I'm almost at a really important point in my novel, the part where the MC's twin rips a switchblade down his arm and cuts his median nerve and an artery. I already did some research, but I have a few questions, so maybe you guys can help me. 1) How long would the MC have to get to the hospital before he has irreversible organ damage from bleeding out or dies? I want him to go into hypovolemic shock at some point, but I don't want him to have organ damage, and he can't die. 2) Since his nerve was cut, does that mean that his arm would be paralyzed? If that's true, then would he ever regain feeling or movement in that arm? Also, would it just be limp from wherever it got cut down? 3) Would the hospital inquire about how the whole thing happened? If they would, they can't know that it was the twin that cut him. Would a good reason that the MC would have as to make a lie or whatever be that because they're adopted, if the authorities found out they'd get separated and have to live somewhere else? Do you guys have any other suggestions as to why no one could know it was the twin? 4) How long would he even be in the hospital? 5) Also, how long would the MC be out in the hospital for surgery or whatever? I know that's a lot of questions, sorry. But I really appreciate any answers!
About the bleeding, that's really inconsistent in real life. Sometimes people get cut and they bleed out in minutes. Other times, the muscle and tissue clamp down on the artery and prevent a lot of the blood loss. If the character is still with it, he can put pressure on the injury himself, extending how long he can stay in the game. Police will automatically do an investigation. The hospital will just treat him. He can lie to the cops. If you look up "knife wound" on google, and I don't recommend doing that, you can see people sitting in the hospital with just horrible cuts, worse than you are every going to do with a switchblade.
It's an arm, is there no one to put a tourniquet on? You have a wide range here as far as time goes. You can write it as long or short of a time as you want within a reasonable range until you get to the shock. Then I'd suggest you not drag that out too long. Nerves outside the spinal column grow back eventually. Look at the nerve branches. Pick a spot that does what you want, controlling muscles or not. Hospitals are required by law to report knife or gunshot wounds to the police. If he fell through a plate glass window they wouldn't unless a fight was involved. Your last two depend completely on how you write the rest of it. If there's a reason you need something for the story, write it that way and have the injuries match. If it doesn't matter, write the injury that does matter and check your medical facts after it's written.
