I Believe in You

Diagnosis

"She's in a medically induced coma." I explained to my family in the waiting room after my sister was moved to the Intensive Care Unit.
"What happened?" My dad looked up at me.
"She was beaten. He fractured her skull. There is extensive swelling in her brain which is why she's been placed in the coma."
"What can we do?" Logan asked.
"There's nothing we can do. We have to let her doctors continue to work their magic and hope for the best." I answered my heart breaking watching my baby brother hurt.
"You get her better and I'll make sure he never gets out of prison." Dad looked at me.
"I'm going to do everything I can." I answered.
Suddenly, my mom doubled over and screamed.
"Mom?" I knelt down next to her and rested my hands on her knees.
"Where does it hurt?" I asked motioning to Nic to bring over a wheelchair.
"I don't need a wheelchair. I don't need to be admitted." She complained
"Mom. You raised a doctor. Let me be a doctor." I insisted.
She sighed but nodded and allowed me to help her into the wheelchair.
"Ask Dr. Feldman to run some test. An MRI, CT, and an ultrasound to try and give us a clear picture." I instructed.
"Of course, Meghan. Whatever you need." She looked at me sadly.
"Dad, when did this start?" I asked sitting down beside him.
"The random bouts of pain? A couple weeks maybe? She hasn't quite been herself for months though. Depressed, barely eating; she's lost a good amount of weight. She's tired all the time." He sighed.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked looking down.
"I thought she was just tired or it was a flare up of her depression." He explained.
"Do you think it's something else? Something worse?"
"I don't know yet. I won't know until the tests come back. Try not to worry." I touched his shoulder gently.
Desperately I tried to make my rounds and just not thinking about my sister in a coma or my mother going through all of these tests even though it could just be depression.
I hadn't actually rested since the shift started twelve hours before when I met Nic Nevin just before Lily Kendall came into my emergency room and I was beginning to feel it.
"Meghan. You need to try to rest. I'll come get you when we get the test results back." Irving said gently walking up to me as I sat half asleep at the nurses station.
"No. I'm fine." I sighed trying to force my eyes open.
"If you end up getting hurt because I just accepted that, Conrad will kick my ass when he gets back." He insisted.
I laughed because I knew it was true.
"Alright. Alright. I'll lay down." I conceded.
"Good cuz your boyfriend terrifies me." He smiled at me.
"He has that effect on people." I laughed retiring to the sleeping quarters.
"Meghan. Meghan." A female voice said my name rousing me from my sleep.
I opened my eyes to find Dr. Lane Hunter hovering over me.
Dr. Hunter?" I asked sitting up.
"Is everything alright?"
"Come with me. I need to speak with you." She said straightening up.
I climbed out of the bed and walked behind her to her office in the oncology wing.
"Please, sit." She motioned to a chair in front of her desk.
I complied.
"Dr. Feldman came to me with your mother's test results." She explained.
I almost stopped listening because I knew almost exactly where it was going.
"How bad?" I asked almost silently.
"Your mother has stage four metastatic pancreatic cancer. It's almost completely inoperable but there are some treatments that we can explore to buy her more time."
I closed my eyes as my tears threatened to spill down my face.
"I need to speak to my parents before we decide anything." I sighed after a long while.
She nodded and looked at me sympathetically.
"I wanted to speak to you privately so you could decide if you want to be the one to tell them."
I thought about that for a few moments before nodding.
"It'd probably be better for it to come from me."
She nodded again.
"Thank you, Dr. Hunter." I said standing up.
"Call me, Lane, Meghan." She insisted.
"If you'll page me if you decide you want to explore the options."
I nodded again and left her office.
Almost in a daze I walked into my sister's room. No one was there but I needed to stop and think about what I had to do.
"You're supposed to be here with us. I can't lose you both. I can't." I breathed resting my head on the edge of the bed.
"I don't know how I'm going to do this."
"You're stronger than you're giving yourself credit for." Irving's voice came from the doorway.
"We've all seen it. Every day since you started here. Conrad knows how strong you are." He smiled at me leaning against the doorframe.
"I wish he was here." I sighed.
"It's just so much."
"I know it is. I can't even begin to imagine how hard this is. We're all supporting you. We've got you." He assured me.
I nodded solemnly.
"I have to go talk to my parents. Page me if anything changes?" I asked looking at my sister again before I walked out of the room.
"Of course." He nodded as I walked passed him.
I ran nearly head on into Nic on my way to my mom's room.
"I'm sorry." I stammered.
"It's fine, Meghan. Is there anything I can do?" She asked.
"No, Nic. Thank you." I smiled halfheartedly.
"I'll let you know if there is."
She smiled sadly.
"I lost my mom when I was thirteen. If you ever need to talk..." She nodded at me.
"I appreciate that. Thank you."
I took a deep breath before entering the hospital room.
"Are the test results back, Meghan?" Dad asked.
"They are." Mom said reading my face.
I nodded, continued into the room and sat on the edge of the bed.
"You have stage four metastatic pancreatic cancer. What that means is that the cancer from your pancreas spread to other organs and tissues. It makes it nearly inoperable. The hospital's head of oncology has offered to do a consultation with you to discuss options for various treatments to help." My voice shook violently as I spoke despite how hard I tried to fight it.
"It'd just be delaying the inevitable." My mom smiled at me.
"Don't do that. Don't give up like that." My dad snapped.
"Dad..." I started.
"No! You're a doctor! Do something!" He screamed at me.
"I'm not an oncologist. I can ask Dr. Hunter to come in and speak to you but that's mom's decision." I answered quietly.
I knew he was just scared and I didn't hold it against him. I was scared too.
Mom nodded.
"I'll hear her out." She answered.
I walked out of the room and called Lane.
"I'll be right there." She answered.
"Thank you." I breathed.
I walked briskly through the hallways on my way to a storage closet no one used anymore. I slammed the door and locked it behind me before sliding down against the door bursting into tears.