Stumbling through the dark

Stubborn Child.

"Ahem" Doctor O'Brian cleared his throat loudly , halting the conversation between Niall and his nurse. Caoimhe quickly gathered up the vials of blood and the rest of her equipment and ducked out of the room, head bowed. Niall groaned to himself. "Niall, when you're dressed, please come and sit down" the doctor requested, slightly wondering exactly what he had just  interrupted.Niall hurriedly dressed, frustrated by the turn of events.

"Niall, I want to help you, but you are making my job harder than it needs to be. Your stomach is obviously causing problems so why not be truthful?" Doctor O'Brian raised one eyebrow as he stared into Niall's face. The young man refused to meet his gaze, just sat fiddling with the rips in his jeans. "Niall?". Just that act of fidgeting rang alarm bells as Paul Taylor had commented in his notes that Niall tended to play with his clothing when he was upset or overly embarrassed. Not that Doctor O'Brian needed the addition clues to the mental state of his young patient.

"OK, OK" Niall sounded as cross and frustrated as he felt " My stomach hurts, especially after I eat and I feel sick. I'm not all that hungry anyway. And.... umm... I have.........."

"Niall, for goodness sake, I'm a doctor. Spit it out ,lad. You can't tell me something I've never heard before"

"the 'runs' " Niall murmured. " sometimes"

"Are you sticking to the recommended diet?"

"Ummh, sometimes" Niall admitted." I don't always take the medication. I don't need it" he added defiantly.

"Niall , yes you do need it and food wise, you have to stick to the recommended food intake, until told otherwise. You are supposed to eat small amounts every two to three hours, keep to the recommended foods and absolutely no alcohol. Your stomach is a mess and you're making it worse. You really need to grasp the seriousness of the situation, young man" Doctor O'Brian was exasperated  with the young man before him .He understood how limiting things were for Niall at present but the young man himself didn't seem to want to help himself." What am I going to do with you?" he asked, his voice softening.

"Sorry, m'sorry. It's just I've had enough. Everyone is telling me what to do, treating me like I'm a child and not a grown man. I'm not even left alone, you're all chasing me for this or that test. Eat this, don't eat that. Sleep now, wake up now. Go there, come here. Talk to this man, do what he says. . I've had it.I've had enough". Niall snapped. Doctor O'Brian sat quietly, letting his young patient vent all his frustrations. He quite understood. Niall had, indeed, been through a lot and had been at the mercy of the medical profession with everything totally beyond his control. This act of rebellion ,and the outburst ,were quite understandable. However, Niall's attitude was not helping him and,  as a doctor, O'Brian had to step in, for the sake of his patient.

"Niall, I do understand what you are saying and I totally get how it is making you feel but regardless of that, you need to cooperate with us. It's important. I know it's frustrating for you but, given time, you'll be well again and you can put this all behind you." He looked into Niall's downcast face but Niall refused to look up. Doctor O'Brian sighed. Niall had always been a  stubborn child and hadn't changed when he reached adulthood. H*ll,  in O'Brian's view, he was still that child. He remembered only too well, the small boy with his knee swollen to twice its size, claiming he was fine, it didn't hurt a bit. No, nothing had changed. "I want to see you next week, no excuses. We review how you are then and if there's no improvement, you'll be hospitalised until there is improvement."." Niall stood up ,  making no comment, and left the room. The doctor looked at the closed door then pressed his intercom " Caoimhe, could you come in a moment, please?"

As soon as he got back home, Niall shut his bedroom door and started up his laptop. He just wanted to talk to someone who totally understood him but he doubted that was going to happen. He quickly checked his emails. He'd had replies from everyone he'd emailed a few days ago. Every single person, bar the one person he was desperate to speak with, had responded.  Zayn!  Well, that's it, he thought. Zayn really meant what he'd said. He was staying out of their lives forever. . He signed out of his account , shoved his laptop away and lay back on his bed. It was still morning but he was feeling exhausted. Probably stress, he hated doctor appointments and he'd been burning the candle at both ends, visiting mates, maybe doing a little of that forbidden drinking. He rubbed his sore tummy softly then closed his eyes. In minutes he was asleep.

Niall did his best to follow the instructions for his diet during the following week , eating what foods he should , and at regular intervals.  His stomach certainly felt much better. He also took his prescribed medication. This he was more reluctant to do but he didn't fancy another telling off from Doctor O'Brian. He just wished he didn't feel so tired. Maybe a few early nights!.

Caoimhe knocked on Doctor O'Brian's door and entered when bid. "These have just come through, Doctor. They're  all the blood test results from all of  last weeks patients. She handed over the envelope. " Oh. and Marie says your first patient is here" With a smile, Caoimhe let herself out of the room and the doctor put down the test results to study later. First he had to get on with his scheduled day.

After taking a sip of a much needed coffee, he pulled the test results towards them scanning them carefully. Ah, Maria O'Flynn would be delighted..pregnant at last. Mrs Keen needs iron, Mr Green..high Cholesterol, Niall Horan..................................." He read the results a second time. Then a third time. He quickly pulled up Niall's notes on the computer and located Paul Taylor's contact details hoping the man would still be at his office.

"Paul, It's O'Brian, NIall Horan's GP. I finally got Niall to come in last week. He seemed fine apart from a sore tummy. I did the routine blood tests and I have just got the results in.

"And?" Paul asked. This was not sounding good.

"Well...............................................