* * *
Back in Meredith’s hospital room, Amelia hung up her cell phone. “He wants both Vi and me to go downstairs to look at something in the gift shop.”
Vi scoffed. “No thanks, I’m not the teddy bear type.”
“Did he say who the celebrity patient is?” Meredith asked.
“No.” Amelia looked thoughtful. “He sounded weird on the phone. I think we should just go down there.”
Vi looked skeptical, turning to Meredith. “Will you be okay here by yourself?”
Meredith smiled. “Sure. I can watch some TV.” To prove her point, she pulled out the television remote that was attached to her bed and pressed the button. The screen that hung in the corner of the room flickered to life, showing the hospital’s in-house patient channel.
After Vi and Amelia left, Meredith flicked through the channels on the TV, stopping when she found the news. A building in Thailand had collapsed following the morning earthquakes, killing over three hundred people. She frowned, feeling ashamed. In all the excitement of her own illness, Meredith had pushed the fires, rain, and earthquakes to the back of her mind. She wondered if Vi’s prediction would come true the next day, and hoped it wouldn’t.
After a few minutes, there was a soft knock on the door. “Come in,” Meredith said.
A nurse came in that Meredith hadn’t seen before. “Glad to see you’re awake,” he said cheerfully. “I’ve got some good news for you!”
Meredith sat up straighter, waiting for him to continue.
“You’ve been given the all clear to eat something. Isn’t that great? The bad news is, it’s all clear broth and Jell-O for you until further notice.” He gave her a winning smile, and Meredith couldn’t help but smile back. His positive mood was contagious. “There’s a menu under the phone with the number for the hospital room service,” he said, with a sarcastic emphasis on the words room service.
Meredith nodded and thanked him as he checked her vitals and offered her more painkillers. She replied, “No, it’s not as bad now, and the morphine makes me too loopy.”
He smiled and said, “Suit yourself,” before sauntering out of the room.
As he was leaving, a doctor came into the room, opening the door wide as she did so. Out in the hallway, Meredith could see the ER nurse from downstairs, Eleanor. Eleanor’s eyes met hers with a grave expression before the door closed behind the doctor.
Meredith raised her eyes to the beautiful doctor who stood before her. The woman was tall and looked to be in her mid-forties, with sleek white-blonde hair and icy blue eyes. She had high cheekbones and sophisticated arched eyebrows, giving off an overall air of cool detachment.
“Good afternoon. I am Dr. Wells.” Her voice reminded Meredith of cold water running over hard stones. ”I hope they’ve kept you comfortable while you’ve been waiting for me. I came over here from Phoenix Mercy specifically to help with your… unusual… case.”
“I’m sorry, but what exactly is my case? No one has told me anything.” Meredith felt frustrated that doctors were being brought in from other hospitals while she was being kept in the dark.
“Oh, you poor dear,” Dr. Wells said sympathetically. The display of emotion seemed uncomfortable for her. She sighed briefly and then said, “You have a growth in your abdomen, and we really aren’t sure what it is.”
Meredith blanched. “Is it cancer?”
Dr. Wells tapped her foot impatiently, and Meredith couldn’t help but feel a strong dislike for the woman. With exaggerated patience, Dr. Wells responded, “Like I said, we don’t know what it is. At present, it does not appear to be affecting any of the surrounding organs, though we do believe our best course of action will be to remove it. Once we have extracted the growth we can do a biopsy to learn more about it. I’ve scheduled your operation for eight o’clock tomorrow morning, unless you have any objections.”
Meredith shook her head numbly.
Dr. Wells continued, “You might like to know that your friend Dr. Sparling has asked to participate. You must have made quite an impression.”
At that piece of news, Meredith did feel better. She liked Dr. Sparling’s friendly demeanor and energy, especially as she contrasted it with Dr. Wells’s frigid bedside manner. She wondered if Dr. Wells saw her “case” as nothing more than a resume-builder.
After Dr. Wells left, Meredith called room service and ordered some broth, opting for chicken over vegetable. As she hung up the phone, the door to her room opened once again and Eleanor, the austere ER nurse, stepped in, closing the door firmly behind her. Eleanor faced Meredith with a determined expression, saying, “I need to talk to you.”
Meredith was taken aback at the nurse’s direct manner. “Okay, so talk,” she said, goaded into equal brevity.
Eleanor started to open her mouth when the door opened again. Dr. Sparling came in, smiling kindly at Meredith until she saw that Eleanor was also in the room. With a look of surprise, she blurted, “What are you doing up here?”
Eleanor’s eyes met Meredith’s with a pleading expression before she turned to face Dr. Sparling. “I was taking care of her downstairs and so I came up to check on her before I headed home.”
Dr. Sparling grinned warmly. “Eleanor, don’t tell me you’re growing a heart after all these years!” Then she turned to Meredith. “Well, I came up here to talk to you about what to expect tomorrow for your surgery, okay?” She looked at Eleanor pointedly, a silent suggestion for the nurse to leave.
Briefly, a flash of frustration passed over Eleanor’s face before she hid it under an impassive expression. “Well, I hope you’re feeling better then,” she said lamely, leaving the room.
As the door hissed shut behind Eleanor, Dr. Sparling stepped closer to the bed. “Meredith, I’m sure you know by now that you are a pretty special patient.”
“So I hear.”
Dr. Sparling continued, “There are going to be a lot of people wanting to have a hand in your case who really have no business being here.” She looked meaningfully at the door that Eleanor had just walked through. The young doctor walked around the bed and sat down in the recliner on Meredith’s right. “I’ve spoken with some of the administration, and they agree with me that you are going to need an advocate here in the hospital to protect you from the self-interested looky-loos.”
“Are you sure that’s not what Dr. Wells is?” Meredith asked earnestly.
Dr. Sparling chuckled. “No, we did actually call her. Maybe not the greatest bedside manner, but she knows her stuff. Plus she’s going to let me stay with you for the whole thing.”
“I take it you’re my advocate, then?”
Straightening in the chair and offering her a quick salute, Dr. Sparling said, “At your service!”
Meredith smiled, glad that Dr. Sparling would be helping her. “Thank you! But, don’t you have to go home and sleep?”
“I’ll take a nap tonight in the on-call room, so don’t you worry about me. I’ll be close by if you need anything at all.”
“Why you, though? Don’t they usually have social workers for this sort of thing?”
Dr. Sparling paused for a moment, considering how to answer. Finally, she said, “Given the rarity of your case, we felt it would be best for someone with a medical background to be the gatekeeper, so to speak. I’ll have a better idea than a social worker as to who really needs to be in the room.”
Meredith nodded; Dr. Sparling’s argument made sense.
The door to the hallway opened once again, and Meredith’s parents and Vi walked into the room. Rob looked anxious, seeing that Meredith was not alone.
“How was the gift shop?” Meredith asked conversationally.
Vi rolled her eyes and looked at Rob accusingly. “Just about as lame as I had anticipated.”
Rob shrugged. “I guess you can’t please everyone.”
The three stood awkwardly at the foot of the bed, waiting for Dr. Sparling to explain her presence. The doctor did so briefly, and then said, “I?
??m going to be here all night keeping an eye on Meredith. Nothing’s going to happen this evening, so I think the best thing for you all to do is head home and get some rest so that you can coddle Meredith with gusto tomorrow.” Dr. Sparling smiled and reached over and patted Meredith’s arm.
Rob cleared his throat. “Maybe you’re right. Would you mind giving us a few moments to ourselves, please?”
“Oh!” Dr. Sparling started, and then sprang out of the recliner chair. “Of course! I’ll just go get a cup of coffee or something. My shift ended at six, so you’re my number one priority from here on out. I’d like to talk to you a bit more, so is it all right if I come back in say… ten minutes?” Dr. Sparling sidled past Amelia and paused in the doorway, waiting for Meredith’s assent.
Meredith looked at Rob, who shrugged. “Okay, ten minutes,” she agreed.
Dr. Sparling grinned and disappeared into the hallway. As soon as she was gone, Rob said, “Meredith, I need to talk to you.”
“Geez, everyone needs to talk to me,” Meredith grumbled. Her stomach groaned loudly, and she hoped her clear food would arrive soon.
Rob continued, undeterred, “Honey, those reporters are downstairs for you.”
At this piece of news, Meredith’s eyes widened. “Why?” she asked incredulously.
Rob shifted his weight uncomfortably and glanced at Vi.
Meredith rolled her eyes. “Dad, it’s Vi. I’m going to tell her anything you tell me anyway, so spit it out.”
Rob nodded. “Someone tipped them off that a girl in the hospital has grown an entirely new organ.”
“Whoa, cool!” Vi interjected with an impressed chuckle.
Rob shot a sharp glance, and Vi’s laughter died in her throat.
“So what? Another useless organ like my appendix. The specialist said it needs to be removed, so they scheduled me for surgery tomorrow morning.”
“Did that nurse Eleanor come talk to you?”
Meredith shook her head. “She tried to, but then the doctor came in.”
Rob’s eyebrows knit together as he thought. Then he asked, “Did the doctors tell you it was an organ?”
“They just said it was a growth.” Meredith felt concerned, sensing her father’s agitation.
Amelia laid a hand on Rob’s arm. “Honey, relax. The reporters probably got a bad tip. What’s important here is that Meredith is being taken care of.”
Rob nodded, recognizing the sense of Amelia’s words.
Changing the subject, Vi said, “I think I’m going to stay here with Meredith.” Turning to her friend, she added, “If that’s okay with you, Mere.”
Meredith smiled, relieved that she wouldn’t spend the night alone. “That would be awesome. Thank you.” Her heart swelled as she realized just how good a friend she had in Vi.
For a moment, Vi looked at her tenderly, as if she understood just how grateful Meredith felt.
Rob and Amelia were also pleased that their daughter wouldn’t be left alone. It didn’t make sense for them all to spend the night, but leaving Vi behind seemed like a good compromise. Amelia said, “We’ll come back first thing tomorrow.”
“My surgery’s at eight,” Meredith informed them.
With a reassuring tone, Rob replied, “Then we’ll be here at seven. Love you, brat.”
Amelia echoed his sentiments, they both kissed Meredith, and then they left. Shortly after that, Vi went away in search of a cafeteria, and Meredith once again found herself alone. However, she didn’t have much time to collect her thoughts, because Dr. Sparling returned as promised, carrying a steaming cup of black coffee in her hand.
“Sorry I can’t offer you any,” she apologized, nodding toward her cup. “But I hear the chicken broth here is really quite palatable once you water it down some.”
“Great,” Meredith said unenthusiastically. She listened politely while Dr. Sparling explained what Meredith could expect in the morning, and Meredith signed a few papers consenting to the procedure and acknowledging the risks of surgery. She remembered going through a similar process when she had to have her appendix removed.
Dr. Sparling straightened the papers in her hand and tucked them into Meredith’s medical chart. “Okay, so now we have some time to kill,” she said, flopping down into the recliner. “There’s a movie channel. Wanna check it out?”
Meredith thought it was strange that Dr. Sparling evidently planned to hang out with her in the hospital room. She wondered why she was so special when the doctors’ grand plan was to simply cut out the growth and send her on her way. Meredith decided to try for more information. “Are those reporters here because of me?”
Dr. Sparling scowled. “Yes. That’s one radiology tech that’s going to be dusting off his resume, I can tell you that.”
“One of the reporters told my dad that I’ve grown an entirely new organ,” Meredith ventured.
Scoffing, Dr. Sparling rolled her eyes and extended the footrest of the recliner, leaning the seat back. She frowned. “My God, these things really aren’t that comfortable, are they?” Then addressing Meredith’s comment, she said, “There’s a reason why radiology techs aren’t allowed to tell the patient what they see; they don’t really know what they’re looking at. The reporter who told your dad that was misinformed.” She chuckled and continued, “Honestly, it’s quite entertaining to see how gullible the press can be.”
Meredith smiled, but pressed on, “Then if it’s just a growth, then why did a specialist have to come in?”
“That’s a good question. The issue isn’t as much what it is as where it is. Dr. Wells happens to be an expert on that particular portion of your endocrine system. We want to remove the growth without damaging any of the other organs.”
Meredith nodded as the door opened. Vi was back from the cafeteria.
Dr. Sparling looked at Vi in confusion for a moment. “I thought you all had gone home.”
Vi smiled. “Not me. I’m bunking here for the night.” She set her container of food down on the rolling tray and sat in one of the chairs at the foot of the bed.
“I see,” said Dr. Sparling. “Well, I don’t envy you sleeping in this chair! We were just about to watch a movie.”
Vi’s eyes met Meredith’s for a moment, and Meredith shrugged.
Catching the exchange, Dr. Sparling said, “Like I told you earlier, I’m here to keep the looky-loos at bay, and I’d rather not set up camp on the floor in the hall. Watching a movie sounds like more fun.” She took up the remote that was dangling next to Meredith’s bed and switched the TV on, punching in the movie channel. The hospital had several movies to choose from, and they quickly selected one and watched it silently for a while.
Finally Meredith’s food arrived, and the orderly arranged it for her on her hospital tray, moving the tray to be over Meredith’s lap. Meredith laughed, because her bowl of soup was covered with a silver dome, as if she were dining in a five-star restaurant.
“Not too shabby, eh?” commented Dr. Sparling, before returning her attention to the movie.
Meredith made a noncommittal sound and removed the silver lid. To her surprise, a scrap of paper was tucked between the soup bowl and the saucer. She tugged on it gently; the note was small and the writing cramped, but she could still read it clearly.
Trust no one. Do NOT have the surgery or you WILL die.