Medical Mayhem Part Two

The saga continues. Lauren's tendency for strange accidents and mishaps started early in life. Following the meningitis scare all was well for a couple of years. Then another mini disaster struck.
Ray and I took some friends of ours out in our boat for an afternoon ride here in Tampa. We were enjoying some of the islands close by where locals gather to grill out, play and have fun. As it was getting dark we decided to head into another part of the bay and enter the Hillsborough River in order to see the city lights. We owned a bow rider boat at the time and Lauren was seated in the bow along with our friends Jeff and Misty. I was lounging on the back to back seat which could be laid flat. It was cold that night so I was covered up with a blanket and snuggled down attempting to stay warm.
All of a sudden Ray was shouting for me to sit up and hold on! I quickly sat up and gathered my senses while reaching for the handle beside the seat. Apparently an extremely large boat was passing without lights so Ray hadn't seen it coming. We were very close to the other boat and he knew we were about to hit its wake and it was not going to be a smooth ride. Sure enough the wave came, we went into it, became briefly airborne and then landed with a loud smack on the other side.
All was quiet for a moment and we all thought everything was fine. Then Lauren started crying. She got louder and louder. It was too dark to see what was bothering her. I calmed her down enough to piece together that she had hit her face on the safety bar on the bow of the boat. She had held onto the bar as the boat went into the air and when it landed so forcefully her head snapped down causing her face to hit the bar.
Since we were right outside Tampa General Hospital, it is on the river, we headed in that direction.
I called her primary care physician's emergency line (gotta love HMOs) and explained what happened. She advised we take her in for x-rays as she could have chipped her cheek bone which could end up in her sinus cavity causing serious problems. The dock at the hospital is for water taxis only. Luckily there was a nurse located at a nearby table on her break who was gracious enough to go and retrieve a security guard to open the gate. Misty and I took Lauren into the emergency room while Ray and Jeff returned in the boat to get the car and meet us back at the hospital.
By now the swelling had grown so severe that Lauren could no longer open her eye on the affected side of her face. Misty and I tried to keep her attention off of her injury by joking and making her laugh. Her poor swollen face didn't even move as she tried to chuckle at our jokes. We affectionately called her our little "Oompaloompa".
Thank God the only damage was soft tissue related and no bones had chipped. Her eye was fine and we were sent on our way. She told us that different people kept coming in and asking her over and over again what had happened. I suppose when a six year old shows up with a black eye and swollen face they need to make sure there hasn't been any foul play. I didn't mind, I'm glad they checked.
The fun part was returning to school the following week. Remember, Lauren came to school where I worked. My colleagues couldn't get over the black eye she was now sporting. Of course I teased and said to anyone who inquired, "Bet she won't ever talk back to me again huh?" It's a good thing they all knew me well enough to know I was joking.