Triage
A stitch in time
1
Banality or stupidity: how
did the knife slip from its intended path
and end up slicing through my finger? Blood
everywhere, oozing, then pumping, flowing
freely, deep ugly, red, between fleshy
cliffs, the wound’s edges. Chaotic, shrill pain,
short, sharp shocks, cold water flowing, flushing
out the sudden gulley, cleansing, thinning
my life’s liquid. Little finger, left hand,
right down to bright bone. Instant recall, first
aid course. Sheet from paper towel, staunch, press
down, pressure, find gauze, bandages, scarlet
ink, my blood, not royal blue. Take bathroom
towel, run down corridor to garage,
leaving fresh blood spoor, the cat following,
sniffing, licking the floor, hand clumsy on
steering wheel, drive to emergency, fast.
2
Three nurses attend me. The first completes
the triage, stops the bleeding, bandages
my hand, gauze pads press down, sends me to wait.
Second nurse inserts needles, kills the nerve,
cleans the wound, sews my little finger up.
Three stitches. A tubular dressing. Time
now for third nurse, anti-T-jab, checks me
for PTSD, smiles sadly, sends me home.
rogermoorepoet 
Cutting edge stuff, Roger
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Sharp was the tongue that carved those words. It healed well: you can hardly see the cut now.
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Cutting edge stuff, Roger.
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Great title, Roger, and wonderful description. I’ve also been following the Monkey Temple series; it’s incredible how far this metaphor travels! You can guess how busy I’ve been, no excuse, really, but we NEED to have a cup of coffee soon. Your fan, Chuck
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I’ve called a couple of times, but no response. Call me when you are ready. I’ll tell you about my trip to Moncton!
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I’ve been known to try and amputate the occasional digit myself. Well done! Glad you are healing nicely.
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It was a doozy, Ana. I don’t know what I was thinking and, one handed, I couldn’t stop it bleeding. The hospital people were good, though they had difficulties too, hence stitches and pressure bandage. It’s fine now. Healed very nicely.
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Nicely penned!
Check this out.
https://tenaciousbeliever07.wordpress.com/2018/06/27/dawn-of-love/
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Thanks for commenting. Glad you liked it. The experience was interesting (not exactly great). Stitches out now and bruising almost gone. What a mess.
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