Do you know what is not fun? Being covered in your child's blood.

So. I was running the practice because our Manager was out of town. I had fleeting thoughts all week of: "I hope nobody gets hurt on my watch." And while I had been disappointed at our other practices which had been rained out, I was even more disappointed that this afternoon turned sunny. But I shook it off and ran the practice.

We warmed up, stretched, played catch. Took infield, and I had runners during that so they could practice their throws to all bases.

Then I figured we'd have batting practice with coach pitching first, then a round with kid pitching since that's what they'd face in the practice game this Saturday.

Emmett got to hit last at our previous practice so I let him hit first here. I had a runner back behind him (clear of immediate foul ball territory), with a helmet on, running the bases as he had his ten hits. Emmett stroked some nice line drives into the outfield. Then he was the runner and Josh was the hitter. About halfway into Josh's hitting, he hit a soft grounder to the second baseman, Noah. Noah has a strong arm, but it's a little erratic. Emmett booked down the line, got to first, looked up, and took the ball square in the face.

I think that's what happened anyway - I don't think I saw the actual event, I was pitching the BP, and turned as he screamed. And screamed and screamed. And blood was pouring out. And Noah was distraught.

I picked Emmett up and tried to calm him down, presuming it was a bloody nose. It hurts a lot to get hit in the nose. The local security guard for University Village heard the screams and came over. He asked if he needed to call an EMT. I started to say No, and Rob - the other coach, who could see Emmett's face while I held him said - his nose is really swelling up. I pulled Emmett back to look and it was obviously broken. The swelling was very wide, stretching his nose almost to the middle of his eyes. It didn't look good at all.

The paramedics showed up almost immediately - their station house is very close to his school. They mostly wanted to make sure there was no concussion.

We rode in the paramedic truck to the hospital, and Emmett had already completely calmed down. He was quiet though, as he held the ice bag to his face. So the paramedic kept chatting him up, asking "What position do you play?" Which is a tricky question because in Double-A nobody has a set position - everybody plays a variety of positions. This turned out to be a running joke for the evening because just about every medical person we saw, doctor and nurse, asked him about his position and he had to explain the whole long complicated "Well, I play catcher, and pitcher and shortstop..."

The supervising doctor at Children's Hospital saw him as he was wheeled in, took one look and just said, "it's a broken nose." We got a room immediately though. I washed him off, cleaned up the blood on his face and hands. His Mom showed up, took one look at his nose and started crying. Which made him cry. I quickly squelched that emotional moment: "Emmett, the last thing you want to do with a broken nose is start crying. It'll make your nose run and it'll hurt and it'll swell up and you'll get congested. So...try to get calm." I sent his Mom to a corner and she got her composure. We hung out reading the kids books and Emmett started to talk. He wasn't hurting. The ice brought the swelling down quite a bit. Still, it was very sad to look at his handsome face with the nose all distorted. ("Saddle deformity" as the second doctor said. Which just means...it was swollen evenly and hadn't pushed to one side. More likely a fracture.)

Anyway. After form filling out (which the nurse did very quickly and efficiently), the young guy doctor came in. Looked up his nose. Started talking about "The plastic and the ENT" and "make a decision about what's necessary for the proper cosmetic repair" that my stomach started churning.

I think that is why, Kat. I read it somewhere - hell, probably in this thread. Yeah, not too interested in it either. I have to rewatch now, though, because I was too distracted to make the Derevko connection . And also because my comprehension of spoken Spanish is so, so awful, and I wasn't watching the subtitles .

I'm sorry to hear about Emmet's broken nose. What a nightmare, Hec.

Aw, geez, Hec. Poor little guy, and awful for you parents, too. Is it wait and see about anything that might have to be done?

But in a couple of days, it won't hurt anymore, but he might still have tough-looking black eyes. So there's that.

No black eyes, actually.

So...we get sent home with a scrip for Tylenol w/ codeine. I'm still pretty rattled. I shake my finger at Emmett and say, "You are not allowed to EVER break your nose again."

Emmett rolls his eyes For.Ev.Er.

He has to see an ENT in 5 days (Monday). The supervising doctor looked up his nose and he had no clear passage on either side. Which means a "procedure" - is very likely. This involves general anesthesia and inserting a steel rod up each nostril and pushing the cartilage back into place.

This is making my stomach churn. Emmett got chatty and ironic as the evening rolled on. He wants to go to the team's practice game on Saturday and watch from the dugout (which is fenced and safe). I think that'll be good for his teammates to see him (as JZ noted, Noah, the kid who nailed him was very upset.), and good for Emmett. His manager, Tim, is the world's nicest guy and is going to be very concerned about Emmett too.

And the thing is? Emmett got his report card today. He did really really well, and teacher had wonderful things to say about him in the parent/teacher conference. Not just academically, but how Emmett extends himself to other kids in the class, including them socially when they had been sort of outcasts before. How it had made a huge difference for two of his classmates specifically. Also, she said his writing was very developed, unusually so for a third grader. So - it was going to be a good day, and celebratory and baseball and la la la.

edited to magically change EMT to ENT.

Oh man, that sounds horrible. I've made that ER hospital run recently with my 2 1/2 year old (slammed her own finger in a door which is going to be black and blue for about a month) and it's pretty much the opposite of fun. Hope he heals quickly and painlessly.

Poor Emmett and poor Hec. That must have been awful for you. Much healing ~ma to the little guy. Yay on the report card though.

Poor brave Emmett.

Here's his report card comment from his teacher (she's in the Kat mold - challenging and tough, but very very good):

Emmett is full of ideas, energy, and wit, always ready to conribute to our class discussions. Althugh he shows good understanding and is very bright, his work is now often times rushed, careless, and messy. He needs to take the time to do his best work in language and math. He can produce better work more consistently. He is especially gifted with words and expression, both in writing and speaking. Leadership potential too!

Aww, poor Emmett. I'm glad he's already feeling better.