She nods understanding. “I’m sorry. Maybe we shouldn’t talk about this anymore. I don’t want to make you sad.”
I smile at her. “Miss Thing, talking is part of the moving on process. It helps you remember the good stuff. I know if my cousin was here now he’d make me jealous as all hell because he loved Star Trek. We’d be sitting here until tomorrow and he’d be talking to you, and I wouldn’t know what the hell to say.”
She laughs at that. “I’d make sure you were filled in enough so you could join in the conversation. If Jack was here he would have given you a lesson on the show so you wouldn’t feel left out. He’d probably sell you the same line he pitched to me to drag me into it.”
“Yeah?”
She nods and smiles. “For sure.”
“Well, I hope he won’t mind if I ask his girl out to dinner with me tonight. She looks like she needs an adventurous guy around to keep her happy.”
She giggles, and it’s the best sound I’ve ever heard.
“I think he would like that.”
“Then let’s do it. Dinner at eight.”
Abby
My day at work began pretty much the way it did yesterday.
It went from me coming in smiling because of the night I spent with Dylan to me snapping straight into work mode.
Today is possibly worse than yesterday.
I came in and went straight to the patient ward to see Lizzie. The doctors who’ve been taking care of her said she had a seizure overnight, and her temperature was high. Her blood pressure was all over the place, and the first thing that greeted me when I saw her was the rash on her body.
It was like someone had covered her in fine dots.
Tania and Celine came five minutes after me. We’re in her room now and Lizzie looks like she’s aged ten years since yesterday.
“I feel like I’m going to die…” Lizzie says, and a tear runs down her cheek.
This is the part where I can’t give hope, and I can’t take it away either.
“We’re going to do what we can,” I assure her.
“Everybody’s been saying that but no one can help me,” she answers, and cries harder.
I feel awful and I can see the girls do too.
“We know it’s hard. But please hang in there. We’re looking into what’s caused this rash. It has to be an infection of sorts,” Tania says, and Celine nods.
“I feel like I’m dying.” Lizzie winces and looks back to me. “Please…that last seizure was like the end. Johnny had to go to his grandmother’s. He’s on his way back but I don’t know if I’ll see him again. I feel weird. If I die tell him I love him. Tell him Venezuela was the best. Too many mosquitoes, but he wins. I liked the food too…” Her voice trails off and suddenly she starts shaking.
Shaking and shuddering. Adrenaline takes over and I press the emergency button for the team, who come in fast. What comes next is a violent seizure.
I’ve never seen anyone go into such a violent attack.
It reminds me of the exorcist. That’s how horrific it is. It gets to the point where tears fill my eyes as I help the team to stabilize her.
She falls into a coma. I’m not surprised, but it means things have gotten worse. I feel so useless and helpless. I want to help more but I can’t.
We had to contact her parents. Celine did it and I could tell it was a difficult conversation because of how she looked after.
Mac and Chad are away until later so we have to deal with what’s going on until he gets back.
We’re back in the office now and it’s eleven.
“We need to put our heads together and get down to the bottom of this,” Tania declares. “It’s an infection. The question is, which kind?”
“I wish like hell we could have known this before,” Celine chimes in. “It would have helped and saved her going through so much.”
“But we couldn’t have though,” I say. My voice quivers with the emotion I feel. “Whatever she has, has only just presented itself. We saw from the records that there was nothing like this in previous tests. Whatever it is was in its incubation period and we’re just seeing the visible symptoms now. I think the seizures were one thing but because she already has epilepsy, it’s difficult to separate the problems.”
I pull in a breath and think hard when I see them both looking to me. They look to me like they do with Mac. Even Celine does.
I realize that now’s not the time for me to feel helpless and sorry that I can’t do more. Now’s the time to push the limit. Push hard and think outside the damn box. Step up.
“So we have to think of what we know,” Tania fills in.
I nod. “What we know is this. Lizzie goes traveling and comes back. Her boyfriend drops her off to her mom’s and she complains of a headache. Let’s start there. Let’s focus there. That was the first indication that something was going on. Then a month later she ends up in the hospital with a series of seizures.”
I continue to think about what I know about what Lizzie did prior to her coming into the hospital. The thoughts cascade in my mind, then jumble, and then I pick out something. It’s like a flash of memory. A thought that hits me.
Something Lizzie said this morning that triggered the memory. It was when she was asking me to tell Jonny she loved him.
Venezuela was the best, too many mosquitos…
That’s what I hear ring through my mind and I gasp.
“Guys, mosquitoes. Venezuela. What if she got bitten? She could have gotten bitten. No one mentioned mosquitoes before today. She said it just before the seizure.”
Celine looks at me wide-eyed and Tania straightens up in her chair.
“Holy shit. No, no one said anything about mosquitoes until she did,” Tania agrees. “There are a number of infections and diseases mosquitoes can carry.”
“There’s loads but we have to narrow them down quickly,” Celine imparts. “What do we know that has an incubation of about two to three weeks? I’m guessing it’s then, until she had the first seizure. We never asked when it was she was in Venezuela but we can fill in the blanks.”
I search my mind and something comes to me. It’s times like these when I’m grateful for Mac and the way he trained me. He likes encouraging us to do further research on topics we find interesting.
“How about we try West Nile disease?” I suggest.
As the words fall from my lips it’s the first time since we’ve been treating Lizzie that I feel we have something to work with. It feels like the puzzle fitting together.
“West Nile disease?” Tania asks.
Mac had a case study once a few years ago that I took interest in and spoke to him about it.
“Yes and not just that. I think it’s gone past that stage. I think from what I saw today it could be infectious encephalitis.” Encephalitis was a type of inflammation on the brain that could be caused by West Nile disease
They both look at each other now.
“What makes you think that?” Tania says.
“It fits. There have been cases of it in Venezuela. The incubation period until you see the first signs of the symptoms is fourteen days. I’m guessing the headache could have been it at the start, just feeling generally unwell, then it progressed. Not to the stage where it could have been serious though. In mild cases you may just get a headache and it’s like you have a cold. But in more serious cases we can have what happened to Lizzie.”
Celine agrees. “The serious cases advance to something else and in patients with epilepsy they get seizures. And it could instigate encephalitis. We’ll only know if there’s swelling on her brain.”
“I think for the sake of time we should go with that. If it’s not that then we consult Mac when he gets in. I know she’s in a bad way but I think we need a lumbar puncture to confirm it’s West Nile and another MRI to see what’s going on with her brain. I’m guessing whatever we do today is going to look pretty damn different to anything we did last week.”
“I think so too,
” Celine agrees. “Let’s go with that. Your idea.”
“Really?” I must sound foolish for needing the confirmation after my confident delivery on what I thought we should do next.
Celine smiles and I know then that she must really believe in me. “Yes really, and good job, Dr. Lincoln. I hope we’re on the right path. I’m just glad we have something to work with.”
I’m glad too.
I was right.
Night fell a few hours ago and it took all day to run around and do what we needed, but I was right. We were right.
It was exactly as I thought. The tests confirmed West Nile disease and the swelling on Lizzie’s brain confirmed the infection caused encephalitis.
I just left the girls in the unit with Lizzie, who is still in a coma, but as soon as we started giving her the right dosage of antibiotics the rash started clearing.
It’s a small triumph but one nonetheless.
As to whether we came to this conclusion in time to truly help her or not, I don’t know. I hope we’re not too late. The worst could still happen, like brain damage from the encephalitis or…death.
I look to the clock on the wall as I step into the main office. It’s nine.
I called Dylan earlier to let him know I couldn’t make our date. I won’t be going anywhere tonight, but such is the nature of my job. I was really looking forward to seeing him. It is so strange how he’s grown on me.
My craziness got me hooked on him and now it’s like it wants to cling to him.
What he said this morning made me feel good. He said that talking helped, and then we did talk. Except for talking about how I felt about losing Jack and how hard I’d found it to deal with his death, I didn’t talk about Jack much to anyone. Not the way I did this morning. Not about something he liked.
There is something freeing about it. Something, small though it is, that cracked the wall I’ve built up around myself to keep me afloat. I guess the same wall made me bottle in emotion. I am starting to understand it, how I work and what I need to do differently. That’s the part that feels freeing.
I walk down to my little office and notice the door ajar. Pushing it open, a smile fills my face when I see Dylan waiting inside, sitting by the window.
“Dylan!” I beam and rush into his arms like it is habit. He envelops me into a warm embrace.
“Hey there. Heard you had a rough day.” He smiles at me when we pull apart.
“Yes, it was one of those days. One that drained me out. I’m so sorry about having to cancel.”
“Don’t worry about that.” An easy smile fills his face. “I just wanted to check on you.”
“Thank you. If you want, we could get some water together.” I laugh.
“I like water. Please tell me you’re going home now.”
“Yes, I think I need to.”
“Good, let’s go grab that water.”
I love that he slips his arm around me as we walk.
The small gesture soothes me, luring me more into him.
The next day, nothing brightened up the day more than going in to see Lizzie and finding her awake.
I rejoiced with everything inside me.
We’re not out of the woods yet but we are on the move. It truly seems like we are on the way out.
Mac was so helpful. He spoke to her parents, put her on the right treatment plan, and basically took care of everything.
I meet with him at lunch and we have a very rare coffee break together.
It is a treat because Celine told him how I figured everything out.
He takes me to Starbucks. The last time he did that was some time last year.
“I feel like I should get you a cookie as well,” Mac says, with a bright smile as we sit down. I start laughing.
“I wouldn’t say no but we shouldn’t. The cookies here are to die for and I’d probably end up eating the shop.”
“Me too. But you deserve a treat. I know you like good coffee and I just wanted to take you away from the hospital setting. You did a good job yesterday. What you did is an example of how I want my team working.”
“Well hopefully I do all that I need to, to stay on that team.”
He sighs and a cunning look comes across his face. “About that…there’s something you should know that I haven’t said.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “What? What is it?”
“Well, you know I’m a very particular person. I only have certain people on my team. When I got the opportunity to form it I picked you guys with the hope that you would stay.”
Surprise parts my lips. “What are you saying to me, Mac?”
“I hand-selected you Abby. The team I picked are it for me. Of course, we still have to follow the residency program, but everything can be modified to suit. I also had to keep in mind that you might have wanted to switch up your research. So if you want the job you have it. There’s no way I’m going to lose talent like yours. I have you for keeps.”
“Oh Mac, this is amazing. Thanks so much!” I beam with excitement.
“I’m proud of the way you pulled it together.” His face lights up.
“I…I had help. That nephew of yours is something else.”
“Is that so?” he asks, and I wonder if he knows about Dylan and me.
I should tell him something. “Yeah, I’ve been seeing a lot of him lately.”
“Really? And do you like what you see?”
“I do…I’ve decided he’s not a burglar trying to steal your research.”
We both laugh.
“No, he is not.” He shakes his head.
With the stress off my back I finish the day and rush home for my date.
I meet Dylan at his place and one kiss lures us straight to his bed, where we stay all night.
We end up eating pizza and ice cream again, and I wake to him watching me.
“You’re giving me that look again,” I say, sitting up.
He makes his way over to me from the window and sits on the edge of the bed.
“Because I’m liking this far too much. I’m liking you far too much.” He gives me a seductive smile that sparks desire in my core all over again.
“Maybe I’m liking you far too much too,” I confess. “I can’t seem to leave your bed, Lieutenant.”
“I have the best solution for that.”
“What?”
“You and me for the next five months and one week. You and me exclusive for the next five months and one week. If next week comes and you can't stand me, cool. No strings attached. You’re mine and I’m yours for the rest of the time I’m here.”
My body is already in full agreement to that solution.
I shuffle closer to him and plant a kiss on his lips.
“Yes,” I tell him, and he kisses me again, wild and hard, making my blood sing through my veins.
Dylan
Yes!
I just push past half an hour and am still running on the treadmill at the same pace. A pace Dr. French increased me up to a few weeks back.
Twelve miles per hour. That’s what I am doing. I’m not out of breath and more importantly, my leg is keeping up. It is keeping strong.
Every day we increase the time by a few minutes, so I look to him to see if he wants me to slow down, and he shakes his head.
It gives me hope. I continue going until he stops me five minutes later, and I slow the treadmill to a little jog until I stop.
Not out of breath, and my leg feels damn good.
Thirty-five minutes and I feel like my old self.
He looks over at me with a bright smile on his face.
“Good. This is good work soldier,” he says with a nod. He writes down some stuff in his notepad while I make my way to him.
It’s been three months of this. This slow to moderate pace of training and now that I’ve reached this point I can look back and see how far I’ve come.
“I feel good Doc. That’s the longest I’ve run with you,” I point out. “Thank you.”
<
br /> “You’re welcome. There’s still a lot to do over the next few weeks. I want to build to one hour, but…really slow. We’ll continue to forty minutes over the next two weeks then hold it there for another two weeks and see what you’re like then.”
If this was a few months back I would have thought that sounded slow as shit, but I’m listening up good and proper because what he’s done with me so far has worked. It’s tamed me right down and even the little obstacles, like not being able to balance, is a thing of the past. I can do it all now.
“I’ll do it,” I agree.
“Cool. I just need you to finish up with some stretches and swim for about twenty minutes, or longer if you can.”
“All good stuff.” I dip my head.
“See you next week.”
I set off to finish up. I love swimming after a workout.
He started including that too a few months ago.
It feels weird to have been home for so long. Home and out of the game. Realistically if all does go well, I really may be back to full duty come January.
I keep that as a goal in mind. It keeps me going.
That and my girl.
God, I’ve turned into a poor sap over Abby. And dare I say it, she makes me happy.
I realized it the other day and in the same moment I also acknowledged that I needed closure on something else.
Something I’ve been avoiding because I thought it didn’t matter, but it kind of does.
It’s the first thing I’ll be taking care of today before I meet Paul and the guys in town for lunch.
I don’t have much work at the hospital now that I’ve made them a super database, and anytime I’m there it’s mainly to see Abby and Mac.
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