Resolutions Part 2
Chapter 1
"AMY!" Lou cried.
Lou knelt down over a prostate Amy trying to determine what might be wrong with her sister.
"Amy, Amy, can you hear me?"
But there was no response from her seemingly lifeless sister.
"Is there a doctor here?" Lou screamed. "My sister needs help!"
Silence resounded in the room.
By this time, Jack and Lisa were alerted that something was wrong and rushed to where their granddaughter remained motionless on the floor.
"Call an ambulance; can somebody call an ambulance?" Jack bellowed.
Within minutes, the sound of a siren could be heard approaching the building.
"Clear the way, clear the way please!" shouted the EMT's.
"What happened?"
"I don't know," commented a panicked Lou. "We were having an argument; her face went white, and she just collapsed."
Amy was quickly placed on the gurney and wheeled outside to the waiting ambulance.
"What hospital?" cried Jack.
"Rockyview," came the response.
As Amy was loaded into the ambulance, a voice behind Lou stated, "I'll ride in the ambulance with her."
Jack and Lou turned in unison to see an approaching Davis Maxwell.
"The hell you will," responded Jack.
"You're not family and you're not riding with her," Lou challenged. "I am. Who the hell do you think you are?"
A defeated Maxwell chose to accept Lou's decision and stood by as she climbed into the ambulance to join her stricken sister.
…..
The Hospital Waiting Room
"Lou, have you called Ty to let him know what's happened?" Jack inquired.
"Grandpa, I tried several times on the way over. He didn't or more likely, wouldn't pick up."
"Let me try," said Lisa. "Maybe I'll have more luck. I'll think I'll text him first though."
Ty, there's been an accident with Amy. She's been rushed to the hospital. Call me.
Within in seconds, Lisa's cell rang in response to her text.
"Ty," acknowledged Lisa.
"Lisa, is Amy ok. What happened?"
"I'm not sure Ty. She and Lou were talking after the dinner and she collapsed."
"What hospital?"
"Rockyview."
"I'm on my way."
Jack, Lisa and Lou were waiting nervously for word on Amy's condition when a noticeably distressed Ty stormed into the Waiting Room 20 minutes later.
"How is Amy; have you heard anything?" Ty demanded dispensing with introductory pleasantries.
"We don't know. We're still waiting on the doctor to come out and brief us," replied Jack.
Within minutes, Tim joined the rest of the anxious family members awaiting word on Amy's condition. His avoidance of Ty, did not pass unnoticed by the others as Tim and Ty had not spoken since that day a few weeks ago when Ty dressed down Tim after being unfairly accused of causing Spartan's death.
Knowing Tim's propensity of making a scene by demanding the medical staff stop whatever they might be engaged in to provide an update on someone he cared about, Jack preemptively addressed the family.
"Listen everyone; I don't want any of us berating any of the staff here demanding they stop what they're doing to inform us on Amy's condition. Let them do their job and I'm sure they will brief us as soon as possible."
"What are you implying Jack," a clearly combative Tim replied.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about Tim. An in case you have any doubt however, let me state it directly. You are not to yell at the nurses or staff demanding an answer. You're not to order them to get the doctor like you've done in the past. Is that clear enough for you?"
Father and son-in-law engaged in a tense stare-down for several seconds before Tim backed down under the weight of Jack's forcefulness.
"I got it Jack."
Jack nodded acknowledging Tim's capitulation.
The tension had barely left the room when the door to the waiting room swung open again revealing a worried looking Davis Maxwell.
"Amy, how is she; what have you heard?"
"Lou was about to angrily reply, when Ty stepped toward Maxwell seizing control of the situation."
"I'm going to say this only once Maxwell," a controlled but potentially volatile Ty began. "As a courtesy, and make no mistake, this is a one-time thing; we haven't heard anything yet on Amy's condition. That's all you're getting from us. You're not family and you're not going to stay in this room with the family. If you want to wait in another area of the hospital for word on Amy, that's your prerogative. But you're not waiting here with the rest of us. At some point after the doctor has spoken to us, the hospital staff may or may not give you information. I don't really care one way or another. Now get out of here NOW, or I will drag your ass outside. And trust me, if that happens, I won't be talking anymore."
Maxwell remained silent in the wake of Ty's edict his eyes circling the room looking for some sign of support from the family but received none.
"Alright, I'll leave." Fixing his gaze solely on Ty, he continued, "This isn't over though Borden…between you and me. Not by a long shot."
Maintaining his composure as he had since Maxwell's arrival, Ty responded.
"You better hope it's over Maxwell. Let me tell you something right here and now in front of everyone so there's no misunderstanding on your part. You push this thing further with me, you'll lose. And if you need help figuring out what I mean by lose, speak with Jack. He'll define it for you. He might even be able to get his great granddaughter Katie to color you a picture."
Maxwell's temper immediately rose in response to Ty's insult but nearly as quickly dissipated sensing Ty's challenge was no empty bluff.
Attempting to save face, Maxwell gave a "we'll see" parting response before retreating out of the room.
Noticing a slight relaxed exhale in Ty, Tim for the first time understood the character of his son-in-law and was duly impressed.
Jack and Lisa however regarded Ty in a completely different light - admiration and pride. In Jack's mind, Ty had just demonstrated the force of character that had been absent for so long in his son-in-law, that Jack had quit looking. For Lisa, it was confirmation her love was well placed in her adopted son. Once again, Ty had exhibited qualities she had only seen before in Jack. Both were loyal and trustworthy as the day is long but not one to have as an enemy. She also sensed things weren't over between Ty and Davis Maxwell and at some point; Ty may well have to back up his words. And she wouldn't want to be Davis Maxwell when that day came.
Lisa's thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of a middle aged man with a stethoscope around his neck walking into the room.
"Are you Amy Fleming's family? I'm Doctor Hamilton."
"Yes," Jack replied. "I'm her Grandfather Jack Bartlett; this is my wife Lisa Stillman; this is her husband Ty Borden; her sister Lou Fleming; and her father Tim Fleming."
"What can you tell us Doctor?"
"Well, we're still performing tests so we'll know for certain, but I believe Amy's suffered from what's called a Thyroid Storm."
Before Doctor Hamilton could continue, Ty asked, "A Thyroid Storm, what is that?"
"A Thyroid Storm is a very rare condition that can occur if an overactive Thyroid in not treated."
"But Amy doesn't have an overactive…," Lou began to respond before catching herself.
"That's right Ms. Fleming, I think it's very likely Amy's been suffering from an overactive Thyroid that's been getting progressively worse in recent weeks or months," Doctor Hamilton explained. "Has she ever been tested or diagnosed?"
"No, but she has been acting very erratically for a while now."
"How so? Please, be very specific. What have you observed with your sister?"
"Well," Lou continued. "She's been tired; experiencing headaches, muscle aches, mood swings; she's hasn't been sleeping well; and most of all, she's acted very bizarrely."
Doctor Hamilton nodded seemingly acknowledging all Lou had described. "Let me ask you this, has she had some sort of trauma, surgery, inf…?" But the nodding by all the family members caused him to discontinue giving additional symptoms. "What happened?"
"Several weeks ago, Amy's horse tragically died. And let me explain Doctor; Amy works with horses for a living. She has a special gift; many call her a Horse Whisperer. The horse that died; Spartan, was rescued by Amy and my mother years ago. In fact, our mother died in the act. Amy loved that horse as much as anyone can love an animal. Ty, her husband who's a vet did everything he could to save Spartan, but it was too late. Literally from the moment Spartan died, Amy lashed out at Ty blaming him for her horse's death. Since then, she's been short tempered, erratic, and acting like someone we didn't know. Could this Thyroid problem be the cause of this recent behavior?" Lou inquired.
"It very well could have. What you've described though causes me more concern. Amy's overactive Thyroid – which I believe she has – could be fairly severe and considering it has gone untreated, it could have led to the Thyroid Storm."
"So Doctor, spoke Jack, what happens now; is this treatable?"
"Yes, it's very treatable Mr. Bartlett. I need to warn you though; Amy is in some danger right now."
"On no," Lou gasped.
Ty felt as though a vise had suddenly gripped his chest thinking he could lose Amy.
"The tests will tell us the condition of Amy's Thyroid. In most cases, it's treatable with a medicine called Carbimazole which prevents the Thyroid gland from producing excess hormones. We are going to also perform a biopsy to determine if there's any cancer present."
The family held their collective breaths at the mention of cancer.
"I'm going to be straight with you. Considering the apparent severity of Amy's Thyroid condition, there's is a chance the gland may be cancerous. Now before you jump to conclusions, let me tell you that there's a greater chance the tests won't come back positive for cancer but will indicate the gland to be pre-cancerous."
Tears began to form in Lou and Jack felt as though someone had cut him with a knife.
"What will you do if the tests come back cancerous or pre-cancerous?" a collected Ty asked.
"In either case, we would operate and remove all or part of the Thyroid," replied Doctor Hamilton.
"But all of you need to understand, Amy is in danger right now. A Thyroid Storm is rare, but when it does occur, it can be life threatening. We're monitoring her closely and have already begun to administer medicine to counter what I believe most certainly to be an overactive Thyroid. We need to get the level of hormones in her body down to a more normal level. If she were to have another Thyroid Storm during the next 24 hours, it would almost certainly be fatal."
Amy, Ty thought; please be ok. I can't bear the thought of losing you.
….
A/N
Thanks for your comments on Part 1. For those who've suggested some writing from Amy's POV, I purposely chose not to do that in Part 1. I do have it planned however in Part 2. To be honest with you, the hardest part of the story so far is weaving the Maxwell / Helen thread into the greater story. I have the overall outline for their piece but am having some difficulty with the specifics on how that will come to a head. That's part of the enjoyment and challenge of writing though.
Please respond with your comments and reviews.