Page 73 of Refuge for Ailsa

“Yes, sir. I’ll get a doctor.” And she disappeared.

“You need to calm down. She’s not here. See? She’s gone. She’s not coming back.”

“Oh, she’s coming back.” Ailsa had begun to cry. “She’s definitely coming back, and she’ll finish the job next time, won’t she? I’ll be dead. Please help me.” Her yelling turned to pleading. “Please, Tav, please? Help me? She’s going to come back for me. Why does my head hurt so bad? Why? It hurts so much.”

“Hello, folks. I’m Dr.Cobb. The nurse?”

“You’re her dad, aren’t you? Are you helping her? Tav, get him out of here! Please!”

Tavish turned to the doctor. He couldn’t understand what was happening. “Do something. Please.”

“Okay, now, I’m just going to check your IV lines and make sure they’re okay, that they’re not bent or something. Let’s see here…” Tavish watched as the doctor took a syringe out and pushed some kind of liquid into Ailsa’s IV line. “Nope. Everything looks good. Are you okay, MissMacDougal?”

“No! I’m… I’m not… Tav, what’s happening? Did they poison me? Everything’s weird. Please, can you take me… I…” Her eyes closed and she went still.

“What’s going on?” Tavish asked the doctor as the man looked at her chart.

“I’m just putting in some orders and… There.” The doctor set his tablet down on the table. “They’ll be here to get her in a few minutes. We need to run some tests.”

“What kind of tests? What’s wrong?”

“I’m guessing cerebral edema caused by heat stroke. She was exposed to deep heat for quite some time. That was my understanding. Correct?”

Tavish thought he’d cry right there in front of the doctor. “Yes, sir. She was. But she seemed okay…”

“It can be hard to spot.” Two orderlies rushed into the room. “MRI. Now. Tell the radiologist on duty that I need the results ASAP to start a treatment protocol. If I’m right, we need to get on this.” As soon as they’d rushed Ailsa out of the room, the doctor propped himself against the closet door and pressed a hand to Tavish’s shoulder. “We caught this fast.”

“But why not before?”

“Because the fluid hadn’t built up enough, but it’s had time to, and now we’re seeing it. We can treat it if that’s what it is. I’m going to be checking every couple of minutes for the results. I’ve got two more patients to see, but don’t think I’m forgetting, and I’ll let you know something as soon as I know.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” Tavish watched as the doctor left the room. How could that be happening? He’d lost her, only to find her, and he might lose her again? Or at least lose who she was inside? “What the hell is happening to my life?” he asked aloud to no one and dropped his head into his hands.

He had to call her parents. He had to call Maureen and Donovan. Right that minute, he just needed to sit and think about what life would be like if she didn’t come back to him. But it didn’t matter.

Tavish was there for the long haul. Whatever she needed, he’d make sure she got it, even if she didn’t want him around. He’d found her. He’d lost her. He’d found her again. She wasn’t going anywhere, and neither was he.

A knock sounded at the doorway and he turned to find Dr.Cobb standing there, smiling. “It’s exactly what I thought. She’s got some swelling on her brain from the heat stroke, but it’s not too bad. We’ve got an IV protocol treatment we can do and she’ll be fine. They’ll bring her up in a bit and get everything started. Do you need anything?”

He shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“Tell you what. I’ll tell the nurses’ station to bring you some things and something very mild to help you relax. If you’ll take it, lie down, and take a nap, she’ll probably be back up here by the time you wake up. But you really do need to rest, Mr.MacDougal. I’ll be back in just a little bit.”

Tavish didn’t correct him for fear the HIPAA laws would stop the doctor from talking to him. That was on a need-to-know basis, and Dr.Cobb didn’t need to know. A nurse came into view with a small paper cup and a bottle of water. “Here you are, Mr.MacDougal. Dr.Cobb said you can take this. It won’t make you sleepy, but it will help you relax, and you should probably take a nap.”

“How long before she comes back?”

“They’ve got her in an ICU holding room downstairs while they get everything started. But you listen to me. I’ve seen this a million times and she’s going to be fine. I promise. You wouldn’t believe the number of farmers we treat here every year for heat stroke, and we’ve gotten really good at it.” She patted Tavish’s upper arm. “My name is Lucy. Just let me know if you need anything.”

“Thank you, Lucy. Just call me Tav. Everybody else does.”

“Will do, Tav. You hang in there. She’s going to be okay.” Then she hurried away and he was alone again.

Tavish took the little pill, drank two swallows of water, and lay down in the reclining chair. He was terrified, but the people around him seemed confident of their ability to do what Ailsa needed done. He had to trust them, because he certainly couldn’t do anything about it.

* * *

Odd noises woke him,and he opened his eyes to look around. The time on the wall clock told him he’d been asleep for two hours. Another noise caught his ear, and he sat up to see what was going on.

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