Tami paced back and forth in the waiting room, slowly sipping on a luke warm cup of coffee. Thankfully, Julie had taken Gracie home. She was getting cranky and despite the fact that Julie was reluctant, she did Tami a favor by watching her. There wasn't much Julie could do at the hospital anyway, and she'd be the first person Tami would call when she found any type of news on Eric.
Grimacing at the bitter flavor on her tongue, she chunked the remnants of the dark liquid into the trash can and sat down hard in a chair adjacent to a TV that had some old rerun of I Love Lucy running across it. Coach McGill was there, but had stepped out to make a phone call. Buddy Garrity and Mayor Rodell were on their way, and frankly, she wished they wouldn't come at all. Deep down they didn't care about the overall welfare of Eric, they just wanted to see if their season was down the drain if Eric had to be absent from his coaching duties. In fact, she figured that's how most of the town was probably thinking.
She hated how fake they were as they walked by and gave her reassuring glances. It had been thirty minutes since they had arrived at the ER and still not a single word on him.
She stood up and began to pace again. "All that walking isn't going to make the docs work any faster." She recognized the voice right off and it felt like a brick fell to the bottom of her stomach. It was Buddy.
Turning around, she forced a smile and shook his hand. "Hey Buddy. Mayor." She nodded in Mayor Rodell's direction. "You guys don't have to wait around. I'll be sure to let Eric know that you stopped by."
"Don't be silly, Tami. We are here for you." Buddy guided her back to the crowded waiting area. "Just have a seat. You need anything? A snack? Some coffee?"
The scent of his cologne made her nauseous so she said yes to both questions just to get him away from her. "That would be great."
"I'll be back in a minute."
She buried her face in her hands and closed her eyes. It felt so much like a dream that she was tempted to pinch herself to make sure it wasn't. The walls around her felt as if they were slowly moving in on her. Why was Eric so damn stubborn? If he wouldn't have put off a doctor's office visit he probably wouldn't be laid up in the ER like this.
"Mrs. Taylor?"
Glancing up from her hands, her heart skipped a beat when she saw a man in a white coat standing at the entrance of the room. "Yes sir."
"Can you come with me?"
She felt as if she were floating and now she wasn't so sure she wanted to hear what had happened to him. It was a bittersweet situation. On one hand she had to know but on the other if she didn't know and didn't find out than maybe there wasn't anything wrong with him at all.
"I'm Doctor Lee." He extended his hand and she returned with a light handshake. "As of right now, we aren't exactly sure what has happened to your husband." He paused and sipped on a small styro-foam cup of coffee.
"I… I don't understand, what do you mean you don't know?"
"We are running several tests. I put priority so we should know within the hour."
She ran her fingers through her hair and turned her back to the doctor for a moment. Grabbing a handrail, she processed the words the doctor had relayed to her. She faced him again. "So it's not anything like the flu?"
Doctor Lee shook his head no. "I'm afraid not. We believe it's something a little more complex."
The first thing Eric noticed was a bright light above his head that only accentuated the sharp pains in his head that felt like hammers inside of him. Squinting, he shielded his face with his left forearm.
"Ugh…" He moaned as he shifted his weight in his bed. He had no recollection of how he had gotten there but felt the worst he had ever felt in his entire life. If someone had come in and told him a car had hit him he would definitely believe it.
The inside of his mouth felt pasty and his throat was like sandpaper. Glancing to his side, he saw no sign of water on the bedside table. The bed rails were pulled up so he wrapped his fingers around the handles and pulled his body upward to get higher up on the bed but his back skid down the sheets into the same position he was in to begin with.
His breathing became labored and he clutched his side to compose himself. The pressure between his eyes felt so tight that he would swear that his skull would explode at any minute. Turning onto his side, he felt the tension of something in the back of his hand. It was an IV line that led up to a machine behind him.
"What the…" The rubber chord tugged at him, causing a small sting where the needle was inserted into his vein. Lifting his arm, he allowed enough slack in the line and was able to get comfortable. He buried his face into the pillow but felt so badly that sleep was beyond him.
"I see you are awake now." A young nurse reached across his bed and adjusted something on a monitor. "How are you feeling, Coach?"
"I uhh…" He closed his eyes to get away from the light. "Can you please turn that light off?" His voice was barely audible and came out in a rush of breath. He held his hands up to his temples.
"I can dim it, but we need some light in here."
Even the slight change in brightness offered him some comfort. "You got any water?" Even the simple task of talking was too much for him.
"Sure, I'll get you some in just a minute." She jotted a few notes down on a clipboard. "You didn't answer me when I asked you how you are feeling. Can you open your eyes for me so I can look into them?"
She clicked a flashlight on and it took all he had not to close his eyes again. "I'm hurting. What happened?"
She put the light back in her pocket and wrote more stuff down. He wanted so badly to look at the chart but it was like a secret that only select people could read. He hated that. It was all about him, what was the harm in giving him a glance?
"I'll give you some Demerol to ease the pain. The doctor didn't okay morphine just yet. I think they want to run a few more tests on you." She pushed down on his IV site. "I'll be back in a minute with that water. Your wife is outside, are you up for visitors?"
Maybe she'd have some answers. "Yeah." He pulled the sheet up to his neck, eyeing the doorframe. He wasn't ready for the "I told you so's" or the snide looks, but she was right. He let this get way out of hand. He felt embarrassed about the whole thing. He wanted to avoid a quick visit to the doctor and now look where it had landed him.
"Hey Eric." Her gentle voice soothed him. "How are you?" She sat down next to the bed, her fingertips brushing against his forehead.
The nurse brought in a small pitcher of water along with a few cups. "Here ya go." She made her exit, leaving them alone again.
"Thanks." He impatiently waited as Tami poured him some. It was cold and he drank it too fast, cringing at the sharp headache that intensified with each sip. "What in the hell happened? Last thing I remember I was telling Saracen to run a play. And then I woke up here." He had to stop to catch his breath. Rather than feeling thirty-seven, he felt like he was in his eighties.
"You passed out on the field. At first.." She trailed off and looked up at the ceiling to keep a tear from falling. "At first I thought a player pushed you. But then I saw you weren't moving."
He scratched his eyebrow with his thumb and stared at the blank TV. The game. Had they kept playing or was it ruled a forfeit? "Tami, did they stop the game or did they keep playing?" He took in a deep breath. "Please tell me they didn't forfeit."
"Eric, I think you have bigger things to worry about. They are in the other room running tests to see what's wrong with you. This isn't just a case of the flu. I don't think they'd be treating you this way if it was." She stood up and pulled her cell phone out of her purse. "I gotta call Julie. She's at home with Gracie."
Eric began to say something in his defense but she walked out of the room before he could get a word in edgewise. The Demerol that the nurse had given him had already worn off and his head pounded. What was wrong with the fact that he was worried about the team? He didn't want their season ruined because he was in the hospital. McGill was well qualified to coach in his absence. He just wanted some damn answers, and no one would answer anything, not even the outcome of the game against Westerby.
"Julie is gonna come up here in a little bit. Gracie is asleep right now. She's going to let her get a little bit of rest." Tami's voice jolted him out of a light sleep and made him jump under the sheets. "And about the game. They postponed it to a later date."
He chewed on the inside of his cheek and glared at the dim light that was causing discomfort to him again. "Go ahead with the I told you so's."
If looks could kill he would be a dead man. It was an all too familiar glare that literally made him know that if it were possible for him to suck the words back in his mouth, it would be wise to do so.
Her brow creased. "Eric, I'm not going to do that." Her hand ruffled his hair again, easing some of the tension from his headache.
He put his hand up to stop her. "You were right. If I would've gone in the minute I felt something wasn't right I wouldn't be laid up in this bed." It was so hard to keep his eyes open that he allowed them to close. He would go through waves of exhaustion with times where he felt okay, but not near one hundred percent. His hands gripped the bed rails again.
"Eric, you don't know that. They don't even know what's wrong." She pulled his fingers away from the metal and intertwined her hand with his. Her palms were so smooth that it made him very comfortable. "I'm just so scared. I wish they'd tell us something." Her voice quivered and despite the fact that he wasn't looking at her, he knew she was crying.
"It'll be… okay." His words were short pants again, and before he knew it he dozed off again, his body finally winning the battle over his consciousness.
Tami had decided to go back to the waiting room to wait on Julie. She had called about ten minutes ago and said she was on her way. She didn't sit down, but noticed that the area was much more full than before she had gone to see Eric. The atmosphere was tense, like everyone had been talking about her and went silent the moment they saw her. She didn't care though, she had so much more on her mind than Dillon gossip.
"Any word?" McGill approached her, pulling her out of her daze.
"None. They are still waiting on some tests to come back." She forced a smile but it felt so fake that it descended into a frown. Who was she kidding? She couldn't even pretend to be strong in this situation. "He's sleeping right now. He was talking to me a few minutes ago. Worried about the damn football game." A small laugh escaped from her lips. "The man is in the ER and all he thinks about is the game."
McGill laughed with her and patted his hat down at his leg. She could tell he was nervous. "That's good. At least he woke up. He'll be okay Tami. The man is tough as nails. I've known him a long time. He won't stay down for long."
"Thanks, Mac. I appreciate that." She pulled him in for a sideways hug. At least Mac's concern was truly genuine, she could tell that much. Julie had made her way through the entrance of the hospital. "If you'll excuse me, I need to check on my daughters." She grabbed Gracie from her, resting her on her shoulder. She was half-asleep. The poor baby was so tired.
"Have the doctors come in yet?" Julie clutched the diaper bag and kept her eyes downcast as they passed by the waiting area.
"No. It should be any minute, I hope."
Eric was still asleep when they went back into the exam room. The faint sound of the monitors beeping around him was all that could be heard, along with his deep and labored breathing. Tami sat down in the same chair and laid Gracie across her lap. She wondered how kids could sleep so heavily at times. Julie was on the other side of the bed, her face full of worry and questions.
"Mom, what is wrong with him?" Her voice was shaky. "I… I uhh… don't understand."
"I wish I could tell you hon, but we just have to be patient. The doctors are working on it." She ran her hands over Gracie's fuzzy hair and said a silent prayer. She wanted some answers and her patience was wearing thin. She hated the waiting game.
"Eric? Coach? Can you open your eyes for me?" At first Eric thought it was a dream, that someone was screaming at him in a nightmare. The annoying light overhead was enough realization for him to know that it wasn't, however.
He licked his lips and immediately reached for his water. It was warm but still refreshing for his standards. "Unh…" He squinted at the light that was no longer dim. "Shit… turn that fu…" He stopped himself from cursing when he noticed that Julie, Gracie and Tami were in the room with him, as well as a few doctors he didn't recognize. "The light. Can you turn it off?" He put his forearm over his eyes.
"We'll dim it for you." A man spoke up. "I'm Doctor Lee. How are you doing, Coach?"
Eric frowned and wished everyone would stop asking him that. He was in the hospital for crying out loud. "Great. Just great." He really wasn't up to talking much at all. He just wanted to get back to sleep.
The doctor gave a small laugh. "We ran a few tests. As of right now, we are still unsure of what's going on. We are going to run another blood test, there's only one problem with it."
Eric groaned and slammed his arm back down beside him but didn't reply. Of course there was a problem, it was the story of his life. Staying quiet, he waited for him to finish the news.
The doctor continued. "It takes twenty-four hours for the results to get back. I can tell you what we might suspect what it is. Of course, it's just speculation. We can hold off and wait until the diagnosis comes through if you'd like."
Eric pinched the bridge of his nose and bit his bottom lip. Again, he didn't say anything and thankfully Tami filled the silent void. "Please, tell us something."
"The first possibility is Hereditary Spherocytic Hemolytic Anemia. It's common in children moreso than adults, but it's a possibility that it was never detected if that is in fact, what you have. It has to do with blood cells. It can be life threatening but easy to treat." He paused, his face growing dim. "Another suspected problem could be leukemia. It's not one hundred percent certain, but we can't rule it out just yet. Those are two things we are looking into. It could be any number of conditions. Mononucleosis. You are smack dab in the middle of a football season. It's common for guys like you to run their systems down, so you might just need some time to rest and get your energy back. The important thing is you are here getting treated. We probably caught whatever it is in time to fix it."
Eric's stomach tightened. He had no idea what the first thing was that Dr. Lee had spouted off but the mention of leukemia made him want to toss the water in his stomach all over the floor. Bile was thick in the back of his throat and he was too scared to look at Julie or Tami. But he did anyway. Julie was facing away but from the way her shoulders were slumped over she wasn't taking it well. Tami sat motionless so he reached over and held her hand. Her skin was cold and clammy.
"I'm sorry that the tests take so long, but we have to make sure we cover every base." Dr. Lee walked toward the door. "If you have any questions, don't hesitate to send them my way."
Eric didn't take his eyes off of Tami, but acknowledged Dr. Lee with a nod. "Thank you, Doctor." He whispered it, but knew the other man had heard him.
The fact that he had to wait so long for answers was pure torture. It would be the longest twenty-four hours of his life.