Louis hurried down to medical records, his mind not really
connected to his body at the moment though but back in that hospital room
with his son. If anything happened to Elmer... Louis had thought that
losing Edgar would destroy him but he had survived somehow. If he ended up
losing Elmer, though, he was sure that he wouldn't survive. He shook his
head sadly as he thought of it. Did Elmer have any idea how much he was
loved? How had their relationship taken such a wrong turn?
He waved to the woman in charge of medical records as he entered,
not even able to recall her name at that point. She was normally extremely strict about who she let touch her precious files but when she saw Louis,
she nodded, a sad expression on her face, as she waved for him to go on in.
Louis shook his head as he headed into the stacks in search of Lona's file. Did everyone in the hospital know what was going on and did they all have to look at him with these awful pitying looks like he had already lost his remaining child? Elmer wasn't dead yet and he wasn't going to be!
Louis wasn't going to lose his son no matter what it took to save him!
Saving Elmer. One essential thing if he wanted to save his son was to save Lona. Okay, he didn't think that Elmer would exactly die if she didn't survive but there would be a part of him that would be irreparably broken. Louis felt tears starting to sting his eyes as he thought of his son going through something like that, something he knew all to well due to first the divorce and then having to see Emma die with nothing that he could do to save her. He firmly forced that memory away the second that it surfaced. Thinking about Emma's death would do no good now, would only make him lose the focus that he needed to help find a solution to this problem. There had to be a way to cure Lona. They just had to find it in time.
With a slight smile, he reached out and extracted Lona's medical record. He knew he should just take it up to Hook. As the doctor in charge, he was in the best position to interpret things as they might connect to Lona's current condition. He couldn't help be look though,
hoping that he might see something, anything, that would help. Besides Elmer's feelings for her, Lona had been a good friend to him over the years, had been especially comforting after Edgar.... He blinked back tears as he though of those difficult days ad how Lona had tried so hard to help even though she was definitely way out of her depth. There had to be something that he could use to help her now when she needed it.
Everything in the record was basically normal, something that wasn't surprising. He had rarely known Lona to be sick and even when she was she would come in anyway and just isolate herself in the sleep lab.
Suddenly his eyes fell on one short notation and he almost dropped the record in shock. Living Will. Lona had a....
Louis walked out of medical records in a daze, ducking into the nearest empty room that he could find before starting to look at the record once more. Living will. Now something was starting to come back to him vaguely. It had been after they had lost a patient, a slow, lingering death after a severe head trauma. He wasn't really sure why the entire situation had bothered Lona so much. They had lost other patients from similar injuries before, after all. This one had just gotten to her though and he remembered her saying that she didn't want to be kept alive like that, forced to linger when there was no hope for recovery and a meaningful life. Then the next thing that he had known, she had asked him to witness something for her.
Louis shook his head as he thought of that. He hadn't even read the blasted thing, had been distracted by some sort of mess that Elmer had gotten up to in med school and had just trusted Lona's judgment. How in the world was he going to explain to his son why he had signed a paper that could result in Lona's death? And was this a situation that called for the use of a living will? Louis slumped forward in the chair, burying his face in his hands, his elbows on his knees. He remembered more now, how adamant Lona had been about not wanting life support if she suffered brain damage,
if she had no chance of recovery. And hadn't Hook said something about some kind of problem that he had seen on the EEG? Had Lona suffered brain damage due to either the illness itself or the cardiac arrest that it had triggered?
"Louis?" He heard a voice call his name and looked up to see Chris standing in the doorway. "What's going on?" she said quietly as she hurried across the room to join him, the expression on his face frightening her. "Did something happen to...." Chris didn't want anything to happen to Elmer or Lona of course. Both of them were her friends. If anything happened to Hook though....
"Take a look." Louis said quietly as he handed the record to her,
pointing out the notation with a finger. "Look right there."
"A living will?" Lona had a living will? Why in the world would she even think about that at her age? Okay, Lona liked to go on about her age and how she was much too old for Elmer but honestly she wasn't that old. "You knew about this?" Chris asked quietly, suddenly understanding why Louis was looking like he did.
Louis nodded. "I didn't remember it until I saw the note of it in the record. So, want to help me figure out how I can tell my son that we might have to pull the plug on the woman that he loves in just a little while?"
He waved to the woman in charge of medical records as he entered,
not even able to recall her name at that point. She was normally extremely strict about who she let touch her precious files but when she saw Louis,
she nodded, a sad expression on her face, as she waved for him to go on in.
Louis shook his head as he headed into the stacks in search of Lona's file. Did everyone in the hospital know what was going on and did they all have to look at him with these awful pitying looks like he had already lost his remaining child? Elmer wasn't dead yet and he wasn't going to be!
Louis wasn't going to lose his son no matter what it took to save him!
Saving Elmer. One essential thing if he wanted to save his son was to save Lona. Okay, he didn't think that Elmer would exactly die if she didn't survive but there would be a part of him that would be irreparably broken. Louis felt tears starting to sting his eyes as he thought of his son going through something like that, something he knew all to well due to first the divorce and then having to see Emma die with nothing that he could do to save her. He firmly forced that memory away the second that it surfaced. Thinking about Emma's death would do no good now, would only make him lose the focus that he needed to help find a solution to this problem. There had to be a way to cure Lona. They just had to find it in time.
With a slight smile, he reached out and extracted Lona's medical record. He knew he should just take it up to Hook. As the doctor in charge, he was in the best position to interpret things as they might connect to Lona's current condition. He couldn't help be look though,
hoping that he might see something, anything, that would help. Besides Elmer's feelings for her, Lona had been a good friend to him over the years, had been especially comforting after Edgar.... He blinked back tears as he though of those difficult days ad how Lona had tried so hard to help even though she was definitely way out of her depth. There had to be something that he could use to help her now when she needed it.
Everything in the record was basically normal, something that wasn't surprising. He had rarely known Lona to be sick and even when she was she would come in anyway and just isolate herself in the sleep lab.
Suddenly his eyes fell on one short notation and he almost dropped the record in shock. Living Will. Lona had a....
Louis walked out of medical records in a daze, ducking into the nearest empty room that he could find before starting to look at the record once more. Living will. Now something was starting to come back to him vaguely. It had been after they had lost a patient, a slow, lingering death after a severe head trauma. He wasn't really sure why the entire situation had bothered Lona so much. They had lost other patients from similar injuries before, after all. This one had just gotten to her though and he remembered her saying that she didn't want to be kept alive like that, forced to linger when there was no hope for recovery and a meaningful life. Then the next thing that he had known, she had asked him to witness something for her.
Louis shook his head as he thought of that. He hadn't even read the blasted thing, had been distracted by some sort of mess that Elmer had gotten up to in med school and had just trusted Lona's judgment. How in the world was he going to explain to his son why he had signed a paper that could result in Lona's death? And was this a situation that called for the use of a living will? Louis slumped forward in the chair, burying his face in his hands, his elbows on his knees. He remembered more now, how adamant Lona had been about not wanting life support if she suffered brain damage,
if she had no chance of recovery. And hadn't Hook said something about some kind of problem that he had seen on the EEG? Had Lona suffered brain damage due to either the illness itself or the cardiac arrest that it had triggered?
"Louis?" He heard a voice call his name and looked up to see Chris standing in the doorway. "What's going on?" she said quietly as she hurried across the room to join him, the expression on his face frightening her. "Did something happen to...." Chris didn't want anything to happen to Elmer or Lona of course. Both of them were her friends. If anything happened to Hook though....
"Take a look." Louis said quietly as he handed the record to her,
pointing out the notation with a finger. "Look right there."
"A living will?" Lona had a living will? Why in the world would she even think about that at her age? Okay, Lona liked to go on about her age and how she was much too old for Elmer but honestly she wasn't that old. "You knew about this?" Chris asked quietly, suddenly understanding why Louis was looking like he did.
Louis nodded. "I didn't remember it until I saw the note of it in the record. So, want to help me figure out how I can tell my son that we might have to pull the plug on the woman that he loves in just a little while?"