After the visit to the ER, Kalib is left to ponder a different side of life

Kalib plays with a toy in the waiting area to the emergency room at the Mat-Su Regional Hospital.

This is how it happened: At about 11:00 PM, I headed back to my office after taking a short break. To get there, I had to pass through the living room, open the garage door and then walk a few feet to my office door. As I passed through the living room, I saw a pleasant scene, almost idyllic. 

Lavina was sitting on one couch doing something in her laptop computer. His back propped against a chair, Jacob was sitting on the floor reading out loud to Kalib from one of his many books - perhaps one that he had gotten for Christmas or his birthday; I'm not certain.

As Jacob read, Kalib crawled about the immediate area, exploring things to the sound of his father's voice.

I quickly passed through and sat down at my computer. I had not been there for more than a few minutes when Margie stepped in, Kalib in her arms. His eyes were wet with tears and I saw the scratch marks fresh on his face.

I immediately rose from my chair.

Kalib studies the mechanics of the toy.

Margie informed me that Martigny had scratched him, and that Jacob and Lavina were on their way to the store, to purchase an antispetic cleanser that would be mild enough for a baby. I went back into the house with the two of them, and then I cleaned the scratches as best I could with just warm water.

Kalib protested, howled, jerked and twisted throughout the process. When I finished, I could see that the scratch on his upper lip was quite deep. So I called Lavina and told her and we decided to take him to the emergency room.

As I later put the story together, even as Jacob read to him, Kalib crawled from the living room into the kitchen. Suddenly, before anyone discovered that he had crawled out of sight, the peace that I had witnessed only minutes before was destroyed by the sound of something crashing to the floor and a sudden, loud, cry from Kalib.

Martigny then dashed out of the kitchen and hid.

Kalib had been scratched. I think Martigny, who had always been so good with Kalib, was caught by surprise by the falling object and Kalib, who had undoubtedly caused it to fall.

In panic, she lashed out.

It is a very difficult thing to keep your eye on a toddler 100 percent of the time when he is awake and about, but it only takes seconds for a toddler out of sight to get himself into true trouble.

After his name is called, Kalib gets weighed.

The nurse checks his vitals by attaching a high-tech device to his toes and pulling his sock over it.

Kalib in the arms of his mom, just before the doctor begins his treatment.

Can you imagine how hard this is for his dad, to have to hold down this little son whom he so adores?

The doctor does his work. He does not stitch but rather glues the separated sides of the deep wound back together. We are instructed to just let the glue wear off naturally. When its job is done, it will be gone. The smaller scratches are expected to disappear in due time.

The deeper gash on Kalib's lip will leave a scar, but if we keep the sun off of it, it will be less of a scar and in time may hardly be noticeable. Right now, there is little sun to keep off of it, but we will be in Arizona soon. That means sunscreen, and a big hat.

After the repair is done, a sobbing Kalib is comforted by his mom - who, I must say, is as loving, caring, and dedicated a mom as I have ever seen. She is a wonderful mom, and a great daughter-in-law. I love her dearly.

The same goes for his dad. His dad is a much better dad to Kalib than I was to him. Up until this happened, Kalib had never experienced any hard physical contact; I don't think he had ever even been scolded. No, nary a voice had been raised against him and he had been subjected to no physical discipline.

And now, all of a sudden, he been scratched by a cat that he had hung out with. His grandpa had washed his wounds while his grandma held his arms as though she were a straight jacket, then he had gone to the hospital where the people who had always been nothing but loving and gentle with him had ganged up on him along with a stranger - an old man with white hair and white beard and the nurse and had not only restrained him, but had inflicted pain upon him - for his good, yes, but could he know that?

He was left with much to ponder.

Yet, he has forgiven us all. He still greets us all with a smile and he laughs, but he seems a little quicker to cry and to get upset, and a little slower to calm back down again.

Comments

[Varsha]

Oh poor Kalib...had to go through so much...but he is a brave kid! :)