Leave The City (Book 8 of Adopted by the Josephs)

38. Jenna

Samantha's kidneys were in trouble. The right one seemed to be alright, but the left one had started not working properly.  We knew there was a possibility that the physical damage to her kidneys could cause more significant problems later on, but we'd also thought after two months with few issues meant she would be in the clear. Now, suddenly, there was blood in her urine, and her bloodwork was showing her kidneys were struggling.  She was in a lot of pain and was being kept comfortable with painkillers, but considering she'd just woken up from a coma, she slept a lot with the painkiller.

Later in the afternoon, they took her down for some imaging, an ultrasound of her kidney, and a CT scan, which they wanted to use contrast. Samantha was awake when they took her downstairs. I went with her while Tyler took Rosie and Junie to the cafeteria with Brendon and Sarah for a snack.

"Alright, Samantha," the technician in the ultrasound suite said. "Let's get you over onto this stretcher."

Samantha hadn't been out of bed since waking up, so walking was something I wasn't sure Sam could even do. Especially considering she only has one leg. The technician and I helped Sam sit up and move onto the stretcher. She was a little shaky, but she managed with our help. She grimaced a little as she lay down on the stretcher.

"You doing alright, sweetheart?" I asked her as she tried to get comfortable.

"Yeah," she groaned.

The technician and I helped her move into the position the tech needed to scan her kidneys, which caused her to groan again.

"Okay, Samantha," the tech said. "I'm going to put this gel on your back. We keep it in a warmer, so you shouldn't feel too cold. Then I'm going to use this wand to see your kidneys. I know you've been in pain, and I can't guarantee this isn't going to hurt some, but I see they have you on painkillers, so hopefully those will take the edge off anything I do, okay?"

"Okay," Sam said.

I held her hand as the technician moved the wand across her back and watched as she grimaced in pain while the tech got set up.

"Okay, Sam, I'm going to start pressing harder now," the tech said.

I watched as Sam's face contorted in pain.

"Are you okay?" I asked worriedly. She nodded, but her eyes were screwed tightly shut, her teeth were clenched, and she was squeezing my hands so tight I was afraid she might break them.

"I'm sorry, Samantha," the tech said. "I know this probably isn't comfortable. You're doing great."

"It's fine," Samantha groaned.

"I won't be much longer," the tech said, looking at me with a sympathetic look. She pressed a few buttons, took pictures and measurements, and looked intently at a specific spot she measured and saved. I didn't know what she was looking at, but I hoped it wasn't something too serious.  Sam had had enough serious things happen.  California was supposed to be a good thing for Samantha. This type of stuff wasn't supposed to happen to her here.

After a few more minutes, through which I could see Sam was in increasing pain based on how she was squeezing my hands and her eyes tighter.

"Okay, Samantha. I'm all done. You did great," the tech said. Sam let out a huge breath of relief.

"Thanks," she squeaked.

We helped her off the stretcher and back onto the stretcher, which brought her down to the ultrasound. We were off to CT from there. The porters smiled as we went down the hallway to Samantha's next test.

"You're doing great, Sam," I smiled down at her. She smiled weakly back. I could see in her eyes that she had so much in her mind, but she hadn't asked much. She had only asked about Brandi once and we'd been avoiding telling her. Her school friends, who hadn't yet been to visit since she woke up, but we knew we'd have to tell her before any of them came to visit, and we knew some would be coming today, possibly. I texted Tyler to let him know we had to tell Sam about Brandi before one of her school friends did. He texted back and emoji that indicated it was not a conversation he was looking forward to. I can't say I was, but both Tyler and I would tell Sam. He'd have Brendon and Sarah take Junie and Rosie out again so we could discuss what had happened with Samantha.