"What's wrong with Jake's eye, Jack?" Nick questioned, harshly. "Jack?"
"His left pupil is dilated, Nick."
"English, please, Jack."
"Nick, Jake's test came back. It was positive."
Nick sat back down, Mac standing behind him, her hands on his shoulders.
"Did you get ours back yet, Jack?"
"I did. You both were negative."
"How?" Nick asked, incredulously. "We were around him the most and I don't know about you hun, but I wasn't masked all the time."
"I don't know either," Jack said. "And I believe we should test you again just to make sure we didn't get a false negative but I'm pretty sure it's negative. Does Jake have a.. Girlfriend or.. Someone else I should know about? They should probably be tested too. "
"Oh my gosh, Riley," Mac said, looking at Jack. "Riley is Jake's girlfriend. Should she be tested too?"
"Absolutely," Royala said, nodding sternly. "Get her to come in and we'll do it"
"Okay, we will. So, what's wrong with his eye?" Nick repeated.
Royala put his flashlight pen back in his lab coat pocket and seethed through his teeth, sighing.
"Okay, so... you know I'm gonna try my best to fix this, okay? But I can't promise anything."
"What happened to him, Jack?"
"I think he had a stroke. I think the COVID got to his brain, Nick. I'm gonna order a CAT scan and if that's inconclusive, we'll do an MRI with contrast. Again, only if it's needed. I don't want to subject Jake to any extensive tests if he doesn't need them."
"He... had a stroke?" Nick asked, quietly.
"The blown pupil would lead me to believe that, yes. But I will need the results of the CAT scan and MRI to make a proper diagnosis."
"What can we do, Jack?" Mackenzie asked, sitting down next to Nick.
Royala sat in the chair in front of Nick and Mackenzie. "Treatment for it depends solely on the cause. In this case, it's a stroke. At least... it's what I believe it to be. I'll need the scans to be sure. Now, COVID causing strokes are very rare. Very few people experience them."
"Well, that's Jake. Rare," Nick whispered, trying to make a joke but it wasn't the right time.
"I will look into this. There are normally two types of causes for this: either medication or chemical exposure. Now, from what you've told me about his history I can rule out the latter, correct?"
Royala got nods from the couple so he sighed, agreeing as well. "Okay, good. This could be a side effect of the medication he's been getting but I'm pretty sure in Jake's case, it's COVID."
"What can you do to fix it?" Mac asked, holding Nick's hand underneath the table.
"I am going to bring in my neurologist, Daniel Kiev, and my neuro-ophthalmologist, Taylor Greene. Don't worry. I've worked with both of them for years. They've been on my team for years. They're very good. Knowing both of them, if nothing turns up on examination, they will recommend the same tests I did. And then we'll go from there, okay?"
"Okay," Nick said.
"I'll be back with Kiev and Greene soon. Keep hanging in there, guys."
"Thanks, Jack," Mac said, as Royala nodded and left the room.
YOU ARE READING
Catching Faith
General Fiction**SEQUEL to "The Gift of a Coach: A Novel of Baseball and Friendship** Jake Wolff has been Brennan's saving grace. He took a team that meant nothing into a team that is feared by every competitor they come up against. Everyone at the school cannot t...
