It was just past midnight when the call light in Room 12 started flashing.
Anaya, the night nurse, glanced at the monitor — John Miller’s vitals had dropped suddenly. Just an hour earlier, he’d been laughing about how he couldn’t wait to get home to his dog.
When she rushed in, he was pale and sweating. “I’m fine,” he muttered, but his breathing was shallow, and there was a greyish tint around his lips.
Emily hit the emergency button. The rapid response team rushed in.
They hooked him to oxygen, ran stat labs, and wheeled him toward the ICU. In the chaos, one detail stuck in Emily’s mind — a large, dark bruise spreading along his side that hadn’t been there during evening rounds.
Hours later, the truth came out: John had taken a fall in the bathroom earlier that day but hadn’t told anyone. He thought it was “just a bruise.” In reality, he had a slow internal bleed. By the time the pain became severe, his blood pressure had already plummeted.
The surgery saved him — but just in time.
đź’ˇ Takeaway: Never ignore sudden weakness, dizziness, or unexplained bruising after an injury. Internal bleeding may not hurt right away, but it can turn life-threatening within hours.