will bring them to you and explain what they are.”
“Thanks Doc,” Uncle Jesse said and Doc Appleby went back to what he was doing.
“How are you doing, Luke?” Uncle Jesse asked.
“I’ll be okay this time tomorrow.”
“Honest enough answer. I think we all will,” he said looking at KK.
Both Bo and Daisy arrived home at the same time to an unusually quiet and dark house. Because they lived in Hazzard they were both a little bit panicked stricken and also cautious when they entered the house.
“Hello,” Daisy yelled into the empty home.
Bo turned on the light switch which illuminated the kitchen. There was a note that was laid in the middle of the kitchen table. Bo read it out loud, “Luke and I took KK to the hospital. The bone in her right leg looked like it might puncture the skin so it was best to take her there. I will call you once everything is settled. Uncle Jesse.”
“I guess we should just stay here until they call,” Daisy said.
“I guess. Although if I were Luke, I would be worried.”
“Yeah, I would be to. It’s like she was his own daughter.”
“You know, Daisy, ever since K came into our lives Luke has calmed down a bit and even been more happier.”
“I agree. It was quite an adjustment to get used to him gone when he left for the war and then another adjustment to realize that although Luke was fortunate to make it home he wasn’t the same Luke when he left.”
“Yeah. In one way I was very jealous of her. Suddenly she was getting all the attention. But then I came to reckon that she is very fortunate to be still alive and able to enjoy the fun things about being a kid. And although she screamed every night through the first two weeks, we all learned that it wasn’t her fault. How were we supposed to know about allergies?”
“You know Bo; we should go up there to be with them. I’m sure Luke could use the support as well as Uncle Jesse.”
“Yeah, lets go. I’m sure they would appreciate. Besides, it would drive me nuts waiting for a phone call.”
As soon as they made the decision to leave the phone rang. Bo grabbed it and said, “Hello, Duke Farm, Bo speaking.”
“Hi Bo, it’s Uncle Jesse.”
“Hi. Daisy and I were just on are way up to the hospital. Is everything okay?”
“Everything is fine. KK was crying and screaming and wouldn’t settle down. Then I realized what the problem was. The bone that would go down to create part of the ankle is jagged and it was looking like it was about to go through the skin. Whatever it was, she was in pain and I figured the hospital was the best place for her to be.”
“How she doing now?” Bo asked.
“They have her sedated so that they can take x-rays of her leg. Luke is with her so I decided to see if you guys had returned home yet to tell you what’s going on.”
“We both arrived at the same time and were surprised to find everything dark.”
“Sorry about that. I didn’t think about leaving a light on.”
“It’s okay. Anyways, would you like us to come up there?”
“If you would like. I think we’ll still be here for awhile.”
“All right. We’ll leave in a few minutes. Anything you want us to bring?”
“I don’t think so, but thanks for the offer.”
They both said bye to one another and hung their phones.
“It was Uncle Jesse. He said that they will probably be awhile so if we wanted to go there we could. I said we would be on our way in a few minutes.”
“Give me a minute to change into something a little bit more comfortable,” Daisy said and left for her room.
When Daisy went into her room she quietly shut the door like she had at night since the time KK had arrived. It was so natural to do that she forgot that KK wasn’t here. She turned on the lamp that was on the dresser instead of the overhead light. Daisy had also been accustomed to doing that as well. She had forgotten at times and turned on the overhead light. It always seemed that KK would wake up when she did that and start crying. Daisy took a moment to think about that and laughed at the thought. “That kid seems to be attuned to everything, how could she have autism?” she said out loud to no one. She looked at the empty crib and was sadden at the thought that she wasn’t there. Daisy looked around the crib area to see if there was any particular toy she could be find. The teddy bear that they all used was gone, believing that Luke had taken that. “If it wasn’t comforting to her,” she thought, “It would be comforting to him.”
“Come on Daisy,” Bo yelled from the living room.
“All right, I’m coming.”
As Daisy walked out of the bedroom Bo asked, “What were you looking for?”
“For a certain toy.”
“The teddy bear?” Bo asked.
“The infamous one indeed. I figured Luke had taken it, but I wanted to make sure.
Uncle Jesse was reading an outdated issue of an Outdoor Life when Luke returned to the waiting room.
“How’s she doing?”
“She’s fine. She’s sleeping.”
“How are you doing?”
“Me? I’m a nervous wreck. I just wish this didn’t have to happen.”
“We all do Luke, but it’s something that needs to be done.”
“Dr. Kervish said we can go and see her now.”
“Oh,” Uncle Jesse said as he put down the magazine and stood up. “Bo and Daisy are on their way.”
Luke continued as the two of them walked to KK’s room. “That’s good. The doc said that they will probably keep her sedated all night and take her in first thing in the morning.”
“That’s probably for the best. You know how she gets with strangers.”
“Yeah,” Luke said although he was distracted from the conversation.
“Luke – I know what’s going on in your head. They say that she’ll be sedated, but yet you don’t want to leave her, do you?”
“Uncle Jesse you said it yourself that I was the closest thing to a parent she has. What parent would leave their young child in a hospital?”
“No parent would. I know Luke, but lets hear what the doctors have to say.”
“I don’t care; I’m not leaving her here. She would never forgive me.”
“Luke, she’s not going to remember this. She’ll probably sleep until after the operation is over and she’ll wake up in your arms.”
“Uncle Jesse – you weren’t there when I took her to Doc Appleby’s for the first time. It was like she had been in a room similar to his exam room and she didn’t like it one bit.”
“Luke, you’re overreacting.”
“I don’t think so Uncle Jesse. Even if I am, I couldn’t live with the guilt of just leaving her here. Could you, if you were in my position?”
“Luke, I would do what’s best for K. If you believe that it’s staying here with her, then I’ll support your decision.”
Luke led Uncle Jesse into the room. KK was sleeping peacefully on her back. The only noise in the room was the monitors that were attached to her to make sure she was breathing and everything else was okay.
A few moments later Dr. Kervish entered the room. He had only met Uncle Jesse for a brief moment while he was signing the paperwork necessary to have KK admitted. “I’m sorry sir, but I didn’t catch your name earlier,” he spoke to Uncle Jesse.
“Jesse Duke. I’m KK’s uncle and guardian.”
“Mr. Duke this should be a simple operation and shouldn’t last to long. What will happen is that I will cut away part of the bone and then screw on the replacement at either end. She’ll have a cast on the leg for at least two weeks and then we’ll see how the x-rays look. If everything goes to plan she might be able to go home late tomorrow or the following day.”
“How will this affect her growth?”
“It shouldn’t affect it at all. The bone were going to use is from her rib cage and use it to create the bone that should have been there in the first place.”[1]
“Simple as that?” Luke asked.
“Barring that there’s aren’t any complications she could go home as soon as tomorrow,” Dr. Kervish.
“She could go home tomorrow?” Bo asked as he and Daisy arrived.
“Oh, Dr. Kervish this is my other nephew Bo and my niece Daisy” Uncle Jesse introduced them and they all shook hands with each other.
“Let me explain more in detail what I’m planning to do,” Dr. Kervish stated since all the family members were now in the room.” Dr. Kervish discussed how he would take the lowest rib on KK’s right side and make it into a bone for her ankle and then screw it into place.
“Can we stay the night with her,” Bo asked after Dr. Kervish finished explaining what was going to go one the next morning.
“As far as I am concern all of you can stay if that what you decide. I’m come back in a few moments. I just need to tell the night shift nurses so they are aware,” Dr. Kervish said and left the room
Bo knew that Luke had every intention of staying. Bo also had no intention of leaving his best friend alone tonight. Bo had a feeling that Luke needed someone to talk to and why not his best friend. He had known that he hadn’t been the greatest friend over the past few weeks but sometimes jealously does that to you. To him, Luke looked and sounded like he needed to talk to someone about his fears regarding KK’s surgery and Bo knew he was the only one to do it.
“Hey I’m willing to stay if the rest of you want to go home and get a good night’s rest,” Luke said.
“I’ll stay as well,” Bo chimed in.
“Are you two sure?” Uncle Jesse asked both his boys.
Both were sure that they wanted to stay. Luke was almost relieved that Uncle Jesse and Daisy were planning on going home for the night. Luke had needed someone besides Uncle Jesse and Doc Appleby to talk to about KK. Just someone who would listen and not offer any advice unless asked for.
Dr. Kervish came back into the room and asked who was staying. Luke told him that he and Bo were. Uncle Jesse and Daisy gave their goodbyes to KK, Bo and Luke and left for home. Dr. Kervish said that he would return in a minute with wristbands that the boys would have to wear in order to stay with KK through the night. The hospital had put this in place so that parents who were unable to stay with their kids would feel secure that not just anyone was allowed in the children’s ward after visiting hours were thru.
This is the end of this story. It will continue in the next story called “Conversation”
[1] In reality I’m not sure if this would actually work. After reading from the website http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/encyclopedia_Bl-Bz.htm under “bone graft” it might be possible. I do apologize if this isn’t accurate, but I’m not a doctor.
