North American Mother

Chapter 6

Several days after Ivan left, Alfred began to feel ill and would often find himself waking up and grabbing for his chamber pot. Madeline began to worry about him and was often asking the President if everything with the reconstruction was going well. Learning that it was, she couldn't help but wonder what was happening to her brother. As her worry over him grew he convinced her to take him out to the country. Alfred had made arrangements for them to own and run a cattle ranch. It took them a couple of weeks to get to the ranch that they would be living at. It was also around this time that Alfred noticed he seemed to be gaining weight.

"Maddie, something really isn't right."

"Alfred?"

"My pants don't fit."

"I suppose I can take them out for you, but you haven't been eating that much more than normal."

Madeline looked at her brother worriedly.

"Maddie, I'm getting fat!"

This line of conversation continued until Madeline became fed up and forced Alfred to his room. Once she had him there she grabbed a pad of paper and a pencil.

"Alright, we will figure out what is wrong with you and then you will stop complaining. Am I understood?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good, so then, let us see. This all started about a week after Ivan left. You woke up feeling nauseous, bloated and you seemed to tire easily."

Alfred nodded with his sister as she listed his symptoms.

"Then you started getting sick and vomiting along with headaches."

"I also started having to pee a lot more often though it was never very much. Oh and I noticed my chest became really sore, still is actually."

Madeline makes note of that before continuing. "Then you started eating strange things and, might I add, began to cause the cooks some problems. You were still getting sick but now it just seems as though it is because you were eating such odd foods."

"But I was hungry and pickles rolled in cocoa were just what I needed."

"You began to get moody at the time also."

Alfred nods, but is beginning to look upset.

"And now we can add gaining weight to the equation."

Madeline looked over her notes and scrunched up her nose at them. "Alfred stay here, in bed. I'm going into town to ask the doctor if he can make heads or tails of this."

Alfred began to protest, saying she shouldn't go alone but she shushes him up and heads out to get her horse ready. Fortunately one of the ranch hands is able to help her saddle the tall animal and gives her a boost onto its back. She asks him to watch after Alfred for her while she goes into town. It takes her a little under an hour to get to town and she goes straight for the doctor's home and office. When she arrives she knocks on his door and he lets her in.

"Ah, Madeline. Are you back to read more of my medical texts." He chuckles at his comment as Madeline had mostly visited him to learn more about medicine or borrow his books. The two had formed a slight friendship over the weeks that Madeline and Alfred had been living on the ranch and it was now paying off.

"Actually I'm here to see if you can tell me what might be wrong with a patient with these symptoms." She holds out the notepad and allows the doctor to look over the list before he smiles at her warmly.

"It seems your patient is pregnant, and still in the early stages if she is still suffering from the morning sickness."

He hands back the notepad to Madeline.