I didn’t have a clue what to expect when I walked up the driveway. The car was there, so I assumed that Bill would be as well. It didn’t look like the car had moved at all. Placing my hand on the hood, it felt cool to the touch, so it hadn’t been out recently. I unlocked the door and went inside, finding everything looking pretty much the way I had left it that morning.
Rounding the corner to go into the bedroom, I was shocked to find Bill in bed, curled up in a tight ball. I didn’t know if he had lain down to take a nap after a busy day or if he was still there from when I left this morning.
“Bill,” I said quietly. If he was asleep, I didn’t want to needlessly wake him. There was no response, so I walked over to his side of the bed and reached out to touch him. I laid my hand on his face and was shocked that his skin felt hot to the touch. Laying my hand on his forehead, it felt like he was on fire. His skin was so hot.
I moved the covers and checked him elsewhere. He was breathing, and his skin elsewhere felt like he was baking as well. I tried to rouse him but wasn’t able to get anywhere. Nearly in a panic by this time, I ran out to Moira’s house and pounded on her back door, desperately hoping that she was home and could tell me what to do. She appeared in the door, still dressed from work, looking like she was just getting home.
One look at my face and she said, “What’s wrong?”
“Something’s wrong with Bill. I can’t wake him up. He feels like he’s burning up. What do I do?”
She was out the door in a flash, and the two of us raced across the yard to our door. She felt his forehead and confirmed my data. She tried to rouse Bill as well, but had no more success in that than I had had.
“Get me your phone,” she ordered. When I handed her the phone, she said, “Get a washcloth, wet it with cold water, wring it out, and bring it to me.” I did as ordered, handing the cloth to her. She placed it on his head and said, “Get another one, same thing.” When I came back she was talking with someone on the telephone. All I caught was, “Come down the driveway to the separate building in the back. Yes. Thank you.”
I handed her the fresh cloth. She handed me the one she had used and told me to wet it again with cold water. After I did that I raced to the kitchen, filled a bowl with cold water, added a tray of ice cubes, and raced back into the bedroom. She nodded her approval at my idea. Between the two of us, we kept wetting the cloths with cold water, wringing them out, and placing them on his body to hopefully dissipate some of the heat he was generating from somewhere.
Without hearing any sirens, there were suddenly others in the room. Apparently Moira had called 911 and asked for medical assistance. Two men moved us aside and took vital signs from Bill, trying once again to rouse him from his unconscious state.
“How long has he been comatose?” one of them asked.
“He was fine last night. Exhausted, but seemed okay. He wasn’t awake this morning when I left, so I don’t know if he’s spent the whole day in bed or not. Sorry, I just don’t know.”
They had a series of questions for us. Had he been sick recently? I told them that I didn’t know because he’d been away for over a month.
“Has he been out of the country recently?”
“Yes,” both Moira and I answered, nearly simultaneously.
“Where?”
“Australia.”
“Was he just in urban areas?”
“No. Not at all. He was way back in the outback for more than a month.”
“Did he mention any kind of bugs or insects or snake bites or anything?”
“Flies and mosquitoes. He mentioned that the rains brought out tons of vicious flies that were always attacking them.”
While we had been talking, both EMTs inserted IV lines into Bill’s arms, one on each side, and started clear liquid dripping into his veins. I had no idea what the stuff was they were giving him, but was glad that someone was there who could help. They loaded him onto a stretcher and wheeled him out of the room. He looked so red it scared me.
Moira told me to go with him. When the ambulance people started to object, she told them that they were taking me, in her typical take charge fashion. They didn’t argue with her for fear of wasting time in getting to the hospital.
“Where are you going?” she asked. “I’ll get my car and follow along behind.”
They told her, and she was running across the yard to the house to grab her car keys, purse, and shoes. By the time they had Bill in the ambulance and were down the driveway, she was in her car with the engine running and was waiting for us. I kept watch out the back window, and she kept pace with us all the way to the hospital. She parked somewhere quickly and ran to the ER just moments after Bill was wheeled inside.
Chapter 29
Hospital
WASTING no time stopping at the front desk, she simply ran to where I stood just outside an exam area. A doctor and team of people were already scurrying around Bill, repeating the vitals that had been taken earlier, asking questions, ordering tests, and things I just didn’t follow.
One of them broke away and approached us. “Are you family?”
Moira answered immediately, “Yes. What’s wrong?”
“We don’t know yet. You told the EMTs that he’d been out of the country recently?”
“Yes. Australian outback for six weeks, filming a movie,” Moira again answered.
“And he remarked about insects?”
“Yes, he said the flies and mosquitoes were terrible, attacking and biting them all constantly when outdoors. They had days and days of heavy rain. He said that, afterward, the bugs were ferocious, chasing everybody back inside.”
“How was his health before he left?”
“Fine. No problems whatsoever,” I answered.
“Do you know if he used any sort of bug repellent while in the outback?”
“No, I don’t know. I doubt it, given how unprepared they were for the conditions they found there.”
“Okay. We’re running a variety of tests to try to find out what is wrong with your….” He looked questioningly at us, waiting for us to fill in the blank. Moira did. “Son, brother.” I glanced at her but didn’t question her.
“Any guesses or gut reactions at this point?” she asked.
“It’s impossible to say. There are a number of insect-borne diseases that affect travelers in that part of the world. There are also a host of environmental conditions that come into play, as well as food or water-borne infections. If I remember correctly, there were quite a few cases of Q fever in Queensland last year. Some of these things can be pretty nasty. Mosquitoes love the wet and breed a lot when the conditions are right. They pick up something and carry it around from person to person. It’s a little early in the year to be seeing cases like this.”
“How do you find out if we’re dealing with any of those diseases?” Moira asked.
“We’re completing a full physical and neurological exam at the moment. We already know that there is an impaired level of consciousness. We’re looking for evidence of skin rashes, bug bites, things of that sort. And we also need to check his cerebrospinal fluid for the presence of things that shouldn’t be there. I’ll need your authorization for that,” he said, handing Moira a clipboard with a form. She read it over, relayed a quick summary to me, and signed the form. “When will you do this?”
“Right now. Don’t worry. It’s not as difficult as everyone believes. It doesn’t take very long, and he won’t feel a thing. After that I want to get an MRI of his brain and upper spinal region to rule out some other things. Is he covered by any sort of health insurance?”
“No,” I said.
Moira jumped in. “Do whatever you need to do, and I’ll cover the cost.”
“Okay. I need to get back in there. These tests will take a while, and then it will take a while in the labs to analyze everything. I probably won’t have any news for some time, but when I do I’ll update you. You may leave a cell phone number or you may wait—it’s up to you,
but as I said, this could take a while.”
“We’ll wait,” Moira said. Then she added, “at least one of us will be here at all times until we know what’s happening.” She moved me down to the waiting room for family of those being treated. She made a short phone call; I couldn’t tell who she called. All I heard was something about “at the ER” and “very sick” and “need you here ASAP” and “questions”. After that all I caught was “okay, hurry please.”
We sat but remained silent. Neither of us knew what to say since we didn’t know what we were dealing with yet. After about ten minutes of silence, I said, “I should have woken him this morning. He was still in bed when I left for school. I left the car for him in case he needed to go anywhere today. I didn’t come home between classes but stayed on campus. I should have woken him, or tried to, this morning. We might have been able to catch this earlier, whatever it is.”
“You couldn’t know,” she said. “None of us knew. There were no signs.”
“No signs that I took the time to look for. They could have been there, but I was so mad I didn’t stop to look.”
“You cannot blame yourself. That just isn’t fair.”
We both let the subject drop for a moment and lapsed into another ten minutes of silence. Moira stepped out for a moment to the bathroom and then returned. About thirty-five minutes after she placed her phone call, I was shocked to see Derrick run into the room—literally.
“What do we know?” he asked.
Moira filled him in and asked him to tell us about the flies or mosquitoes or any other insects that had bothered them onsite. At one point Bill’s doctor walked past and glanced our way. He probably wouldn’t have stopped except for the fact that he immediately recognized Derrick. Moira motioned him over, explained that Derrick had been on set with Bill, and suggested that if the doctor had more questions, perhaps Derrick could provide some answers. Clearly, the doctor wanted to talk to Derrick. It probably was not every day that a celebrity of Derrick’s stature came through the doors. I was just thankful that once they started talking the doctor was strictly business and didn’t interrupt his questioning to ask for Derrick’s autograph. Had he done that, I would possibly have dropped him on the spot.
The waiting room was crowded. With the added complication of Derrick’s celebrity, it created the potential for a chaotic scene. The doctor suggested that perhaps we would be more comfortable waiting in a private area usually reserved for hospital personnel. We took him up on his offer immediately, and were glad to escape around the corner to our own little space.
When the doctor left, he again promised to return as soon as he knew anything else. We asked what test was being conducted at the moment. He informed us that the spinal tap was finished with no problem and that Bill was waiting in line for the MRI machine.
Derrick jumped back into the conversation, “If there’s any question about being able to pay for these tests, please be assured that I’ll cover the cost. Just get him the help he needs. Please.”
“His mother has already made the same offer. Have no fear—he’ll get the best care possible.”
After the doctor had excused himself and left, Derrick looked at Moira and said, “I’ve always known you were a real mother something, but really?”
“Hey, it was the course of least resistance at the moment. And Mark is his brother. Learn your lines and play your part.”
“Yes, sir… ma’am.”
She pulled out her cell phone and said, “I have to make a phone call and do what I do best.”
“And what’s that?” Derrick asked.
“Stretch the truth just a wee tiny bit. But always for a good cause.”
She held the phone to her ear and apparently reached the person she wanted. Her rolodex must be quite impressive.
“Howie. Moira. We’ve got a problem.”
Whoever she was on the phone with apparently did some talking, but she wasn’t in a listening mood. “Howie, shut up and listen. This goes back to that giant mess in the Australian outback.”
She paused, allowing the other person speak before cutting him off again. “Howie, shut up and listen. I’m at the hospital with two of your stars. Not only was the logistical management of that whole thing a mess, but apparently now there is health fallout.”
She listened a moment and then said, “Howie, this is serious. The people on that set were possibly exposed to some pretty nasty stuff. All the rain produced a lot of mosquitoes which transmitted some bad stuff.” Pause. “No, I’m not a doctor. I can’t answer that. All I can tell you is that one of them is in a coma. I don’t know the condition of the other one yet.”
She paused again, listening. “Derrick and Bill. Yeah, as if that mess wasn’t enough, now they get hit with this crap. Howie, I’ve laid my credit card on the line to cover health cost in the ER so far, but I need you to kick in on this one. I can’t pay this on my own, and it’s not fair to ask either of these guys to cover the cost of their medical care. Somebody could use that against the studio, and you’d have a PR disaster of colossal proportions on your hands.” Listening. Moira, in her serious voice, “Thank you, Howie, I appreciate your help. Yeah, this is bad. All we’ve been doing is sitting and waiting while they run tests to try to find out what they’ve been infected with. If you need to reach me, call my cell. I’m staying here until I know what we’re dealing with and how bad it is. “Howie, you’re a doll. I knew I could count on you. Thank you. Yes, I’ll keep you posted.”
She ended the call and said, “That, boys, is how it’s done.”
Derrick looked at her and said, “Remind me to never go up against you in a dark alley. You’d kick my butt.”
“What? That?” she said. “That was nothing. I didn’t have to haul out the big guns. If I don’t have to call them names and remind them about the assistants that they’re banging—supposedly with no one knowing about it—then it was easy. Fortunately, this call was easy.”
“Probably because you didn’t tell him which of his stars was in a coma. And let’s face it, Derrick is an asset that they can’t lose. His earning potential for them over the next twenty to thirty years is like a license to print money.” My observation.
Chapter 30
Waiting
WITH Derrick as part of our little ensemble now, a steady stream of people appeared in our room to ask if they could get us anything. Some came bearing tidbits of news, such as Bill was in the MRI machine, or they had finished the first set of brain images, or it would be another ten minutes before he was moved here or there. This was probably part of Moira’s thinking in getting Derrick into the ER in the first place. A little star power opened a lot of doors in this town.
We sat for hours. While it was nice to have our own space that kept us sheltered from people constantly interrupting us, it was also confining and meant that we couldn’t pace or do the things that other people were able to do in the rest of the hospital. As the evening wore on, we were becoming increasingly frazzled and frustrated.
When the door opened for what seemed like the millionth time that evening, we were prepared for yet another person to ask us if we wanted anything. Yes! What we wanted was information. What we wanted was to have Bill whole and healthy and to be able to take him home. What we wanted was for Bill to walk through the door and tell us it was all a mistake and that he was ready to go home. At least this time we got someone we wanted to see: Bill’s doctor. And this time he was not alone but was accompanied by several other people.
“I’m sorry that this has taken so long, but we’ve been running a variety of tests and waiting for the results to come back from the lab. We’ve rushed every test that we were able to rush and pulled every string we could pull. While we don’t have all of the answers, we are beginning to get a picture of what we face.” The doctor that we knew took a breath before continuing. Oh, this did not look good.
“At this point, our best guess is that we are dealing with some form of encephalitis. And to answer your qu
estion before you ask it, encephalitis, in the most basic terms, is an inflammation of the brain. There are many types of encephalitis, most of which are caused by viral infection.”
“Is there—” Moira started to ask.
“No. I’ll be brutally honest with you. There is no known cure.” He paused, looked down, and then looked back at us and continued. “We are treating him with the prescribed therapy in this sort of situation. He has been moved to ICU for supportive care. We’ve started him on anticonvulsants to prevent seizures. Encephalitis can cause increased intracranial pressure, so we’re also giving him diuretics to remove some of the fluids from his body.
“When you go upstairs to see him you’ll see that his head is also elevated, which is another part of trying to reduce intracranial pressure. We’re also using corticosteroids to help control intracranial swelling.
“This is most likely viral. There are no known effective anti-viral agents that work in this situation. I wish that I could say that yes, there is a wonder drug, but there isn’t. Still, we’re going to try a variety of antiviral medications to see if any of them might offer some assistance. We are most likely eliminating bacterial infection, but on the off chance that there is something we haven’t picked up on yet, we’re also giving him antibiotics.”
He paused to give us a moment to digest what he was telling us.
Moira asked the first question. “What sort of chances are we looking at here? And I know that it’s an impossible question. We’re not looking for the definitive answer, but just a rough idea of what we’re facing.”
“It’s a fair question. All I can tell you is that in mosquito-borne virus cases like this that occur in northern Australia and New Guinea that cause encephalitis, the infection may produce no symptoms in some people, but of those that do become ill, it is estimated that about twenty percent die and fifty percent of survivors have permanent neurological damage.”
Go West Young Man Page 19