When Fools Rush In

Chapter 28 - Sleeping

Lucy stared at the doctor's face in anticipation.

"I'm sorry, I realise I didn't introduce myself - Dr McKinley," he said, offering his hand. Lucy took it, realising her handshake would be a sweaty one.

"Lucy," she mumbled, willing him to cut to the chase.

"John," came the voice from the seat behind her.

"So," Dr McKinley inhaled deeply, "we've run some tests and it's looking like appendicitis - he's in theatre now," he said, calmly. "We think his appendix could have burst which is why unfortunately he has developed sepsis and is so unwell."

"Oh God," Lucy exclaimed, her raising her hands to her face, "is he going to be OK? What does it mean now?"

"They're taking the appendix out, which isn't a long operation in itself...but it depends on how much infected tissue there is...which could take longer." Dr McKinley leant forward reassuringly, "but we're doing all we can to get rid of the infection, he's receiving plenty of strong antibiotics as we speak."

Lucy began to cry again. What if the operation went wrong? What if it was worse than Dr McKinley was implying, and he was being diplomatic? The mere use of the word 'sepsis' to confirm her worst fears made her feel a flood of panic. Her mum had always told her about the indiscriminate nature of sepsis, the silent killer. Lucy dwelt on the killer.

John noticed Lucy's tears and interjected. "When do you think we'll find more?"

"We should know more in the next hour and a half or so," replied Dr McKinley. "My colleague Mr Khan is an excellent surgeon and trust me, Jack is in the best hands possible." He placed his hand on Lucy's shoulder to offer some comfort as she cried into the neckline of her jacket. "Look, why don't you grab yourself a coffee and some fresh air. Have Jack's next of kin been informed?"

Lucy tapped the side of her handbag. "Yes I spoke to his mum - they're on the way up here."

Dr McKinley nodded. "Take care," he said, before exiting, no doubt overrun with patients and relatives to see on a busy Saturday evening.

John placed an arm around Lucy's shoulder as she turned back to look at him.

"There's a coffee shop just up the corridor," he said, "let's get a drink to kill some time. My phone won't stop ringing - I guess I need to update our team Whatsapp group."

Lucy's head was spinning as they walked down the hospital corridors, the lights hurting her eyes. A thought had occurred to her.

"John -" she said, grabbing his coat jacket by the arm, "I'm going to need to tell Andy and the others - this is going to get to the press and we'll need to put out some kind of statement, not least because there's a game tomorrow."

"Good point, but leave that to me," replied John.

Lucy paused amongst the flow of people walking behind and past them. "Why you?" she asked, "I'm the PR manager."

John smiled wearily. He could tell how emotionally exhausted she was, that she was forgetting himself.

"You don't want anyone to know about you and Jack, right?" he said. "Well, not right now anyway."

"Uh huh."

"Well, that's why you can't let Andy know, because he would ask why you were here, and how Jack had got to hospital in the first place?"

Lucy sighed. "Of course...I hadn't thought...I don't know what I'm thinking really. I can't think."

"Right, we'll get a drink and I'll call Andy. I can just say it's me who told him to go to hospital and I came with him and so on...to be honest he'll be more worried about Jack actually is." John grabbed his phone from his pocket and looked at the screen. "Yep, loads of missed calls - including Pep - and to be honest he's probably spoken to Andy already...shit, I should get back to Pep..."