Failure to Function
Chapter 1:
Joanne sat on the examining table in the doctor's office. She had caught a bug from work a few weeks ago and had yet to shake it off. After much bickering, Maureen had finally convinced her to go see a doctor. The door opened and in walked a young Hispanic man with thick black hair and a goatee.
"Hi, my name is Dr. Miguel Estevez," he said. Joanne shook his hand.
"Joanne Jefferson; are you a new doctor here?"
"Yes I am." Dr. Estevez took a seat at the cheap desk mounted to the wall. "So, what seems to be the problem?"
"I feel flu-like, but it's been going on for a few weeks. My girlfriend finally locked me out of the apartment until I promised to come here." Dr. Estevez chuckled.
"What symptoms do you have?" Joanne stopped to think.
"I feel flu-like. You know, achy, nausea, throwing up. I've also had chest pains and headaches." Dr. Estevez wrote everything down.
"Okay, I'm going to draw some blood and do a basic physical, okay?" Joanne nodded. She figured that the doctor would tell her what she already knew; she had the flu or something like that.
Joanne clung to the toilet and continued to empty her stomach. She heard the bathroom door creak open.
"Pookie?" Maureen asked sleepily. "How long have you been up?"
"I haven't been to bed yet," Joanne confessed.
"It's two in the morning!" Maureen sat on the floor against the wall. "Come here, Pookie." Joanne flushed the toilet. Then, she settled contently between Maureen's legs and rested her head on her chest. Maureen played with her hair until they both dozed off.
Joanne was resting on the couch when the phone rang. Joanne sat up to go answer it.
"I got it," Maureen said. "You rest." Joanne curled back up on the couch and went back to watching TV. She prayed that it was the doctor on the phone. Feeling sick like this all the time was starting to get to her. After a few minutes, Maureen sat on the arm of the couch. "That was the doctor's office; they want us to come down this afternoon." Joanne nodded feebly. Her curls were strewn across her face.
"That's fine," she mumbled. Maureen waited for a few seconds before going to get herself a soda. She was really starting to worry about Joanne. Horrible thoughts of what could be wrong flooded her mind. Maureen shook her head. Nothing was wrong with Joanne; Joanne was perfect.
Joanne sat on the exact same examining table as before, only this time Maureen was with her. Neither one said anything. Both were worried about why Dr. Estevez had had them rush down to the office that afternoon. After what seemed like an eternity, the door opened, and Dr. Estevez entered the room. Maureen noticed what looked like a strange computer on wheels in the far corner of the room. She also noticed how handsome Dr. Estevez was.
"Hello again, Joanne," Dr. Estevez said.
"Hello," Joanne said. "This is my girlfriend, Maureen Johnson." Dr. Estevez shook Maureen's hand.
"Nice to meet you," he said.
"Same here." Dr. Estevez turned his attention back to Joanne. Joanne felt her insides flutter. She could tell by Dr. Estevez's eyes that something was wrong with her.
"Okay, Joanne, I need to run a sonogram on you quickly," he told Joanne.
"Wait, what!?" Maureen blurted out. "Is Joanne pregnant?" Dr. Estevez laughed.
"No, a sonogram is used to see inside the body, not just to see a fetus. She's not pregnant." Maureen let out an overdramatic sigh of relief.
"Okay, good; I was about to send you back to medical school to study female anatomy." Dr. Estevez turned on the sonogram machine.
"Okay Joanne, I need you to lie down and please pull up your shirt." Joanne obliged. Dr. Estevez spread a cold gel over Joanne's flat stomach. Then, he moved the wand across her stomach. He studied the screen extremely carefully for several minutes. Letting out a defeated sigh, Dr. Estevez turned off the machine and leaned back in his chair. Both Maureen and Joanne could tell that something wasn't right.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Maureen asked quickly. Joanne remained quiet. She knew that whatever it was, it wasn't pretty. Dr. Estevez handed Joanne several paper towels.
"Why don't you clean up, then we'll talk?" he suggested.
All Joanne could force out of her mouth was, "Thank you."
Once Joanne had cleaned up and fixed her shirt, Dr. Estevez lead her and Maureen to his office so they could talk in private. This definitely wasn't a good sign. Dr. Estevez sat behind his desk while Maureen and Joanne sat across from him. Maureen entwined her fingers with Joanne's.
"Tests we ran on the blood we drew a few weeks ago show certain abnormalities," Dr. Estevez started.
"But there are medications for that, right?" Joanne asked.
"No." Dr. Estevez's response was short and final. "I'm afraid you have kidney failure."