Tainted Perfection [bxb]

Chapter 20 - Wild Thoughts

Music - Dancin' In Circles by Lady Gaga

•••

Tony

"You're seriously just overreacting, T." Joanne crossed her arms and slouched on the couch. She continued, "I can assure you I'm still alive and kicking by the time you come back. I can live on my own, you know."

I heaved a sigh and ignored my whining sister. Since I would be leaving next week, I was worried about leaving Joanne by herself, especially with her weak knees. If I could find an apartment for her in New York, it would help lessen my worries. "Yeah...no."

"You know, f-for someone who claims to be more mature than me, you sure are stubborn," Joanne hissed and rolled her eyes. "I'm not eight anymore, T. You think I'm that dumb to not survive for eight months b-by myself?"

"That's not it, Jo," I started as I ran my hand through my hair. "You've been having these problems lately. If it's bothering you that I'm treating you like a child, then I'm sorry, I'm just concerned."

"See, this is why I don't want to tell you about this," She said in exasperation. "You worry too much."

The door to the doctor's office finally opened, and a nurse showed up. "Ms. Joanne Summer?" She asked and Joanne raised her hand. When the nurse told us the doctor was waiting for us, we hurriedly made our way inside the office.

The doctor was just scanning through his files when we got in. As soon as he saw us, he gave a warm welcoming smile and signaled us to come sit. "Greetings, Mr. and Ms. Summer, I'm Dr. Pete Jones," Doctor Jones introduced himself and asked, "how may I help you?"

"Good morning Doctor Jones, we're here for a consultation," I answered. "It's about my sister's knees."

"Alright, Ms. Summer, do you mind telling me what's wrong with your knees?" He asked my sister.

"Actually, it's not just my knees, but my legs, arms, and h-hands too. They...they suddenly won't coordinate at the most random times. These past few mo- no, I think this has been occasionally happening about a year now, I keep tri-tripping and falling on my knees." Joanne replied and took a deep breath.

She didn't tell me about it and all I knew was that she had a problem with her knees. We came to the clinic to know what was wrong and the procedure we needed to do to lessen my worries, but it felt like they just got worse.

"I see," Doctor Jones muttered under his breath as he scribbled down notes on his notepad. He then asked, "What about your vision? Can you tell me how your vision is this past couple of months?"

"I think my vi-vision's fine." She said making me sigh in relief. What was happening to her limbs was worrying enough, I didn't know how to react if I found out something was wrong with her vision too. "I sew a lot so it gets a lita-little bury, I mean blurry, after hours of sewing."

"Do you get easily tired?" again, Doctor Jones asked and my sister shook her head.

"I do get easily tired after a walk, b-but that's it." She answered.

"Alright, Ms. Summer, how do you want me to call you?"

"Just Joanne, sir."

"Okay, Joanne. Have you been getting enough sleep this year?" Asked doctor Jones. Joanne turned to look at me and was hesitant to answer. When she eventually nodded, doctor Jones then continued to tell us that he would be doing assessments of my sister's blood pressure, cholesterol level, and weight, as well as getting a blood and urine sample from her.

Doctor Jones then handed me a piece of paper with an address to St. Vincent Medical Center and another doctor whose name was Grayson Collins. His gaze fell on me. "Hopefully, Joanne could just be experiencing all this due to over fatigue and a lack of sleep." He explained, but continued, "but I would recommend you to have an appointment with doctor Collins. He's a neurologist. Impaired coordination in the torso and arms, blurry vision, and fatigue, your sister has been experiencing these for about a year now and that's not good."