Jo dreams like never before. A battle is taking place. The invading forces are in red. They seem to have a power that just overwhelms the defenders. Not only that but as they defeat them they turn red from the blue they had originally been. It is a wave that flows through them. Charging through them and adapting and changing the environment around them as they pass. Then there is a strange energy flowing from outside. Lighting up and powering the body in a most unusual way. The number of attackers is far greater than the defenders can resist and the power from beyond makes them more powerful and the defenders are helpless in their path.
Jo sleeps heavily, unaware of the scanning, imageing and testing. Conversations as the results are collected. They are not monitoring their heart and breathing. It is the nurse who suggests their breathing is speeding up. The Sister tests their pulse and calls the second nurse to get a monitor. They fear the heart rate is speeding up. Their temperature is raised.
Is it the infection and weakened immune system, or a reaction to the radiation? The researcher says the level of radiation will have no effect. The seniors doctor says, you can't be so sure. Remember this is a very ill little child who has other health issues that means the quantity of radiation had been reduced by a ratio of 1000.
The researcher goes pale.
'1000 reduction?' They gasp.
Every eye looks at them. Stern, concerned and worried.
'What are you saying.' The senior figure asks with concern.
'I...err...well...um' they stutter and mumble as they look at the research test plan. Reading the 1000 that is written so clearly. Their only defence is a tiny speck of black between the last two zeros. As they run their finger over this it moves and comes away on their finger. Not that it ever really looked like a percentage sign before.
'I thought it said 10%' they finally reply.
'What! You had one thing to get right. We talked it through, the sister ran through it with you and it was clear that this tiny one is going to be impacted by the radiation more radically than our previous adult patients. We had talked about using a vastly reduced level as they will have this test several times over the next year or two to see if we can track their systems efficiency and if it increases or decreases so we can plan if surgery will be needed and transplants.' The senior doctor had gone pale.
'What is going on.' One voice cut through all the gasps and exclamations. Mum was confused. She had to trust the doctors and scientists. They had saved Jo's life already and really cared. To see the concern and horror on the faces of the medics scared her.
'Urgh ...mmmmuuuummmy' the sound was barely audible but with the shock and fear in the room they all turned to see Jo. The fragile little figure being scanned to see the function inside their body as it was meant to process the radiation through. The senior doctor was thinking how can that little body cope with such a large dose of radiation. The nurses were concerned that they had fallen asleep again despite all the noise and machine scanning. Mum was relieved that they were sleeping through this and not hearing the latest problem.
The Sister was all action. Monitor, heart, pulse and breathing all hooked up and being monitored. Increased heart rate, breathing rapid and pulse sky high. All of this just minutes after the radiation was injected. She was concerned but her training made her focus on the patient and monitoring the vital signs. Concerning but not dangerously high yet, but what would happen as the radiation ran further through their body. The immune system was not able to fight this. At this dose it would be impossible. Organ failure and major impact was possible, she could only monitor Jo. She knew they had to let the body process the radiation. The kidneys were working below 20% and this test was going to give base line figures for their function over the next few years. How could they process the radiation through if they were functioning so poorly. Would it mean the radiation didn't leave their system quickly? Normally 24 hours, but with Jo would it take longer and therefore have greater impact? What impact?
YOU ARE READING
A life with and without choice.
Fiksi UmumJo never really understood what was happening. They flowed through life with the adults leading them through each day. They played with friends and enjoyed the laughter, yet there was confusion about their place in the wider story. This was partly...
