[OTA, Tag Thirteen] Hoping for some answers.

[headpatient]

"Ah hhab halymawha?" was all Jim could manage before the tongue depressor was removed from his mouth, looking inquisitively between the two doctors. Well, at least he was getting an answer other than 'it might be this

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[innerthirteen]

"Food and liquid can get into your lungs, cause pneumonia, which can cause the bleeding. It's treatable," she said, not lying about that. Curable, no, but there were things he could do to manage it. "The sooner we confirm, the better."

Before it got too bad and while it was manageable. Not that she wanted to scare him. Not yet, anyway.

"Can you lift your arm above your head?"

[headpatient]

"But not curable," Jim reiterated, a bit aggravated that she was trying to beat around the bush as he lifted his arms about his head. Why did doctors always do that? He would have rather had the blatant truth and suck it up than little white lies to sugar coat it.

"It also causes Interstitial lung disease, which can also be why it's hard to breathe, and why you're coughing up blood." Taub raised his eyebrows. "It's not a death sentence. It has a good possibility of going into remission indefinitely. The earlier you get treatment, the better your chances."

Well, fine, Jim, thought, putting his arms down. At least it wasn't cancer.

[innerthirteen]

Thirteen paused for a second and decided that she liked him. He wanted them to be honest, he wanted the truth. That was respectable. If he could handle it.

She was about to add more to what Taub had said when she glanced by the bed. Something off had caught her eye and as she registered what it was, she nudged the other doctor. There was blood in Jim's catheter bag, which meant that he more than likely had another bleed.

"When was the last time your catheter bag was changed?"

[headpatient]

Taub glanced over at Thirteen, examining the other doctor's face as she eyed the side of the bed, and directed his attention toward Jim's catheter bag, which sat half full with brown urine.

Watching Dr. Hadley's face fall, followed by Dr. Taub's, Jim's eyebrows furrowed. "Um..." Their expressions definitely didn't seem like they had seen anything remotely positive. "A... few hours ago?" he answered, tentative. Yeah. Definitely not promising. "...Why?" He was almost afraid to ask.

"You're peeing blood," Taub said after a beat, attempting to hide his dissatisfaction with the discovery of a new symptom. Now they had to rule out Polymyositis, and it was back to square one.

Jim paused for a moment, looking between the two doctors. ".... What does that mean?"