MY X-RAY

It was a sunny summer day. I was playing baseball with Alfred and Bob at Saint John's Catholic School grounds. We got really thirsty, so we went to my house to get something to drink. I really wanted some pop, so I ran up the stairs to ask my mom if we could share a pop. Mom said no, but could have some lemonade. I was running down the stairs to tell my friends, when I tripped and rolled down the rest of the way. I didn't want to cry in front of my friends, but my leg really hurt. Tears rolled down my cheeks, but wiped them away before my friends could see. My leg felt very sore, and when my mom came out to see what the noise was about, she said, "I think you might have a broken leg. We should take you to the hospital." I didn't want to, but my leg was so sore that I felt like throwing up.

When we got to the hospital, the nurse looked at my leg and decided to do an x-ray. She gave me some medicine so my leg wouldn't hurt so much, and then she took me to the x-ray station. I had never seen an x-ray machine before. It was really cool! It was about the same height as the nurse, and about as wide as my wagon. It was black and metal, and it said on the side that it was made by General Electric in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. The model number was D4 Type 1 model 39 with a serial number of 487004. As I sat waiting for the nurse to take the x-ray, I read a little metal thing on the side. It said, "This device in so far as its safety from electric shock and fire hazard is concerned has been approved by the Canadian Standards Association. The CSA is not concerned with the physical effects of the radiation from the device." I had no idea what that meant, but by the time I was done reading everything I could see on the machine, the nurse had taken an x-ray of my leg. It was broken.

The nurse put a big cast on it. It was really heavy, and it still hurt. I had to stay in the hospital for two days. The nuns were very nice, but I wanted to go home. When my mom and dad came to pick me up, I was so glad. When we got home, Alfred and Bob were waiting, and we all had lemonade.

By: Seth White

November, 2009