Answered Prayers, Part II
Chapter 11
Jeremy struggled to do any kind of job that day, let alone a good one. He was vomiting every few hours and getting weaker and weaker. The men working with him had no trouble noticing his gray pallor and general weakness.
Corky finally came up to Jeremy and said, "Jeremy, it's kind of obvious that you're pretty sick. Why don't you knock it off for the day, and we can cover for you the best we can?"
"Ah, I wish I could," replied Jeremy. "I know how these deadlines work and how s-s-strict Mr. Stempel is about them. Even if you're only at half-strength, you need to help c-c-complete the workload."
He then struggled up to a new area to mark the trees for clearing.
Corky motioned to another logger, "Hey, Ken - come here a sec." Ken dutifully came over and Corky told him, "Jeremy sure is sick today. Could you run over and tell Jason that he needs to make his brother go home to get well?"
"Sure," replied Ken. He took off immediately.
Ken found Jason in the large "Office Tent" at base camp. He poked his head in and said, "Uh, Jason… can I talk to you for a second?"
"Why, sure, Ken! What's going on? Is there something wrong at the south ridge?
"Well, nothing is wrong, except for Jeremy. He seems pretty sick, Jason, but he keeps dragging himself around between episodes of throwing up, and is getting less and less coherent."
"Well, then. I can't thank you enough for telling me that information, Ken. Let me go see what's going on." They went up to the south ridge area together.
Jason was horrified to see Jeremy retching yet again over a large rock. He went straight up to his youngest brother and shouted "Brother! I told you to go home this morning, and you're still here, probably infecting everyone with whatever you've got!"
Jeremy shot back "Well, you know how S-S-Stempel is! He'll have our necks and half our mountain if we don't get everything done by the d-d-deadline!"
Jason approached him and put his arm around him, saying "I know that old coot better than you do, Jeremy. I know what a hard worker you are, usually putting in the labor of two men. But this is different, Jeremy; nobody has ever seen you this sick. Please come back to the main tent and lie down for a bit."
Jeremy finally said, "Well, OK, but only for a bit."
Jason noticed he often had to bolster up Jeremy while making their way back to camp. He opened the flap of the large tent and said "Here, let me get your cot ready." Jeremy mumbled a thank you before falling into the cot, whereupon he immediately fell asleep.
Jason felt his forehead; 'pretty hot up there,' he thought. He remembered Allyn and her current condition could do nothing for any patient, let alone someone with mysterious symptoms. He replaced the tent flap and went about his work.
Chapter 12
After another grueling workday was finished, Jason again gathered all the workers around and boasted of their accomplishments for the day. Corky spoke for the south ridge work group, after which he asked "How's Jeremy, Jason? Did you send him home?"
Jason suddenly remembered that he had forgotten about his youngest brother. He peeked into the tent a bit, and it looked like Jeremy was covered by the blanket, up to his face. He turned and told Corky, "It looks like he's sound asleep. Let's go make some noise at Lottie's instead of here. My treat!"
The workers all affirmed "Yay!" while marching as a group down the mountain to the Saloon.
Josh also peeked in the tent and saw the same thing Jason found, so he felt comfortable going into town with the other men to blow off some steam.
Inside the tent, however, Jeremy's face soon became visible. He had broken out in a sweat, and was mumbling, "Jason, Jason…."
ssssssss
Another hour had passed. It was time for all the men to head home for dinner.
Back up at camp, Jeremy groaned outright, and when he tried to get up, he groaned even louder. He managed to turn over in his cot, and his arm gently fell to the ground. It bumped into something under the cot. Jeremy brought it out, saying "Oh no…" It was a big box of chocolates for Candy. He knew he had likely missed the dinner date by now, so he forced himself out of bed and staggered into town to apologize to his fiancée. Again.
When Jeremy reached the town, he was barely cognizant of his surroundings, but he made it over to the dorm, where he saw Candy at the dorm's second-floor side entrance, arms folded and looking at him with eyes blazing in anger.
"Candy, wait - I can explain!" Jeremy begged as he started up the stairs. She remarked, "Explain away, but all the men already came into town for dinner!" She went inside and slammed the door.
Jeremy crawled up the steps one by one until he was at the side door. He struggled to stand up, and banged on the door. "Open up, Candy - please! I've been really…. really…s-s-sick today…"
Candy listened to the weakened voice, then heard something crashing down the stairs. She rushed outside and screamed when she saw Jeremy unconscious on the ground.
Chapter 13
Instead of returning to the Bolt cabin, Jason swept Jeremy up in his arms and rushed over to Dr. Wright's office. He barreled in the front door, not even bothering to knock, shouting "Dr. Wright! Dr. Wright! We have an emergency here!" Dr. Wright quickly appeared, asking with concern, "What is it, Jason?"
"Jeremy has been sick all day, and now he won't wake up!"
Allyn motioned for Jason to put his brother on the exam table, where she started her examination. Her fingers were still rather useless, but she was able to use the bandaged nubs to poke around Jeremy's body. When she started palpating his abdomen, he groaned loudly, and when she pressed in a bit on the right side, he genuinely screamed. Both Jason and Candy jerked back.
"That's what I was afraid of," breathed the doctor. She looked up at Jason and Candy. "It's his appendix. We need to remove it immediately before it bursts and releases enough toxins to kill him."
"Jason, hurry back to the Salish Camp and get Running Fox!" Candy urged.
Dr, Wright interjected, "Candy, we have only minutes left, not hours. Rachel is out of town right now, so I'll need you to be my hands for this operation."
Candy paled, immediately stepped back, put her hand to her mouth, and squeaked, "Me?"
"Yes, you! I know of no better seamstress in all of Seattle, and that's what this surgery is, for the most part - sewing! Go wash and scrub your hands clean, Miss Pruitt, while Jason and I prepare Jeremy for surgery."
Candy interjected "But I -" "No 'buts,' Candy - there's not enough time. Do you want Jeremy to live - or to die right now?"
Candy rushed out of the room to wash up for the surgery.
Jason held Jeremy in his arms briefly, while Allyn disinfected the table and all surrounding areas, then placed him on top of it again. She then gave him some ether from a cloth. When he breathed it in, he fussed a bit, but then fell into a deep sleep.
She washed the abdominal area around the appendix with some disinfectant, then made sure all her surgical tools were set in boiling water to sterilize them. By then Candy had emerged from scrubbing her hands raw. She still looked quite pale but was determined to save her fiancé's life.
Jason excused himself and said "I'll return in an hour or so to see how things went,"
"We should be done by then, Jason, thank you," replied Dr. Wright.
After Jason left, Allyn looked seriously into Candy's wide-open and scared eyes.
She promised, "There is nothing to fear, Candy. I will guide your hands during every step. There will be some blood from cutting to find the appendix, then we must snip it off quickly before it bursts on its own. It will be like snipping a very thin umbilical cord." Candy nodded, still wide-eyed and terrified.
"Here we go. Stay strong, Candy. It is not a difficult procedure, but time is of the essence. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Candy whispered.
"Let us begin. Take the scalpel out of the boiled water, and cut the abdomen right here. Blood will leak out, but not gush out. The skin will feel like you are cutting into a tough grapefruit rind. But go ahead and don't be afraid to put some muscle into it."
Candy bent over Jeremy, trying not to gag, and placed the scalpel on top of the area that Allyn showed her. "Oh, I really don't know if I can do this," she warned. "I would not have asked you if I had any doubts that you can do this. Now, put some pressure to cut through that grapefruit rind, and let's get that appendix out!"
Candy did put some weight on the scalpel, and eventually, the skin opened; there was some blood, but not too much, just as the doctor had told her.
"Now, cut the skin perpendicular, like making a tent flap; we have to nose around to find that appendix." Candy did as she was told, and Allyn praised her, saying "what a beautiful flap! Now let's go digging for that swollen organ."
Guided by Allyn, Candy continued to assess different areas until she saw one particularly red and throbbing part. "This is it, isn't it?" she queried.
"Yes!, Now, take the pincers and find that umbilical cord. Snip it off and immediately toss the appendix into this bowl. Candy found the attached thread, and her scissors were aimed, but she was hesitant. "Now, Candy, NOW!" urged Dr. Wright.
Candy quickly snipped the cord and threw the entire appendix into the bowl. There was a loud popping noise just as it hit the bowl.
"What was that?" Candy asked nervously.
Allyn sighed, then answered, "That was his appendix bursting. If it had burst while still in his body, he would be dying right now. Candy, you just saved Jeremy's life."
Candy could not stop the tears from welling up in her eyes, but Allyn immediately said, "We're not quite done here. Let me look around to see that we got it completely out and a few other things." She guided Candy's hands again while she examined each part surrounding the area where the appendix had been located. There was some residual swelling and redness, but everything was removed that needed to be removed, and the areas next to the appendix were cleaned thoroughly. There was also very little bleeding now.
"Now, here comes the fun part."
"The FUN part?" Candy gasped.
"Yes, it is time to sew him up again. You can get very creative with your stitching!"
Candy wasn't sure if she was serious or joking. "You're joking, right?"
"Actually, I'm not. When we were all resident interns, we would take great pains to sew a patient up as elaborately as possible. I usually won, of course - using the Lazy Daisy stitch!"
Both women laughed out loud. "You really did that?" asked Candy.
"Yes, I really did that. Now, if you want to get at least a little creative here, you will have much to talk and laugh about on your wedding night…."
Candy blushed profusely, but added with a giggle, "We would, wouldn't we?"
And so the sewing up of Jeremy Bolt became a little creative. Candy managed to "embroider" her initials on one side of the stitching, and Jeremy's on the other.
"He will have to hunt for that one, won't he?" Allyn chuckled.
"We can both remark about how clever I am," replied Candy, with a huge grin.
When they were finished, Candy exclaimed, "Oh, my! I've never done anything quite like that in my life - and I hope never to have to do it again!"
Dr. Wright just smiled. "Well, you will retain these skills just in case you ever need to use them in the future, but we will not wish any repeat emergency on any single one of your family, the Bolt family, or all of your progeny."
"Amen to that, Dr. Wright." Candy became a little unsteady, and Allyn directed her to a soft cot. "Here, rest now. Your adrenaline will crash soon, and I want you to feel free to fall asleep. I'll watch Jeremy, and I'm certain his brothers will come along soon, too."
Candy just sighed deeply, "Thank you," she murmured as she drifted off to sleep.
A few minutes later, Jason and Joshua poked their heads in the door, and asked "Is anyone here? Did everyone survive?"
Dr. Wright welcomed both of them at the door and proclaimed, "Both patient and surgeon are resting comfortably."
"Ah," quipped Jason. "so, Candy held up then? I always knew she was a strong woman."
"Yes, she did remarkably well," replied Allyn. "I think she surprised herself by how much she accomplished without fainting. She would make an excellent OR nurse."
"Although I'm sure she does not want to be one," added Josh.
"No, she definitely does not!" laughed Allyn.
Chapter 14
Jeremy stayed in Dr. Wright's makeshift hospital room for several days. Allyn made sure to give him plenty of broth every few hours, to help restore his strength.
Candy assisted Allyn and stayed by Jeremy's side for most of the days. She had her knitting or some other project she could work on. On the fourth day, Jeremy asked her, "Candy, why don't you go back to the dorm? It must be awfully boring to watch me sleep."
Candy replied, "Oh, that's all right. I kind of like it." Jeremy looked at her quizzically, then shrugged his shoulders, sighed, went back to sleep.
Jason poked his head into Jeremy's recovery room one afternoon and declared, "I just thought you'd like to know, Jeremy; we made the deadline with time to spare!" "That's great, Jason!"
"Are you sure the good doctor won't let you come with us to Lottie's to celebrate?"
Allyn came down the hall saying, "No, the good doctor will NOT let her recovering patient pickle himself with alcohol. Not yet, anyway." Both men chuckled at that.
"Well, I'll just have to let Clancy pickle himself for you, then," Jason replied. Everyone chuckled as Jason ducked out of the room.
After about a week had passed, Jeremy's incision was healed and he felt well enough to go home.
Dr. Allyn concurred. "You seem to be gaining your strength back and eating solid food now, so you should be able to complete your recovery at home as well as you would right here. And you will likely be less bored."
"Dr. Wright, I can honestly say that I have appreciated every minute of boredom here.
Um… I remember you saying that Candy stepped up to be my 'surgeon?' "
"Yes, she was. I just guided her hands as if they were my own."
"I don't know how I'll ever be able to thank her or find a way to repay you - or her - for that matter."
"Oh, I think you'll figure out something, Mr. Bolt. Just being a good husband will be thanks enough for any wife."
Jeremy just smiled and envisioned all the love he would give Candy for the rest of their lives together.
The End