Chapter 3: Sick meeting
Sorry for the waiting, but I had computer problems and exams to take care of! I know this chap is a bit shorter, and I would have liked to write longer chapters, but I couldn't wait to post this chapter. Enjoy!
I don't own any of the characters or universe from Twilight, they're Stephanie Meyer's.
Jacob went to sit with me after he registered me. Now that had been about thirty minutes since I last threw up, the dizziness was going away. Although the stomach pain… Oh god, that was surely not going away, it was rather getting worse. Even the slightest moving in my seat or touching my stomach made it worse. Seeing how bad I was shaking because of the fever, Jacob gave me his hoodie.
''I'll be right back Bella, I'll call Charlie.''
''No! Jacob… Don't… It would only worry him while he waits here with me. I'll call him when we know what's wrong with me. It's probably just a bad cold or something.'' I said, lifting my gaze to meet him, pleading with my eyes.
He gasped and the next second he was up and leaving me there. What? What did I say wrong? Oh, he's going back to the registering lady. But why?
Then, the lady at the front desk with whom Jacob was talking left, leaving him there alone. When she came back, she told something to Jacob and he went back with me.
''Jacob, what's the matter?''
''Your eyes.'' He said, worry plain in his face.
''What about them?'' I asked, at loss.
''They're yellow… It's definitely not just a bad cold. The lady up there consulted a doctor, and you're next on the list. How are you feeling?''
''Fine, my stomach's just a bit tender, that's it.''
''Well, I don't know you for long, but I guess that means your stomach hurt like hell. Damn Bella, you have pain written all over your face. Now, stop acting like there's no big deal so the doctors can find what's wrong with you.'' He chastised me.
Damn, why was I such an open book?
About ten minutes later, they called my name. Seeing that just standing up looked painful to me, Jacob took me in his arms again, not listening to whatever protests came out of my mouth. He put me on the examination table, going for the seat right next to it, but the nurse told him only family was allowed.
''It's fine Jacob, I'm in good hands. Go grab a coffee at the cafeteria.''
He sighed, looking exhausted, although it had only been an hour and a half since he found me in Mike's bathroom.
''Fine… Just… Be honest with the doctors, okay?''
''Yeah, I will…''
Two minutes after he left, the doctor came in and closed the door, looking intently at the file in his hands with a puzzled expression on his face.
''Hi I'm Doctor Cullen. So, hummm, what are your symptoms miss Swan?'' He said in a single breathe finally looking up at me.
My mouth almost fell open at that exact moment, when I saw that face of his. An angel would have been jealous of his beauty. His eyes, I had never seen such an eye color before; something close to butterscotch, but more gold.
And the next second, I was forced out of my dazzled state while his face contorted in a weird way, close to… disgust? I didn't have the time to analyze his traits any further since he spun around, opened the door, and left mumbling an excuse I couldn't really decipher. Huh? What the hell just happened?
About five minutes later, another doctor came in to take his place. Oh my, what was this hospital? That doctor was the second prettiest thing I saw in my life (the first one being the previous doctor). He could have easily been a mannequin. And his eyes, they were the exact same color than the other doctor. And his skin was the same white shade, almost looking sick. But oddly, the resemblance stopped there; not the same hair color, not the same height, not the same built… He looked older, but just by a few years. His brother, maybe?
''Hi miss Swan, please excuse my son, he had a bad day.'' He introduced with a nice and exquisite voice.
His son? God, he didn't look like he could have a twenty something years old son… He could have adopted him, but what about the eyes and skin colors?
''Uhh… Hi… Humm, that's o…okay…'' I stammered.
''So, what do we have here?'' He asked rhetorically looking at my file. ''Hummm… Well, Miss Swan, you will have to stay here for the night at least, your symptoms are not looking good to me, especially for the jaundice. And I'd like to take your temperature, your friend told me it was 104 F an hour ago.'' He proceeded to take my said temperature and frowned at the thermometer. ''Yes, it is still as high. And you also have stomach pain? Is it painful if I touch here?'' I didn't need to answer, my wince gave me away. ''We are taking you right away for a CT scan to confirm my hypothesis. I think you have appendicitis, Miss Swan.'' And I just looked at him, shocked by the news. He went in the corridor, saying instruction to the nurses.
The nurses came in with a stretcher, telling me to lie down on it. They rolled me through the hospital, the older Doctor Cullen following behind. They installed me on the bed from the machine, and told me to stay still during the test. I did everything as I was told, trying to take in the fact that I was probably having appendicitis. The nurses left me alone, Doctor Cullen being behind a glass wall with many computers. He spoke through an intercom:
''I know your stomach hurts Miss Swan, but please try to hold still during the whole examination. It will only take about ten minutes.'' And with that, a buzzing sound started, while the machine moved around me. All I could think of was that I was awfully cold, and that I wish I could rip my abdomen open, anything to get rid of the white hot pain.
An eternity later, the machine stopped, and the nurses came back.
''Alright Miss Swan, we are taking you to ICU while the doctor analyzes the test results.''
''ICU!? Could you please tell my friend to call my father?''
''Sure, now please relax and move the less you can.'' They put me in a room with a few other patients and plugged me on an intravenous fluid and a vital monitor.
I don't know how much time had passed when Doctor Cullen came back. To my surprise, he came in with his son. He looked more composed, although there was still a weird expression on his face, more like a mix of pain and anger now. Even like that, he was the most beautiful man I ever saw.
''The good news Miss Swan is that I was wrong and that it was not appendicitis. The bad news is that I was wrong and it was not appendicitis.'' I looked at him, confused, not sure I heard that well.
''The CT scan revealed that your appendix was fine, and I couldn't see anything wrong with your other organs. My second guess is pancreatitis. I'll take a blood sample to check your levels of lipase and amylase. My son will continue on with your case after that.''
His said son nodded stiffly and went out of the room. Then, his father took a blood sample and said he would be there tomorrow morning to continue my care.
I was lost in my thoughts. When the pain wasn't overwhelming me, I was puzzling over the intriguing doctors. Especially the younger one, the one with reddish-brown hair. A little while later, Charlie came in with Jacob behind.
''Oh, dear god, Bella, how are you feeling?''
''I'm fine, dad; they are running tests to find out what's wrong with me.'' I said exasperatedly.
The young Dr. Cullen chose this time to come in my room with a pained expression showing clearly on his still wonderful traits. I wondered how that was even possible… And also why he had that expression… Was his father telling the truth, was he really having a really bad day, or was it something I somehow did? Oh, Bella, get over yourself, you are not important enough to affect somebody's life like that, especially when you don't know what you could have done. I mean, you didn't even speak to him!
''I'm afraid you are going to stay here a bit longer Miss Swan. Your blood analysis indeed showed high levels of lipase and amylase. This means that you have a pancreatitis. Considering you said you never had severe stomach pain before, I presume this is acute pancreatitis instead of chronic, although I'll have to check with Dr. Cullen later; that is actually good news. As for the bad news, you will have to stay here for five to seven days, letting us control your blood pressure and putting you on intravenous fluids until your pancreas' inflammation decrease enough and it can digest fat and proteins so you can have food again. We will also run a test in order to see if gallstones induced your health problem. The procedure, called Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatogram, has to be done on an empty stomach. I'll set the procedure for tomorrow afternoon. If gallstones are found, we'll take you to surgery to remove those and the gallbladder as well. Don't worry, these are not major procedures and even considering the worst case scenario I just stated, you will be on your feet in ten days top. Now, if you don't have any questions, I have forms for you to fill, Mr. Swan. Please, follow me.''
He seemed out of breath after his monologue he seemed to have put out in a single breath. I guessed he was the nervous kind of guy. Plus, he seemed a bit young to be a doctor, he must have skipped years. And even then, he probably is just starting his career. This must all be new to him. Yes, this must be it.
So here we were, Jacob and I, in awkward silence after my father exited with the intriguing Doctor Cullen. I turned to him, only to see the reason to his silence. I should have known it wasn't an awkward silence; there was no such thing with Jacob. He was just the relaxed talkative type, always filling the conversation, but smoothly and comfortably, unlike Jessica's yapping (even though she was a good friend). In this moment, he was looking at the floor, seemingly anxious and worried. His skin had paled, still tanned but without the gold tint it usually had. It was just now that I realized he wasn't handsome; he was beautiful. His hair, a beautiful black curtain brushing his strongly built shoulders, his infinite eyelashes almost touching his prominent cheekbones, his perfects lips almost pink against his dark skin color, but not too feminine along with his square jaw. All in all, he was plainly beautiful. I blushed with the mental description. First the Doctor, and then Jacob… Since when did I care about men already? I went out of my daze and cleared my throat.
''Hey, Jake, it's alright. You heard the doctor, even in the worst case scenario, I'll be easily out of here in less than two weeks and the procedures are not dangerous. Would you please stop furrowing your eyebrows like that? You will have wrinkles soon if you continue on like this.'' I joked winking to him when he looked back at me. I winced lightly, trying to hide it since I didn't want to ruin the speech I just did on Jacob's worry. Fortunately, he didn't seem to notice.
''It better go well, or else I guess I'll just have to kill you myself for abandoning me. Okay, okay, that doesn't make any sense… What I meant is: I hope you get better soon. It's really late with all of this; I should head back home for some sleep. You need sleep as well, but I'll come tomorrow before your intervention. Good night.''
''Thanks Jacob, for everything. As much as I hate being here right now, I wouldn't have come to the hospital if it wasn't of you, and then, things could have been ugly. Please, tell Charlie on your way out to also go home for the rest of the night; he needs it too. Sleep tight, Jake.'' He nodded and left.
I had a restless night, still in pain even though they gave me a fair amount of painkillers. I was now actually feeling awful, depraved of sleep, probably having gigantic bags under my eyes, my head in a fog from all the medication, and the constant stomach pain that hadn't decreased a single bit since the day before. Add to that that the sexy Doctor Cullen went to check on me this morning, his lips quivering from holding a laugh when he got a glimpse of my pitiful figure. It only lasted for a split second though, returning shortly to his pained/anxious expression. Oh, did I forget to mention that in my description of a bad night? I couldn't help myself but to try to decipher the reasons behind his odd attitude.
Jake visited me a little before lunch. Well lunch time, but not eating of course, since I had to have an empty stomach for the intervention at two this afternoon, and also until the inflammation of my pancreas diminished. Charlie also came in first thing in the morning, but I sent him to work, telling him I was in great hands, and that there wouldn't be many changes until the end of this afternoon. I was touched that he brought my favorite book though: Wuthering Heights. I was never getting tired of reading that book over and over again, but I didn't think Charlie knew about that. I was wrong as it seemed.
I believed in what I told Jake, about nothing to be worried with my health care, but as the clock ticked by, I was getting more and more anxious. I didn't know exactly what was the unpronounceable procedure I was going to have, but I knew anything related to endoscopy wasn't quite enjoyable… The ''older'' doctor Cullen came in my room with two nurses.
''Well, Miss Swan, it is time for the test. Don't worry, you will be locally anesthetized during the whole procedure.''
''Locally?! You mean you are not sedating me for this?!''
''Calm down, Miss Swan, the stress will only make your abdominal pain worse. This is a minor intervention; we do not take unnecessary risk of full anesthesia for these. Everything is going to be fine.''
I took a deep breath, calming myself and lied back on the bed in order for the nurses to roll it to the intervention room. He's surely right, this will go easy. Breathe in, breathe out Bella. He HAS to be right…
While they waited for the anesthesia to take in, the father Cullen told me his name was Carlisle and that his son's name was Edward. He asked me if he could call me Bella, and how old I was. He had that information in my file, but I guessed he wanted to distract me. Then, Carlisle started the procedure, Edward watching from a few meters' distance. It wasn't exactly painful, but it was definitely unpleasant.
While I was praying for this awful thing to be over soon, I suddenly heard a shocked gasp. And then everything went really fast. Carlisle said there was a pseudocyst that ruptured and I was having severe internal bleeding. He quickly ordered the nurse the fully anesthetize me and then, while I was drowning in the heavy fog, grasping for a little of consciousness, I heard Carlisle order Edward to leave the room and he executed himself with inhuman speed.
And then, everything went blank.
Hehe, sorry for the cliffy! Anyway, not a lot of you are reading my story, so I am more doing it for myself. I actually enjoy writing! I just wish more people would give me feedback, but hey I guess every first stories aren't that good.
Anyway, letting the whining aside, I hope you liked it!