Chapter 22
"Doctor Blake," Rose knocked on the door frame and poked her head into the hospital room around ten a.m. the next day. Lucien was checking up on Phyllis. The woman seemed like she was in a good mood despite everything that was going on around her and with her. Phyllis had made it through the night and her infection was under control enough that Lucien was debating if they should restart dialysis. Admittedly, the physician had not gotten a lot of sleep during the night, worried that his patient was in dire straits.
"Ah Rose, good to see you. Phyllis, this is the young lady who is going to try and help get the word out," Lucien introduced them.
"I can't thank you enough for doing this. I have to admit I was a little uncertain about it but Doctor Blake says you can keep my name out of it?" Phyllis asked.
"Yes. All the pertinent details only. My boss, Sherman, was more than happy to have a story run regarding the process of donating and the current need," Rose smiled at her and the two shook hands.
"Excellent. Which edition will this be going out in?" Lucien asked.
"The evening edition and we'll be reprinting it in every edition until a kidney is found," Rose promised. Phyllis had tears starting to trickle down her face and Rose grabbed the tissue box and handed it to her.
"I'm sorry," the older woman apologized as she wiped away the tears.
"For what? I can imagine that all of this is quite overwhelming," Rose said.
"Rose is right. Nothing to apologize for. I only hope that this is enough to get us what you need," Lucien told her. There was a knock on the door again and they all looked to find Alice standing there.
"Is everything all right?" The pathologist immediately grew concerned.
"Yes, I'm off and running back to The Courier. I need to finish the article so it goes out tonight. I just wanted to let Phyllis know what was going on so she wasn't surprised," Rose smiled.
"Excellent, well add this into the story – Doctor Kluk was able to convince Sydney to send the equipment we need to perform the surgery. Now all we need is that kidney," Alice couldn't help but smile back.
"That is excellent! When should we expect it?" Lucien was almost giddy.
"Doctor Abernathy is coming with the equipment to assist in the procedure. He's coming by train. It seemed the safest way to get here. There was some concern about securing it on a plane. He should be here tomorrow," Alice explained.
"I really have to go then! It was nice to meet you, Phyllis. I hope that you'll be on the road to recovery soon," Rose smiled and then left the group to hurry back to the paper's offices.
"I'm exhausted," Phyllis admitted.
"Get some rest. We'll check in later," Lucien promised. He shooed Alice out into the hallway. Once the door was closed, he brought her up to date on Phyllis' condition.
"If we start dialysis too soon all the antibiotics will be filtered out of her system. It could cause the infection to worsen and even become resistant to medication," Alice was concerned.
"I know but her kidney output is distressing. The nurse noticed blood this morning and the quantity is less than it should be," he pointed out.
"So, if we don't do something, she might not live long enough to get that kidney," Alice frowned.
"What about peritoneal dialysis instead of hooking her up to the machine?" Lucien floated.
"It might be our best shot. I'll find Doctors, Chase, Anderson, and Wilson. I need to tell them about the equipment anyway," she told him.
"Good. I'll go see if we can't get the equipment together," he said. The two quickly split up and got to work.
To Be Continued…