Awakenings - SF1 (28 page)

She extracted the bowl and added the milk and some brown sugar. She was on the verge of gagging as soon as she took her first bite.
What a terrible thing to do to a poor little oat
, she moaned.
Every bit of flavor and texture has been removed!

Her stomach was queasy as it was, and the wallpaper paste that claimed to be oatmeal was making matters worse.
I can't do it. I'll grab something on the way to class. Anything would be better than that!

She was pleased to hear Jamie stomping around upstairs but she thought she should give her some privacy so she climbed up on the marble counter to wait for her pants to dry. Just a few minutes after 7 Jamie came down the stairs, clean, pressed and very pale.

Ryan hopped off the counter and walked over to her. "You don't look much better," she admitted. "How do you feel?"

"About like I look," she said weakly. "I'm still a little sick to my stomach and I feel pretty shaky."

"I think this is a perfect day to skip school," Ryan suggested. "Why don't you go back upstairs and hop into bed. I'll go to the store and buy you some human food for breakfast."

Jamie looked at her blankly while Ryan turned her around and steered her back up the stairs. "Scoot," she commanded.

Without a word she climbed the stairs, unbuttoning her blouse as she did so. Ryan pulled her still damp jeans from the dryer and struggled into them.
Nothing better than hot, wet jeans that still smell like vomit,
she thought cheerily. She picked up the keys to the Porsche and was just locking up when Cassie pulled into the driveway.

"What a surprise," she said dryly as Ryan passed her on the walk. "Do you have keys to the house and the car now?"

Ryan bit her lip to stop herself from snapping at her. "No, I don't. Jamie's ill and I'm taking her car to get her something for her stomach. Is that all right with you?" she added with a false smile.

"What's wrong with her?" she asked with a look of concern.

"She got upset last night and hadn't had much to eat. I think her stomach is just raw from throwing up."

"Why was she upset?" Cassie asked with a narrowed glance.

"She and I were volunteering at a help line and we had a really stressful call. A young girl had been raped and she tried to kill herself." Ryan didn't want to give her all of this information, but she didn't want to lie either.

"That's ridiculous!" Cassie huffed.

Ryan thought that was an odd term to use, but she agreed. "Yeah, it's really upsetting to think of what people can do to kids."

"No, it's ridiculous that Jamie was put in that position. She's not used to that type of person, Ryan," she said dismissively.

There was not one thing in the world Ryan could have said that would not have involved profanity so she shut her mouth and turned on her heel. Cassie was left standing on the sidewalk, mouth open in shock at being treated so rudely by Jamie's uncouth friend.

After a $50 trip to the market Ryan returned to the house to start breakfast. Luckily Cassie had obviously just stopped in before class because she was gone when Ryan returned. She organized all of the supplies in the pantry, leaving out just the items that she needed for breakfast.

The first order of business was getting her own meal started. She assumed that Jamie would not be up for some time but she could hardly wait another minute. As it was she had bought some energy bars and had to munch on one during the ride home. She decided she wanted French toast and ham so she mixed up the batter for the crusty brioche that she had purchased. She got everything together quickly and within minutes had it all cooking away. When everything was ready she put her very large latte' in the microwave to heat it up and sat down to enjoy her repast. She pulled out one of her textbooks so she could study while she ate. The time flew by and she was astounded when she realized it was 10 o'clock.
I guess I'm skipping my bio lab,
she thought
. Good thing I'm pretty well caught up.

Moments later she heard Jamie get out of bed. She gave her a few minutes to go to the bathroom but when she didn't hear the shower she walked back up the stairs to see how she was.

"Come on in," Jamie replied when Ryan knocked softly. She had crawled back into bed but she looked a lot better. Her color was nearly normal and she didn't have the dark circles under her eyes that she had earlier.

"Are you going back to sleep or are you ready for some food?"

Jamie recoiled at the mere thought. She scrunched up her face in distaste and moaned, "I'm never going to eat again."

"Oh
,
yes
,
you are," Ryan insisted. "Your stomach will not feel better until you get something in there. You can have tea and toast, or cereal, or oatmeal or French toast, or pancakes, or scrambled eggs. But you're putting something in there if I have to hold you down," she said with her hands on her hips.

Jamie had to laugh at her fierce demeanor. "Jokes on you, Ryan. We don't have anything to eat around here except popcorn."

"You do now," she informed her. "I went to the store." She waited a beat before she added, "And I ran into Cassie. We had a little chat and I'm pretty sure she's mad at me."

Jamie rolled her eyes and pulled the pillow over her head. "I'm not up to hearing about it right now. Will you tell me after my stomach has calmed down?"

"I don't need to tell you at all," Ryan said. "I just wanted to let you know so you were in the loop. Now what can I make you?"

"I tend to like sweet things when I'm sick. Do you think I could keep French toast down?"

"I think you could if you don't put too much syrup or butter on it. You stay in bed until I'm ready for you, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed as she let out a massive yawn. "I'm still a little tired."

Ryan trotted down stairs and made 3 pieces of French toast for her. She put the plate on a tray and added a small pitcher of syrup, a mug of sweetened tea, silverware, a linen napkin and a bud vase with a bright yellow Gerber daisy that she had purchased at the market. She expertly balanced the tray as she opened the door to Jamie's room. "Breakfast is served," she said cheerily as she entered.

She struggled to sit up as her face curled up into a delighted grin. "That's so sweet, Ryan! I just can't believe how thoughtful you're being."

"You were really in a bad way last night, Jamie. And I feel a little responsible for it. I feel like I should have better prepared you for the types of calls we got, or at least asked them to give us easier calls."

"No way, Ryan," she said as she shook her head. "This is just me. There's no way you could have known that I had a tendency to pass out under stress. I should have warned you," she admitted. She took a bite of the toast and closed her eyes in pleasure. "Thanks for making this. It's just perfect for my sad little tummy."

Ryan was still quite concerned about her and peppered Jamie with questions about her health, as the now ravenous woman diligently worked away at her breakfast. "How many times have you passed out?" she inquired.

"I would say it's happened to me 4 or 5 times."

"How old were you when it first happened?"

"I don't know, but I think I was in high school," Jamie replied. "I do remember that I had been studying for a big test and I felt sick to my stomach and I just went out."

"Have you ever mentioned this to your physician?" Ryan continued.

"Yes, I did. I had to have a physical before I was admitted here and she asked me if I had ever fainted. She didn't think it was a big deal."

"When it has happened before did it last as long?" Ryan asked, still concerned.

"I'm not sure how long I was out. I think it's usually just a few seconds," she replied.

"I would estimate that you were out cold for a total of 10 minutes. I was really worried about you. I was wrestling with the decision of whether to take to the hospital," she admitted.

"I'm sure I've never been out that long. Maybe I should call my doctor."

"You said that you felt funny at lunch yesterday. What did you mean?" Ryan asked.

"I just felt queasy all morning. Actually I've been feeling a little off for a while. Maybe I'm not getting enough sleep or something."

"Um...I don't want to upset you but is there a chance that you might be pregnant?" Ryan asked gently.

Jamie's face was drained of all color in less than a second. Ryan could see her hands grip the edges of the tray so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Her eyes were wide and Ryan was very concerned that she would pass out or throw up again. After she sat for a minute in shocked silence, she tried to answer but couldn't find her voice.

"I'm gonna take that as a yes," Ryan said as she raised her hand to gently stroke Jamie's cheek. "I'm sorry I brought it up since it's obviously upsetting you but if it's a possibility you really should be seen by your doctor."

She pushed the now empty tray away from her lap and let her head fall back against the pillows. "Please God, make it not be true," she begged. "I don't know what I'll do if I'm pregnant, Ryan," she said with a terribly pathetic look on her face. Ryan sat closer and wrapped her arms around her tightly.

"Don't worry about it, Jamie. Let's get you dressed and go to your doctor. They can give you the results in just a few minutes...then you can put your mind at ease. Do you want to call Jack and have him go with you?"

"No, no, I really don't. Won't you go with me?" she asked, looking like a frightened child.

"Of course I will. I'll call the doctor and make sure they can see you. Do you have the number handy?"

"Yeah, I have her business card in my wallet."

Ryan found the number and instructed Jamie to get dressed while she went downstairs to make the call. She didn't want Jamie to hear her cancel her 1 and 2 o'clock clients or to hear what she said to the doctor so she hoped it took her a few minutes to get ready.

"Hi," she said when the receptionist answered. "I'm calling for Jamie Evans. She had an episode last night where she was unconscious for almost 10 minutes. She also vomited numerous times. She can't rule out that she's pregnant so she'd like to come in for a pregnancy test and to have the doctor look at her if possible."

"Well, the doctor is only in the office for another hour today. She's at the hospital all afternoon. Could she get here quickly?"

"Yes," Ryan said confidently. "
We can be there in half
hour."

Jamie came down just as Ryan was canceling all of her clients for the afternoon. She knew that she wouldn't be able to leave her if Jamie was pregnant so she decided to be cautious. "We've got to rush," she told her. "I promised we'd be there in ‡ hour."

They dashed out of the house and quickly got onto the relatively clear freeway. Luckily they were on the road right between the morning rush hour and the heavy traffic that occurred around lunch time. They didn't talk at all on the way down. Jamie was going over every possible scenario that could occur if she was pregnant; Ryan was just concentrating on driving fast enough to get there but slow enough to avoid a ticket or an accident.

When they pulled up to the charming 2 story brick building that held her physician's office Ryan pulled over to the curb to let her out. "I'll park and be right in," she reassured her. Jamie looked hesitant, but Ryan insisted that she get in before the doctor left.

Ryan found a spot only 2 blocks away. She ran all the way back to the office and was pleased to see that Jamie had already been shown to a room. The waiting room was empty and she started to sit down to read a magazine when the door opened and a nurse beckoned her in. "She's in room 3," she said as she pointed Ryan toward the room.

"Does she want me with her?" she asked in shock.

The nurse looked at her like she was slow. "How else would I have known to come get you?" she asked with a slight smile.

Ryan just shrugged and walked down the hall to the examining room. Jamie had already taken off her clothes and was sitting on the examining table with just a green paper gown on. She looked small and scared and very cold. Ryan immediately stood right next to the table and wrapped her in her arms, not caring who saw them. Jamie seemed very grateful for the comfort and she nestled her head right into Ryan's neck. "I already gave them a urine sample," she mumbled. "They're doing the test now."

After a perfunctory knock the door opened and a very young looking doctor entered. She looked a bit surprised to see Ryan but she recovered quickly. "Hi Jamie," she said with a friendly smile. "I hear you've had a tough day."

"Yeah, pretty tough," she agreed. "This is my friend, Ryan. She was with me last night, so she can answer any questions that you might have since I was so out of it."

"Hi, Ryan," she said as she extended her hand. "I'm Alison Aiken."

Ryan shook her hand and stepped back out of the way as Alison started to examine Jamie. She positioned herself so she was close to Jamie's head, but far enough away so that she couldn't see the more intimate part of the exam. Alison checked her blood pressure and took her temperature and then she drew a vial of blood to run some tests Next she asked Jamie to lie down so she could perform a pelvic exam. Ryan felt a little uncomfortable but Jamie clearly wanted her here, so she stayed right where she was.

"Have you had any adverse reactions to the new pill, Jamie?" Alison asked.

"No, I haven't had any side effects from it," she said. "But I haven't been on it for a full month, so it might be too soon to tell," she admitted.

"Have you been using condoms?"

Jamie blushed deeply as she admitted, "Usually. But there were two times where I had sex without one. Both times were on the same weekend, about 3 weeks ago."

"The date of your last period was..." she looked on Jamie's chart and checked her watch to confirm the date. "30 days ago," she concluded.

"Yeah, I should have gotten my period 2 days ago, but I thought the new pill could have messed me up a little."

"Hmmm," Alison said as she stripped off her latex glove and tossed it away. "You can scoot up now," she said as she lightly patted Jamie's leg. "Everything seems normal. But it's too early for me to detect much if you were pregnant. Tell me about your symptoms."

"I've felt a little lethargic for a month or so. My sleep has been off a little bit too. I've been queasy in the mornings for about a week."

Alison was staring at her intently as she listened to her description of her symptoms. "Are you urinating more than normal?"

"No, no difference."

"How do your breasts feel? Any tenderness?" she asked as she lightly palpated them.

"Yeah, they're tender but they always are before my period."

"Tell me about last night," she asked.

"We were volunteering at a crisis line and we got a call from a young girl who was raped and tried to commit suicide. The call went on for at least ‡ hour and I was tenser than I've ever been by the time the paramedics got there. I started to pass out but Ryan got my head between my knees and I felt better. But as soon as we got in the car I started to throw up. I'm not sure how long I threw up but eventually we got home. I'm not sure about anything after that," she admitted.

Ryan piped up to continue the story. "She passed out briefly in the car but she came to pretty quickly. She vomited several more times before I could get her out of the car and as soon as we got in the house she fainted again. She was out a long time...much longer than I was comfortable with...I'd say a total of 10 minutes."

"Hmmm, that is a long time," she mused. "Any other symptoms? Have you changed your eating habits or your activity level?"

Jamie started to say no, but Ryan butted in. "Yes she has. She's decided to ride in the AIDS ride this year and I'm training her. She rides 50-75 miles a week and she works out 3 days a week with weights. She also works out on a stairclimber or an elliptical trainer 3 times a week."

"I'm a little concerned about your weight, Jamie. I notice that you're 10 pounds lighter than the last time you were in. How have you changed your diet to accommodate your increased activity?"

"Umm, I haven't?" she admitted weakly.

Ryan butted in again. "Could you recommend a sports nutritionist for Jamie? I don't think she has very good eating habits."

"Yes, I know someone in the East Bay who could help you change your diet. Let me run some tests on your blood. I'll have the results by Friday, okay?"