1 DAY OF RECKONING

CHAPTER 9

Lucas and Dara were sitting across the desk from Matt as well as the specialist he had called, Dr. Adam Winfield.

Dara had felt as ease with the man's manner from their first meeting, he was probably about ten years older than Lucas with just a touch of gray in his hair and eyes that were soft and kind.

Looking up from the test results they had just received back, as well as the results from the barrage of tests Matt had already done, he folded his hands in front of him on the desktop as he addressed the situation. "Well Mrs. Buck, I think that we've finally found out what your problem is."

Dara glanced up sharply as she grabbed her husband's hand, waiting for whatever news this man had to give. Lucas looked at the man and silently waited for the diagnosis.

Winfield looked at the couple across from him as he smiled reassuringly, "Actually what you have is a fairly common disease, it is however very difficult to diagnose. According to mine and Dr. Crower's examinations and based on our findings we've both agreed that you're suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome."

Dara looked at him skeptically, then turning to her husband who voiced the concern upper most in his mind, "Is it fatal?"

Winfield shook his head, "No, it can in some cases be debilitating though. Such as in your wife's case." Turning to Dara he asked, "You said that you were feeling drained even before this pregnancy?"

Dara nodded, "Yes, I've had the headaches and fatigue maybe about five or six months before I discovered that I was pregnant."

Winfield nodded his understanding, "Well the good news is that we can try and help you now with a stronger pre-natal vitamin as well as an iron supplement. Your iron count is extremely low. I've seen some women who don't seem to have a significant problem during their pregnancies who also suffer from CFS, but there are women, like you, who seem to have a severe problem with it in their pregnancies. Now that's not to say that if you should choose to have another child after this one that you would be subject to these problems during that pregnancy. I've seen women who have severe problems during one pregnancy, but have none during the next ones."

Lucas asked in concern, "So the dizziness and fainting are they normal with this?"

Winfield nodded, "Yes, with the low iron count and fatigue and weakness, that's a very normal occurrence. My concern with that is that she be extremely cautious when she drives and things of that nature."

Lucas considered a moment then asked, "What are some of the contributing factors that make her condition worse?"

Matt, who had been sitting silent, spoke up, "Stress seems to be a big one, and the more stress she has the worse the fatigue and weakness will be. The only real solution we can offer to help is to give her the vitamins and iron, and for her to get as much rest as possible and avoid stress as much as she can."

Dara, who had been taking all the information in, asked, "You said that in cases like mine sometimes pregnancy makes the symptoms worse, does that mean that after the baby is born that I'll be somewhat better?"

Winfield smiled as he replied, "Please understand Mrs. Buck, you'll always be subject to bouts of weakness and fatigue, you're going to have to live with this from here on out, but I'm reasonably comfortable in saying that after you give birth and after you recover that yes, you should see a marked improvement in your energy level, but for right now you're going to be tired for the most part. But understand also that you need to try and keep your strength up without exhausting yourself. I hate being the one to tell you, but I think it's best that you understand that there will be times that you're going to be too exhausted to even speak, and days when getting out of bed will be impossible for you. But there are things that you will be able to do to ease the symptoms, vitamins, exercise and rest seem to be the most important keys that we've found so far."

Lucas narrowed his gaze on the man as he asked, "What about when it comes time for her to deliver the baby? Giving birth is exhausting enough, wont that totally wear her down?"

Winfield consulted her medical file as he stated, "I see that you have given birth twice, a set of twins and a single birth all three were early deliveries. One was natural and the last was by c-section. According to your file your previous pregnancies were troubled in the beginning, both caused by outside influences. Whereas this pregnancy was normal in the beginning with complications the further along you get." Closing the folder he considered a moment as he glanced at Matt. "My opinion would be to wait until you're a little further along to decide on the best way for you to deliver. I'm not a big advocate of C-section deliveries, especially not in a case like yours. If you've gained some strength by the time your due my suggestion would be to deliver naturally, however, if you're not any stronger then a c-section will be necessary."

Matt nodded in agreement as he addressed both Dara and Lucas, "I agree, I think that would be best."

Lucas turned to Dara as he inquired, "You're the one on the table here, what do you want?"

Dara considered a moment before she answered, "I want to deliver naturally, if it's possible."

Lucas nodded as he stated, "You heard her." Standing he asked, "Is that all we need to know?"

Matt and Winfield both nodded as Matt handed him two bottles of pills as well as two prescriptions for Dara. "These are her vitamins and iron, make certain that she takes them every morning they should help her, and make her rest as much as possible." Matt decided to address them on a more personal issue, "In light of the situation I think that there's something you two should consider."

Dara glanced up, sensing he was hesitant about whatever he was about to say. "Well Matt, speak up what is it?"

Matt steadied himself knowing what her reaction would probably be, "Since they're older now and under the circumstances, I think that you should strongly consider enrolling the kids in pre-school."

Dara stared at him in disbelief, "you want me to dump my children in a day care, away from me all day?" Dara shook her head vehemently, "I don't think so Matt."

Lucas, who had been silent, considered the suggestion as he touched his wife's arm while stating softly, "Darlin, I think we should give it some thought, the twins are four and Rinie is three, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea."

Dara looked at him in shock as she stated, "We'll discuss this later on, lets go home." With that she pushed herself up from her chair as Lucas held the door open for her.



Lucas sat silent, waiting for her to vent her frustration over Matt's earlier suggestion. He had been considering the idea of sending the children to a pre-school since the onset of Dara's illness, but he had never had the nerve to voice the idea to her. He knew that she wouldn't be very receptive to the idea of their children being away from her for hours everyday, although it would be mandatory soon enough.

Finally, Dara spoke up, "I can't believe that you would consider the idea of our children being away from us for hours everyday."

Lucas sighed; he could see the onset of a very big disagreement. "Darlin, no offense but I'm away from them for hours everyday anyway, remember?"

Dara turned to look out the window as she stated softly, "Well, I'm not."

Lucas pulled the car off the road, down a dirt path. Dara looked at him in shock as he cut the engine and asked, "What are you doing?"

Lucas ran his hand through his hair in frustration as he stated, "We are going to settle this now, and since we don't fight in front of the kids and I don't see us settling this without one, I felt that this was the best course of action. Now, I've tried to avoid being blunt but you and your stubbornness are forcing me to, so let me explain this to you. I understand that you feel like your babies are growing up and that is somewhat depressing, I feel the same way, but they are at the age that they need to learn how to interact with other children their own age, aside from each other. They are three and four years old and to be honest about it I think that it would be better for them as well as for you for them to be in pre-school, you're going to have a new baby to occupy your time pretty soon and with your condition tending to four children is going to be very difficult on you, not to mention physically exhausting. As well as the issues that if the children are in pre-school you'll be able to get more rest. Now, it's not like we're sending them to some run down public school, we can afford the best and that's what we'll have for them. Can you possibly give me a rational and acceptable reason now why we shouldn't enroll them?"

Dara glared at him for a moment, then lowering her head mumbled softly, "No, I don't suppose that I can give you an acceptable reason why we shouldn't enroll them."

Lucas felt a pang of guilt at the defeated tone in her voice, wrapping his arms around her he pulled her closer to him as he stated softly, "Darlin, I know that this is hard, but it really is for the best."

Dara nodded her acceptance as she brushed the tears away, " I know it is, I just didn't realize that they had grown up so fast on me that's all."

Lucas pushed a stray curl back from her face as he placed a gentle kiss on her lips and asked gently "Better now?" Dara smiled sadly as she nodded. Satisfied that they had settled the issue he started the car and headed in the direction of their home.