47: Passcode

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- KING'S POV -




"What's wrong?" I asked straight away, not even giving anyone of them a chance to say another word. Something had happened to my mother and I needed to know what. "Jane, please. What happened?" I asked once more, a little more forcefully after she exhaled and stayed silent. Her silence didn't last longer than two seconds, but to me, it felt like two minutes.

"You might want to sit down for this." She said, gesturing towards the family waiting area lined with navy blue leather seats. I clenched my fist and A'ishah immediately realised my rigid stance. She wrapped her hands around my closed fist and nodded her head toward the seating area with a soft look of comfort. I exhaled and let her lead me there.

The dark area lit up as soon as we stepped into its vicinity and as A'ishah and I took our seats, Nurse Jane took hers diagonal from us. She placed her hands on her lap and cleared her throat once more.

I clenched my fists and listened intently, hanging onto her every word as she spoke.

"Your mum came in here with a sprained ankle as you're aware. She had an episode, much like the one that she had when you two visited her and in the midst, she fractured a bone. A fracture usually isn't anything complicated. However, your mother, as you know, is a diabetic. Although it is very very rare, diabetics who break or fracture bones are prone to a condition called Osteomyelitis. We have not yet confirmed this, but she has been having some of its symptoms. Them being swelling around her leg, fatigue, nausea and a fever." She explained slowly, making sure we were understanding everything that she was saying. She placed her hands on the arm rest and paused, giving room for me to ask the question bugging my mind.

"Osteomyelitis. What is it? Is it serious?" I questioned although I knew that it must have been. If it weren't, she never would have asked us to take a seat to explain it to us.

"It's a rapidly developing condition in which an open wound or fracture can lead to the spread of a bacteria called Staphylococcus which then causes Osteomyelitis. It can be acute, or chronic. Unfortunately, people with diabetes, HIV, or peripheral vascular disease are more prone to chronic osteomyelitis, which persists or recurs, despite treatment."

A'ishah cleared her throat softly and as I looked at her, I realised that her eyes had filled with unshed tears, glossed over and red. "How will it effect her if she has it?" She asked and I looked back at the nurse.

"Look," She shook her head and sighed. "Like any other condition, it varies from person to person. Once confirmed, we will put the patient onto antibiotics with an IV for as long as needed in hopes of preventing the infection from growing or spreading. We find out tomorrow morning and if she is put onto antibiotics, she will be under constant monitoring. Depending on the strength of her immune system, we hope she will be able to fight off the infection before it gets worse." She spoke.

My mum wasn't strong. Of course I didn't know much about her immune system, but externally she was quite small and frail. Ya Allah, please grant my mum health and strength.

"And if she can't fight it?" I asked slowly, my shoulders slumping. A'ishah reached over and placed her hand on my thigh, squeezing softly and I placed my own hand on top of hers in a grateful gesture.

"In this case, it is usually required to have surgery to remove the infected tissue and/or bone. The surgery hopefully prevents the infection from spreading further." She looked down and cleared her throat. I knew something bad was coming and I braced myself for the worst. "Sometimes the surgery will remove the infection, but there is then an open wound from the surgery itself which increases the risk of another infection. The worst case scenario, however, is that the removal surgery will not rid of the infection fully. In this case, amputation of the affected area is the only remaining option."

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