“What happened?”
“She fell and chipped her tooth.”
The kids were at Starbucks, not two hundred feet from where I was answering phones at the ballet. I send them on a regular basis, confident Caroline knows when to come get me if Sam breaks down and Sam knows I’ll throttle him if he does anything too outré. It gives them an outlet when my volunteerism has left them stuck waiting around after both their classes have ended.
I knew I’d get a call eventually. Something was bound to go wrong. But I expected it to be Sam. Nobody calls about Caroline.
The woman was still talking when I hung up on her.
“Gotta go, Caroline’s busted her face in.” I knew it was worse than “chipped her tooth”. Even with Asperger’s and sensory issues, Caroline would have sent her brother for me before she would have had a Starbucks employee call. I left someone else to collect my scattered belongings as I raced down the stairs and across the courtyard.
I didn’t see Caroline when I got to the store, as she was surrounded by concerned parents and staff. But I heard her. “It hurts! I want my mom! I want my dad! I wish I’d lost a limb instead!”
“Caroline, honey, I’m here.” The sea of worried people parted to let me through.
She has a nosebleed, and she’s shattered a front tooth.
“Who’s your dentist?”
“What?”
A woman holding a phone materialized beside me as I reeled Caroline in and started to rock.
“Her tooth is broken. Who’s your dentist?”
“Doctor Hudson over on Bell Road.”
“Great. Doctor Rob is still in his office.”
“But I said…”
She was dialing before I could complete my protest, and I doubt she heard me over Caroline anyway. I pulled away from my daughter long enough to get a good look at her injury, then went back to rocking. “We need to go to the emergency room.” That’s not a nose bleed. Holy God she skinned her face.
“No! I want to go home!”
The woman with the phone was back. “Look up,” she commanded Caroline. “And open your mouth.” When Caroline complied, still howling, the woman said, “No root showing,” then, “Is it loose in the socket? Can you wiggle it, honey?” Caroline shook her head. “Not loose. Great. Any pain here?” She brushed the bridge of Caroline’s nose with her index finger.
“No! It’s all here!” Caroline indicated the hamburger that had formerly been her upper lip and nostril.
“Fantastic.” The woman hung up and turned to me. “There’s not a thing the ER can do for the tooth, and they’ll only clean the abrasion. Take her home, alternate Tylenol with ibuprofen; and get her into her regular dentist first thing in the morning.” The woman vanished. I felt like I’d been visited by the Lone Ranger.
“Ow! I want to go home!”
“OK. Home.” I stroked Caroline’s head and led her towards the door. “We’ll get you home.”
The next day, the dentist repaired the tooth and confirmed that the palate wasn’t broken, while the pediatrician provided ointment for the skinned face and double-checked the nose. Caroline clung to us all day, especially Scott, but that was fine. It felt good to hold her and reassure her, to let her know that she is still young enough that we can ride to her rescue when those calls come in, to let her know we’ll always be her parents.
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Jessie Powell is the Jester Queen. She likes to tell you about her dog, her kids, her fiction, and her blog, but not necessarily in that order. |
Dear lord!! What an experience. And I’m amazed the dentist could fix the tooth!
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My Mom (who also did something similar – like I said above, it’s a family tradition of sorts) was also shocked. She had to go around with half a tooth until she was sixteen and could get a crown.
Brings back painful memories of my sidewalk faceplant in September (bike accident). Not fun. Best wishes for speedy healing.
Ow. Ow. Ow. Bike accidents are always bloody. I remember crashing my bike as a kid and getting trapped under it so badly that the car I had been swerving to avoid had to stop entirely, and the driver had to get out and help me out from under my bicycle.
Oh Jessie, wow. I’m wincing just thinking about it. I hope Caroline’s feeling better and on the mend quickly!
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Infinitely. I’ve got to get her to hold still long enough for a current pic. Though she has a cold now, so she looks a bit worse today than she has for the last couple.
I’m glad it’s fixed and she’s ok.
Give her hug from us
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I will! She still talks about your girls like she just saw them last week or something, never mind that it’s the seven month mark now.
I know that terror-in-the-moment feeling all too well. So glad someone else took the lead for you; it must have been hard to switch gears, get caught up, and figure out what to do. Poor thing–both of you!
YES! That lady saved us some major stress. I’d have dragged her unnecessarily through the ER, and really home and sleep were the best antidotes.
Glad she is okay. What a story for someday.
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Poor kid! It’s quite the tradition in our family. My sister in law had a similar experience, as did my father. My own chipped tooth incident was much less dramatic!
Aww poor baby!
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Thanks! She’s doing a million times better now 🙂
Accidents happen but boy, did she do a good job of that one! How’d she manage that in a coffee shop?! 😉
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These small traumas are horrid when they occur, but the stories that ring out like the proverbial pebble in the lake will become the stuff of legend.
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Gah! Poor thing! My son had a similar incident when a a buddy who was chasing him around the blacktop playground tripped and literally fell upon his head. Unbelievably, though, there was no broken tooth, only an astonishing facial abrasion and forehead bruise. Yikes.
And boy, did I love this line: “It felt good to hold her and reassure her, to let her know that she is still young enough that we can ride to her rescue when those calls come in, to let her know we’ll always be her parents.”
IN. DEED.
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ouch, poor love. glad she’s okay.
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Terrifying to get a call like that! So glad everything turned out okay. I’ve had the experience of strangers stepping in to help when I’ve had a medical emergency with one one of my kids. I was in a panic; and they could be objective.
I love the background in the picture. It reminds me of my daughter’s room when she was growing up.
Ouch ouch ouch!!
My heart would have stopped. You seem to have handled this much more calmly than I would have. Glad Caroline is okay and that her tooth was saved.
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Oh my god, bless her and your heart. YIKES!
Oh, so sorry to hear about the fall. Bless here little heart. That looks painful. I chipped by tooth as a kid, too. Hope she’s feeling better now. I’m a bit late getting here.
Hugs from Ecuador,
Kathy
What a scary experience! I’m glad all’s well that ends well.
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Oh man! I hope that poor thing is feeling better! I chipped a tooth years ago – same thing. No exposed root. I have some bonding material holding it together and you just a bout can’t tell I ever chipped it. Sorry she had to go through the pain though.
Oh, poor Caroline! The damage is cringe worthy. Tell her we all hope she’s feeling better soon.
Oh, man, poor Caroline!