Page 5 of Surrogate for the Bratva
His smile spread a little wider. “Scared the hell out of myself a bit too. Don’t worry, April. I’m good now.”
Now being the operative word but we both knew it wouldn’t last. “What did the doctor say?”
“Nothing yet. He hasn’t come to see me.”
Just then the door opened and a forty-something woman with a killer bob stepped inside with a friendly smile for Jacob. “Feeling better Mr. Stone?”
“Somewhat, but that’s relative.”
Her smile grew tighter. “Well at least you’re good now.”
“His symptoms are getting worse,” I stated urgently.
The doctor nodded sympathetically and looked down at the tablet in her hand. “This latest infection isn’t improving as quickly as we would like, probably because the bacteria has become resistant to the antibiotics, which isn’t unexpected.”
My brows dipped. “So what are we gonna do?”
The doctor sighed. “We’d like to keep Jacob for a few days to observe him and try out a few different treatments. The lab is running tests right now, and soon we’ll have a list of possible drugs we can use.”
It sounded expensive. “Are any of these treatments covered by insurance?” It made me sound callous, but I needed to know what I was looking at when he was discharged.
“Some yes, and unfortunately, some are not—if we have to use a newer, more specialized drug.”
“Okay.” I nodded nervously as my mind raced thinking about Jacob being poked and prodded. He would hate that even if there was a small chance it would make him better. “Are any of these likely to work given his current state?”
“April,” he groaned.
“I’m sorry Jacob, but I need to know.”
“Sorry Doc,” he said with a sleepy smile. “My baby sister can be a bit of a pitbull where I’m concerned.”
“Lucky you,” she smiled at my brother and then turned back to me. “We’re hopeful. But if these treatments don’t work then we may have to consider a lung transplant.”
“A lung transplant!” The words came out louder than I wanted but I refused to apologize because I was terrified for Jacob. My skin paled as all the blood felt as if it was seeping from my body at the thought of my brother being sliced open.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. At the moment the main problem is infection. Your brother’s lung function could improve if we can get that under control.” she flashed a professional smile, turned on her heels, and left us alone.
“Stop worrying April. I’ll be fine.”
I nodded. “Of course you will be. I know that. You’ll be fine.”
“And since I’ll be here for a few days you can get some rest and have a night off.”
“Like I’ll be able to rest,” I grumbled and went to press a kiss to his forehead. “But you’ll be fine, right? Call me if you need anything. I’ll be back tomorrow.”
“No. Not tomorrow,” he insisted. “Take a break April. Come the day after tomorrow, well rested, and with some decent food.”
My smile came easily at his sweet words. “Thanks for thinking of me, Jacob.”
“It’s the least I can do since you’re always thinking about me.”
“It’s what we do. Now, get some rest and I’ll see you the day after tomorrow. But call me if you want me sooner, okay?”
Jacob yawned and was halfway to sleep before I left his hospital room. I stopped at the desk to get all the paperwork we would need if Jacob had to have a transplant. I knew I was worrying about things before they happened, but if life had taught me anything, it was that I needed to be prepared. The cost was astronomical and just seeing that many numbers before the decimal point had my head spinning the entire drive home.
Jacob. Transplant. Hundreds of thousands of dollars that we didn’t have. I felt helpless. Hopeless. Beaten down.
By the time I arrived back home I was a bundle of nerves and sleep eluded me. I gave it an hour but the only thing that happened was I catalogued all the flaws on the ceiling just above my bed.
