Broken Bones

Broken Bones
Having my competitive steak is Jacks major down fall literally! If you can run fast he can run faster, sometimes faster than his legs will allow and so he falls down, but not before shouting “Jacks the winner”. And it was this trait that lead to his first broken bone.
The morning he broke his arm was like any other cleaning day with the kids playing in their rooms while I was down stairs sorting the house out. Once I heard footsteps along the landing I decided to hurry up as they would be charging down the stairs at any minuet demanding lunch or a drink.
Next thing I heard was one bang quickly followed by more banging and screaming ending with a thud at the bottom of the stairs. My heart instantly jumped into my throat as I dashed for the stairs, of course in these situations a few steps feels like a marathon and I just couldn't get to him quick enough. On opening the door there lying face down and motionless at the bottom was Jack. In those few seconds that he didn't move in the little square of a hall at the bottom of the stairs I was convinced he was dead. My head was screaming in panic and bile filled my throat. Grabbing him I rushed to the sofa to see what the damage was. I remember just seeing huge amounts of blood and not knowing for sure where it was coming from. With all the noise from Jack and Jessica crying too, I just couldn't think straight. Telling Jess to go and get a towel I tried to calm Jack down, only when your child is hurt you have this sense of helplessness, he was sitting on my knee and nothing I could do or say made any difference.
Once the blood had been wiped away assessing the damage I could see that he had a nasty bump to his head, a split lip, (this was the cause of all the blood, honestly I never knew lips could bleed so much!), a chipped tooth and a arm that he wouldn't or couldn't use.
Deciding that he needed to go to hospital I grabbed my phone and made a quick mental list of who to call, Rob was at work and too far away, Mum was out for the day, so that left Tasha. By time she answered just hearing her voice had me in tears and she promised to come straight away.
At the hospital Jack was still screaming his head off and wouldn't use his arm. Luckily the waiting room in A and E was unusually quite so while I booked Jack in Tasha took the kids to sit down in the colourful play area. Jack instantly picked up, stopped crying and began dashing around. Typical!! By the time I had taken a seat Jack was now using his arm. Boy didn't I feel stupid! After half an hour of waiting (which by our hospitals standards is really good) we were taken into a small curtained off cubical. Rob arrived just after looking hot and flustered and couldn't believe what all the fuss was about.Jack was playing,using his arm and generally acting normal. I knew what he was thinking, he didn't even have to say he thought that I was being a drama queen. He couldn't believe that just a hour ago our child was screaming blue murder and not using his arm. And to be honest if it was the other way round I probably would have said the same thing.
Once Jack had been checked over by the doctor,laughing as she shined the light in his eyes and being a devil not sitting still while she looked at his bump. she agreed that he had probably just sprained his wrist, but she decided to do an x-ray just in case. Some children she said just have no concept of things hurting and that using them is making them hurt more. Sitting in the x-ray department with Rob we were both convinced Jack was fine, and taking him in to have his x-ray I was sure they would sign him off with a clean bill of health. Jack loved the machine and sat perfectly on my knee as the lady took his special picture. He loved the coat that mummy had to wear around us both. Seconds later his arm appeared on the screen with a fracture just above the wrist. Sighing I couldn't believe it and nor could the technician she informed me. Walking out back into the waiting room to tell Rob,his face was a picture of shock. Jack ended up spending the next 4 weeks in a bright blue plaster which made bathing him a nightmare and keeping his hands clean even worse than normal. Luckily his right arm has healed perfectly.
On asking Jack later how he had fallen he told me that Jessica had jumped off the bottom step and so he told her that he could do it to, only Jack decided he could go one better and Jump from the top! See I told you he was competitive!