As we approached the automatic doors, I drew a tense breath. I feared what they would reveal when they opened. I’ve spent many nights in Emergency Rooms, and it’s never a pleasant experience.
I held my arm around Anne’s shoulders, and we walked into an empty room. A television hung from one wall, and Dick Clark counted down the remaining hours of 2002 for several empty chairs and a threadbare couch — the only occupants of the very small waiting room.
Anne pressed a towel to her mouth, hoping to slow the flow of blood. The shock was wearing off, and she was beginning to feel the pain.
I walked to the check-in window and thought, this is a fucked up way to spend New Year’s Eve.
Since the kids were with their dad, this New Year’s had presented Anne and me with several options. We could have attended numerous parties, eaten dinner in several restaurants, stayed home alone, or even walked to Colorado Blvd. and staked out a spot to watch the Rose Parade.
Two of our friends had recently bought a new house, and they were having a quiet gathering there. Most of our friends would be in attendance, so that’s where we went. Quiet and low-key would be the perfect way to end the year.
The evening had been pretty fun. A trip to the ER was the farthest thing from my mind as I played Munchkin with some of my friends, and Anne sat on the floor, trying to convince our friend’s new dog that he and Anne should be friends.
The dog, however, is the anti-Ferris: he’s really aggressive, and not good with people at all. He was recently rescued, and is still getting socialized around strangers. During the evening, he’d snapped at pretty much everyone there, and kept growling and barking at my friend Darin. Anne has the animal empathy of an 18th-level Druid Ranger, though, and she was determined to bring out the love in this animal.
She was doing a great job, too. She sat on the floor with him for close to two hours, calmly talking to him while his master held his leash, and the dog eventually relaxed. Everyone at the party was amazed, except for me. My wife is the very definition of boundless love, especially for animals. As soon as we were warned about the dog, I knew that Anne would have it eating out of her hand by the end of the evening.
While Anne continued to pet the dog, my friends and I prepared to follow up Munchkin with a rousing game of Naval War. We were laughing and fooling around, and then, like a bad made-for-cable movie, everything went horribly wrong.
I was holding the instructions in my hand, looking for the number of cards to be dealt, as my friend Cal shuffled them. KROQ was counting down the top 106.7 songs of 2002, and our friends Pat and Shane had just arrived. I heard the dog begin to growl at Darin, and thought nothing of it — he’d been growling at Darin all night long.
Then the dog barked, and I heard Anne’s voice cry out, shrill above the din of the party, “Wil!”
I turned, and saw something no husband would ever want to see (unless he was OJ Simpson): my wife was holding her mouth, as blood poured over her hand.
Anne went into shock, more from the emotional trauma than the wound, I thought. Before last night, Anne had taken 44 stitches in her face, and eight of them were not from a dog. When that dog bit her lip, Anne was five years old again, helpless and terrified.
We packed ice into a towel, pressed it against her mouth, and drove her to the hospital. Since it was empty, we got through triage and into a bed very quickly. While Anne was being prepared for closure, I walked out to the waiting room, to tell our friend Joe what her status was. He owns the dog, and he and his wife felt terrible about what had happened. We told him that he should go home to be with his wife at midnight, but he insisted that he stay with us until Anne was cared for.
As I walked to the waiting room, I passed an old man who was on a ventilator. A woman, possibly his daughter, sat at his feet, and leaned over the bed, clutching his legs. Sobs rocked her body. My heart went out to them, as I thought, “it’s just a dog bite. It could be so much worse.”I told Joe that we’d be leaving soon, and walked back to be with my wife. The doctor put six stitches into her lip, and we were out of the ER by 11:45 PM. We walked back into Joe’s house with 2 minutes remaining on the year. Anne drank a champagne toast, and we hugged our friends goodbye.
Joe and his wife walked us to the car, apologizing the entire way. We weren’t upset with them, and still aren’t. It wasn’t their fault. It was just a terrible accident. I thought back to that man on the ventilator, and told them that it could have been much, much worse.
We drove carefully back to our house. Each car on the freeway was a potential drunk driver, especially the one who was weaving across three lanes on the 210. I pointed to the car, a white Toyota, and told Anne that things like that made me wish I’d outfitted my car at Uncle Albert’s. She didn’t get it.
We were in bed by 12:30. Anne watched “Sex And The City” and I read “Watchmen.” We were asleep by 1. Yeah, this was not the way I planned on spending New Year’s Eve.
Anne woke me up in the middle of the night, crying. Her Advil had worn off, and she told me that the pain in her face reminded her of when she was a little kid. I wished that I could take her pain away from her, but I did the best that I could: I held her in my arms, and let her tears fall against my cheek and roll onto my pillow.
We fell back asleep, and slept until two Stealth Fighters flew over our house at 8 a.m. to start the Rose Parade.
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My best wishes to Anne for a speedy and pain-free recovery. It often takes things like this to help us realise what we have and, more importantly, what others may not have.
Happy New Year to your family.
Wow, glad Anne’s okay! Best wishes for a speedy recovery and a less exciting remainder of the year!
Best wishes to you and Anne. Hope this year gives you all you wish for.
All my wishes go to you and Anne for a speedy recovery.
Happy New Year as well.
I got bit in the lip by a little rat dog when I was about 6. It sucked, but got better. I still can’t stand little rat dogs around my face. Happy New Year, and feel better Anne.
I’m sorry to hear about Anne being bitten so badly! I hope she recovers swiftly and well! Much mojo being sent her way now from Oxford, England.
Woo! I’m number six to post this time!
We hate this had to happen to Anne! Thank goodness she’s recovering now. Our thoughts are with you and your family. We know you’ll take good care of her.
Best wishes, Anne. Rest lots. And use Mederma after you’re healed.
Wil & Anne,
I sure wish your New Year’s had been a bit more peaceful. Sorry about the way things turned out with the dog – sometimes all the empathy in the world can’t perform instant miracles. And, you’re right. It could have been worse. Anne might not have had you nearby to help her. You are both pretty lucky.
Lip-healing mojo for Anne, and peace to the rest of us.
Dear Anne
I hope by the time you are reading this,that you are feeling better.Take the next couple days off to relax and let Wil do all the work.
Cathy
anne and your family are in my thoughts. i too, am happy this was no worse. i hope for a speedy recovery and a wonderful year for everyone who reads this.
Swift healing to Anne. Best to both of you.
Man, that sucks. Sorry to hear it.
I was bit in the face by a dog when I was three, so I understand what Anne is going through right now. Best wishes for a speedy recovery for Anne and a Happy New Year for everyone.
First Chopper almost mauls you in the junkyard and now this happens to your wife. That sucks.
I hope the new year brings better things for your family. I’m grateful that everyone I know is well, and I hope that you and yours are well (especially Anne) throughout 2003. Happy new year!
Much face healing mojo to Anne and a Happy New Year to Mr and Mrs HMIC.
Psychological pain is the worst kind to have.
Anne – you’re an amazing chick. Best wishes from Florida, get well soon!!!
Tell Anne I’m sorry about the dog bite. My dog was in bad pain from arthritis one day and when I tried to comfort him he bit me under the chin. I didn’t have to have stitches, but I have a scar to this day and I don’t forget the pain. That poor dog didn’t know she was trying to help and neither did mine, so bless you both for caring so much!
Tell Anne a damp tea bag around an ice cube every four hours will help keep the swelling and pain down.
Hope the rest of the day is better!
Here’s to a speedy recovery.
*does whatever is supposed to follow that phrase*
My brother was bitten on the nose when he was four or five. The dog sat taller than my brother stood! Anyway, I sympathize and wish for you that this mishap be the worst thing by far to happen to you this new year. May you only go up from here!
Many Blessings,
Amit
Hope you feel better soon, Anne.
And a Happy New Year to one and all!
We felt genuine horror reading this, and honest and sincere hopes for Anne’s recovery. Then we realized that it struck so deep because we tend to think of you guys as sort of extended family. Weird, isn’t it? I hope you both recover soon.
We felt genuine horror reading this, and honest and sincere hopes for Anne’s recovery. Then we realized that it struck so deep because we tend to think of you guys as sort of extended family. Weird, isn’t it? I hope you both recover soon.
We felt genuine horror reading this, and honest and sincere hopes for Anne’s recovery. Then we realized that it struck so deep because we tend to think of you guys as sort of extended family. Weird, isn’t it? I hope you both recover soon.
Happy New Year from my family to yours! I’m really sorry to hear about the dog bite. I hope it’s not too incredibly bad. Being an animal lover, I know how accidents like that can happen. I hope your friends don’t hold any ill-will towards the pooch and continue loving and caring for it. It’s tough for animals, especially ones that haven’t had such a pampered life, to get used to trusting humans again.
Take care of her I hope you have another wonderful year.
Chris
=o(
Oh no!!! *sends BIG HUGS to Anne* Im so sorry, Anne. I hope you feel a little bit better today.
Hey Wil and Anne,
I hope that you all will have a better rest of the year. When I was 9 I got bit by a beagle/chawawa mix. That wasn’t fun at all but I still love animals.
Dag yo. Seriously dag. I joke about it because I feel laughter helps everything. It may not heal a wound, it may not heal a broken heart, but it distills the negative with the overpowering positive.
Kudos to Anne for toasting the champan-ya at midnight. I had a slightly weird new year’s, every atom of my body freezing in the -15C temperature that dominated stockholm at the time, but you are too right Wil, it could (and probably always can be) much, much worse.
My heart and thoughts go out to you both, especially to Anne. We got one helluvan odd year coming up, and she’s gotten her share of pain already.
Wow, I was so genuinely upset when i read this that I think is should spend less time reading this site and more time in the “real world”.
Unless being massively disturbed is a good thing.
I don’t know, i’m emotionally stunted.
I *really* am sending good healing vibes to Anne. What happened was awful and I hope she heals soon.
Have a Happy New Year from now on.
*commences healing Mojo dance for the next 24 hours*
I almost cried when I read this. I don’t know if that’s the result of sympathy for Anne, sympathy for you both because you had a sh*tty new year’s eve, because it was so well-written, because I’m really tired or because I just had an emotional conversation. That second last paragraph, with her waking up in the middle of the night and you comforting her touched me. My god Wil, you are SO sweet and you probably don’t even realize it because that’s what significant others do for each other.
I hope Anne recovers quickly.
Cheers to 2003.
[Popular Misconception]
The dog has tasted blood…It may have to be put to sleep now or it could turn on it’s owners…
[/Popular Misconception]
I’m sending all the Mojo I can muster to you, Anne. I can’t say I know how that hurts as I’ve never been bitten (lucky me) but I hope the healing process is very quick.
Wil, you should be proud of yourself. Most of the guys I know would just grunt and tell their wife to quit whining and roll over and go back to sleep.
Glad you’re not like those losers…
please, correct the dog. correct it into a pulp
Big hugs to Anne and you, Wil. This is NOT an omen for the coming year, it happened LAST year.
I’m sending Anne some healing vibes!!! Hope you get better soon!!
Wow, what an end to the evening. Sorry to hear about that, sending some healing mojo that way now! Just think though, the only direction the year can go now, is up!
I was feeling crappy spending new year alone, but things like this always remind me that sometimes there are worse things than being alone. Best wishes to Anne, especially with the emotional aspect.
Have a Happy New Year, and things will only get better now!
Not fun…a night in the hospital. I hope Anne is feeling better quickly. Enjoy your New Year.
Wil, I hope she feels better. I too was nearly attacked by a dog when I was little, so I know how scary that feeling actually is. I wish you the best of luck in the New Year and I hope that Anne feels better.
MOJO! Get well soon, Anne, and congratulations for having harvested the best geek crop south of the north pole.
A fantastic 2003 to you all!
Your trip to the ER hit home particularly hard. I spent the Saturday before Christmas in the ER while they put over 100 stitches into and on my daughter’s face. (Car vs. Telephone Pole… the car lost) I know all too well what you mean, no one should see their loved one go through anything like that. You just wish you could will all the pain away. Mucho healing mojo to Anne. And big HUGS to you all. BTW, the soapbox mojo does wonders. I’m sure the fabulous doctors at our hospital had a bit to do with it too, but my daughter’s face is looking wonderful! Here’s hoping for very minimal scarring for Anne and a continued love of animals!
Sending lots of good wishes and a speedy recovery to Anne… her pretty smile will shine through. 🙂
Sending healing mojo to Anne
Get well soon.
~brice~
My prayers for a quick and total recovery for Anne. And I am sure the prayers of thousands more.
May the rest of the year be much nicer.
I to have spent many a holiday eve in the ER. I hope all is well and that you spend the rest of the year in better health. Happy New Year!
Dude, the beginning of your blog scared the holy living shit out of me. I’m glad Anne is okay. Be careful this year.
“Correct the dog to a pulp” kasll? Mabey correct the previous owner for abandoning the dog, or the current owners for putting the dog in a stressful situation (however well intentioned), but don’t correct a dog for doing what comes naturally when it’s scared!
That’s so sad. 🙁
I wish Anne a speedy recovery, mentally and physically.
Mucho mojo from Pat!
I’m very sorry to hear what happened! I hope Anne will get better soon, I’m sending all the healing vibes I can come up with.
I’m also sorry your new year’s sucked, but after all it’s one night and you have each other for the rest of your lives.
Take good care of her, I hope both of you will recover from the shock soon!
I’m wishing everyone a wonderful, healthy, happy 2003!!
I read this with such dread… and slower and slower the closer to the bad part I got. I’m glad Anne is OK and I hope you and everyone else are, as well. Scary stuff.
*virtual stalker-free hug to all*
Yeah, So I’m watching the I love the 80s marathon on VH1, and they mentioned Wheaton when they talked about “Stand By Me”. Man that was cool.
Owwww.
Damn, I am really sorry this happened to Anne… and I hope the pain is significantly less today. This sounds like a good excuse for her to have an entire pint of Haagen Das all to herself.
Go now. Get thee to a store and buy her things!
Get well soon Anne, Happy New Year to you both.