Blood

I can't handle the sight of blood.  Mine--someone else's--anyone's really.  It freaks me out!  (And the monthly thing doesn't count...that's not "real" blood to me.)  Obviously, I'm not going to find and post a picture of blood for this post, because.....EW.  Allow me to explain where these thoughts are coming from:

This morning I was awake early, because many times I can't go back to sleep after I've heard Studoc get up early and leave for school.  So I'm trying to go back to sleep for another hour, and I'm halfway there, when all of the sudden I wake up in a panic hearing some weird, loud whimpering noises.  My baby makes strange noises sometimes, so my ears direct instictively towards the monitor.  Nope, not the baby.  Baby's okay. Sounds like it's coming from outside my 3rd story window...like a pack of wild dogs whimpering and barking and going crazy outside.  So I look out my bedroom window, and this is the scene looking down onto the street:

A middle-aged woman is standing in the middle of the street in a yellow sweatsuit crying in a frantic way.  I look at her stomach/side and it appears to be drenched in blood.  I see an unleashed dog running close to her yelping, then running away.  Three other dogs yelping and barking, but those dogs are on leashes and their owners hurry and run away with them.  Did she get attacked by a dog?  I also see a car stopped in the middle of the street several feet back from the bleeding lady.  The driver and passenger--a young man and young girl--are already out of the car and the young man is on his cell phone.  Did they stop in the street to help her?  Did they hit her with their car?  Did they hit her with their car while walking her dog, hence the yelping?  Or were the dogs yelping due to some innate sense of blood and someone hurt?

So many scenarios are going through my head as I try to make sense of what I see.  My first rational thought is "okay, they're calling 911, so that's good."  More people are congregating on the street now.  The young woman helps the bleeding lady lay down in the middle of the street on the non-bleeding side.  Someone brings a blanket for the victim.  To help with the bleeding?  For comfort?  They lay it over her lower half.  Should I go down there?   No, I have a sleeping baby in the next room.  Plus, what'll I do?  Go down, see the blood, and have a panic attack?  Make more work for the EMTs?

The Police are there now.  Okay, that's good.  Now the firetruck.  Bringing out the stretcher.  Okay, I can't watch anymore.  At some point I called Studoc as I was freaking out about it (he wasn't in class yet).  He was all calm about it, and asked me to tell him what was going on, but I couldn't look out the window anymore.  He told me it'd be okay, that they have lots of help and other such comforting phrases.

My point:  THANK GOODNESS for people like my husband who have no problems seeing or hearing about blood and who can stay calm and collected during stressful situations.  He will be such an amazing doctor.  Thank goodness for those police officers and firefighters and EMTs who can handle all this stuff that makes me nearly throw up/pass out.  I wonder why it is some people can handle the sight of blood and others can't.  Amount of exposure to such things?  I dunno.  Strangely, I don't have a big problem with children's blood....but adult blood freaks me out.  Is it because I've had more exposure to children's blood with all the scraped knees and such?

As a follow up on my story, I peeked out the window after the commotion cleared out of the street, and I saw orange spray paint on the street where the victim was lying and where the front of the car bumper was...which leads me to believe the car had something to do with it.  I really hope that that lady's okay, and so grateful for those who are in the noble calling of emergency response and medicine.