It started off just like another
day. Waking up and getting the sheets in order, I suddenly heard S crying and P
rushing to the room shouting “He needs to go to the hospital”. I took S into my
arms and saw it there, between the middle of his forehead and above his left
eye brow, an inch deep cut revealing the skull and about ½ inch wide bleeding
out. S was whimpering and the cries getting less loud, I was afraid he’ll pass
out. Taking a piece of cloth, I pressed the cut to try and stop the bleeding
and cried out to God asking that he be okay. In short, he was promptly rushed
to the ER, observed there and stitched up by a surgeon over the next hour. I
cried when he was given the several local anesthesia shots around the torn
flesh. My heart was tight when he cried “Amma, amma, amma” through the 15
minutes they took to stitch him up. I had the lump in my throat the whole time
we were in the hospital. K tried her best to comfort S and watched silently as
S wailed.
Nevertheless, the crescent bow scar right in the middle of your forehead will remind me of this day forever.
Oh Lord, the woe of being a
parent – a negligent one this day. I have been consumed in guilt these two days;
after all it is my full time job to look out for these kids. Yet stuff happens
between those few minutes when we are not looking. I have a maid to clean once
a day and a cook coming in once, to help. What good could I serve! Anyways, all
the countless people around have been reminding that it is humanely impossible
to keep eyes on them 24x7. The neighbor, cook, maid, a fellow mom, a friend, Prem’s
mom, the watchman- nearly everyone around shared stories of their little boys
and forehead injuries in an attempt to lessen the load. Still!
I went through the heart
wrenching experience twice before with this little guy – first time when he was
in the hospital with bronchiolitis – the terrible horrible RSV! Second, when he
broke his little elbow falling off the couch. Third time is a charm they say; I
pray the spell be broken. And that is thrice before he turns two.
Nevertheless, the crescent bow scar right in the middle of your forehead will remind me of this day forever.
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