The Other Daughter- part 46
Rating: teen
Disclaimers: See part 1
A/N: I'm not a doctor; everything I learned about TOF, I learned online!
On the first Friday of December, Mary McGarry arrived at the White House at 4 in the afternoon. She'd already been home and it was the pair of messages on the machine which sent her to her father's office.
"Hey Margaret," she smiled as she approached the desk. "I need you to shuffle Dad's schedule for Monday," she explained as she bit her bottom lip.
"What's up and does your father know about it?"
"No. There were a pair of messages on the machine; I have a doctors' appointment at the hospital early and we have a court date in the afternoon. Can you fix it?"
"Consider it done. Your Dad should be done; go knock."
Mary knocked on the door and waited for her father's voice.
"Hey Baby, what brings you here?" He was lounging on the couch, reading.
"So Morris called; we have a court date on Monday. Something got shuffled and there's an opening and the three months are up for me," she smiled.
"So it'll be official then?" he asked as he pulled her into a hug.
"According to Morris but the judge might have other ideas."
"I'm sure it'll pan out."
"What will pan out?" Jed asked as he appeared.
"Final court date to see if he's stuck with me," Mary grinned.
"Wow, it's been three months already?" Jed asked, slightly shocked.
"Time flies."
"What time?" Leo asked.
"3:00; but I have a doctors' appointment on Monday too."
"Doctor?" both men asked.
"Remember how I said that I need to have semi-annual check ups because of my heart? Well, this is it."
Leo and Jed both blanched; "I'm gonna call Abbey," Jed said. He went over to Leo's phone and dialled his wife's extension. Mary led her father to the couch and sat him down, cooing at him. Mary told Leo that she has a congenitive heart condition but he often forgot because she was so fit and healthy.
"Abbey's on her way," Jed informed as he hung up the phone.
"So let's wait until Dr. Bartlett gets here so you can ask any questions," she said as she patted her father's arm. He was clearly upset and Mary recognized that she needed back up to assure him that everything was fine.
"You're ok, right?" Leo asked, finally finding his voice.
"Totally; this is just follow-up care; I haven't needed surgery in 4 years," she assured him.
The trio waited a few minutes before Abbey walked into the office.
"So Miss McGarry, are you alright?" Abbey asked, bag in had.
"I'm fine, what did he say?" she asked, pointing to Jed.
"That you have something wrong with your heart," she said as she dug out her stethoscope.
"I have a follow-up with my cardiologist on Monday; they panicked," she explained.
"Understandable; your Dad's a heart condition rookie. Want me to check so I can tell you she sounds fine?" she asked Leo.
"Please," he nodded. Mary peeled off her sweatshirt and Abbey warmed the stethoscope. The light pink scar was visible at the top of her tank top.
Abbey placed the instrument at various points around Mary chest and back, listening intently.
"Your valve job still sound good?" Mary asked with a smile.
"You have some of my best work in there," she nodded.
"You did surgery on her?" Leo asked.
"Baltimore, May, 1990. I did the pulmonary valve repair and it sounds just dandy," she assured.
"And she ate a pair of residents who were unkind," Mary added with a giggle. "That is a little girl..."
"NOT a gallon of milk. DO NOT PUT AN EXPIRATION DATE ON HER...God those two were jackasses," Abbey finished.
"What did they do?" Jed asked. He knew his wife was usually very kind to residents.
"They were speculating about my life expectancy..." Mary started.
"…in front of her. They saw a serious medical condition, not a little girl," Abbey said as she tapped Mary's nose. "All I could think about was, 'God, this kid isn't much younger than Zoey or much older than Annie,' and how I would maim anyone who said anything like that in front of them."
"So Dr. Bartlett calmly asks Fric and Frac to step outside. She took a chunk, chewed it up and spat it back out."
Both Jed and Leo laughed; "You went Mama Bear on them," Jed chuckled.
"Yup. She didn't have any family with her and she had these big dark eyes and long curly hair; you couldn't help wanting to protect her a bit," Abbey concluded as she hugged Mary. "She really does sound alright though."
"What are they checking on Monday?" Leo asked as he dug out a legal pad, clearly ready to take notes.
"I will have a stress test, an ECHO, a chest x-ray and an EKG," Mary explained.
"Abbey?"
"A stress test measures heart function and oxygenation during exercise. They'll put some electrodes and attach wires and stick her on a treadmill. She's in such good shape from basketball and track that it'll be easy for her."
"Ok," Leo said as he continued to make notes. "What about the rest?"
"The chest x-ray will be used to check size, shape and other bigger structures in the heart and lungs. The ECHO is basically ultrasound for the heart. It will measure blood flow and check for PR, which is the back flow of blood through the pulmonary valve. It will also show how the heart is beating in real time. The EKG will measure electrical rhythm in her heart to make sure everything is as it should be. These are all non-invasive tests and won't hurt Mary at all," she assured.
"What questions should I ask?"
Abbey spent the next 15 minutes telling Leo what he needed to know and what he should be asking.
"Would you like me to come with?" she asked, seeing that her friend was overwhelmed.
"That would be great, yeah," he said with a sigh of relief.
"Dad, ToF is classes as a cyanotic heart defect; that means you don't get enough oxygen in your blood. So long as I'm not a blue-ish color, I'm probably ok."
"Mary, take your Dad home and take him for a run; he looks like he needs to de-stress."
"Good idea. Grab your stuff and let's go get Sassy and go do something fun."
Leo spoke to Margaret about clearing Monday for him. He sorted out his briefcase before heading out. They made the drive to Clearlake, got Molly and headed for home. CJ was coming over after the last briefing at 6 and would be in time for dinner.
Once they were home, everyone changed into warm sweats and went for a bike ride. There was no snow on the ground yet which was the bike 'guideline' in the McGarry family. An hour and a half later, they pulled in just as CJ was walking up the path to the front door. They put the bikes and the helmets in the garage before going into the house.
"Dinner smells great!" CJ exclaimed as she hung up her coat.
"Stew," all three replied.
"I'm gonna make some biscuits; go get changed CJ," Leo instructed.
Mary and Molly set the table and put desert in the oven. When CJ came back downstairs, she was hit with the smell of stew, warm biscuits and apple crisp. They chatted about their respective days as they ate. After dinner, Mary and Molly offered to do dishes while Leo and CJ were instructed to set up Monopoly in the living room.
For the rest of the night was spent laughing and teasing and playing and when Leo did the final check of the house later that night, he couldn't help but feel at peace.
