"What, mom?"
Amy shook her head, and made an ugly face.
"Why in the name of everything would you think... that?!" Anne sighed and looked away. "I know. It sounds crazy and it probably is. But that's what I thought. And I want to be honest with you." Amy nodded. "Thanks for your honesty, mom. But seriously this is not helping me or Brayleigh to have these weird theories of yours." George frowned. "But what if your mom's right?" Amy looked at her father in disbelief. "You guys, really?" She didn't know what to say anymore so she just stared at her fingers. "Look, I didn't mean to scare y-" Amy didn't let her mother finish her sentence until she said "Mom, please. I've had a rough couple of days. Months even. I don't need this right now. I really don't." Anne nodded silently and let go of Amy's hand. "I'm just gonna go grab some coffee, I'll be right back." She said, not looking Amy in the eyes. "Mom, you're not mad at me right?" Anne shook her head as she was walking to the door. "No, I just really need some coffee." She opened the door and walked out of her room. Once she closed it. She took a deep breath and walked to the cafetaria to grab that well deserved coffee. Once she reached the cafetaria she noticed Doctor Worthly sitting on a table, reading a newspaper and sipping some tea. Without thinking straight she went straight to him, to ask him the question that has been bugging her.
"Doctor. Excuse me." She said, feeling like she was disturbing him. Doctor Worthly looked up and mentioned for her to sit down. "I hope I'm not bothering you. But I had a question." Doctor Worthly sighed and nodded. "So, I have this weird sensation that my daughter's pregnancy... I mean... she." Anne took a deep breath. "I know, this must sound crazy but I feel like Amy's pregnancy was sabotaged." She finally blurted out. Doctor Worthly now looked as confused as ever. "And what makes you think that?" Anne started playing with her fingers. "Because we were told she had Pre-Eclampsia but she had Eclampsia all along. That, and the doctor's lied to us. We didn't know she was in a 24 hour coma! I feel like we were lied to." Doctor Worthly's look changed. "The coma thing is something you should consider going to court with". He said, looking fiercely into her eyes. "Because that's unacceptable to not inform you about that." Anne nodded. "I still haven't told Amy. Because she's in such a fragile position right now." She looked away. "Look." Doctor Worthly said, closing his newspaper. "I don't know who treated your daughter in New York? Who her doctor was. Her condition was something she was misinformed about. Misdiagnosed. As bad as this is, and something that should never happen. Things like this do happen unfortunately. We doctors try save lives but even we make mistakes sometimes." Anne nodded. "I know. And I can't even believe I think such a thing. But that's just what I get out of this situation." She looked down. Her eyes filled with sadness. "So, who was her doctor in New York?" He asked, noticing her uncomfortable position. "Doctor..." She closed her eyes to think deeply of his name. "It was doctor... Drey!" She said. Doctor Worthly nodded. "Okay. Here's what I'm going to be doing. I will make contact with New York ZION hospital and I'll ask after Doctor Drey to have a little chat with him." Anne's eyes lighted up. "Thank you so much!" She said. "...And I will be asking Amy's full medical records. To have all of this sorted out so we can give you your answers."
"I just need reassurance, I need to know what really happened if there's another perspective to this situation." Anne said.
Doctor Worthly nodded. "Very well."
He stood up and took his newspaper in his right hand. "Oh, and tell Ms. Juergens that another doctor will come in tonight for Brayleigh." Anne stood up. "What for?" She asked.
"Routine check." He said.
And with that, he left her in the cafetaria.
"OK, now I really need some coffee." She thought.
-
"Hey, what took you so long?" George asked, looking wondered as ever. "I'm sorry. I ran into Doctor Worthly and I had a nice little chat with him." George's look changed. "So, you're straight again?" He asked. Anne rolled her eyes. "Not like that. I talked to him about my thoughts over this situation." Amy sat upright. "Mom, really?" She sighed over dramatically. "Now, my doctor thinks my entire family is crazy." Anne sat down on a chair. "No, he doesn't." Amy's eyes filled with confusion. "Wait, he didn't believe you, right?" Anne instantly shook her head. "Not like that. He appreciates my concerns and he's going to contact the hospital in New York to give us some reassurance what went wrong with you being misdiagnosed." Amy nodded and looked over at her daughter.
"Another doctor is coming in tonight, for Brayleigh."
Amy's eyes now looked full of fear. "Why?" She asked.
"Nothing to worry about. Just a routine check." Anne responded back.
Amy sighed and closed her eyes for a second. "Will this nightmare be over soon?" She thought.
-
After almost begging New York ZION hospital for Amy's full and original medical records, they finally send Doctor Worthly a digital copy.
However, Doctor Worthly specifically asked if he could speak to Doctor Drey. But he refused, saying he 'couldn't reach the phone at the moment because he was in surgery'. After scrolling through some pages he realized he needed to print the pages out because it would only make things easier. Once he printed the copies out, he went to his desk and put the copies on top of the newspaper he didn't had a chance to finish 'thanks to Mrs. Juergens.' He thought.
He looked at the papers. Documents after documents. involving Amy's pregnancy statuses and her illness, signed as ECLAMPSIA. Not Pre-Eclampsia. Another signature showed how it was indeed true that she was in a 24 hour coma. After quickly scanning down the last page he noticed how troubled this pregnancy really was and how so many things were explained on this piece of paper. But no one took action to prevent Eclampsia from breaking through.
He saw the date and time of Amy's first hospital checkup. It said nothing. Nothing was there.
No Pre-eclampisa, no Eclampsia. But on her second ultrasound checkup it abruptly changed into 'Eclampsia.'
Doctor Worthly sighed heavily. 'They really screwed up.' He thought.
Reading futher into the document he saw Amy's last checkup in New York written down, stated as 'Eclampsia.' And one thing Doctor Worthly noticed on that little piece of paper he just printed out that started to worry him. 'Patent ductus arteriosus.' He said out loud. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes silently and shook his head. Not wanting to believe what he just read. 'They noticed that on the scan? And they couldn't let them know?' He's been a doctor for quite some time now, and he never ever experienced something like this. How can a doctor from the other side of the country be so careless?
'He looked further into the documents until his eyes landed on the signature of the doctor who signed it. The doctor who didn't tell his or her patient the truth. "Doctor Drey." He said, out loud.
"Who are you really, Doctor. But most importantly, why?..."