A new chapter..read /vote/comment..thanks :)
this chapter is dedicated to Heartbeatxox for the amazing cover :)
Chapter 2 :
Ok, so here it is , imagine a model of a house. A beautiful two storied house with equally beautiful front and back yards. Now imagine , luscious green trees in those yards and a bright summery day to go with it.
Now, imagine you have a hammer in your hand.
Smash!!
Once, a beautiful model, is now in ruins.
This is how I feel, when I break the news of a fatal disease to the patient's family. It is even more difficult , when you have to break the news of the child's disease, to her mother. But, you had no other option. You had to come clean with the reports.What do you do?When I got Samantha Byrnes' blood reports, I had no idea , what I was gonna do or how I was gonna tell her mother about this. This was indeed one of the banes of being in my profession, breaking the news.I took the reports with me, to Samantha's private room. It was in the same floor as mine, which was good, as it meant I really had no time to change my mind.I knocked twice, and went in.
"Oh, Dr.Richards , is everything alright? , what do the reports say?" Mrs. Byrnes asked me, looking at me expectantly.
How do I do it? It' s just impossible to break the news to her, but I had to do it, at any cost.
"Mrs. Byrnes, I have no other way to say this , except getting to the point."
"You are scaring me doctor. What happened?" the lady said , visibly shaking now.
" How about we talk in my office? Please follow me there"r
I arranged for a nurse in Samantha's room , while we went into my office. I offered her some water , and asked her if she needed anything. Indirectly, I was doing anything in my hand to delay the inevitable.
"Doctor , please get to the point now?" she asked me, tears now full in her eyes.
"Ma'am , we found something in Samantha's blood report. Her blood showed some abnormal cells in them. Her defense cells , are extremely large in number ,than the normal range, and are all immature."
"What does that mean doctor?" she asked me, now with fear , evident in her eyes.
"We are suspecting Leukemia , cancer of the white blood cell, AML to be exact. Acute Myeloid Leukemia."
She didn't say anything. Denial ? Shock ? I do not know.'I gave her sometime to process this.
"Are you sure doctor? " she asked , with little hope in her eyes
"Are you sure it's my Sam and that the reports didn't get mixed up? Are you absolutely sure?" she asked me.
" We are pretty much positive about the diagnosis ma'am , but we can redo the tests if you want us to." I told her , although knowing , that those reports too , are gonna say the same thing.
"Would you doctor? Please re run the tests. Please? I'm pretty sure my daughter cannot have cancer." She was now crying. Tears were freely flowing down her eyes.
"Alright. I will get to it right now. May I know about Mr. Byrnes?, I mean , it's good to have both parents around at times like these.
" He is at a convention in D.C . He is gonna be back in three days."
"I'm suggesting , you give him a call ma'am. I'll be off to redo the tests" I said and got out that claustrophobic office of mine , as soon as possible.
I just broke, what would probably be the worst news of her life , to that lady. I wish I could control it, take it all back. But I couldn't and this fact , drove me crazy. I went into Samantha's room , to draw some blood for the tests. She was deep in sleep on her bed. Her blonde hair , splayed over her pillow ,with just one lock , falling over her left cheek. She looked so adorable ,sleeping , with no care whatsoever to what is happening around her.I quickly drew the blood , and sent it to the lab after personally making sure , that there would be no errors.I went back to my office, to find Mrs. Byrnes , waiting for me outside.
" I sent the blood for retesting. It should be done in about an hour. Why don't you just wait in Samantha's room?" I told her.
She simply nodded and left, probably too weak to even talk. I don't blame her. This must be the worst night of her life.
I entered my cabin and waited for the reports to come back. It was almost time for my second round of the wards . After quickly finishing it, mostly because everybody was sleeping, and we didn't encounter any complications,I came back and got a cup of coffee for myself.
I must confess. I have sincerely been hoping that Mrs. Byrnes was right and that the reports were faulty, even though, deep down , I knew it was impossible. I finished my cup of coffee, when nurse Maria, came in with the reports. I ripped opened the cover, silently praying to, I don't really know who, that the results came back negative.
The hope didn't last long. This report too, was the carbon copy of the first one.
I went over to Samantha's room, to break the news to her mother, again. I thought the first time , was difficult. This was absolutely impossible for me to do.
"Ma'am" I called out to her. She was looking over her daughter, with all the love she had in her heart.
Again, I felt like I was holding the hammer.
She turned , facing me, after stroking her daughter's cheek one last time.
She didn't say a thing , and I could not look her in the eye, but I had to do it.
"I'm sorry ma'am , but the reports came back the same. I suggest you call Mr. Byrnes now."
"Why?" she asked me, before she burst out crying.
Her legs were probably weak, as she almost fell down, as I went on to hold her and keep her from falling and guided her to sit on the nearby chair.
"Please ma'am , you have to be strong, at least for Samantha. Please control your emotions. " I told her, trying to get her to stop crying.
I hugged and consoled her , for so long as she cried. My ,now stained with her tears, but that was the least of my concerns.
She finally came down to sobbing and again asked me "why?"
" We cannot exactly tell. Here genotype was probably susceptible"
"I'll leave you alone for sometime ma'am. My shift ends now, but I'll be back in a few hours. Think you can make that call now?" I asked her.
She simply nodded.
I left her, after making sure she was okay , at least for the moment. I went up to my room and changed into my overcoat and left the hospital , after signing my name out.
That night, I smoked my first cig in seven years.
