Page 51 of Inherited Light
I huffed and hitched my tool belt over my shoulder again. “I want to meet the enemy she beat, but she doesn’t want to tell me about it.”
He opened the door to the main room and held it for me to go through. She was on the couch, half slumped over in pain. I paused and Foster slapped a hand on my shoulder. “You see her?” he asked and I nodded. “Have you ever seen a woman in her condition before?”
“Yeah, Cinn, actually. It usually meant she was sick or in pain and didn’t want to bother anyone.”
“And what did you do about it?” he asked as her gaze met mine.
I didn’t answer him because in two steps I dropped the tool belt on the table and bent down, taking her hand. She was feverish and her eyes were glassy. “Sweetheart, what’s the matter?” I asked, trying to keep the fear from my voice.
“I’m okay,” she squeaked. “But we should probably go home.”
I held her hand and focused on the feelings taking control of my own body. Whatever was wrong involved her stomach. When I held the back of my hand against her forehead, I yanked it back immediately. She was burning up with fever. “No, I think we should go to the clinic, Cat.”
She shook her head. “I can take care of it at home. I have medicine to fix it there.”
I didn’t want to argue with her, but I also didn’t know what the problem was or if she really had what she needed at home. I glanced up at Foster who had joined us as he readied her chair for me.
“Foster, don’t you think we should go to the clinic?” I asked, but he surprised me when he shook his head.
“She’s right. She has everything at home to take care of this. If her fever doesn’t break by morning, or it gets higher than one hundred and two, don’t wait until morning and take her to the ER. It’s probably a simple infection she can treat at home, but you need to stay calm and help her. Can you stay calm?”
“Yeah,” I said, running my hand through my hair. “I think I can, but I don’t want to do the wrong thing and end up making things worse.”
He locked the wheels on the chair and waited for me to lift her into it. Settling her into the chair caused her too much pain and she held onto my neck. “Just carry me to the truck,” she said, her breathing shallow, and her voice breathy.
Foster pushed the empty chair in front of him, then held the door for me. “Are you sure? She can’t even sit in her chair,” I ground out between clenched teeth.
“I’m sure. I’ve already checked her over. It’s time for you to discover the things she keeps hidden. If you can’t, or don’t want to, deal with those things then you need to leave now. Call Cinn if you don’t want to stay with her tonight and she’ll come over.”
I shook my head and said nothing as we approached the truck. I had the key in my pocket and I motioned for Foster to get it and hit the unlock button. Once he had the door open for me I set her carefully on the bench seat. I put her seatbelt on loosely and as soon as I closed the door, she leaned over onto it, so she didn’t have to sit upright. I took the chair from Foster and hoisted it over the side of the truck to tighten it down. I lifted the cushion off and held it tightly in my hand.
“I can’t believe you had the audacity to say that to me, Foster. I love Cat,” I hissed, pointing at the cab of the truck. “How would you have liked it if I had suggested you would leave Cinn because she had a chronic disease?”
“Well, that’s news,” he said, but I didn’t allow him to goad me into changing the subject. He sighed. “Cinn’s situation was completely different, Lorenzo. I have medical training, you don’t.”
“Oh, so you’re better than me because I’m a lowly construction worker and you’re an animal doctor. You automatically knew what to do when Cinn got sick because you can use a stethoscope. That’s rich.”
His hand tightened on my arm and his next words chilled me to the bone. “For the love of God, you’ve got to stop this, Lorenzo! I don’t care if you take your frustrations out on me, but you better be damned sure you’re done before you get in the truck with her. She doesn’t need you acting like a macho imbecile right now. I might be a medical doctor with training, but when Cinn passed out in my exam room, the doctor in me was not who reacted. I reacted the same way you are right now. I was scared and angry because I didn’t know how to help her. I didn’t know she had a condition which could kill her because no one told me! I yelled at the poor 911 operator and the EMTs. I cried in the bathroom when no one was watching. I held her hand like tomorrow might never come and had an extremely uncomfortable conversation with her mom and dad as they told me what she’d been through in life. It made me look like a moron to be in love with someone who was keeping something life changing from me! So no, I didn’t automatically know what to do just because I had medical training.”
I dropped my head and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, you’re right. I’m scared right now and I’m angry no one came to get me when she got sick today.”
“I tried, but she asked me not to. I don’t know where you’re at with your relationship, and I didn’t want to do anything to make her draw back into her shell the way she has been these past years.”
“Tell me what’s wrong, Foster. I swear to God I’m taking her to the ER if you don’t.”
He sighed, frustration evident in his tone. “Lorenzo, I already examined her. If she was truly in any real danger I would already have an ambulance here. She has a superficial skin infection around a tube in her abdomen. I cleaned it up, used some silver nitrate on the area which was bleeding, and covered it with gauze until you get home. She told me she gets them often, so she has antibiotics at home and knows how to clean the skin and take care of it. She took Tylenol a short time ago, and it should kick in soon to lower her fever. All you need to do is be her support and help when she asks you for it. In the medical field, we call what’s happening to her, ‘a storm’. It basically means a whole bunch of outward forces have combined into a big storm trying to take over her body. The trauma from the other night with the head injury makes me suspect she may have done a tube change when she wasn’t with it and didn’t keep a sterile field. It happens. She’ll be okay once she takes the antibiotics and rests. She’s used to this. I know you aren’t, but if you’re going to be with her, you’ll need to learn about it and get used to it. In order to learn, you need to listen. I trust your judgment and I know you’ll take her to the hospital if her home treatment doesn’t help. Right?”
I nodded and he let my arm go. “You said it’s a tube in her abdomen. Does she have a feeding tube like Cinn?” I asked. “She eats and drinks just fine, so one doesn’t seem necessary.”
“No, it’s not a feeding tube, but it is necessary. The rest needs to come from her.” He squeezed my shoulder because he understood how I felt, even if I didn’t want to admit it right now. “You can handle this. Call me if you have questions or if something comes up and you’re taking her to the ER. Cinn and I will meet you there.”
I jogged around the front of the truck and opened the door. “Right, okay. I’ll give it a few hours, but if she doesn’t show signs of improvement I’m taking her in.”
He held his hands up. “Fair enough. Give her the benefit of the doubt. She has dealt with this longer than you have and you need to take your cues from her. Work with her, not against her.”
I gave him one head nod. “Thanks, Foster. For understanding and for helping her this afternoon.”
He raised a hand in acknowledgement and I closed the truck door quietly. I put the truck in drive and glanced over at Cat. She had found a comfortable position leaning against the door and I could hear soft snoring coming from her lips. I took my time steering onto the highway and accelerated slowly until the vehicle was up to speed. Once I was on the highway headed toward Martindale I used the quiet time to pray for patience and understanding for me, and mercy for her.
