Mrs. Crane has taken Jonathan to the car as fast as she could and drove off, wheels squealing.
She was seized with a wild panic. She drove as far as she could, but she still had to take a circutious route because a lot of streets being had been cordoned off, for the parade.
The pain hadn´t died down or subsided at all. Jonathan crouched in his seat, still clutching his abdomen and his hips, whimpering in pain. Mrs. Crane was shouting his name over and over again, trying to figure out, what had happened, what was happening to him, but Jonathan kept on saying „Bring me home! Bring me home!" over and over again.
When they finally reached home, Mrs. Crane had to support Jonathan, so that he could walk slowly into the house, up the stairs, up into his room. Mrs. Crane helped him lie down on the bed, then she rushed downstairs to call up their family doctor, Dr. Luis Burton.
Dr. Burton had known Jonathan all his life, since his childhood.. Mrs. Crane owed him a lot, because he had always given them medical treatment without charging for anything. Dr. Burton was aware that the Crane family wasn´t able to pay expensive doctor´s bills.
A quarter of an hour after her call, Dr. Burton arrived at the Crane´s house. Jonathan was still lying on his bed, still whimpering and crying in pain. The doctor gave him an injection immediately to stop Jonathan´s convulsions and to lessen his pain. The injection started to have an effect and little by little Jonathan´s body relaxed, so Dr. Burton could examine him. His mother was standing outside in the hallway, waiting for the door to open and for Dr. Burton to come out. The whimpers coming out of Jonathan´s room, got softer. Mrs. Crane could hear a ratteling noise, something metallic, from the room. Then she heard steps, the doorknob turned and the doctor came out.
„Jonathan is sleeping for now. I gave him a sedative.", said Dr. Burton, keeping the door ajar so Mrs. Crane could take a peek at Jonathan.
He still was whimpering a bit, but it seemed like he finally calmed down. Dr. Burton closed the door quietly and touched Mrs. Crane´s arm. Both went downstairs into the living room.
„Luis, what is the matter with him?", Mrs. Crane asked. Both had known each other for many years now and sometimes, they just started to call each other by their first names.
„Well firstly.. Jonathan is running a high temperature.", Dr. Burton explained. „ I gave him a pain-killer and it will also help bring down his temperature. Jonathan told me, he was feeling a severe pain in his abdomen and his hips, going down to his loins.."
The doctor gazed at Mrs. Crane.
"And what does it mean?", she asked.
„I´m not sure..", Dr. Burton said. „I would like to examine him more and to do some more tests, but he should be in hospital for that... now, I know how difficult this would be for you, without proper health insurance, Sheila. So first I´ll try to help you as best as I can."
He gazed into Sheila´s eyes.
„I´ve taken a blood sample and I´ll take it to my lab today. Maybe we´ll have some more information then. For now, it´s important for Jonathan to rest and allow the medicine to act."
Mrs. Crane nodded.
„This is the pain-killer. I´ve written the dosage on the package. If Jonathan should have a seizure again, the other one is the sedative."
Dr. Burton passed the two packages over to Mrs. Crane. Their finger tips touched for a moment and Luis and Sheila looked at each other, blushing.
„Has Jonathan been under any kind of unusual stress, these past few days?", Dr. Burton asked to break up their awkwardness.
„He lost his girlfriend a few weeks ago, because of the war in Europe.", Mrs. Craine explained „The girl is German and was sent back when the war broke out. I was at the German embassy with Jonathan, when the rioting and chaos broke out . There he saw the girl for the last time and since then, we haven´t heard anything about her. All this has taken its toll on Jonathan, I think."
Dr. Burton took a deep breath.
„But the worst thing is:", Sheila said and touched Luis´ arm, as with every word she got more upset and her voice got louder. „Jonathan groans and screams almost every night, he doesn´t eat, he speaks to himself and as if that were not enough, he also masturbates every night! Today he was more or less normal for the first time and now this... this breakdown! I don´t understand it! Jonathan is not the same as before.."
„Sheila!", Luis said and held her hand, which was still resting on his arm. „The boy has lost his girlfriend! He can´t be the same as always, he is in mourning right now. Everybody has their own way of dealing with sorrow. There are people who just ignore it, others go crazy..."
„So, is that what you think, that Jonathan is crazy!", Sheila shouted in anger.
„No.", Luis said in a soft voice. „I didn´t mean it like that. I just believe that this has been all too much for Jonathan to handle. Today he simply got a message from his body, that he can´t go on like this. Give him time and support his as best as you can. Don´t put so much pressure on him. He´ll need time, until his life starts to become normal again."
„Yes, but.."
„Listen, let´s do this: first we´ll treat Jonathan´s physical problems. It is important to get him stabilized. If his condition worsens, I´ll take him to hospital. I´ll handle this. Now I´ll do some blood-work to check if there is anything specifically wrong. And I´ll call up some people to get psycological help for Jonathan. It´s possible that he´s simply suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. I´m not an expert on it, but if so, he´ll need a special treatment."
„But, Luis, I can´t pay for all this..!"
„Don´t worry. I´ll handle that. For now, Jonathan should rest and you should do the same. And you should help him by doing what´s the best for him. Just think about it and give him what he wants the most."
Sheila nodded.
„Okay..." she said softly.
„Ill come back later to see Jonathan and to after you. Call me up if his condition gets worse..call me up at anytime.", Dr. Burton whispered and let go Mrs. Crane´s hand.
Both walked to the main door. Dr. Burton said good-bye to Mrs. Crane, got into his car and drove off. Mrs. Crane watched him drive away and closed the door.
Just think about it and give him, what he wants the most .´ she remembered Dr. Butron´s words..
Could she really give him, or let him do, what Jonathan wanted most?´, she thought even if she realized that her son had grown up and that she would have to let him go.