For The Love Of A Child
Chapter Five- Lu Gets Caught
Disclaimer: I copied this scene off of one of the Strong Medicine episodes. It is almost word for word. But it fit so well in with what my story was about I went ahead and copied. Don't sue me I'm just a devoted fan. Parts of this scene belongs to Whoopi Goldberg and the other creators of Strong Medicine! I just added a few twists and turns.
Three Weeks Later
"Ok so Lu you could still stand to gain a little weight, but your basics look OK, and why all of a sudden do you think you have hepatitis?" Dana asked Lu.
"Oh I feel fine. It's not me it's Jonas. We decided that we should both be tested, just to be on the safe side. I promised that I would go to an colleague doctor instead of just simply doing the test myself. He read somewhere how you can get it form eating fish and how it has been spreading like wild fire through our state and he thinks I look jaundice so I promised him I'd go see a doctor." Lu said as she rolled her eyes. After all she is a doctor too you know!
"Well the whites of your eyes look good, and your glands are not swollen, (Dana looked at Lu's hands which were palms up.) These are kindave orangey. (She stopped and thought for a moment.) Lu have you been eating a lot of carrots?" She asked.
"Well I mean carrots are good for you right?" She gave Dana a look.
"Well yes actually but if you eat too many of them you can get a condition we like to call beta-carotene overdose. Of course as you know its nothing to be afraid of but it can give your skin that orangey- yellowish color."
"Well um I've been on a carrots and mustard diet for a couple of weeks."
"What?" Dana asked gently she knew Lu had eating problems and she didn't want to support her dieting.
"Just so I can fit into my evening gown. Jonas and I are hosting a ball room fancy shiatsu being bang in a couple of weeks at our house and I have to fit into my dress don't I?"
"Well that's wonderful Lu, and I know how exciting ball room dances can be but a woman can't live off of carrots alone! She needs all of the proper nurturance and vitamins and she shouldn't be coming in at less that fifteen-hundred calories a day. Now when the blood work gets back we'll know for sure about the hepatitis but until then……"
"(cutting in) No more Bugs Bunny?"
"That's exactly it. You can get dressed now." Dana went to hand Lu her clothes and when she did heavy rocks fell out of her pockets and to the floor.
"What's this? Rocks?" Dana asked Lu…
"Oh um Marc he's a big rock collector. I forgot they were in there. Kids." Lu tried to cover up and act as if she thought Dana was stupid .But the question wasn't if Dana was stupid for believing Lu's cover up. The question is… ..Is Lu stupid enough to think Dana believed her cover up.
"Well Dana umm…. I came in today because I was wondering umm….. Well I know you're my mother's OBGYN and so I know that I can trust you right?"
"Of Course Falsity that's the matter?"
"I've been seeing this guy and we've been getting pretty serious you know?"
"Go on…"
"I was wondering if you could put me on birth control. I can't talk to my mom about it and well they won't sell it to me in the stores without a prescription because I'm not eighteen yet."
"I can do that for you but I really would urge you to talk to your mother first. Have you and this guy had sex yet?"
"Um well yeah we have." Falsity's face flushed a deep red.
"Did you use condoms?" Dana asked the thirteen year old girl.
"No they wouldn't sell them to me."
"OK well um can you come back in a couple of days? I have to check your file and make sure that the drugs won't make you sick or have a bad side effect on you."
"OK sure so I'll be back in two days. About the same time?"
"Yes that would be great….. And until then?"
"I know, I know." Falsity said as she rolled her eyes and Dana continued.
"No unprotected sex, you could get pregnant or worse you could get a STD."
"Ok I won't and you promise you won't tell my mom."
"Doctor patient privilege. Meaning I can't tell your parents anything you said here in this room., and meaning that if I did then you could sue me for breach of doctor patient confidentiality." Dana said as if she were quoting a text book.
"Thanks Dana." Falsity said before she walked out the door of the office and down the street to her boyfriend Eric's house.
"It's unethical!" Dana said as she and Lu entered the elevator.
"The don't do it!" Lu said shrugging her shoulders.
"I don't want her to get an STD !"
"Then do it!" Lu said again shrugging her shoulders.
"Just because she's my patients daughter doesn't mean I have a responsibility to protect her from STD's and pregnancy's."
"Oh lord forbid you get caught by the parents ."
"Or the ethics comity!"
"Their not going to catch you!" Lu said laughing.
"That's exactly what Karen Smith said as she leaned over my shoulder in 12th grade chemistry when she leaned over my chemistry exam demanding to see my answers."
"Oh! I can just imagine you as the girl hunched over laying down elbow out the imperishable role always having your nose stuck in the rule book," Lu laughed again and she and Dana exited the elevator and continued to walk.
"Well cutting corners may be your Philosophy of life but I don't…." Dana started before Lu broke in.
"I prefer to think of it as bending the rules thank you very much!" Lu corrected.
"Well say what you want but I still have to be on my toes so I don't have to be reviewed by the bored." Dana said
"Well so if this patient of yours has a mother who is your friend as well as your patient. Right?" Lu asked Dana giving her a weird look.
"Right."
"Well what's the use of having friends if they don't help you out in your time of need. Think of how much you'd be helping them. Just think do you really want to be delivering this teenagers baby. I mean she's thirteen she probably isn't even out of the eight grade yet." Lu reminded Dana.
"So your saying I'm being selfish by being honest?" Dana asked questionably.
"I'm just saying that it's not that big of a deal.! She's coming to you for help. I know what it's like to be young and pregnant and believe me it's no ball game. I would hate to have to see that little girl in that much pain."
"Well its still unethical."
"Who cares nobody's going to know."
"I'll know!"
"Nobody will know if you don't tell!" Lu shouted as she grabbed her coat and clocked out for the night. She was going home to have a nice relaxing evening with her husband.
Jonas and Lu sat down at the table for a dinner of salad and steak. Lu even though she was trying to eat more for the sake of the baby was still pushing her food around on her plate and not letting anything but plain lettuce touch her lips.
When Jonas was through eating he and Lu went into the living room to talk about plans for the baby and where her nursery was going to be.
"She's going to be so precious. She can have my study since it's the closest room to our bedroom. We can decorate it in pink and we can go out and buy all of the baby supplies and everything that were going to need." Jonas looked over at his wife who to him was looking a little pail and was staring out into space. Suddenly Lu fainted and collapsed onto the floor.
" Lu baby are you ok?" Jonas asked as he rushed to her side. When she did not respond he took out his cell phone and called 9-1-1 and then called Dana.
AT THE HOSPITAL
"Hi are you Jonas?" Dana asked as she ran alongside the Gurnee which the EMT'S were wheeling Lu into the ER on. Although she worked with Lu for along time she had never met Jonas her husband.
"Yeah that's me."
"Ok can you tell me what happened?"
"I don't know! She was doing fine. We ate supper and then we were talking about the baby and the plans for the nursery and she just fainted."
"She's ataractic , hypertensive, bps sixty over forty."
"OK ready guys on my count….one …two… and" Dana and the EMT'S lifted Lu off of the Gurnee and onto a exam bed.
"Lu it's Dana can you hear me?" Dana asked looking at Lu " Ok get me a CBS, hang a liter of normal saline and get me a CRET."
"Yes Ma'am"
" She's hypothermic we need some warming blankets to get her tempter up. (Then to Jonas.) Tell me what was going on when this happened?"
"Nothing we were just looking at baby magazines deciding what to do with the room that the baby is going to sleep in ." Jonas answered.
"CRET'S thirty she's anemic and it looks like she also dehydrated."
"OK do you ever see Lu eating?"
"Yeah she's picky though."
"Doctor this was in her purse." The nurse said handing Dana some pills.
"Diuretics ."
"I didn't know she was taking any medicine."
"This isn't medicine. Lu's heart rate is low so is her blood pressure, her body temperature is low, she's anemic, dehydrated, the orange skin is not form hepatitis the blood test I did confirmed that."
"Then what's wrong with her?" Jonas asked concerned.
"She's starving herself Jonas!" Dana said with a hint of anger in her voice.
Dana opened the door and walked into Lu's hospital room. She was so concentrated on saving Lu' s life that she hadn't realized until this exact moment how scared she was that she was about to loose her best friend.
"Hey Lu how are you feeling?"
"A little tired. I'm sorry I lied to you Dana, I'm so ashamed."
"Don't be. Be glad, glad that you no longer have to carry this secret around with you. Anorexia can kill you. But it can also be cured, as long as that's what you want."
"I do." Lu said her voice was weak and shaky.
"So how long have you been doing this to yourself?"
"I don't know."
"Do you remember why? I mean did you think you were overweight is that it?"
"I went on a diet. I don't remember why.."
"Was it the rape?"
"No before that, I just thought I could loose some weight that I'd look better and feel better about myself. So what happens now?"
"Well I'm going to try and get some nourishment back into you and then I'm going to set you up with an eating-disorders specialist so we can try and figure out why this is going on . And you and Jonas should think about postponing your party. "
"The party doesn't matter."
"Your health should come first I think so too."
"No I mean the party doesn't matter because all Jonas wants to do is throw it and tell everyone about the baby.. I'm so scared that I'm going to disappoint him. I'm so scared Dana that I'm not going to be able to do what's right to help my baby."
"Jonas can be very understanding I mean maybe I could talk to him."
"Don't he wouldn't understand."
"OK I won't, sweetie I'm your best friend and I'll be here for you no matter what."