THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR

Part 4

The paramedics had called ahead so as soon as the ambulance arrived, Charlie was immediately taken to an exam room. Once the young man had been carefully transferred from the gurney to the table, Pam hung the IV bag on the pole and said, "If you don't need us for anything, we'll be heading out."

"We can get it from here," the nurse said as she went to get a gown for the patient to put on.

The doctor was saying, "I hear you've been having some abdominal pain. On a scale of one to ten can you tell me how bad it is?"

"Was…eleven…Not so…bad now…" Charlie answered.

"That was after the morphine?" the doctor asked.

"After morphine," Charlie confirmed.

"I'll have Amy help you get undressed and into a gown," the doctor instructed. He stepped away from the bed.

When Terry arrived at the hospital, she quickly headed into the ER to find out about Charlie.

The nurse on duty at the triage desk looked up to asked, "Can I help you?"

"Yes. A friend of mine—Charles Eppes—was just brought in. Can you tell me where he is?" Terry asked.

She quickly consulted a computer screen and replied, "The doctor is with him right now. "You can take a seat and wait for someone to come out and talk to you."

"Thank you," the FBI agent replied and headed for the row of semi comfortable looking chairs."

Once she had helped Charlie into the gown, she began to check his vitals, reporting the readings to the doctor. "His temp is 103. BP 100 over 80." She said.

"Okay, I'll get him started on a broad spectrum antibiotic and call for a surgical consult just in case," the doctor instructed.

"Yes, Dr. Brusci," Amy replied and stepped over to the phone to make the necessary calls.

He turned his attention to Charlie. "Can you tell me where the pain is located?"

"Lower right side," the patient answered.

"I'm going to press on various places of you abdomen and you tell when the pain is the worst," the doctor said and began to lightly press down.

Charlie managed to stay silent until the doctor got to his lower right side but as he felt the pressure he let out a gasp of pain.

"The doctor took note of that and asked, "Did it hurt worse when I pressed or when I let go?"

"When you…let go," Charlie answered.

"Rebound tenderness. I called in a friend of mine to take a look at you and if he agrees with my preliminary diagnosis, you'll most likely be heading up to surgery soon," Dr. Brusci said.

"Amy spoke quietly to the doctor, "Dr. Liang will be on his way down as soon as he can."

"He's one of our best surgeons," the ER doctor assured Charlie and began making notations in the patient's chart.

"What have we got, Keith?" Dr. Joseph Liang asked as he entered the exam room and paused to pull on a pair of gloves.

"My prelim diagnosis is appendicitis—pain in the lower right quadrant, nausea and vomiting and rebound tenderness, temp is 103." Dr. Brusci replied

"That's a little high. What have you given him for it?" Dr. Liang asked as he began his own examination of Charlie.

Terry had gotten herself a cup of coffee which she not even gotten around to drinking and was resisting the urge to get up and pace when she saw the two doctors finally approach. Getting to her feet, she asked, "How is Charlie?"

Dr. Liang spoke up," All I can say that's stable right now and will be going to surgery fairly soon."

"its appendicitis, isn't it?" Terry asked and watched him nod in confirmation. "That's what I suspected so I called 911. Charlie just thought he just had the stomach flu."

"The early symptoms are easy to misdiagnose as bad case of the stomach flu or food poisoning," Dr. Liang agreed.

Dr. Brusci said, "He's asking for some one named Don. Would that person happen to be here?"

"Unfortunately not. Don is his brother and he called me when he couldn't get a hold of Don. Look, could I see Charlie for a minute before he goes to surgery. I think I can assure him that Don will be here soon," Terry explained.

"All right but only for a few minutes since he's getting ready to be transferred to the surgical unit," Dr. Liang replied. "Please follow me."

"Thank you," Terry replied and followed the surgeon back to the exam room.

Charlie had just been given some more of the morphine and some valium to relax him. Looking at Terry as she approached the bed, he asked, "Don…with…you?"

Terry reached out and took his hand. "Not yet, Charlie, but I promise you that he'll be here when you wake up from surgery," Terry answered.

"O-Okay," Charlie replied, closing his eyes.

Terry placed his hand on the bed and turned to leave. "I'll get him here even if I have to drag him kicking and screaming every step of the way," she muttered.

"I can have someone show you where the surgical waiting room is," Dr. Liang said as he picked up the chart and made a quick notation.

"I'll be back later. Right now I need to go track down his brother before I decide to strangle him myself," Terry replied and headed for the door.