Chapter Forty-Eight
August 9th
"What did you find out?" Nate asked as he sat next to Hardison with a mug and an orange soda.
"A ton." Hardison offered as he grabbed the soda.
Nate had asked him to gather as much as he could on Lyme and he had.
"Care to share." Nate hinted as he pulled the computer closer.
"The main sites and medical pages say the exact things you've been hearing, but the message boards
and support groups is where your information's really at." Hardison pulled up a few for reference.
"There's support groups?" He asked as he glanced down the hall toward his room.
"These people are tight. I've read through blogs and journals and I've even found people
that say it's only about a step down from cancer. They talk about different meds and treatments, offer ideas and suggestions; hell they're just trying to keep the faith and hope for the best."
"None of that helps me any." Another month had passed and though
they had thought they were seeing improvement it hadn't been so. Torlyn said Eliot was simply herxing and it was normal for him to feel worse before he started feeling better but Nate was tired of hearing that.
"The one thing everyone seems to agree on is getting yourself a Lyme literate doctor.
That and getting your co-infections treated promptly and properly." He could only offer what he had found.
"He hasn't been diagnosed with any co-infections!" Hearing that they might be missing something didn't sit well with him.
"From what I've come across that's nearly unheard of." Hardison stood on antsy legs.
"That's great… that's just great." After four months in Oklahoma they were used to
this "new life" but no one could accustom themselves to an out of commission Eliot.
"I got you the names of some LLMD's to see if you can get some information, maybe a second opinion."
The paper he had printed was passed over. "From what I've learned that's probably your best bet."
"These people… how long have they been at it?" Eliot had only had
his diagnosis for a little under a month and his patience was already non-existent.
"Some of them took years just to get themselves a diagnosis, but most of them have been at
the treatment for months just trying to get some semblance of what their normal was back."
Reading all of that was kind of depressing and it had him feeling extremely sorry for Eliot.
What could he say to that?
He had sent Alec on this search with the hope of finding good news; instead he was now swimming in bad.
"Call me when Sophie gets Parker in David's office."
"Alright" He waited for Nate to disappear around the corner before letting out a deep sigh.
The man had stopped with the bottle which was good; instead using work as a stress reliever.
The only down side to that was the mule he was being worked like.
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"You ready to go?" Nate walked into the bedroom
to find Eliot putting on a shoe; Steve on the floor with Eliot's oatmeal.
"As soon as I grab a hoodie." Every week he had to go to the hospital
to get the dressing changed on his PICC line and it was starting to grate on his nerves.
"One of these times can you actually eat your breakfast instead of feeding it to the cat."
The second the thing started eating whole foods it was on the other end of Eliot's.
"I wasn't hungry."
Nate wasn't surprised to hear something of that extent.
Eliot had basically stopped eating, was being given nutritional supplements through his line,
and in his personal opinion was only a few steps away from a feeding tube. "Well at least now I know you'll have room for lunch."
"Can't wait." Eliot said as he did his best to get over to the closet.
His leg had started up again recently, more specifically the knee, and it was even gaining back some color.
"Neither can I." He knew exactly how it would go.
They'd argue for about an hour before Eliot finally took a bite of his food and an hour after that he'd be vomiting it back up.
"Than lets go."
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"What do you want to do Sunday?" Ashlee asked Aaron as he pushed their cart down another aisle.
Aaron paused at that.
She had to be fishing. "I've got some things in mind, but we can do whatever you want."
"Sarah invited us to church." Ashlee explained as she searched for eggs.
"She wants us to go to church with her on our anniversary?" His sister was a dunce.
"She invited your brother too." That was why she even mentioned it.
They had both been working extra hours and overtime to save for the wedding so Aaron hadn't seen his brother in weeks.
"He's probably not going anyway." Aaron shrugged off as he grabbed a gallon of milk.
"Why?" Despite his easy attitude she knew he was worried about Eliot.
"He barely goes when he does feel good, I doubt he wants to go now.
Plus it's Nate's birthday." He hadn't heard from Eliot but apparently Sarah
bugged him daily and the latest news was that his liver was showing signs of enlargement.
"Really? We should get him something." This was the first she was hearing of that.
"Like what?" Nate was a decent guy sure, but he didn't know him well enough to be giving him presents.
"I don't know, maybe a nice bottle or something." That was just like a guy.
His brother's boyfriend yet she should be the one to know what they should get.
"I don't know what or if he drinks." He wasn't feeling the idea of getting him anything, it just seemed weird.
"Well should I tell her we're coming or what?" The idea of a present was easily dropped, she'd find him a card or something.
"If you want to." Yeah he'd like to go see Eliot but the day was pretty much for Ashlee and he wouldn't take it away from her.
"I don't know about getting up that early but it'd be nice to go visit for a bit."
Sarah always went to mass first thing and she really didn't feel like waking up at five just to make it there.
He saw the in she was giving him and he was thankful for it. "We'll only stay an hour, two tops."
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"I was thinking," Nate began as he looked over to where Eliot was itching at a fresh bandage.
"That they need to get some different tape." He'd swear he was allergic to the stuff but no one seemed to listen.
Not even the blistering that started to appear seemed to matter much.
"That we should go see a specialist." Nate corrected.
"Why? I've got an appointment with Torlyn next week."
He left out the day because he didn't really remember it which was aggravating.
"And we'll keep that, I just think that you should look through all your options.
Torlyn's good and all but he's general, a specialist is going to have seen this case, after case, after case, and he's
probably going to know more." Hearing Hardison speak of the months of treatment had Nate looking to the future,
something he tried not to do, and it had him thinking he needed to make sure there was an actual recovery in sight.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to find one and see what he has to say." He was tired of doctors in
general and his recent encounters with them had him believing his grandmother's words more and more every day.
'A man that's licensed to cure is as equally licensed to kill.'
"She. Catharine Granacher.
Her office is about an hour from here, but she's said to be good." That and Lyme literates weren't all that easy to find.
The next closest was a nearly six hour drive.
"You've already found one?" The way Nate had been speaking it
sounded like the beginnings of an idea not something he'd already researched.
"I may or may not have already made you an appointment." He'd been in the waiting room
looking at the list Hardison gave him and he hadn't really been able to help himself.
He didn't even bother questioning it.
That sounded exactly like Nate. "When?"
"Saturday."
"This Saturday?" Eliot sounded a bit disbelieving which wasn't too surprising
seeing as most places wanted you to schedule appointments near a month ahead of time.
"I'm persuasive." Nate offered simply.
They were going to see their first LLMD in less than two days.
"Good. You can persuade her into taking this damn line out." He'd only gotten it because it was supposed
to help but all he had seen was the hindrance. He didn't feel any better, he wasn't allowed to use his arm for
anything really, and he hadn't seen enough reward to believe the insertion had been worth the risk.
"We'll see what she says." Nate didn't like that idea.
The supplements being fed into that tubing were the only thing keeping Eliot going right now and he knew it.
"She better say yes or I'll find somebody who will.
I only agreed to a month and it ain't staying any longer." He'd already told Torlyn this and their
next appointment was specifically for the purpose of re-evaluating the catheter.
"Okay," He was going to kill Parker.
Eliot had been on edge about the line since she had mentioned how easy it would be to switch one of his antibiotic bulbs with anti-freeze or something that was equally as deadly. "I'll get it removed, safely."
Eliot huffed at the safely.
Nate knew he was ready to rip it out. "Good"
"Now, what do you want to eat?" Now introducing, the struggle of every day.
Sighing heavily Eliot sunk further into the cars seat.
With the hell his stomach was putting him through it was hard to remember food used to be a haven. "Whatever's fine by me."
Looking over to his bag of bones he decided they'd go home.
Hopefully this time something would settle, but if not at least Eliot would be in the comfort of a private place.
E/N: I know it's a ton shorter than they've been lately but the research and back tracking for these next few chapters is ridiculously long, I can't just pull it out my rear like usual LOL
And sorry for skipping over a month but it was actually a very useless time, not much going on aside from Eliot napping while Nate sat next to him with the remote getting fat on chips (aside from all the jobs he was doing in between of course!)
Now I was going to say something but I forgot that fast so I'll get back to it and you with the next chapter, tell me whatcha think!