Robyn woke up and could feel something over her nose and mouth. She recognised it by touch as an oxygen mask and tried to work out why she'd need one. She removed it thinking it unnecessary. Upon trying to recall what had happened the previous evening she found a gap in her memory and it worried her. She could feel hot breath against her arm and could feel the familiar softness of Kit's hair against her skin. She brushed the hair with her fingers and the sleeper stirred and awoke with a yawn.
"What happened?" Robyn asked trying to sit up but she felt dizzy.
Kit stretched before replying, "You don't remember? You took a turn for the worse and had a seizure. You've been having seizures all night. The Doctors reckon you have epilepsy." Kit spoke the last sentence softly but there was no doubting the impact of the revelation to Robyn.
Robyn's face crumpled in sadness and she fought back tears. Despite her evident dizziness Kit gathered her up in his arms and he cried too. When Robyn had collapsed the previous night he'd been terrified when convulsions overtook her body. He'd had no idea what was happening and Robyn hadn't complained of feeling strange. As far as he could recall without dredging up the horrid memory of the seizures Robyn had had to endure she'd been fine. Out of concern the Doctors had placed Robyn on oxygen but only on the condition that the mask be removed should she have another seizure to avoid her being strangled. Kit had been awake most of the night watching over Robyn and had fallen asleep when her body seemed to rest.
Doctor Cole walked into the room to start his morning rounds with Robyn and saw the scene before him. He knew instinctively that Kit had gone against his advice and told Robyn himself that she had epilepsy. Part of him was somehow glad that Kit had done the job for him as he hated to break bad news. He debated whether or not to come back later when both had calmed but he was noticed before he could leave.
Kit laid Robyn gently back down and turned to face Doctor Cole. Had the man been Doctor Trent he would have been severely reprimanded by now but he knew Doctor Cole wasn't the sort to interfere. As strange as the man was Kit liked him, there was something about Doctor Cole which would put you instantly at ease even if Doctor Cole himself wasn't.
"I'm doing my rounds and need to check on Robyn's progress first. I can come back later if it's inconvenient." Doctor Cole suggested.
Robyn spread her hands and replied, "Go ahead." She then turned to where she knew Kit to be, "Unless you have any objections."
Kit shook his head, "Nah," he said to Robyn and then looked to Doctor Cole, "you're very welcome to do what you need to do. We have an ulterior motive anyway,"
"Oh?" Doctor Cole asked with both eyebrows raised.
Robyn smiled feeling a little better, "The food here is awful. If you're in here they won't serve us and we have breakfast delivered especially from an outside source. Our stomachs can't take anything more than that."
Doctor Cole pursed his lips in an amused smile, "I agree. The food is atrocious even though the hospital itself is state of the art and one of the best in the country. I can't stand to eat here either."
Doctor Cole then walked over to the end of Robyn's bed and looked at her notes. He rubbed his chin as he read them and Kit could tell her read them thoroughly whereas Doctor Trent would just skim read them. Once he'd read the notes Doctor Cole placed them back in the little open box they came from and walked over to Robyn's left side.
"I suppose you know the drill by now?" Doctor Cole asked before starting his morning examination.
"Pulse, breathing, blood pressure and how I was during the night and how I feel now." Robyn replied with a slight smile.
Doctor Cole smiled himself and nodded. Due to Robyn's condition all the things she mentioned needed to be done regularly to make sure that everything was as it should be. Doctor Cole placed a small monitor on Robyn's finger to measure the amount of oxygenated blood cells in her body and while the machine was computing he counted her pulse.
"Pulse is normal, good." Doctor Cole mumbled and then looked to the monitor on Robyn's finger, "The oxygen levels are a little low, might be best to keep the mask on for now wherever it's gone. Once they pick up a bit we'll see where they are then."
Doctor Cole went back to Robyn's charts to note things down so far and then fetched a blood pressure monitor from the far side of the room. Placing the cuff around Robyn's arm he began to inflate it and with undeniable skill read what the dial said.
"That's a little low too. You've been feeling dizzy haven't you?" Doctor Cole frowned slightly as he spoke.
Robyn nodded.
"We'll get some food into you and some fluids and see if we can't rectify that." Doctor Cole commented removing the cuff and taking the machine back to where it had been before.
Despite all of the state of the art gadgets that Greentown Hospital used Doctor Cole was still very deeply steeped in the traditional methods such as human touch for pulses and stethoscopes for hearts. He didn't trust a lot of the computerised machines despite using them in theatres quite often. He preferred to use his own wits where he could and was often seen as being rather strange for doing so.
Once he'd written the results of Robyn's blood pressure in her chart he walked over to her and flashed his pen torch in her eyes to see if anything had changed there. It was with a slight disappointment plain on his face that he noticed that there was no improvement. He noted this down also and then looked at the pair in front of him.
"Now, I know about what happened last night and you've been booked in for some more brain scans this afternoon. They'll be much more detailed than the last ones. I'm going to prescribe you some medication for the epilepsy which should help settle it down if not control it. Unfortunately due to the events of last night we'll have to put off your discharge until we know what's happening. It could be between three days and a week before you get sent home."
Kit and Robyn nodded understanding. There was sadness evident in Robyn's eyes which made Doctor Cole feel great sympathy for the poor blighted girl and also a little guilt. His examinations complete with Robyn he went on to his next patient.
Kit sat next to Robyn on the bed and helped her put her oxygen mask back on. Both of them were very disappointed in this development and anxious about what the brain scans would come up with. Kissing Robyn on the cheek Kit went to find breakfast.
Doctor Cole finished his rounds in very good time and had endeavoured to enjoy a good breakfast from the Hospital canteen but had yet again been let down badly by the food. He made a mental note to himself to bring up the quality of the food in the Hospital in the next director's meeting. Doctor Cole was glad to be a member of the board of directors and the freedom it allowed him. To many people's disgruntlement Doctor Trent was also a member of the board of directors and would decry any mention of the poor food protesting it was satisfactory. The truth was the food was dissatisfactory that it wouldn't even be given to the dead if they could eat. How no one had come down with food poisoning within the hospital was a great mystery to everyone. It was one of those mysteries that could never be solved.
Once he was sure that his breakfast wouldn't reappear as he always felt it would after eating at the canteen he returned to his office. He opened the door and without looking into room before entering closed the door again behind him.
"I wondered when you would come back, Gerald." A voice said from behind him.
Doctor Cole suppressed a cry at the unexpected voice and whirled round to see who it was. He was surprised to see Doctor Trent sitting in his chair. "What are you doing here?"
Doctor Trent smiled and got up from the chair, "I wanted a word with you about the Robyn Rotten case."
"Oh yes?" Doctor Cole replied trying to sound disinterested but failing miserably.
Doctor Trent's smile grew a little at this pathetic attempt and then vanished just as quickly and was replaced by a cold glare. Doctor Trent grabbed Doctor Cole by the lapels and shoved him against a wall before pressing himself closer to his prone colleague.
"You're handing the case over to me. No questions. No objections." Doctor Trent hissed coldly.