The Strange Healing (22 page)

“
I'm sorry, Honey, but you'll have to call her and postpone.  You definitely should not be running all around town today.”  He saw how disappointed she was and assured her, “I'll help you when you're feeling better.  We'll find you somewhere, I promise.  Now, please don't worry about it today and try to get some rest, okay?”  He got the Tylenol and antibiotic for her.  “I'll go get you some water to take these.  You rest now.”

He was back a couple minutes later with some water and their coffee and her phone, which he put on the table by her bed.  He handed her the water and the pills he'd gotten for her.  “I brought your coffee for you, too.  Are you hungry?  I'll fix you some breakfast if you feel like eating.”

“I was going to fix you some breakfast this morning.”

“
I know, and I appreciate it.  But I'd rather see you stay in bed today.  I know your throat is sore this morning and I'm already going to be thinking of you all day.  If it gets any worse instead of better I'm going to call my doctor to come look at you.  He may want to change you to a different medicine.  Sore throats aren't really my expertise.”  He gently pulled her up and into his arms for a hug.  “I love you, Honey, and I hate seeing you not feel well.  Please stay in bed today so we can get you feeling better.”

She had a few tears in her eyes as she accused, “That's not playing fair, Dr. Anderson.  I hate staying in bed.  But how can I refuse when you tell me you love me?”

Smiling, he said, “That's my girl.”  Looking into her eyes, he said, “Seriously, Sweetheart, thank you.  I know you don't like staying in bed, but I really do want to see you feeling like yourself again.”  He kissed her on the nose. “You say in bed. I'll lock the door on my way out.”

Heath called her mid morning to see how she was doing.  He brought her some soup and ginger ale at lunchtime.  Heather called mid afternoon to check on her, after Heath said she was sick.  They both showed up after work with something for dinner and more ginger ale.  She thanked them both and assured them she was doing fine.  Both insisted they'd believe her after they checked for themselves.

She told them, “I don't think a person gets this much attention from the doctors and nurses if they're in the hospital.” 

They assured her they certainly do, and proceeded to check her out.  Heather used Heath's blood pressure cuff to check her blood pressure and her pulse, while he checked her throat and listened to her lungs.  Sara couldn't believe it when they switched equipment and did the same thing again.

“Don't you think that's a bit much?”  When they both just looked at her, she asked, “So what's the verdict?  Am I going to live?”

They both smiled, and assured her she'd live.  Heather said, “I'm not sure how these findings compare to earlier, but you'll make it.”

Then she turned to Heath and asked, “Were her lungs congested like this before?  How about that fever?  Is it up, or has it been running that high?”

“
The lungs are a little more congested than they were, and the fever's about the same as this morning.  I'm considering calling Ted in to check her out.  He may have another antibiotic he'll want to switch her to.  She doesn't seem to be responding to Amoxicillin, so I thought I'd have him check her out and decide what he thinks we should try next.”

“
Good idea.  You're too close to her and I know you.  You'll be second-guessing your choices here because of it.  I'll call him.”  She took out her cell phone and hit a speed dial.

Sara asked, “Who's Ted?  Why are you calling someone else?  I thought you said I was fine.”

Looking over at her, he said, “No, you said you're fine, remember?  I said you were sick.”  Sitting down beside her and patting her arm to calm her down and assure her, he said, “Ted is a friend of ours.  We were roommates through med school.  He went into family practice, and that's who Heather works for.  The antibiotic I put you on doesn't seem to be helping you, so normally if that happens you switch to another one and try it.  Ted deals with sore throats and antibiotics on a daily basis.  I don't, so I'd rather have him take over.  Are you okay with it now?”

“
Thank you for explaining it.  Yeah, that's fine.”

Heather, who had gone out in the hall to talk to Ted, came back in now and announced, “He said no problem, he was just getting ready to leave and he'll stop by on his way home.  His wife's out of town visiting her mom who's sick, so I told him we'd order a pizza for dinner.  I called Phil, too, and he's coming over.”  Turning to Sara, she said, “Sara, I'm sorry, I should have asked you first.  Do you mind if we eat pizza here?  Ted's really
eager to meet the woman that finally got my brother's attention, and he hasn't seen Phil or Heath for a while, so –”

Sara smiled and said, “No, I don't mind at all.  If he's a friend, I want to meet him.  I'm not sure I want any pizza, but you guys can knock yourselves out.”

“Hot soup is good for a sore throat.  Did you eat any for lunch?”

“
I had a few bites, mainly because it did feel good on my throat.  I wasn't hungry, though.”

“
I understand.  I'm glad you got a few bites down.  I brought two more kinds of soup for you for dinner.  I'm hoping one tastes good to you and feels good going down.”

“
Thank you.”

“
I plan on taking care of the woman I love.”

Heather's eyes shot open.  “What did you just say?”

Sara smiled and said, “He said he loves me.”  With a big grin on her face she added, “Just like I love him.”

“
You two finally realized that?  That's terrific.  Wait until I tell Phil!”  They heard a knock on the door, and Heather told Heath, “Will you go get that, please?  Sara and I have to talk!”  Heath shook his head, laughing, as he left the two ladies talking excitedly.

A couple minutes later he returned with Phil and another man.  Heath said, “Ted, this is Sara, the lady that stole my heart.”  He told a now red-faced Sara, “Honey, this is Ted.”

Ted reached out his hand, saying, “It's great to meet you, Sara.  I wish it were under different circumstances, though.  Let's chase these people out and see what's going on with your throat.  Then we can all visit a while.”  He turned to the three of them and gave them a shooing motion toward the door.

Phil took Heather's hand and pulled her to the door before she could object.  Heath, however, said, “Not on your life, Ted.  I'm staying.  Now that I finally found her, I don't let her out of my sight
very often.”

Ted laughed and agreed, “Okay, okay.  I assume you're okay with that, Sara?”

Sara smiled as she said, “I'm fine with it.”

It was all Heath could do to not interrupt Ted while he did a fairly comprehensive exam of Sara.  As soon as he was done, though, he asked, “How is she, Ted?  What do you think?”

Ted looked at Heath, then turned to Sara.  “Sara, have you ever had mono?”

Sara turned white as she asked, “Why are you asking that?”

Ted had a friendly smile on his face as he asked, “How long ago?”

Sara looked over at Heath and saw the concern on his face.

Heath saw the worried expression on Sara's face, and things fell into place.  He sat down on the bed beside her and took her hand in his.  “That's why you kept telling me you were fine, isn't it?  You didn't want me to know you had a sore throat and were tired because I might have you checked for mono, especially if I knew you'd had it before.”

“
Heath, I don't want to have mono again.  I have to find a place to live." She wiped a few tears from her eyes and squared her shoulders.  “Just because I had it last year doesn't mean I have it again.  I'll be fine.”

He took her in his arms and gently pulled her in for a hug.  “No, Honey, it doesn't mean you have it again.  But it does mean it's possible.”  Still holding her in a hug and running his fingers through her hair softly, he added, “It means you're more prone to it right now than other people.  I'll be watching your diet a little closer now.  You need to eat healthy meals so your body has what it needs to stay healthy, once we get you healthy again.”

After holding her and reassuring her for several minutes, he gently laid her back on the pillows.  Turning to Ted, he asked, “I assume you're going to want to do a blood test?”

“
Yes.  We'll find out if she's got mono again, and I'll also do a strep culture to rule out strep throat.”

Heath nodded his head in agreement, and looked over at Sara, who had turned white again.  He took her hand and asked, “What's wrong, Honey?  Don't worry about mono until we see if you even have it.  You may not.  But if you do, we'll get through it together.”

Sara was looking toward the wall when she quietly said, “It's not that.”

“
Then what is it, Honey?”

“
He wants to do a blood test.”

Now understanding, he asked, “You don't like needles?” 

“No.  Not at all.”

Heath rubbed her arm in a soothing manner.  “Honey, I understand.”

He looked over at Ted, who had taken out a needle and vial.  Ted tried to assure her, “Sara, I don't need much, just one vial.”

Sara nodded her head, but was shaking.  Heath suggested, “Would it help if Heather took the blood instead of Ted?  You guys are good friends.  Would that be easier?”

Ted suggested, “She's good at drawing blood, too.  That's a good idea, Heath.  You and she both seem to have some special touch for that.  I remember in med school you always showed the rest of us up anytime we had to draw blood.”

Looking back to Sara, Heath asked, “Do you want me to ask Heather to come in?”  She shook her head side to side.  “Sara, Sweetie, I'm sorry, but we need to do this.  It's important we know if you have it so we know how to treat you.”

She turned and looked at him with sad puppy dog eyes.  “Will you do it?”

Heath's eyebrows
rose.  He looked at Ted, who was smiling.  He looked back at Sara and asked, “Are you sure you don't want Heather?  She does it routinely, doesn't she, Ted?”

“
Yes, she does,” Ted agreed.

“
But you can do it, too, right?”  Sara looked desperate, and scared.

Ted offered, “Yes, he can, Sara.”  Looking at him, he said, “It's like riding a bike, Heath.  As good as you were at it, you'll do fine.”

Heath looked again at the scared look in Sara's eyes and asked, “Would you feel better if I did it, Honey?”

She squeezed his hand as she assured him, “Yes.  Please?”

That did it.  He couldn't have refused her then for anything.  “Let's get this done so you can stop worrying about it.”

Ted smiled and told Sara what would be happening next, as much to assure Heath as Sara.  It worked, because Sara barely felt the poke of the needle going in, and Heath emerged victorious just minutes later, with a full vial of blood, which he handed to Ted.  Ted sealed and labeled it while Heath held Sara in his arms. 

From his vantage point he wasn't sure which one looked more relieved, but he could easily tell how much they meant to each other. 

Several days later Sara was tired of staying in bed.  The blood test had confirmed that she did have mono again, and she was taking different antibiotics.  She was feeling better, her throat was better, just a little scratchy at times now, but she was weak. 

Heath was spending as much time as he could with her, even suggesting she stay in his extra bedroom until she was better.  She appreciated all the time he was with her, but was tired of being in bed all the time.  She tried to convince him she could rest just as much sitting on the couch or in a chair, but he wanted her in bed. 

Ted was no help, either.  He agreed that she needed lots and lots of rest.  He didn't even think it was a good idea yet to
her to work on illustrating books.  He told her in a few more days he'd consider her request again.

Even
Heather didn't seem to be on her side in this.  She told her much the same thing; rest now and get strong enough to be up and about sooner.

Sara decided what they didn't know wouldn't hurt her, so the next morning Heath stopped in as usual.  After they visited a few minutes he again made sure she had everything she would need until lunchtime, which included water, coffee, ginger ale, energy bars in case she was hungry, juice, a book, and her phone, which of course was fully charged. 

After he left she got up and went to the living room.  She sat in her favorite recliner, put her feet up, turned on the TV and promptly fell asleep.  A noise on the television startled her awake.  She quickly looked up at the clock and started to panic.  It was almost time for Heath to come with her lunch.  She quickly turned off the television and got up and hurried back to bed.  She barely got the blankets over her when she heard his key in the door. 

She had barely gotten her breathing back to normal when he came in smiling.  “How's my girl doing?”

“I'm doing fine.  How was your morning?” 

They quickly fell into their normal routine.  He brought her soup and a smoothie, which she loved, and a sandwich for himself.  Also as usual, he allowed her to have some of the smoothie, then took it and put it on the table behind him, saying, “After you eat some of your soup you can have the rest of your smoothie.”  She pouted, acting angry, and he laughed. “Sweetie, I love you to death, but you are so darn cute when you pout, you're just irresistible.”  He gave her a big hug, and she couldn't help but smile.