Chapter 8
"Mom, what's wrong with Mary?" Matt asked his once again after they were in the car on the way to the hospital.
"Please Matt, not now. I will tell you later," Mrs. Camden told him, not wanting to scare Simon and Ruthie. Meanwhile, Mary was sitting in the back seat of the van. The pain in her lower abdomen had worsened and she was crying even harder now. Ruthie, Simon and especially Lucy, were starting to get very concerned about their older sister. Mrs. Camden looked in her rear view mirror and could not help notice the fear in each of their faces.
"We'll be there soon. Your sister is going to be fine," Mrs. Camden told Ruthie, Simon and Lucy.
Minutes later, they reached the doors to the emergency room. Mrs. Camden helped Mary out of the car and they all rushed inside. Once inside, Mrs. Camden checked Mary in while the rest of the children took a seat in the waiting room chairs.
"I need a doctor right away," Mrs. Camden told the receptionist frantically.
"I am sorry miss; there is a shortage of staff, but a doctor will be with you as soon as possible," the receptionist told Mrs. Camden.
"But…" Mrs. Camden urged.
"I am sorry, there is nothing that I can do," the receptionist told her. With that, Mrs. Camden decided to give up and returned to were her children were waiting for her.
"There is a shortage of staff and there is no doctor available to see Mary right now; we just have to wait," Mrs. Camden told no one in particular.
"Mom, please, it hurts," Mary said through tears.
"I know honey, I know," Mrs. Camden said as she wrapped her arms around her eldest daughter.
"There is nothing I can do. We just have to wait until a doctor is able to see you," Mrs. Camden told Mary.
Mrs. Camden and the children waited for what seemed like forever. Mary's stomach hurt really, really bad at this point and she was crying really hard from all the pain that she was in.
"Mary Camden," the doctor called finally.
"Matt, go call your father at the church and tell him to meet us right away," Mrs. Camden ordered.
"Okay," Matt told his mother.
"Lucy, stay here with Simon and Ruthie," Mrs. Camden told her.
"Okay," Lucy responded, doing as her mother told her. With that, Matt rushed to go and find a pay phone, while Mrs. Camden and Mary followed the doctor back to a room.
Once Matt found a pay phone, he inserted the correct change and then dialed the number to his father's church office.
"Hello," Reverend Camden said into the phone.
"Dad, we're at the Glen Oak Community Hospital and Mom wants you to meet us right away," Matt told his father.
"Matt, what's wrong?" Reverend Camden asked, concerned.
"I don't know exactly; all I know is that there is something seriously wrong with Mary," Matt told his father quickly.
"Matt, calm down. I am sure that your sister is going to be fine," Reverend Camden told his son.
"I hope so. I don't know what I would do if she weren't alright," Matt told his father.
"I'll be at the hospital in about five minutes, wait for me in the lobby. I love you," Reverend Camden told Matt.
"Love you too Dad," Matt told his father before hanging up.
Meanwhile, the doctor was examining Mary.
"So what seems to be the problem?" the doctor asked, looking at Mrs. Camden.
"She has been complaining that her stomach has been hurting really badly," Mrs. Camden told the doctor.
"Let me know if this hurts," the doctor said to Mary as he started pressing on her stomach. When he pressed on the right side of her lower abdomen, she let out a loud "OWWWW".
"I think that you may have appendicitis. We need to run a test to make sure that you didn't rupture your appendix," the doctor told Mary.
"Okay," Mary told the doctor, still crying.
"Honey, do you want me to come with you?" Mrs. Camden asked her daughter.
"No Mom, I'll be fine," Mary told her mother in a shaky voice.
"Are you sure?" Mrs. Camden asked, sensing the fear in her daughter's voice. "I am sure," Mary reassured her mother.
With that, Mrs. Camden returned to the waiting room.
"Dad's on his way," Matt told his mother. Mrs. Camden took a seat and waited for a doctor to come and talk to her about Mary's test results.
"Mom, what's wrong with Mary? I know there is something wrong. Please tell me. If anything ever were to happen to her I don't know what I would do," Matt urged.
"Mom, what's wrong with Mary?" Matt asked after a long silence.
"She has appendicitis. They are running a test right now to make sure that she did not rupture her appendix," Mrs. Camden told Matt.
"But she is going to be okay right?" Matt asked his mother.
"I don't know, but I hope so," Mrs. Camden replied.
"Me too," Matt told his mother.
A few minutes later, Reverend Camden came rushing through the emergency room doors where he found his wife and children waiting in the waiting room.
"I got here as fast as I could, what's wrong with Mary?" Reverend Camden asked his wife, out of breath. Mrs. Camden gripped her husband's shoulders tightly.
"Annie... what's going on?" Reverend Camden asked his wife in a quiet voice.
"Eric, she has appendicitis. They are running a test right now to see if she ruptured her appendix," Mrs. Camden told her husband. Reverend Camden let out a sigh of relief, knowing that the news was not as bad as he had thought it to be and, for that he was thankful for. With that, everyone sat down and waited anxiously for a doctor to talk to them.
Meanwhile, Mary was getting her test done. They put a tube down her throat that went to her stomach, which had a camera on the end of it. Then they told her to drink this pink liquid they had given her. They also told her that she needed to drink all of it in order for the test to be effective. Mary did as she was told, even though the liquid tasted absolutely horrible. Not being able to hold the liquid down, she ended up throwing it up.
"You need to try and keep it down, otherwise we won't be able to tell what is wrong," the doctor told Mary.
"Okay," Mary said, as she took the cup from the doctor and drank the pink liquid that was inside. This time it stayed down. Finally, Mary thought to herself. After the test was completed, the doctor told Mary to wait in the waiting room and that she would be called back when her test results had been processed. With that, Mary headed towards the waiting room.
When Mary reached the waiting room, she found her parents and brothers and sisters and went over and sat down next to them.
"The doctor told me to wait out here until my test results came back," Mary sniffed.
"A tube was put down my throat that had a camera on it and then I had to drink this pink liquid. It tasted horrible," Mary told her parents.
"How's your stomach?" Reverend Camden asked his daughter.
"It still hurts pretty badly," Mary said, as she began to cry harder. The truth was that Mary's stomach hurt a lot more than before, so bad that she was not sure how much longer she could stand it.
After a few more minutes, the doctor entered the waiting room. He led Mary and her parents back to the room they were in before while the rest of the children stayed behind.
"We got Mary's test results back…" the doctor said to Reverend and Mrs. Camden.
"And we have discovered that Mary has in fact ruptured her appendix. She needs to have surgery right away," the doctor told Reverend and Mrs. Camden. After Mary had said her finally goodbyes to her parents, she was wheeled off to the operating room. After Mary was no longer in sight, the Camdens' returned to the waiting room.