Work Text:
Enterprise Asides Part 4 - The Healed
Even though the doctors had probably forgotten about her, Jane-Ann didn’t want to make a scene. She knew they were busy. There was enough traffic through the hallway that if something was wrong, she’d be able to get some help, after all. She’d made it a point to be as cooperative as possible, even to that one doctor who had assumed she was too delirious to hear him call her a “door stop.” Some people were rude, and there was nothing you could do, so it was best to just treat them as sweet as can be and hope they realize what they’re saying sometime down the road.
Jane-Ann blinked a few times as a bout of nausea roiled up within her. It had been happening more and more frequently as she neared her next appointment. There wasn’t anything she could do, now, though. She tried to turn her head. No clock that she could see. Surely, it was time for her appointment. The nurse had said the doctor would be by any minute to check her chart. Perhaps he’d gotten lost. This was a very big hospital, after all. She shifted her aching legs, swollen and painful. If only she could walk, but the fluid retention in her legs had gotten so bad that the nurses had helped her into a bed rather than just a wheelchair.
Where was he?
The nausea was getting worse and she was feeling a little dizzy. Surely they hadn’t forgotten about her. These were professionals. They knew what they were doing. She had even helped to convince her oldest grandson that he ought to give med school a try. He was so bright, after all. She stopped. He had gone to med school, now that she thought of it, sifting through the hazy memories of her past. Why, he ought to be an intern now. She smiled, wishing she could see him again and congratulate him on doing so well in school. He lived in Chicago, and Jane-Ann just couldn’t travel anymore. She’s been on the transplant list for ages, it seemed, but there were so many younger people who she understood needed a kidney more than she did. But still, she kept holding out hope. Once she felt better she could visit her grandson, and even her newest great-grandbaby, little Samantha Dawn.
The memory helped her to fight through the haze of nausea and conserve her strength. Once she was through with this bout of dialysis, she’d feel a little better. Maybe she’d call her daughter and see how she was doing. She was always so busy with her big executive job, but Jane-Ann appreciated that she always took the time to answer her phone calls, even when she knew she was being pesky.
She wished she had a phone, now. Perhaps she could call the front desk and see if they knew where her doctor was. She looked around. No one. She began to get a little nervous. She wasn’t feeling well. There weren’t even any nurses.
But then she saw movement. She tried to turn to see if it was her doctor, but moving made her dizzy, which made her nausea even worse. He was passing by, obviously on his way to help someone else. But perhaps if she could just get his attention.
She tried saying, “Doctor,” but it came out more like a weak moan.
The man stopped. He wasn’t a doctor, but he had a trustworthy face.
“What’s the matter with you?” He had a nice voice, but he seemed annoyed by her stopping him. She wished she could apologize, but she was having trouble speaking.
“Kidney dialysis,” she managed, wondering if she should say more. Surely he could read her chart, and knew that she was due for an appointment.
“Dialysis?” he said, almost incredulous. Perhaps he was upset that she’d been left alone for so long. “My god, what is this, the dark ages?” He pulled out a pill. “Here, you swallow that,” he told her, his tone gentle. “If you have a problem, just call me.” He touched her cheek.
She nodded weakly and took the pill as he walked off. Should she have asked for his name? She didn’t know who to call if she needed help. She probably should have asked what the pill was. Probably an anti-nausea medication. But he seemed like he knew exactly what she needed, and he’d been so nice to her, that she trusted him.
Her doctor still didn’t show up, but she began to realize that she felt . . . a little strange. Not worse, but not necessarily better. There was a warm heat in her side, and a sort of pressure. They’d removed her defective kidney years ago; she shouldn’t be feeling anything there. She felt a little light-headed, too. Where was her doctor?
A nurse walked past, and she called out, “Please.”
The man stopped. “Yes?”
“Do you know where my doctor is? I have an appointment for dialysis.”
The man’s eyes widened. “Yes, absolutely. I’m so sorry, ma’am! Let me get him for you.”
As he ran off, she noted that she was feeling a tiny bit better. At least whatever that other doctor had given her was beginning to help. The light-headedness was passing.
The doctor returned along with the nurse. “I’m so sorry for the wait, Mrs. Kelly. We’ve got your room ready to go.”
“I’m feeling a bit better after that pill that doctor gave me.”
“What pill?” the doctor looked suddenly concerned.
“He was so nice. I know he was just trying to help.” Jane-Ann was pleased that her voice felt stronger She could catch her breath easier, now.. “I feel better, really I do. But I did feel something here on my side where my kidney used to be. Could you maybe check?”
The doctor set the chart aside and felt down to her side. Do you feel . . .” He stopped.
“What is it?” the nurse asked.
“There’s a . . . there’s something there.”
Jane-Ann felt suddenly nervous. “Oh, what is it, Doctor? Is it bad?”
“I don’t know.” He felt where her kidney used to be, his fingers gentle against her side and lower back. “A growth of some kind. How did it show up so quickly? Have you been experiencing any pain?”
“No,” Jane-Ann said. “I’m feeling better and better, actually.”
“Nurse, will you wait her for a second; I need to get a consult.”
By the time the other two doctors had joined hers, they all came to a bewildering conclusion.
“Are you sure you had your kidney removed?”
Jane-Ann blinked. “Of course. What’s wrong?”
“Is there a KUB x-ray available?”
“Yes.”
“I want to see what’s going on there. Bump her ahead of everyone else and get that done now.”
Twenty minutes later, Jane-Ann was feeling more and more nervous as the doctors stared in disbelief at the results, their mouths hanging open. “Gonna catch flies,” he mother had always said when she was a little girl.
“I don’t mean to be a bother,” Jane-Ann said, sitting up in the wheelchair they’d moved her to, “but could you please tell me what you see? If I’m in trouble, I really need to call my daughter . . .”
The second doctor, a woman with dark hair, looked up and said, her voice oddly flat. “You have a new kidney.”
Now it was Jane-Ann’s turn to sit with her mouth hanging open.”Excuse me?”
“It’s . . . well, it’s right where it’s supposed to be. And, based on your symptoms, it’s not only working, it’s probably working better than your one . . . I mean, your other kidney.”
“Really?” Jane-Ann couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Had they made a mistake earlier? But how could they? She remembered the surgery when the failing kidney had been removed. “I’m . . . I’m going to be okay?”
“We’ll have to see. It’s too soon to really tell, but . . . for now, perhaps . . . yes.”
The sheer illogical strangeness of it washed over Jane-Ann, and she realized there was one thing that had to have been the cause. That doctor and his pill. What if . . .? She turned to the doctors. “Can you please take me to a phone? I have to call my daughter.”
It had to have been that doctor. He’d given her something. She’d felt something in her side after she’d taken it. Maybe he wasn’t even a doctor. What if he was an angel or something like that, going around doing good deeds. She knew it sounded silly. He’d been too gruff to be an angel, but she knew a miracle when she saw one. And she wanted to tell everyone about it. If she could be healed, then maybe others could, too. The doctors wheeled her out of the room and down the hallway. People were running, busy as can be, but she couldn’t help herself.
“Doctor gave me a pill and I grew a new kidney!” she said, repeating it to everyone she saw. Each time, she said it, it struck her as even more wonderful. She had a second chance, and no one had to be hurt so she could get a transplant, now. She was going to get better. She already felt better, but knew she’d never have to do dialysis again. She wanted to cry, she wanted to shout for joy, she wanted to find that doctor and give him a hug.
But more than anything else, she couldn’t wait to go visit her great-grandbaby.