Chapter 4

"Hey, Emily, I hear you're not doing too well," Neela said, pulling the curtain aside. After setting a tray down on the table, she grabbed a stool and wheeled it to the bed. Ray was sitting on a chair on the other side.

"No, not really," Emily answered weakly.

"Okay, well I'm going to ask you a few questions and do some other tests first before I draw some blood. Ray, maybe you'd like to wait outside?" Neela asked.

"Wh-what? Oh, um, yeah," Ray answered, clearly not used to being at this end of the stethoscope.

"Actually, I've got a guy in Two who needs sutures…you did say you owed me, right?" Neela asked, with a hint of a smile.

"Okay, I'll uh, get right on that," Ray said, a little bit hesitantly.

"All right," Neela said, turning back to Emily as Ray left. "What's the problem?"

"Well, I felt sort of sick when I went to bed last night, and really tired. I had a headache, too. When I woke up, I had a fever and felt so tired I could barely move," Emily answered slowly.

"Have you ever felt like this before?" Neela asked, making some notes on a chart.

"No, I don't think so," Emily continued, "But I think Ray's taking this a little bit too seriously."

"Okay, well we'll see if we can figure out what's going on," Neela answered, slipping the buds of her stethoscope into her ears. She listened to Emily's lungs before reaching for the blood pressure cuff. After taking her temperature, looking down her throat, and checking her glands, Neela scribbled down a few more things.

"Right," Neela continued, looking up, "Could you be pregnant?"

"What? No!" Emily answered, looking startled, summoning what energy she could muster to show her surprise.

"It's procedure, we have to ask that of all female patients," Neela stated simply. "Do you smoke or use alcohol or drugs?"

"No, none of that."

"Are you on any medication?"

"No, nothing."

"All right. And have you come into salivary contact with anyone in the last month or so, can you remember?"

"Uh, well," Emily stumbled, "I have a boyfriend, and um, we kiss…"

"Okay," Neela said. "Do you usually share drinks with friends, or anything else like that?"

"Not usually, but every now and then…a water bottle at school sometimes."

"All right," Neela continued, "Blood test time." Emily groaned. "Don't worry, I'm really good at it," Neela said with a smile. She stood up, grabbing some supplies off of the tray she'd brought in earlier. Snapping on a pair of gloves, she tied the tourniquet around Emily's right arm, and scrubbed a spot on her inner arm with an alcohol pad. Emily squirmed slightly, her eyes squeezed shut.

"Just relax," Neela said softly, expertly sliding the needle in. "All done," she said after a few moments, affixing a cotton ball to the spot and securing it with a band-aid. She carefully labeled the sample before pulling off her gloves.

"I'll let your brother know we're through. This'll get sent to the lab, and we should have an idea of what we're dealing with. Try to get some rest, okay?" Neela said with a smile, before pulling the curtain closed behind her.

Placing the vial in the lab bin at the front desk, Neela went into exam two to look for Ray. She caught him as he was walking out, snapping off his gloves.

"Hey, how'd she do?" Ray asked.

"She was fine. We'll just wait until we get the results back," Neela answered.

"Thanks again, Neela, for doing this," Ray said gratefully.

"It's no problem, really," she answered with a smile. "And, hey, thanks for taking my sutures,"

"You're welcome," he answered, returning her smile.