Chapter 17
"Okay, now open really wide and stick your tongue out."
Emily did as she was told as Abby gently swabbed the back of her throat. The swab triggered her gag reflex, and she coughed as Abby carefully labeled her sample. Ray thumped her on the back and looked up at Abby.
"When do you think you'll have the results?" he asked.
"Shouldn't be too long," Abby answered, "We can have them in about twenty minutes, but it depends on if the lab is backed up."
Emily stopped coughing and leaned against the hospital bed. "Now what?" she asked.
"Now," Ray said, turning to her, "We wait. If it's strep, we'll do antibiotics. Either ten days of oral meds, but if you keep vomiting, we should probably just give you a one-time penicillin injection." He felt Emily tense beside him.
"Let's not worry about that right now," Abby interjected, "Before we have a diagnosis. I'm going to go drop this off and I'll come back when the results come in," she finished with a smile, then turned and left Exam Three.
"Thanks Abby!" Ray called after her.
Once Abby left, Emily looked Ray straight in the eye. "Okay. The injection thing? What, are you just looking for excuses to freak me out? I'll have you know mister, I let you in on a very deep dark secret of mine, telling you about my shot issues!" she exclaimed, her voice rising to an unnaturally high pitch.
Ray gave an apologetic grin, "Okay, look, calm down! I just figured you'd rather have the facts up front than to have them dumped on you at the last minute! Especially because you threw up three more times at home and once since we got here—do you need another basin?" he asked as Emily went pale. She nodded and he handed her an empty one just in time for her to unload what Ray hoped was the very last of her stomach contents.
"How're you doing?" he asked as she wiped her mouth with a tissue. He squeezed her hand when several tears leaked out of her eyes. "It's not that bad," he said, standing up to rub her back.
"It is that bad!" Emily choked out. "I've been sick forever, first with mono, now this!" she shrieked, knowing that she was about to make some wild statements. "And what now? You're tired of taking care of me, so you figure you'll pay me back with another needle? What, you're pissed because I'm interrupting time you could be spending with Neela!" she spat out the name like it was a dirty word.
"Okay. Look," Ray took a step back. "I can't talk to you when you're like this. Just calm down. You're saying ridiculous things, things that you know are ridiculous, so I'm not going to even bother trying to refute them." He continued, "I think we both need a break from each other right now. I'm going to leave you here until Abby gets back and see if there's a patient anyone needs help with. I love you," he said, stooping down to give her a quick kiss on the cheek, "And I'll be back." With that, Ray left the room.
Emily sat for a moment, stewing in her own anger and feelings of helplessness. She felt mad at the world: mad at Ray and all of the doctors, whom she felt were belittling her, mad at everyone else who didn't fall under the "medical" category, and especially mad at herself. She didn't know why she'd snapped. She just felt the weight of everything that had been crushing her suddenly come to a breaking point. She knew she hadn't been fair to Ray, but he wasn't being fair either. Did he really expect all of this not to take a toll on her?
And Neela. She was sure there was something going on between the two of them, something very new. She sat there, relieved that the focus was no longer on her and her problems. She wasn't sure how she felt about Neela. She was okay, but she could be a little bit…what was the word? She didn't know what she thought about the idea of Ray and Neela as a couple. Maybe it'll grow on me, she thought, kind of like fungus.