Conundrum

Part 9

theSingingDragon

"Sperare Hospital" were the first words out of Danh's mouth when he got into the taxi, blinking at the light change from outside to inside the car that only made the headache worse. The car rolled away from the curb and joined traffic while Danh pulled out his wallet - if he waited until they arrived he wouldn't remember to pay the driver. All the bills blurred together and the numbers faded in the poor light so he grabbed a few and held it out. "It's a bit of an emergency."

The driver quickly snatched the money and accelerated, slamming Danh into the back seat. Taking note of how the car was being operated, Danh put his seatbelt on, then looked out the window. A knot grew in his chest. There was nothing to do but wait.

Please don't be right. I don't want to be right.

Blurred signs, mounds of trees, and clouds of people hurried by the window. A couple agonizing minutes passed by between jolts of the car and almost crashing when his phone rang. He couldn't see who it was so he answered and put the phone to his ear.

"Mình anh!" Binh's shaky voice only made the knot in his chest worse.

"Are you okay?" he asked, hoping she'd tell him things were fine. Please don't be right. I don't want to be right.

"I was making lunch and he just dropped to the ground and started crying and his forehead was on fire and then he - then he just stopped - he just stopped, I - "

"Quy?" Danh interrupted, more for the sake of the pain in his chest from the growing knot.

"I'm taking him to the hospital...." There was a series of heavy breaths as Binh calmed herself. "You're on your way?"

"...Yes."

A pause of silence.

"You were right."

Danh bit his lip to maintain composure as the words suffocated him.

After a while Binh spoke up again. "I'm here."

"Should I pick Chien up?"

"... We'll talk to the doctors first. Just meet me."

.........

East entrance, right at the bottom of the stairs, check in with the nurse and through the door, straight until the elevator, third floor, fourth room on the left. Danh had memorized the directions Binh had texted him. He wasn't familiar with that section of the hospital yet and he didn't want to get lost. Plus it kept him levelheaded enough to make it through the wandering people, the piercing headache, the subpar eyesight, and the panic that had set in. When he made it to the elevator nurses were rushing a man on a stretcher into it and he had to stand there to wait for it to come back down. The closed doors of the elevator had a smiling little girl on it, her story of recovery written next to her.

... so grateful that she has the chance to grow up without -

Maybe it would be faster to take the stairs. He thought he'd passed them on his way here, or they might have been a little farther down the hall. The elevator doors opened. Nobody was in them. Quickly Danh rushed in, hit the number, and punched the button to close the doors.

"Hold the lift!" a voice called, heels running closer. They were already closing. He'd already been delayed. He needed to find Quy. As the door began to close he stuck his hand out and they retracted. A woman sprinted into the elevator. "Thanks!"

Danh just nodded and pushed the "close door" button again. "Floor?"

"Three," said the woman cheerfully.

Not having to push the button since it was the same floor as his, Danh merely put his hands in his pockets and watched the number counter above a map of the hospital and the buttons, his mind fogging over.

"You know," the woman pulled Danh out of his head. "I've worked here for two years and no one's ever caught the door for me."

"Oh." Danh looked down slightly towards her, but not really at her. "That's unfortunate."

He took slight note of his poor social etiquette but at the moment he didn't really care.

"I know, right?" continued the woman, evidently not phased by his awkward response. "Why doesn't anyone care about being polite anymore?"

"I don't know," he replied as the door began to open again, straining himself to keep from cutting in front of her to get out.

The woman waited until the doors were fully open before stepping into the hallway and turning around. "Well, if anything, I suppose it's probably our own fault for not teaching our kids, huh?"

Managing a quick, polite smile, Danh escaped the elevator. "I suppose." After another nod, he took his leave towards Room 314. When he walked in his eyes caught on the crib, a small body inside of it hooked up to tubes.

"Mình anh!"

He turned to see Binh and a doctor a little younger than her stand up from their chairs in the corner. A thin layer of attentive determination laid secure over the fear on Binh's face.

"Dr. Cassuus, this is my husband, Vo Bao Danh. Danh, this is Dr. Aala Cassuus," she introduced the doctor next to her, who in turn held out her hand. After Danh shook it Dr. Cassuus motioned to a chair next to where they were sitting when he came in.

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Danh," she began. "Would you like to take a seat?"

Danh took both the seat and a deep breath.

"I know you must have a lot of questions about what's happening to Quy," started Dr. Cassuus. "I'd like to give you some basic information first and then go from there."

After receiving a nod from both Binh and Danh, she continued. "From what we can tell, it appears that Quy has Guillain-Barre syndrome, or GBS. Now that we have him on the ventilator to help him breathe, the fatality rate is pretty low, but it can still be a long road to recovery. You'll need to be prepared for this process to take three to six months, sometimes quicker, sometimes longer. That being said, there is a lot of other information I could provide you with, but I don't want to overwhelm you. Is there anything you want me to tell you about right now?"

Danh looked over at the crib where the small form lay. He had questions, yes, but they weren't medical.

"You said it was called GBS?" came Binh's firm voice. There was a pause before Dr. Cassuus kept going.

"Yes, Guillain-Barre syndrome. It's a result of the immune system attacking the body's nerves. Usually it happens over days, weeks, but it's rare for symptoms to come on this quickly."

The little boy in the crib didn't even seem phased by the information. He looked peaceful - like Binh had just gotten him to sleep - outside of all the tubes.

"The immune system attacks the nerves?" Binh pushed.

"Yes."

"Wouldn't that make it fatal?"

"At this stage - "

Danh had to focus to catch the tiny chest rise and fall. How did they not notice this sooner? He should have done something to prevent this. He didn't know what, but he should have done something. When all of this began, the point he knew he had the power to stop it, he should have done something.