Love's Rendition
Part 14
by Tragedy88
E-Mail: Tragedy88@goplay.com
Disclaimers: See
Part 1.
The
McDonald’s on 3rd street had a clean bathroom, so I washed up there, avoiding
the curious or disgusted stares. Then I
changed into a clean shirt, returned my bag to the station and waited for Ed.
Smells of food wafted all around me. From experience I knew how fast money could
be spent, just on food. So I was eating
a muffin and my 69 cent large coffee from Gate gasoline this morning.
It had been a long, long Sunday.
Finally Ed pulled up and with
butterflies in my stomach we rode to the mansion where we picked up Allison
then made our way silently to Doctor James’ private practice.
The place was decedent, rich, but
cozy. I’d seen a few hospitals and this
didn’t look anything like them, except for the doctors in their white lab coats. We sat in the waiting room and the
butterflies turned into ferocious, fire breathing dragons. I was about to be sick when the receptionist
called my name.
I glanced at Allison and her bright
smile chased the dragons away.
“Want me to come in with you?”
“Nah, I’m fine.” Ha!
Whatever. But I smiled anyway
then turned to follow the receptionist into a small office.
“Doctor James will be in shortly,”
the nurse informed me.
I just nodded as I looked around the
room. There were a few potted plants in
the corners, a long couch covered in deep rich colors, and pastel paintings on
the walls…. It was all meant to be
comforting. In a way it was. As I sat on the couch my head snapped up at
the sound of the clicking door.
A man in his mid thirties stepped
through with a kind smile on his face.
“Hi, I’m Doctor James. You must
be Grace.” He held out his hand.
Hastily I shook it.
“So, what are we here for
today?” He had a clipboard in hand and
settled it on his lap as he sat in the chair across from the couch. “Go ahead and sit down, Grace. Tell me what’s wrong.”
I stared at him a moment. “Aren’t you going to take my temp, vitals,
all that crap first?”
“I like to get to know my patients
before I…get to all that crap.” He
smiled.
I shrugged and sat down. “I’ve had a pain in my back for the past
year. It’s gotten worse recently.”
“A year?” He looked at me the same way Allison had. “How worse?”
“Um.” I studied the Berber carpet.
“It makes me sick.”
“What kind of work do you do?”
“Anything I can find.” I paused.
“Mostly waitressing or dishwashing.
Some cleaning and bartending.”
“So, a lot of jobs where you’re on
your feet.” He made a few notes. “Have you ever had an accident on the job?”
Surprised, I looked up. “Yeah.
I was cleaning up in a bar, and I someone had spilled something on the
stairs. I slipped and fell.”
“How many stairs?”
“How many stairs?” I asked.
He looked up from his notes and
nodded. “Did you trip down a few? Or all the way?”
After a moment’s thought I looked
back up. “I tripped forward the first
two and tried to grab the railing, but I slipped anyway. I twisted and fell backwards down to the
landing. Um, twenty, twenty-five
steps?”
He whistled softly. “That must have hurt.”
“A little bit.”
“I’d say. All right, that leads me to believe that old injury never healed
properly and you’ve had pain since then.
What prescriptions were you on then, and what kind of treatment did you
receive?”
“I never saw a doctor.” He said nothing but I felt the need to continue. “They fired me because I couldn’t work, so I
had no insurance. I couldn’t afford
it,” I said quietly.
“Well then,” he said after a
moment. “Let’s get some x-rays and see
what we can do.” He folded up his
clipboard then said, “And a nurse will be in in a minute…for all that crap.”
•••
“Hey,
Dan,” Allison called out as he passed
through the hallway that connected the offices, labs, and treatment rooms to
the reception area.
“Allison. What are you doing here?”
He smiled as he came towards her.
“I came with Grace Jordan. Have you seen her yet?”
“Just saw her.”
“She all right?”
She looked at him with such a
strange expression he was tempted to tell her that everything was just fine,
even if it wasn't. “Not sure yet. I’m going to run some tests and we’ll know
what’s going on in a few hours.”
Tests…that
can’t be a good sign, Allison thought.
“Where is she now?”
“Room two. Go on back, the nurse is just taking her vitals right now. I’ll be back to kick you out in a few
minutes.”
“Thanks.”
•••
“Hey.” Allison popped her head around the door.
I looked up from the nurse wrapping
the pressure cuff around my arm.
“Hey. What are you doing in
here?”
“Just came back to see how it was
going.” Allison glanced at the
nurse. “Don’t worry, Dan said it was
fine.”
“Dan?” I asked.
“Doctor Daniel James. Two first names. God, he got so much teasing for that growing up.”
I watched her lazy smile and the way
she glided across the room and sat on the chair the doctor had just been
in. “You grew up with him?”
“Yup, same charming charm
school.” Her smile faded. “So, he’s gonna run some tests?”
The nurse snapped off the pressure
cuff and silently left the room.
“X-rays.
He thinks it’s pain from an old injury.”
“What kind of injury?” Allison crossed her legs and I leaned back
on the couch and closed my eyes.
“I fell down a flight of steps
awhile back.”
“Oww.”
“Doc said the same thing.” I smiled slightly and opened my eyes. She looked pale. Worried? Not as worried
as me. “He’s nice, but this is all
kinda weird.”
Allison's stomach rumbled. I raised an eyebrow as she grinned and
said, “How about going out to eat after
all this, my treat?”
“Ah, sure. I’ve got a craving for a chili cheese.” She raised an eyebrow back at me.
“Chili Cheese?” she asked.
“Yup. Yo quiero Taco Bell.”
Briefly I closed my eyes as a slice of pain traveled up my back and left
my heart racing. Suddenly the couch
shifted and she pushed me gently forward.
Her warm hands touched my back, fingers beginning to knead in
circles.
“Right side. No, lower.
Yeah, right there.” I was putty
in her hands and couldn’t help but let out a contented sigh.
“Better?”
I nodded mutely and slowly sat back
up. There was nothing left now but a
dull ache and a slight chill where her hands had been.
“Am I interrupting anything?” Daniel
asked lightly.
A faint heat crawled up my cheeks as
Allison laid her arm along the couch behind me. She chuckled. “You wish.”
Daniel laughed and tapped his
clipboard. “Ready for those x-rays
Grace?”
“Not really.” I sighed and stood up slowly, relieved when
Allison lent me a hand.
“It won’t hurt.”
“I know.”
•••
I’d
changed into a thin hospital shift and it was cold in here. Finally the x-rays were done and I was
allowed to get up and get my clothes.
As I stepped off the chair, pain exploded across my back and shoulders,
sending me briefly into darkness and to my knees on the floor. Immediately several nurses and Daniel were
all around me asking me if I was all right.
I shook my head furiously. “Bathroom.
I just need a bathroom.”
“Are you nauseous, Grace?”
Daniel’s kind gray eyes looked down
into mine and I nodded painfully. I was
given a bin just in time to hurl up the contents of my stomach.
“It’s okay,” Daniel’s gentle voice
consoled me as I leaned over the bin and continued with dry heaves. “Pam, let’s get her something for the pain.”
Soon I was recovering in a hospital
bed. An iv stuck in my arm giving me
morphine for the pain. But I lay curled
up in a ball before it started to have any effect. “Where’s Alli?” I asked
the nurse who was monitoring the meds.
“Ms. Parker? I believe she’s out in the hall. Do you want me to get her?”
“No. Just wanted to know where she was.” I didn’t want her to see me like this, again.
“I’m right here,” Allison said from the doorway. “But I can leave, if you want?”
“You can stay.” My eyes stayed riveted on the iv tube as she
walked to the side of my bed.
“I heard you had some trouble. I’m sorry I wasn’t there.” She pulled the beige chair from the corner
over to the bed.
“Nothing you could have done.” I shrugged my shoulder and stared past her.
“Still…I wish…well, nevermind. It’s over.
Is there anything I can do for you now?”
“Can you find out how long they’re
going to keep me here?” I asked.
“I stopped Daniel in the hall on his
way to the lab. He said he was going to
talk to you as soon as he got the results.
But I don’t think you’ll have to stay here overnight.”
I didn’t know if I should be upset
or relieved. On the one hand it was a
bed and probably a meal or two. On the
other hand it was a bed and a meal or two that would cost a few thousand. “Just gimme some good drugs and I’m outta
here.”
Allison smiled crookedly. “Nothing but the best.”
For awhile neither of us said
anything.
•••
“Pam,”
Daniel called his head nurse over to the counter where he was checking out
Grace’s vitals. “Is this right?” He looked up as Pam approached.
She nodded, light brown curls
cascading over her shoulders.
Impatiently she brushed the strands back behind her ears and took a
corner of the clipboard and turned it in her direction. “Fraid so, Dan. She's dehydrated, malnourished and her electrolytes are way off
the scale.”
Dan was silent for a moment. “That would indicate more then back pain.”
Pam nodded silently and placed her
hands in her coat pockets. “Kelsey took
her vitals.” She paused and looked intently at her colleague. He was still her boss. “Want to know what I think?”
He just 'hmmed' and nodded.
“Anorexia or possibly bulimia, but
I’d lean more towards Anorexia.”
For a moment Daniel studied the
chart, her vitals, and the little information he had on his new patient. “I don’t think it’s as simple as that.”
“What then?” Pam pushed back another strand of unruly
hair. “Something more serious?”
Hopefully
not, he thought. For a moment he
saw the slight woman on the couch, seemingly a small child lost in her
clothes. Threadbare jeans, and those
tattered shoes she’d stared at. A
jacket that was far too thin for winter….
“Well? Should I take another blood sample? Run-“
“No,” he said. “I need to talk to Allison first, but I
don’t think there’s anything we’ll be able to do.” He paused. “On second thought see what kind of food you
can come up with.”
Pam looked at him for a moment. “That’s it?”
“'Fraid so.” He smiled sadly. Alli, are you bringing me a
stray? I thought you were tougher then
that. An art dealer hanging out
with a possible indigent. Who would
have ever guessed they’d run in the same circles?
•••
Daniel
met Allison in the hallway in her pursuit of coffee.
"Can I talk to you a
minute?" he asked.
"Sure. Is there a problem?"
"I don't know." He glanced around the hallway. It was relatively quiet, but he didn't want
to risk anyone eavesdropping. "Why
don't we go to my office for a moment?"
Allison nodded and followed him down
the hall. He shut the door and
indicated she should have a seat.
"I think we need to
talk...about Grace."
She studied his face a moment. "If it's the insurance-"
"No, it's about Grace
herself." He paused. "I don't know how to say this, so I'm
going to come right out and say it."
He paused, cleared his throat then asked, "Does she have any eating
disorders that you know of?"
Allison's eyebrows rose. "No.
Not that I've noticed, anyway."
"It's not always an easy thing
to spot," he said gently.
"Where is she working now?"
"Don't you think you should be
asking Grace these questions, Dan?" Allison crossed her arms, and gave him
a sour look.
"I will. But, I wanted to approach you
first." Daniel looked her straight
in the eye. "Where did you meet
her?"
'What does that have to do with
anything?" she returned defensivley.
"Patient doctor confidentialty
doesn't allow me to discuss the specifics of this with you, unless the patient
gives me permission, but I can tell you that some of these test results give me
worry and a great concern for Grace's current condition." He tapped the folder on his knee as he
spoke.
"I met her in the park. She was sketching," Allison admitted. "And...as far as I know she's working
at Shoni's and lives in an apartment with a bunch of college kids."
Daniel's brow furrowed. Well,
it doesn't match up, but I can't ignore these results. "All right. I need to return to the lab and pick up Grace's
x-rays." He stood.
Allison stood as well, shoving her
hands into her pockets, and clenched her fists. "I know Grace would kill me if she found out I said
anything..."
"What is it, Allison?"
"I know she's lived on the
streets, and has been homeless a number of times. And on weekends she goes to the Mission Kitchen.... " She paused, looking steadily at the
doctor. "Will any of this help
you? Help Grace?"
He nodded. "More then you know."
"Good. Because I promised her the best care
possible. And I know you'll give it to
her, no matter her background,"
Allison said.
Daniel smiled and resisted the urge
to put a reassuring arm around her shoulders as they walked out of his
office. "Darn right. I'm good at my job. No, make that great."
Allison grinned, relieved beyond
belief, and slugged him on the shoulder.
"Arrogant SOB."
"Yup."
•••
Allison
returned to my room, and with that dark look on her face I decided not to say
anything. So we waited for the doctor
in silence.
Daniel finally came back with x-rays
and a grim look on his face. “We have
good news, and we have bad news. What
do you want to hear first?”
“Straight to the point, I like
that.” I glanced at Allison then back
to Daniel. “Bad news first.”
Allison’s soft hand captured mine
and I held it tightly.
“I so hate the bad news.” He walked over to the light board and hooked
the x-rays up. After flicking the
switch he ran a finger along the white lines and began to explain.
•••
(c) 2000, Tragedy88