Of Insects and Illness Ch. 6
Disclaimer: See chapter one
Previously: "Jeff, I know that things look pretty bleak right now, but you've got to have faith that Alan can recover from this. He'll need all the strength he can get from you and the boys to get through this illness. You can't let him see how scared you are or it could have a detrimental affect on his recovery."
Sitting beside Alan's bedside a few hours later, Jeff could see the toll that stress was taking on his oldest. Scott's eyes were underlined with dark smudges and his cheeks were sunken in. He felt guilty for not having been there when Alan had had to be intubated. Scott was only fifteen and shouldn't have had to witness something so horrible happening to his baby brother.
"Scott, why don't you go to the hotel and get some rest son. John and the others will be here soon and you'll have the room to yourself so you can get some sleep." Jeff prodded hoping his oldest would listen. He was worried Scott's health would deteriorate if he kept going the way he was now.
"I'd rather stay with Allie, Dad. Please don't make me leave." Scott intoned as he rubbed his thumb across the back of Alan's small hand, the one without the IV attached to it. He couldn't stand the thought of leaving Alan with the state that he was in right now, fearing that if he did, he would never see his baby brother alive again.
"Scott, I'm just not sure that's such a good idea son. I'm worried how all of this is affecting you too son. It's obvious your exhausted and I don't want to see you get sick and end up in the hospital too." Jeff rebuked knowing how hard his oldest pushed himself, and he had only himself to blame for it. He had basically propelled Scott into becoming father to his other sons by immersing himself in his work and grief when Lucy had died.
"I'll get some rest, I promise. I have to be here in case…." Scott trailed off with a shudder as he thought about what could happen. Sighing, he wished he could block out the whoosh-click sound of the ventilator as it breathed for his brother.
"Scott, Alan's going to survive this son. He's getting the best of care, don't torture yourself with those kinds of thoughts." Jeff stated as he pulled his oldest into a comforting hug. "Sprout's going to be fine, just you wait and see." He enunciated with conviction, hoping that he wasn't lying to his oldest. He knew that malaria killed mainly the young and elderly, but Alan was a Tracy, and Tracy's were strong.
"Jefferson, is everything okay?" Dr. Robert Singer inquired as he walked into the room to check on Alan and saw the billionaire comforting his son.
"About as well as can be expected with everything that's going on." Jefferson answered as he turned to face the doctor. "Robert, how's my baby doing?"
"As you can see, he developed some problems with his breathing so I had to intubate him to take the pressure off of his weakened lungs. I wish I could give you better news, but Alan is still very critical." The doctor answered as he started assessing his young patient. Noticing that his skin seemed to be taken on a yellowish tone, he moved towards Alan's face and gently lifted his eye lid. "Damn, he's becoming jaundiced." Robert swore as he noticed the yellow coloring of the eyes also.
"Wh-what's that mean?" Scott questioned wearily after hearing more bad news.
"It mean's that Alan is becoming anemic. He's losing red blood cells quicker than his body can replace them. Usually, red blood cells will last anywhere from 90 to 120 days in the human body. But in Alan's case, they are rupturing due to the malaria" The doctor answered. "If we can't get a handle on it, then Alan could develop kidney damage and slip into a deep coma or worse."
"Surely there's a way you can treat the anemia isn't there?" Jeff questioned with alarm.
"Yes there is, but first I'm going to have to do a few tests to confirm my diagnosis. I'll have the lab run a peripheral blood smear and check for the LDH levels in his blood."
"And if the tests confirm that Alan has anemia?"
"Then we start Alan on a blood transfusion or steroid therapy to combat the anemia. Worst case scenario, I'll have to do a splenectomy since the spleen usually removes most of the red blood cells." Dr. Singer answered the distraught father.
Picking up the phone in the room, the doctor said, "I'm going to call for a phlebotomist to come take the blood samples and then do a more thorough examination of Alan. Why don't you and Scott go get yourselves something to eat. It's going to take a little while to complete the examination."
Knowing that Scott hadn't eaten anything in a while, Jeff decided to go along with the idea, even though he didn't like leaving Alan alone without either of them there. But he also knew Scott well enough to know his oldest wouldn't eat if he wasn't there to prod him to. "It has been a while since either of us had anything to eat and John should be arriving soon with my other two in tow, so I guess this would be a good time to get a bite of something. And before you ask, no Scotty, you can't stay." Returning his attention to the doctor, Jefferson asked, "Will you have me paged if anything changes?" while carding his fingers through Alan's blonde locks.
"Of course I will." Robert answered, knowing how protective Jeff was of his children. Watching as the two Tracy's left the room, he prayed that young Alan had the strength to fight the dreaded disease, because one thing was obvious, neither Jeff nor Scott would survive losing the child.
Stepping off the elevator on the first floor, the first thing Jeff heard was the excited voice of his second youngest son. Turning around just in time, he found himself nearly bowled over by Gordon as the youngster launched himself at his legs.
"Daddy, how's Allie, can he come home yet?" Nine year old Gordon queried as he wrapped his arms around Jefferson's waist.
"Sorry Gordy, but Alan is still pretty sick. He's going to have to stay in the hospital for a little while longer." Jefferson answered as he kneeled down in front of Gordon.
"But what's going to happen with us, will we have to stay here too?" Gordon asked with innocent eyes. "I don't like the hospital?"
"No son, you won't have to stay here, though you will be able to come and visit Allie. I've called Kyrano. He and Onaha will be coming to stay with you boys until Alan recovers enough that we can take him home." Jeff replied to his copper topped child with the intense green eyes.
"I hope it's soon daddy. I miss playing with sprout." Gordon voiced with a pout as Virgil stood silently by his side in a show of a support.
"I know you do son. Hopefully Alan will get better real soon and you two can get into your usual mischief once again." Jeff intoned with a sigh as he ruffled Gordon's hair. He would give anything to be at home now with Gordon and Alan pulling their pranks instead of having to be in the hospital, his baby on life support in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.
As he listened to his father answer all of Gordon's questions, John couldn't help but be concerned about the way his dad had said that Alan was pretty sick. Grasping Scott by the arm, he pulled his fifteen year old brother aside. "Scotty, just how sick is Alan? Dad said he was having breathing problems, but he didn't say how bad it was."
Scrubbing his hands through his hair, Scott wondered if he should answer the question truthfully. It was hard enough on him knowing about the intubation, and he wondered how the news might affect his brother. "John, I don't know if I should answer, maybe you should ask…"
"Scott, why don't you take your brothers down to the cafeteria and get them an ice cream so I can talk to John." Jeff suggested after overhearing the conversation between his two eldest children. He could see the plight that Scott was under and didn't want him to feel more stressed than he already was. Pulling some money out of his billfold, he handed it over to Scott and watched as his oldest led his brothers towards the cafeteria. After they rounded the corner and were out of sight, Jefferson wrapped his right arm around John's shoulders and said, "Let's go find a place where we can talk."
Finding a small alcove where they could talk in private, Jefferson motioned for John to sit down before doing so himself. Taking a deep breath, he said, "John, I wanted to talk to you alone because I don't want to put too much worry on Gordon and Virgil right now with them being so young. I'm not even sure you should hear the news."
"Dad, I'm old enough to handle whatever you say, I mean I already know Alan was having trouble breathing and I'm assuming that what you have to say has something to do with that." John replied in hopes that his dad would let him know exactly what was going on.
"Yes it does son. I wish I didn't have to tell you this, but your baby brother is having trouble breathing on his own right now so the doctor has put him on a ventilator to do the breathing for him." Jeff informed his second born knowing that John was mature for his years. "I know it's scary, but Alan's lungs can't handle the job on their own right now so he has to have the help with breathing."
"Alan will get better though, won't he?" John queried anxiously as he looked into his father's saddened eyes.
"I sure hope so." Jeff answered as best he could without giving false hope. "We just have to believe that the medicines will kick in soon and give Alan a fighting chance. But until then, we need to try to keep things as normal as possible for Virgil and Gordon. So what do you say we go join those brothers of your for some ice cream."
"Okay, that sounds good to me." John replied as they both stood up to go join the others. Walking down the hallway, he knew his dad was right to try and keep things as normal as possible for Virgil and Gordon, the less they knew, the better it was for them. Walking into the cafeteria, they had just gotten an ice cream of their own and sat down with Scott and the others, when a young nurse came walking up to their table.
"I'm sorry to interrupt you gentleman, but Mr. Tracy, you are needed in the PICU stat." The nurse informed the father after having received an emergency message from the head nurse in charge of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.
TBC