A junkie bit me.
I've been on medical leave from work since the last blog entry.
Why?
The title explains it all.
We had some meth addict pop in after being beaten savagely by some police. After he tried to steal their car.
So, yeah. Junkie is cuffed to the stretcher, both wrists and ankles, so his mobility is a little...Hindered.
We're still not really sure how he did it, but all of the sudden his right wrist is out of the cuff, and he's flailing his arm like a lunatic. I'm one of the biggest nurses on staff, so I leaned over the stretcher from the left side to make some sort of heroic grab for his wrist, and unfortunately, he grabs mine. He then brings my forearm to his mouth, and bites.
Oh, how he bit. Not only did he draw blood...He removed skin. A lot of it. And a bit of meat.
So yeah. Had to get a series of emergency injections, as well as an HIV test. Then I was sent home.
Sadly, I became ill. Turns out the junkies mouth was so full of disgusting bacteria that I developed an uber-infection in my arm. My arm turned a lovely shade of crimson. Well, not my whole arm. Just a six inch radius around the bite.
Then I got feverish. Despite working in the medical field, going to the hospital terrifies me, so I put it off for as long as possible. So long, in fact, that I started calling in sick to work.
Ultimately they asked what sort of ailment I was claiming, and I told them about the infection. They actually sent an ambulance for me, free of charge, and put me up in a quarantined room for twelve days.
My arm is better. They didn't have to lop it off.
I felt stupid.