CIRCUS LADY

I walked in the room to assess an 81yr old woman who resented with a possible hip fracture. She was in a lot of pain. As I started her IV to give her meds her 80yr old friend piped u. "This lady. This lady is an amazing woman. Just ask her. Ask her about riding the elephants." So I did, "You rode elephants? Where? In the circus?" She nodded her head. I said "I just finished reading the book Water for Elephants. Was the Circus really like that? Were most of the Carnies fugitives of some sort? She said "Yes, I lived that book. That was my life." Her friend jumped in again. "She is a strong lady. She's a survivor, she is! This little thing ran to the circus to hide from a husband who beat her within an inch of her life". I looked at my patient and said "True?" She responded "You do what you have to do. There were n0 Safe Houses back then." I drew up her Dilaudid as her friend continued. "She ended up finding comfort in the arms of the Mayor. Her husband found out and beat her worse than ever and put in the hospital. The Mayor bought her a car, delivered $500 to her and said "Take your 5 kids and run. He'll kill you the next time" So she did. She went all the way to Florida and joined the circus with her 5 children. He looked for her but never found her." I asked my patient "True?". She nodded her head and said "You do what you have to do." Well what ever happened to your relationship with the Mayor? I asked. Her reply "He kept in touch with letters and let me know if my husband was getting any closer to finding me, but I couldn't write him back. He sent me money for the kids now and then." She continued with her story while the pain medicine did it's magic. "I really was a looker so I got to ride the elephants for a long time. When I passed that point I asked them if I could cook for the Carnies so I could stay. They said yes. That man (name withheld, think of a well known Circus) was a crook and a pickpocket. He even picked the pockets of his own Carnies. I didn't like him. He had an island out in the everglades of Florida where all his New York mafia friends would come play poker and drink. I had to cook for them and I hated it. But all I had to do was cook. The younger gals...well, he would send them out there on one of those boats with the big fan and tell them to keep his friends happy". She looked up and said "You do what you have to do." I asked did you ever fall in love there? "Nooooo" she said. "The circus is no place to find a man" (smarter than a lot of us) It was hard to take breaks from her story and go take care of my other patients. How entertaining are UTI's, COPD and A-Fib after this? As the story ended she finally did leave the Circus once her children were grown. Met a good man, married and moved north to years of kindness. The last question I asked was how her kids were after this adventure. Her friend piped in "They don't even talk to her, not one of them. Their all mad because she made them grow up in a Circus" True? I asked. She looked up at me with tears and shame in her eyes and said "It wasn't only the pretty women who they forced sex with". You never know the story behind these eyes until they share it. The ER at times delivers life in it's most raw form.