The doctor began probing about Emma’s medical history after reviewing her chart. “Now Ms. Hall, it appears that Dr. Hinton treated Emma’s AS for the last few months. Can you tell me how she responded to the medications that he prescribed for her?”
“Yes, she’s responded quite well. She takes prescription-strength NSAIDS and methotrexate.”
“Has she had any complications that you’re aware of?”
“Not that I’ve noticed.”
“Good. What I’d like to do is schedule her for an x-ray and an MRI. Once we have the results of those tests, we can determine how much the AS has affected her. Our hopes are that the methotrexate and NSAIDS keep her symptoms to a minimum for as long as possible.”
“What happens if her symptoms return or worsen?” Dave asked.
“If that should happen, we’ll have to bring her back in for more testing and decide how we’d like to approach things. But right now, everything looks good. Emma, would you like a sucker?” the doctor asked her as he ordered the labs for her testing.
Even though Kelly didn’t receive the answers she was looking for at the appointment, she was relieved that the testing was scheduled. Emma was set to have her diagnostic testing within two weeks from the date and had a follow-up appointment with the specialist the following month to go over the results.
As they were leaving, Dave asked her, “Do you feel better now that things are heading in the right direction?”
“I guess so.”
“What do you mean you guess so? I think the appointment went as good as could be expected,” he squeezed her hand.
By the end of September, Kelly pulled Emma out of class to take her to get her testing done, which also meant she had to juggle her work schedule. One of her coworkers traded days with her to avoid her boss giving her too much grief for missing any work. She was a bit nervous, but so was her mom. As they made their way into the hospital, Emma refused to go inside.
“What’s wrong sweetie?” Kelly asked as her daughter jerked her hand back and stood near the entrance.
“I don’t want to go in.”
“Why? They’re not going to hurt you. I promise.”
“You don’t know that. What if they poke me with a bunch of needles?” she cried.
“That’s not going to happen. They just need to take pictures of you.”
“I don’t believe you, mommy. Why do they want to take my picture? Can’t they see what I look like?”
“Of course they can, but these tests will let them see what you look like on the inside.”
“Why do they want to see what my insides look like?”
“Because they need to see your bones and joints.”
After explaining what bones and joints were, Kelly finally talked her into going inside the building. Emma anxiously waited in the lobby as she prepared for the worst. A tall, thin woman called Kelly to the front desk shortly after she registered for the appointment.
“Miss Hall, how would you like to pay for the down payment this afternoon?”
“The down payment? What down payment?”
“We require a down payment at the time of service. After you make your initial down payment, we’ll bill you for the remaining amount. We ask that you put down at least two hundred dollars.”
“Two hundred?” Kelly asked in disbelief as she was put on the spot. She didn’t have two hundred to put down. She lowered her voice so other patients couldn’t overhear, “I don’t have two hundred to put down; I didn’t know a down payment was required. I can do a hundred dollars,” she offered.
“That will be okay. How would you like to pay that today?”
She rummaged through her purse and pulled out her credit card. “Can I use this?”
“Yes, that will be fine.”
The woman took her credit card and processed the payment. Great, she thought, there goes some of our grocery money for the month.
“Here you go Miss Hall,” she returned the credit card along with a receipt. “You’ll be called back shortly.”
Her mom held her hand until the technician called them back to the MRI room. She instructed Emma to undress and put on the tiger printed hospital gown. While Kelly helped her daughter undress, she could sense her daughter’s fear.
“Listen, baby, I know you’re nervous, but I promise, it’s not going to hurt. Do you see that table right there?” Emma nodded her head. “You’re going to lay on that and they’ll press a button that moves the table inside of that circle machine. You’ll have to be really still while you’re in that part of the machine because that’s where they’ll take your pictures. Okay?”
Emma looked at her mom as if she were crazy. “That thing’s not going to take my picture! I don’t even see a camera.”
“You can’t see the camera because it’s inside the machine,” she tried to reason with her daughter.
The technician knocked on the door and asked to come in. Once she was back in the room, she helped Emma onto the table and began the procedure. As her tiny body was pulled inside the scanner, she weakly smiled at her mom. Trying to put her daughter at ease, Kelly said, “It’s okay Emma Buggy, I’m right here. I won’t leave you.”
Remembering what her mom said, she lied completely still. The scanner began making loud tapping noises, which scared Emma, but she remained brave throughout the whole procedure. As the technician announced that the scan was complete, Emma let out a sigh of relief. The motorized bed retracted out of the scanner, allowing Emma to sit up.
“See. That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Kelly asked.
“No, but it was scary because it was so loud. I wanted to jump, but I remembered that you said to be still.”
“You did an excellent job,” the radiographer added.
“What’s next?” Kelly asked her.
“We’ll send these off to be analyzed, the results will be forwarded to your doctor and he’ll go over them with you. I noticed that Dr. Berringen ordered these; he’s an excellent doctor. The best in the field, actually.”
That made her feel better. “Okay, and what about her x-ray?” Kelly asked.
“We’ll do that today as well, but I don’t do those. You’ll have to go down to x-ray.” She looked at Emma, “You’ll need to stay in your cute gown for a while longer.”
“Where’s x-ray?”
“When you leave this room, take a left and continue down the hall until you reach the next main corridor. At the next hallway, make a right and you’ll run right into it. There’s a big sign hanging on the wall that’ll say X-ray on it.”
Emma toted behind her mom as they headed to x-ray. While they were walking, she began to ask about the x-ray and how it worked.
“How does this test work?” she asked.
“It’s not like the other one. There’s no noise at all, and you can stand up while they do it. They’ll place individual boards behind you and take pictures of you with a camera that you’ll actually be able to see.”
“Good, I didn’t like being in that weird machine back there. Are they going to put me inside another thing?”
Kelly laughed, “Oh, no, baby. You’ll just stand in an open room.”
Once they reached x-ray, Kelly checked in with the receptionist to let them know they were there. They took a seat in the waiting room until a short, round woman called them back.
“Oh, I see you’re already sporting one of our gowns, huh?” the lady joked with Emma.
“Yeah, they made me put it on for my other test.”
“Okay, now I’ll just need you to stand right here and hold still. When I’m ready to take your picture, I’ll need you to take a deep breath and hold it until I say you can breathe. It’ll only be a few seconds. Can you do that?”
Kelly admired how friendly she was with her daughter. She kind of reminded her of her friend Dawn. Suddenly, she wished she had asked her to come with them. It would’ve been nice to have someone tag along for support. Dave was busy, off buying another commercial property in Eas
t St. Louis, Illinois.
After the woman had taken x-rays of Emma’s spine, she had her sit on the table so she could take x-rays of her hands, elbows, knees, ankles and feet. Poor Emma was bored as she had to hold still for picture after picture. When they were finally finished, the kind woman helped her off the table and offered her a drink.
“Would you like some Sprite or apple juice?” the redheaded woman asked as she slid her glasses back up her nose.
“Sprite!” Emma exclaimed.
“Emma, where’s your manners? Say please.”
“Please,” she added.
The woman smiled as she made her way to the mini fridge behind the receptionist desk. As she returned with the soda, she told her that she could put her clothes back on since they were finished with their testing. It would be another two weeks until Kelly would know the results of the images, but she was okay with that. At the moment, Emma was healthy and going strong. Her medicine was still working, which Kelly was grateful for.
Just a few weeks before Thanksgiving, Kelly once again traded days off and pulled Emma out of class to see the specialist. This time, Dave accompanied them to the appointment. The assistant called them back, this time placing them in a colorful green room. Dr. Berringen was quite busy that day, which caused them to wait at least a half hour before he made it into the room.
“Hello Emma and Miss Hall,” he shook Kelly’s hand. “Good afternoon,” he spoke to Dave. “Okay, let’s take a look at the test results.”
He scanned over the analysis of the diagnostic test results for a few moments. After reviewing them, he removed them from the chart to allow Kelly to read them as he explained them.
“According to the MRI, Emma has a great deal of inflammation surrounding her joints. This would explain all of the pain and swelling that she’s experienced. It’s especially dangerous in her lower extremities, which caused the stiffening in her legs, feet, and hands. Her sacroiliac joint has the greatest amount of inflammation, but this is common in those who suffer from AS.”
Kelly and Dave nodded, indicating they were following the doctor as they read the analysis from the report. “What is her sacroiliac joint?” she asked.
“The sacroiliac joint is the joint where the pelvis and spine join. This would cause all of the lower back pain that she complained about previously.”
“Now, with her x-ray, she has a noticeable amount of fusing around her vertebrae. This is a concern because it has caused some damage to her spine. When the vertebrae fuse together, it robs the spine of mobility and leaves her vulnerable to fractures. If this continues, it can gradually lead to her spine curving forward. It’s imperative that we keep her inflammation under control; if ignored, she may develop calcium deposits in the cushions between the spinal vertebrae.”
“But none of that has happened yet, is that what you’re saying?”
“Well, she does have some fusion of the spine and her inflammation is a concern. Are her medications still working well for her?”
“So far,” Kelly answered.
“Then we’ll continue with that treatment plan and we’ll schedule her to come back in six months for more testing to determine the rate at which her disease is progressing. As long as we monitor it and keep it under control, she should grow up to be a young, healthy adult.”
Kelly replayed the doctor’s words in her mind as they left the doctor’s office. The spinal confusion concerned her, but she was glad that the doctor didn’t seem too alarmed by it. Sensing Kelly’s mind was preoccupied, Dave interrupted her thoughts as they were getting back in the car.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked as Emma buckled herself into the backseat.
“Just trying to wrap my head around what the doctor told us,” she explained.
“Mom, what did that doctor mean when he said all those things?”
Dave turned to look at Emma as he adjusted the rear view mirror, “He said that your spine has grown together a little and that the medicine seems to be helping you.”
Yeah, Kelly thought if it were only that simple. Driving along, she continued to think about Emma, the doctors, and all the testing. How am I going to keep paying for all of this stuff? I still owe close to fifteen hundred dollars on the x-ray and MRI, and that’s only because I put down a hundred bucks on the day of the testing. I just got her regular doctor visits and labs paid off, I have no cash and my credit card is maxed. Business better pick up so I can pay for these two specialist visits and her testing.
“Kelly? What’s wrong?” Dave asked, perplexed by her silence on the way to her house.
“Nothing,” she lied.
They continued to drive in silence until they pulled up to the house. Dave helped Emma out of the backseat as Kelly dug through her purse to find her keys to the front door. Her bag slipped from her grip, sending all the contents flying all over the driveway.
“Shit,” she muttered, bending down to pick everything up.
“Here, let me help you,” Dave offered.
Once they were inside, Kelly flopped onto the couch. Dave sat beside her and offered a foot massage; she graciously accepted while Emma went to her room to draw.
“You know, Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away. Do you have any plans?” he asked.
“No. You?”
“No. I was hoping we could spend it together, the three of us.”
“I know I’d love it, and I bet Emma would too.”
“Do you want to have it here or at my house?” Dave questioned.
“It doesn’t matter,” she thought for a moment. “Why don’t we have it at your house? Your kitchen is much
bigger than mine.”
“Sounds good to me! I can’t wait.”
Chapter Nine
On the eve of Thanksgiving, Kelly worked hard in her small kitchen preparing deviled eggs, homemade apple pie, and her famous St. Louis salad. Emma worked vigorously beside her, trying to keep pace with her mom.
“Can I help sprinkle the sugar on the pie?” she asked her mom.
“You sure can! And when we’re done with that, you can help me stir up the filling for these eggs. Dinner’s going to be so good tomorrow, Emma Buggy, I just know it!” Kelly pinched a bit of flour off the counter and playfully dusted Emma’s nose with it and added, “My little baker.”
The two had a marvelous time cooking and baking together in the kitchen, but by the night’s end, Emma wore out. The tiny eight-year-old passed out on the couch shortly after 10 PM. After carefully covering all of the food and putting it in the refrigerator, Kelly carried her daughter to bed and turned in for the night. She had a big day ahead of her tomorrow that would be filled with more cooking at Dave’s house, but she couldn’t wait to spend their first holiday together.
In the morning, Kelly awoke to the alarm clock blaring. Still groggy, she shut it off and headed straight for the shower. Determined to look her best, despite all the cooking ahead of her, she was going to get all made up before she woke up Emma. It would make for a much easier morning, she thought. Just as she was stepping into the shower, someone grabbed her from behind with a loud booming voice.
“Ahh!” she screamed, nearly falling into the shower with her slippery foot.
Emma giggled from behind, “Morning momma!”
Kelly grabbed her chest, covering her racing heart. “Emma! You scared the hell out of me! Why would you do that?” she laughed.
Her daughter smiled, “I don’t know. I thought it would be funny,” she said, twisting her hands together as she shrugged her shoulders.
“That’s not nice,” she said, still trying to catch her breath. “I’m going to take a shower real quick so we can start getting ready to go to Dave’s house.” She closed the shower curtain as she began wetting down her hair. “Do you want to wear your pink dress or the purple one?”
“Mom! You know that purple’s my favorite color! I want to wear the purple dress!” she exclaimed before chanting “Pur-ple dress, pur-ple dress!”
“Okay, I got it!” she teased. “Go ahead and brush your teeth real quick, then go get dressed. Momma’s got a lot to do today. We have to get ready, pack up the car, drive to his house and then cook over there. Are you excited for today?”
“Yeah,” she answered, with a mouthful of toothpaste.
Rescued by the Billionaire (Billionaire Romance Novel) Page 10
