perfect patient

It was a busy afternoon on the 4th of July. To get everyone ready for the firm's annual rooftop party, we put the girls in the shower together as usual. It was just a few moments later that Audrey started crying and we saw the blood. She'd somehow manage to grab my razor and, in doing so, had sliced off the diagonal tip of her index finger. We applied pressure to stop the bleeding, but without success.

Kim dropped Audrey and me off at the ER and took the girls to the party. (There was no reason for all of us to sit in the waiting room on the 4th of July.) Amazingly, even as I applied firm pressure to her wound for over an hour while we waited to be seen by a doctor, she didn't make a complaint. The people seated around us were amazed, as was the doctor who took care of us. One-year-old Audrey sat patiently while the doctor examined her and applied a styptic gauze that would eventually stop the bleeding. A half-hour later, she held her hand perfectly still while her hand was bandaged and wrapped up to look like a little white mitten. And when it was done, she clapped. The nurses declared her their best little patient ever.

We took a taxi home, had something to eat, and then I put Audrey to bed. I went to check on her a few minutes later and was amazed by what I saw. She was asleep on her back with her her forearm resting against the bars of the crib, and her wounded hand elevated. A perfect patient, indeed.