There was a day nurse who spoke a little English. She came in and said, “This antibiotic very thick, thick and can close vein. So very important to clear after.”

They always pushed saline after running the IV antibiotic because it was thick and sometimes had a hard time getting it to go in. She explained that veins could close from the antibiotic, so it was important to keep them open. She got some saline and hooked me up.

“We just want to keep your veins open so that’s running and we won’t have a problem with them closing and getting the antibiotics in.”

That made sense to me. But then the night nurse came on—the opinionated one—and she was like, “No, you no need. It just make you go peepee.” She took the saline bag away. “No, it’s just fine. It’s just fine.”

But she also gave me some advice. She pointed at my legs and said, “You think this, all this bad? Back pain? Much worse.” She was telling me I needed to roll and massage the skin around my tailbone so I wouldn’t end up with bed sores, which are a big problem where that tailbone is.

“It’s very important to massage that and move it every day.”

“I understand, but I can’t reach that.” I was still tender enough that I couldn’t move much or put pressure on my lower legs. I couldn’t shift enough to roll myself and massage at the same time.

“Oh, you want me to? I get cream so I can slide under and do.”

So she did. She put some lotion on and helped rub my back a little bit. I was thinking she was talking about my butt, but really she was working on my low back and tailbone area, which is where bed sores develop.

“That better?”

“Yeah, thank you.”

Then she said, “You need special mattress.” Apparently they don’t get many people with bilateral fractures—basically two busted legs. “I order. You be here tomorrow.”

The day team came in the next day saying, “Oh, special mattress coming. We’ll change bed for you today.” There was a lot of discussion about when I was leaving—Sunday, possibly Monday, Tuesday. I think politics happened behind the scenes about whether to get the mattress or not. I never actually saw it happen, so I’m guessing it never came in.

The saline bag never came back after that first time either. I even asked for it a couple times: “Can I get some saline?” “No, you no need. Okay.”