just_1_word | 20.6. Family
20.6. Family
Co-written with drcampbell & doctortara
[Follows THIS]
When they arrived at the Special Care Nursery on the Paediatrics ward amidst a flurry of activity, Lachlan immediately sought out the closest person in a white coat. He was carefully holding his son in his arms, remaining close to the plastic hospital crib so IV fluids leading into the infant’s leg weren’t disrupted. “Look, I realise I’m about to become a huge pain in your arse here, but I’m nay putting him down. He isnae crying and after living through his crying in pain for countless days since he was born, this is a good thing, aye? So, I’m just going to keep holding him and I’m a doctor, so I know what I’m doing. You can do whatever tests you need… which should be a blood test right up… but there isnae any way I’m putting him in that crib and if you try to guilt me into it, I willnae be accountable for my own actions. That isnae a threat, so you dinnae need to call security, but please just let me keep holding him so he doesnae cry because I cannae take it anymore, okay? I just need you to help him,” he said tearfully, now a little breathless. Tara was beside him now, her hand on his waist in some sort of desperate united front. The doctor wasn’t a familiar face to Lachlan, but that was okay too. More crying was going to come when they took Riley’s blood so he just wanted to comfort his son the best he could, which meant holding him.
Whatever Alex was expecting, it wasn’t this. It wasn’t like he had been expecting the guy to look dead like he did in those crimes scene photos, but there was no shooting victim standing in front of Alex. Just an extremely worried and scared new Dad desperate to not get fobbed off. Alex nodded and went over to the treatment trolley to collect what he needed. “Let’s just test his blood sugar level and we’ll go from there,” he began quietly. “Why don’t you both come sit down? All I need is access to his heel to collect a small blood sample. Once we have those results, we can decide together what the next steps will be, okay?”
Lachlan nodded but didn’t respond verbally. He wasn’t sure he could without giving into that emotional and fearful lump that had taken residence in his throat. If he cried now, he really wouldn’t stop. He had reached the point that if his son was sick, he just wanted to know so they could treat him and make him feel better. He gave Tara a brief kiss in an attempt to reassure her and then they both sat down in the recliners in the corner of the room. At least the doctor wasn’t a bastard. Lachlan didn’t want to have to make yet another scene in this hospital. Riley was whimpering in his arms, his little cheeks still flushed from all the crying. Lachlan’s heart was breaking at just the sight. He kept his calm, though, and gently unfolded the blankets around Riley’s feet to give the doctor access to one of his tiny feet. “I’ll just… just take his sock off,” he told him shakily and tugged it off to hand it to Tara.
Tara folded the little blue newborn sock in between her palms and leant forward. “He’s got it. I know he has. I just know.” She shook her head, a couple of stray tears escaping which she brushed away before they fell. She brushed her fingers over her son’s fine hair and then kissed her husband’s temple.
Alex looked up at her. He was already finding he had a soft spot for this young couple. He adjusted his latex gloves so he could keep a hold on the small pediatric syringe. “And if he does, he’ll be very lucky to have a Mom who can help him and gets it,” he told her with a faint smile. He rubbed his other hand over the baby’s back. “Just a tiny sting, matey. You’re going to hate it and you’re going to hate me because of it, but just remember Daddy’s got you there…”
Tara managed just a slight, grateful smile back at the doctor. Yeah, he was new, but he was good and she appreciated the bedside manner. She appreciated him understanding their situation, too. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, gripping hold of the arm rest to brace herself for the doctor pricking her son with the needle. Her stomach clenched with a guilty nausea. If Riley had diabetes, they would have to prick him like this two times a day. Lachlan was biting down on his lower lip, his face pale from worry. They both flinched when the doctor pricked Riley’s heel and the infant starting immediately screaming in response. Tara took over pressing the cotton ball to his heel when the doctor stood up again with the blood sample and then she wrapped her other arm around her husband and son, trying to just offer anything to make the situation better.
Alex did want her to be wrong, but the facts were there as plain as day on the paper. The baby was very dehydrated and his urinary output extensive for a baby his size. It was only going to take a few minutes to get the blood sugar reading. He clipped the slide with the sample into the monitor and made a few notes in the medical record of the test. Riley was still sobbing in protest at being stabbed so rudely with the needle. Alex couldn’t blame the lad at all. He stole a glance at the family and had to stop himself shaking his head sympathetically. Why did this investigation suddenly seem so much more close to home?
Lachlan knew how long a few minutes could seem sometimes. There had been many moments in his recent life where some few minutes felt like a lifetime, and then there were some that just went too quickly. His head was resting against Tara’s but his eyes were trained on the linoleum floor ahead of him as he waited for that monitor to beep. It felt like he was waiting a decade and he didn’t even know what more he could do to reassure his tiny son that the pain would stop. When it beeped, he merely closed his eyes and let out the breath he had been holding. He glanced at Tara and carefully shifted Riley into her arms. She’d need to be holding him when they heard this. He kept his hands on his son’s back, though. Hell, he had survived a bullet, he could get through this, right?
Alex had the monitor collected into his gloved hand without hesitation. He turned as he read the small screen and was back at Lachlan and Tara’s side immediately, sitting down in the chair beside them. “Seventeen,” he told them with an apologetic edge to his tone. “That’s extremely high and we need to admit him. We’ll check him over to make sure there is nothing else going on simultaneously but then we’ll all sit down and discuss how we’ll tackle an insulin regime for him. Would you like some time alone?” he asked.
Tara was crying, her head dipped so her cheek rested against Riley’s head. Lachlan gave a slight nod and cleared his throat to try and remove that horrible lump. “Aye, thank you,” he said hoarsely, his rough voice barely recognisable as his own. “I’ll be out in a wee minute to sign the authorities.”
Alex touched Lachlan lightly and briefly on the forearm to show his support. “Take as long as you need. He has the IV fluids. That alone will be helping ease the discomfort a lot. I’ll be just down the hall when you’re ready.”
The doctor stood up to leave, but Tara caught his attention. “Doctor?”
Alex looked back, wishing he had some perfect words to offer them, but he knew there were none. They knew, as doctors themselves, that there were none. He noted then how much the baby looked like his father and after reading the horrific case, it felt relieving to see the man here alive and having some sort of unusual strength to not let news like his son’s illness take him down. “Dr Campbell?” he replied.
“Thank you,” Tara murmured as she nursed her son close to her.
Alex just nodded and left the room. When he was out of their sight, he stopped and leant against the wall, indulging in a moment to press his fingers against his forehead. It wasn’t often parents thanked a doctor for supplying a diagnosis that their baby would have an illness for the rest of his life. And it wasn’t comforting for Alex. All it told him was how much the couple had been through to find relief in something painful like that.
Word Count | 1,492
Co-written with drcampbell & doctortara
[Follows THIS]
When they arrived at the Special Care Nursery on the Paediatrics ward amidst a flurry of activity, Lachlan immediately sought out the closest person in a white coat. He was carefully holding his son in his arms, remaining close to the plastic hospital crib so IV fluids leading into the infant’s leg weren’t disrupted. “Look, I realise I’m about to become a huge pain in your arse here, but I’m nay putting him down. He isnae crying and after living through his crying in pain for countless days since he was born, this is a good thing, aye? So, I’m just going to keep holding him and I’m a doctor, so I know what I’m doing. You can do whatever tests you need… which should be a blood test right up… but there isnae any way I’m putting him in that crib and if you try to guilt me into it, I willnae be accountable for my own actions. That isnae a threat, so you dinnae need to call security, but please just let me keep holding him so he doesnae cry because I cannae take it anymore, okay? I just need you to help him,” he said tearfully, now a little breathless. Tara was beside him now, her hand on his waist in some sort of desperate united front. The doctor wasn’t a familiar face to Lachlan, but that was okay too. More crying was going to come when they took Riley’s blood so he just wanted to comfort his son the best he could, which meant holding him.
Whatever Alex was expecting, it wasn’t this. It wasn’t like he had been expecting the guy to look dead like he did in those crimes scene photos, but there was no shooting victim standing in front of Alex. Just an extremely worried and scared new Dad desperate to not get fobbed off. Alex nodded and went over to the treatment trolley to collect what he needed. “Let’s just test his blood sugar level and we’ll go from there,” he began quietly. “Why don’t you both come sit down? All I need is access to his heel to collect a small blood sample. Once we have those results, we can decide together what the next steps will be, okay?”
Lachlan nodded but didn’t respond verbally. He wasn’t sure he could without giving into that emotional and fearful lump that had taken residence in his throat. If he cried now, he really wouldn’t stop. He had reached the point that if his son was sick, he just wanted to know so they could treat him and make him feel better. He gave Tara a brief kiss in an attempt to reassure her and then they both sat down in the recliners in the corner of the room. At least the doctor wasn’t a bastard. Lachlan didn’t want to have to make yet another scene in this hospital. Riley was whimpering in his arms, his little cheeks still flushed from all the crying. Lachlan’s heart was breaking at just the sight. He kept his calm, though, and gently unfolded the blankets around Riley’s feet to give the doctor access to one of his tiny feet. “I’ll just… just take his sock off,” he told him shakily and tugged it off to hand it to Tara.
Tara folded the little blue newborn sock in between her palms and leant forward. “He’s got it. I know he has. I just know.” She shook her head, a couple of stray tears escaping which she brushed away before they fell. She brushed her fingers over her son’s fine hair and then kissed her husband’s temple.
Alex looked up at her. He was already finding he had a soft spot for this young couple. He adjusted his latex gloves so he could keep a hold on the small pediatric syringe. “And if he does, he’ll be very lucky to have a Mom who can help him and gets it,” he told her with a faint smile. He rubbed his other hand over the baby’s back. “Just a tiny sting, matey. You’re going to hate it and you’re going to hate me because of it, but just remember Daddy’s got you there…”
Tara managed just a slight, grateful smile back at the doctor. Yeah, he was new, but he was good and she appreciated the bedside manner. She appreciated him understanding their situation, too. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, gripping hold of the arm rest to brace herself for the doctor pricking her son with the needle. Her stomach clenched with a guilty nausea. If Riley had diabetes, they would have to prick him like this two times a day. Lachlan was biting down on his lower lip, his face pale from worry. They both flinched when the doctor pricked Riley’s heel and the infant starting immediately screaming in response. Tara took over pressing the cotton ball to his heel when the doctor stood up again with the blood sample and then she wrapped her other arm around her husband and son, trying to just offer anything to make the situation better.
Alex did want her to be wrong, but the facts were there as plain as day on the paper. The baby was very dehydrated and his urinary output extensive for a baby his size. It was only going to take a few minutes to get the blood sugar reading. He clipped the slide with the sample into the monitor and made a few notes in the medical record of the test. Riley was still sobbing in protest at being stabbed so rudely with the needle. Alex couldn’t blame the lad at all. He stole a glance at the family and had to stop himself shaking his head sympathetically. Why did this investigation suddenly seem so much more close to home?
Lachlan knew how long a few minutes could seem sometimes. There had been many moments in his recent life where some few minutes felt like a lifetime, and then there were some that just went too quickly. His head was resting against Tara’s but his eyes were trained on the linoleum floor ahead of him as he waited for that monitor to beep. It felt like he was waiting a decade and he didn’t even know what more he could do to reassure his tiny son that the pain would stop. When it beeped, he merely closed his eyes and let out the breath he had been holding. He glanced at Tara and carefully shifted Riley into her arms. She’d need to be holding him when they heard this. He kept his hands on his son’s back, though. Hell, he had survived a bullet, he could get through this, right?
Alex had the monitor collected into his gloved hand without hesitation. He turned as he read the small screen and was back at Lachlan and Tara’s side immediately, sitting down in the chair beside them. “Seventeen,” he told them with an apologetic edge to his tone. “That’s extremely high and we need to admit him. We’ll check him over to make sure there is nothing else going on simultaneously but then we’ll all sit down and discuss how we’ll tackle an insulin regime for him. Would you like some time alone?” he asked.
Tara was crying, her head dipped so her cheek rested against Riley’s head. Lachlan gave a slight nod and cleared his throat to try and remove that horrible lump. “Aye, thank you,” he said hoarsely, his rough voice barely recognisable as his own. “I’ll be out in a wee minute to sign the authorities.”
Alex touched Lachlan lightly and briefly on the forearm to show his support. “Take as long as you need. He has the IV fluids. That alone will be helping ease the discomfort a lot. I’ll be just down the hall when you’re ready.”
The doctor stood up to leave, but Tara caught his attention. “Doctor?”
Alex looked back, wishing he had some perfect words to offer them, but he knew there were none. They knew, as doctors themselves, that there were none. He noted then how much the baby looked like his father and after reading the horrific case, it felt relieving to see the man here alive and having some sort of unusual strength to not let news like his son’s illness take him down. “Dr Campbell?” he replied.
“Thank you,” Tara murmured as she nursed her son close to her.
Alex just nodded and left the room. When he was out of their sight, he stopped and leant against the wall, indulging in a moment to press his fingers against his forehead. It wasn’t often parents thanked a doctor for supplying a diagnosis that their baby would have an illness for the rest of his life. And it wasn’t comforting for Alex. All it told him was how much the couple had been through to find relief in something painful like that.
Word Count | 1,492