CHAPTER 2- THE DOCTOR'S OFFICE
It took Kristen about ten minutes to drive them to the doctors. She had called ahead to let them know they were coming. They had said to come on in and warned her there might be a wait but they would fit them in. Apparently the whole of the O.C. was being hit hard by this bug. It seems germs have no respect for wealth and did not discriminate.
She found a parking place after a bit of searching. She had hoped for one close to the door so Ryan would not have to move far, but it seemed everyone else had had the same idea. After setting the brake she looked over at her foster son. He had managed to drift into a light doze on the way over a testament to just how rotten he must be feeling. She hated to wake him knowing he needed the rest, but she wanted to get him scene quick and on some medications if they could to help him heal sooner. With this in mind she reluctantly shook his shoulder to wake him.
"Ryan, honey, you need to wake up we're here."
Slowly the boy's eyes blinked open. He appeared a bit confused at first since this wasn't their home, but then it dawned on him that they must be at the doctor's office. With a grunt he sat up straighter and hit the button to realize his seatbelt. Meanwhile Kristen had made it out of the car and around to his side and opened the door for him. She offered him her arm and helped the unsteady teen out of the car. Once he was standing she gave him a minute to get his bearings. He brushed his hand lightly across his brow after a second and took a step towards the door swaying slightly. Noticing this Kristen once more grabbed his elbow after closing his car door. Together the two made it slowly across the parking lot. Stopping occasionally to let Ryan catch his breath. After what felt like forever to Ryan they finally made it to the door of the pediatrician's. The sign on the window read 'Dr. Peters Pediatric medicine'. As they walked through the door a bell sounded to announce their arrival.
Kristen let her eyes survey the crowded waiting room for a place for Ryan to sit. She noticed one in the far corner and walked him over to it.
"Here Ryan. You sit here and rest while I get you checked in. I'll be right back."
The boy didn't even acknowledge her words. He simply sat down and then curled himself into a small ball in the chair letting his head rest against the wall. Shivers continued to rack his thin frame as he tried to rest. Kristen gave him a deep sorrowful look and then quickly moved to start the intake process. After a few brief words with the registration nurse she had a stack of papers and was able to make her way back to Ryan.
This was Ryan's first visit to their doctor and Kristen's first time filling out paperwork for him. Usually Sandy did things like this for Ryan. Kristen took a deep breath and prayed she had all the needed information. Ryan technically had Medicaid but Sandy had insisted on getting him added to their insurance once Ryan moved in saying that Medicaid often didn't cover near enough or made you go to doctors that weren't the best. Kristen hadn't been sure she agreed with him at first, but now she was grateful for Sandy's stance. The insurance part was quickly filled out, but then came the hard part. Too many of the personal history questions Kristen didn't know. A stab of guilt filled her heart as she realized she wasn't even sure if her son had any allergies to medication. After collecting herself a bit she realized now was not the time to wallow in self-pity she needed to get these filled out so Ryan could be seen and get home to a real bed soon. Reluctantly she shook Ryan awake for the second time in ten minutes.
"I'm sorry sweetheart, but I need your help with some of these papers. I don't know all of your medical history."
"Oh." Ryan said simply. He struggled to sit up a bit straighter and started to just grab the paperwork to fill out on his own. The shaking of his hands though quickly indicated to Kristen that this would not work.
"No Ryan. I'll write you just answer okay?"
"K" the boy slurred clearly exhausted.
"So you have any allergies to medication?"
"Codeine and penicillin."
"Any medical conditions?"
"Had asthma as a kid. Haven't had trouble since I was 7 though. Get migraines sometimes. Had tubes in my ears as a kid. Have a heart murmur."
Kristen inhaled sharply at that. Her son has a heart condition.
"Don't worry doctor said it wasn't causing any problems."
Kristen wasn't sure she agreed with that or trusted any doctors Ryan had previously seen but for now she would let it slide until she could get it looked at closer by Doctor Peters.
"Any Surgeries?"
"Tonsils when I was 4. Umm I …." Ryan's voice trailed off suddenly causing Kristen's heart to pound wondering what was causing her son so much concern that he was afraid to share.
"What is it Ryan? What happened?"
In a voice barely audible Ryan muttered "I got shot."
"What?" Kristen's voice rose causing some of the people around them to turn their heads.
"What did you say?" She repeated a little quieter.
"I got shot once when I was 6. A drive by. I got hit in the stomach. It missed all the major organs but I was in the hospital a few weeks."
"I'm so sorry that happened to you Ryan is there anything else?" Kristen asked changing the subject sensing he didn't want to go into any more details at this time. Kristen was going to have a long talk with Sandy later. He had Ryan's whole file. She had never wanted to know everything in it, but now she was reconsidering. What horrible things had this child been through and how could she help him? It was amazing the intelligent caring young man he was despite his troubled past.
"No that's it."
"Any other things they should know?"
"Um I get allergies in the spring. I get sinus infections and ear infections sometimes. My family has a history of diabetes. That's it- I think."
"That's good Ryan. I should be able to finish now. Anything else they need to know they can ask us later. Why don't you get some more rest?"
"K." He said once more curling in on himself.
Kristen walked the papers up to the front desk.
"Is there any way I can get a blanket for my son? He's shivering pretty badly." Kristen asked the nurse.
"Sure. Let me get one. Hopefully you won't have to wait too long. I saw him when he came in and noticed he looks a lot worse than most of the others. I mentioned this to Doctor Peters and they are going to try and work him in sooner." The nurse responded.
"Thank you. I'm pretty worried. I have never seen him this sick before."
"I get it." The nurse said. "Here is your blanket. We'll call you back when we have a room."
With that Kristen headed back to Ryan draping the blanket over him as she sat down.
A mumbled thanks was heard at the gesture.
The nurse was true to her word and twenty minutes later Ryan's name was called.
"Come on sweetheart they called your name." Kristen said as she shook him awake.
Ryan slowly uncurled himself from the chair and with Kristen's assistance walked to the back room.
"Hi Ryan. I'm Kelly your nurse. I am sorry you are not feeling well. I need to get your height and weight and then I'll take you to a room. I'm afraid you have to give up the blanket for a minute though."
Ryan regrettably unwound himself from the blanket and stepped on the scale. The nurse was quick and efficient and soon he had his blanket back and was being ushered into a room.
"Alright hop up on the bed and let me get your temp and blood pressure."
Ryan with Kristen's assistance did as asked. The nurse soon had a thermometer in his mouth and a cuff on his arm.
"Well Ryan your blood pressures a little low 105 over 70 and your temps 103.2"
"That's up from when he was at school." Kristen interjected worriedly.
"It's okay Kristen; I run high and remember I haven't taken anything for it yet. Also my blood pressure is usually low so don't get too worried." Ryan interjected softly.
"Well regardless that's a high temp. I'll let Doctor Peter's see these and he should be in shortly. Sit tight till then." With that said the nurse was out the door.
In what was really a fairly short amount of time for a doctor's office, the Doctor was soon entering into Ryan's room. Ryan was particularly impressed considering his history in clinics was waits that took hours.
"Hello Kristen and Ryan. I am Doctor Peters." The doctor looked to be about sixty with kind eyes and a gentle manner. His hand was extended to Ryan in greeting.
"HI" Ryan replied accepting the handshake.
The doctor noticed the boy's cold hands and held on to his hand for a minute looking at the nail beds checking the coloring since he had noted the history of asthma. For now they appeared alright.
"Well tell me what seems to be the problem today."
Kristen knowing from experience that the doctor liked to hear things firsthand from the patient kept quiet. Ryan caught on after a minute when Kristen didn't say anything and started to speak up.
"It started this morning. At first I thought I was just tired, but then I started having chills and getting a headache. The headache made me sick to my stomach and I threw up twice. The nurse at school told me I had a high fever which is sort of normal for me when I get sick. Kristen came and got me and now I'm here."
"A man of few words and straight to the point. I like that. Well let me take a listen to your lungs and look in your ears, throat and nose and then we'll go from there."
The doctor went about his tasks quickly asking Ryan to breathe on occasion and open his mouth or tilt his head. He felt around the lymph nodes and tested reflexes. In a few minutes the exam was complete.
"Well I'm hearing some congestion and I see some inflammation in your throat and ears. Due to your history of sinus infections I am going to start you on an antibiotic. Not penicillin. Have you ever had biaxin?"
"I'm not sure. I didn't take much growing up."
"That's fine. Most people who are allergic to penicillin do fine on this though it can cause irritation to your stomach so you'll want to try and take it with food. If you have trouble we can switch to something else. Seth has had it before so Kristen knows what to watch for in terms of problems."
"Okay."
"You can take Motrin for the fever. If it goes over 104 after starting the fever and doesn't come down you may need to go in to the hospital though. I don't want to mess with high fevers for too long with a known heart condition."
"Motrin usually works." Ryan replied all the while praying that would hold true. He hated hospitals.
"Good. Well I'm going to have a nurse come in and draw some blood just in case, but mostly it looks like you probably have the flu bug that's going around. Normally I don't even put people on antibiotics for this, but with your history I want to be cautious. Any questions?"
Ryan shook his head no.
"No, thank you Dr. Peters." Kristen replied.
The nurse to draw blood was in quickly and after she finished Kristen and Ryan were given a prescription for his meds and allowed to leave. Together they made their way back to the car.
"Okay Ryan we'll drop this off at the pharmacy on the way home and then sandy can pick it up on the way back from work."
"Okay." Ryan replied once again drifting towards sleep.
He remained sleeping through the pharmacy stop and all the way home. When they pulled up to the drive Kristen shook him awake and helped him out.
"Ryan, I want you staying in the guest room today. I need to watch your fever."
"You don't have to do that. I'm sure I'll be fine. I don't want to trouble you."
"You're not any trouble Ryan. If it wasn't for the fact that you like the pool house I'd have you move in fulltime anyway. But truthfully this is to help me out tonight. It will be easier on me to check in on you and as a mother that is just what I plan to do."
"Okay." Ryan said a faint smile flickering to his lips when he realized she saw herself as his mom. This whole being sick thing was awful, but learning how Kristen felt about him might just make it all worth it.
The argument about rooming situations closed the two slowly made their way inside as mother and son.