I normally can stomach things pretty easily, having taken care of many senior citizens and children over the years - but this made even my stomach lurch over. I got kind of scared at first, but after about a millionth of a second I got him to calm down and threw an ice pack on it. It wasn't bleeding too heavily, and we wrapped his leg in a clean, damp cloth that would transfer the cold from the icepack faster and help with any pain. I called Maggie and told her the quick & the dirty, and told her she needed to get home ASAP because I suspected this might require stitches. I turned on cartoons for him and laid him out on the couch, propped his leg up higher than his head and gave him some apple juice. Juice makes anything better.
Maggie & Nathan just got here, took a quick look at it, and whisked him off to the ER. Throughout this, he barely even whimpered and even then it was only right after it happened. What a big boy he is, he's getting so grown so fast!
Will edit this post once they bring him home and let everyone know more details as they unfold. He's fine, though - don't worry.
EDIT:
He's home, he ended up with a tetanus shot. They cleaned the wound and said that one hair deeper and it would've been stitches. They gave Maggie the option, she said not unless they were really necessary, and Cole was relieved. He wanted to hurry home to show me his bandage. Right now he's in Maggie's bed watching TV and resting, where he'll likely be for the rest of the afternoon.
WHEW!!