Say What?

"Assault"/huntemann                                                                                                                                             Page 217

Chapter Three
Scene [2]

G.I. Update

MDI, Woburn, MA
1998/10/19 Monday Afternoon
         The nursing home administrator, Mark O'Flaherty, called me at MDI1 and told me Renee returned from Holy Family Hospital this morning; he wanted me to come in to Town Manor to discuss her situation.

         I asked, "Did you get the results of the GI tests?"

         "That's what I want to talk to you about... but... not over the phone. I'd really like you to be here, so we can discuss it at length."

         "...Oh, that serious, huh?"

         "Could be. Ah, your wife too. Can you both come in?"

         "Right now? Is it an emergency?"

         "No. Not an emergency. It can wait until after work."

         I paused for several seconds, then said, "I guess. Ferne gets off at five. It might take her until six to get there, though."

         He said, "That'd be fine. I'll tell the desk I'm expecting you."

         He hung up, and I immediately called Ferne at HomeGoods.

         "Mark wants us to come in. He has some test results to discuss with us," I said.

         "Results? What are they?"

         "He wouldn't say. He just wants us both to be there."

         "Oh, God, right now? She stay at the hospital?"

         "No, he said she was back. Don't rush, it's not an emergency, but he wouldn't tell me over the phone what the results were."

         Ferne sighed, then said, "Now what are we going to have to deal with? I'm going to worry about it all day."

         "Don't. He didn't say it was serious. Just drive down after work. I'll leave here at the normal time and meet you there."

         We hung up.

         Damn. She's going to brood about it and be a wreck by the time she gets there tonight.


TMNH
1998/10/19 Monday 16:45-18:20 [Don]
         I arrived a little before five. I stopped at the nurse's station and told Maryanne I was there to see Mark. She called him while I went into Renee's room to visit.

         Renee was asleep, and before I could do much more than whisper, "Hello," Maryanne came in and said that they were trying to get the necessary people together for the meeting.

         That seems funny. I thought the meeting was just between Mark, Ferne and me.

         She walked me down the left wing to the door of the conference room where we waited in the hall.

         I asked her if she knew what the test results were. She declined to discuss it until all the others were there. This seemed strange, because she had always been personable and happy to talk about anything related to Renee.

         A few fleeting fears flashed through my mind... Renee has some kind of serious infection; she needs an operation to fix her stomach; her Central Nervous System (CNS) problems are coming back.

         Three more people came down the hall to the door and we went in. Mark and another man were already in the room. We all sat at the round table.

         Mark introduced me to everyone (I knew most) and the new man, who turned out to be a visiting attorney from Town Manor's parent company, Sun Healthcare. A not so private meeting... with a visiting attorney present? Hum... My antennae weren't fully up yet.

         Mark swallowed hard and began what appeared to be a difficult speech. He said, "Renee was taken to Holy Family Hospital this morning where they did an upper GI examination and other tests. Some of those tests indicated she is pregnant. Samples for further tests were taken, but the results won't be back until tomorrow."

         I just sat there for a few blank seconds. This can't be right. Did he say pregnant? That's crazy! The room and occupants seemed to recede into the distance, like looking into the wrong end of binoculars. They must have mixed up her tests with someone else's.

         Mark continued, "The police were notified, because of regulations, and they assume she was raped... she could have never consented to the act."

         With the word 'raped,' the room rushed back and I felt a hot, prickly heat between my shoulder blades. It rose up my neck.

         "You've got to be kidding," I finally said. "There is no way she could be pregnant or have been raped. You can't get her legs apart enough. Her contractures are too severe."

         "Well, that will be determined by the police investigation and our own internal staff checks," Mark noted.

         The whole meeting seemed unreal. All the others looked like strangers. I didn't know what questions to ask.

         Mark indicated that Town Manor intended to keep it as quiet as possible to protect Renee's privacy.

         I agreed, but asked, "How do you question your staff without letting them know what's happened?"

         "Discretely, on a strictly need-to-know basis."

         This is bullshit. She isn't pregnant. This is just going to start a whole bunch of rumors.


         The meeting broke up, and I went back to Renee's room. She was awake by then so I kissed her forehead and started flexing her hands. Although she was covered by a sheet and a jonnie, her tummy looked just as flat as ever.

"My God, she's pregnant!" "That's impossible."
"She's been comatose for years. "Who's responsible?"
"Who cares about cause, get her out of here."
"Send her back, to avoid the legal fear."
                                                 Renee's Song

         Well, that would explain her up-chucking... morning sickness. No, no, no... This has to be some kind of CNS disturbance that is just making her body behave pregnant. They went for weeks back at Jewish Memorial chasing her CNS fevers. Never found anything, and they went away after a month.

         A passing nurse glanced in at me as she walked by Renee's door. She didn't stop, though. Strange.

* * *

Town Manor
1998/10/19 Monday 18:20-19:30 [Ferne and Don]
         Ferne got there about six-twenty, and the meeting reconvened. The extra man wasn't there this time.

         Before Mark spoke, I asked to say something.

         "While Renee was at Jewish Memorial, she had several seizures and a few bouts with high temperatures. They never found anything specific that would cause the fevers, so they blamed it on CNS.

         "Her brain damage caused her temperature regulator to go a little haywire. It made her body behave in strange ways."

         I had difficulty making eye contact with anyone in the meeting, except Ferne. None of the others would look at me while I spoke. Ferne had that puzzled look all over her.

         I finished with, "Her CNS problems may be complicating the interpretation of tests. Don't jump to conclusions about the results of a few blood tests."

         Mark thanked me... then made the same speech as before and Ferne showed the same unbelieving reaction I had. She had been harboring fears that Renee had cancer or ulcers or something life threatening. The word 'pregnant' seemed at first to be a relief.

         Then Ferne said, "Pregnant! How could she get pregnant?"

         Ferne turned to the head nurse, Peggy Cashman, "How could you have missed this?"

         "It just isn't something you would expect," Peggy replied. "We feel awful about this."

         Mark stressed that this was the most bizarre thing he has ever heard of in his entire career in healthcare. He again cautioned that they were waiting more test results just to be sure.

         "We will be questioning the staff and cooperating with the police," Mark said. "It could have been a visitor or even one of the other patients."

         I suggested they look in the visitor sign-in book for the last month or two and see if anyone signed in for visiting Renee. "Of course, hardly anyone signs in anymore, we haven't since our first visit three years ago."

         Someone left the meeting to retrieve the front desk log.

         Mark slid a business card from a Lawrence Police Detective Mary Bartlett, over to me and said she wanted us to call her.

         I fully expected the pregnancy tests to be false, a product of her CNS injuries. Even so, that would be a strange development, too. So I advised everyone, "Keep your notes about this because it may be one of the most amazing medical conditions you will ever witness."


         On our way back to Renee's room, Ferne slowly shook her head. "This is nuts," and she threw a hesitant smile at me as we passed the nurses station. The nurses kept their heads down diligently filling out the patient's charts.

         My mouth was limp.

         Ferne and I visited Renee for a couple of hours. While we were there, several aides looked in at us as they walked by in the hall. They didn't stop, though.

         Ferne covertly inspected Renee's breasts to see if they were enlarged any... they weren't. I patted her tummy and it seemed very firm, but about as normal as before. We both doubted she was pregnant. This is more ridiculous than serious.

         I made a short entry into the third logbook without naming her condition as 'pregnant.' I didn't know who might read it when we weren't there.


MDI, Woburn, MA
1998/10/19 10:45-15:30 Tuesday [Don]
         The next day I tried to call Det. Bartlett several times from work. Either she wasn't available, or the call went to her voice mail. I didn't want to leave a message at first, but became frustrated trying to reach her... so I finally left one.

         '"We are leaving Wednesday morning to attend Neil's Basic Training Graduation at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and will be back Friday night late. Can we postpone the interviews until we get back?"' I believe I left the hotel phone number with her too.

         Since Ferne and I were both working, we were gone from home much of the time, and I missed Bartlett's return call. She left a [VM] saying essentially '"bon voyage,"' and we could get together on our return.


Town Manor
1998/10/20 Tuesday 17:00-19:00 [Don]
         That evening I stopped by Town Manor again to visit Renee and get an update from Mark. I arrived just as Mark was walking past Renee's door like he was waiting for me. He asked me to join him in his office.

         "The tests are in... she is definitely pregnant," he confirmed.

         My heart sunk. "My poor, poor little girl. Who could have done this?"

         "That's, hopefully, what the investigation will determine. In the meantime, we need to have her examined by an obstetrics specialist." He laid a form on the desk. "We'd like to have Dr. Danish, over at Lawrence General, take a look at her."

         The form was a permission statement. I read it and signed it. "When you going to do this?"

         "Tomorrow."

         "Tomorrow? Well, okay. We can't be here though. We're going down to Columbia, South Carolina, for Neil's Basic Training Graduation at Fort Jackson."

         Mark raised his eyebrows for a second, then said, "When will you be back?"

         "Friday night, late. But, here..." I handed him the note we normally give the nurse's station when we leave town. "These are our flight numbers and the hotel we'll be staying in."

         He looked at the note, then after a brief frown said, "Depending on what Dr. Danish recommends, you should be considering where Renee can be moved to, because Town Manor is not equipped for maternity care."

         "That would be a shame. We have a lot of friends here. They know Renee and she probably knows them."

         "It may be necessary."

         I told him that we had much confidence in his staff and that I hoped the investigation itself doesn't ruin an innocent person's career. "Just by asking questions you can inadvertently cause someone's career to make a hard left turn. Something like that happened to me a few years ago."

         "We will be discrete."

         I was about to go out the door and back to Renee when I said, "As for the move, for that matter, Renee may not be able to carry a baby full term. Her contractures alone will prevent a normal birth. We may want to consider terminating the pregnancy for the health of the mother as well as being the product of a rape. But," I paused, "we'll do whatever would be appropriate for Renee."


         As I walked back to Renee's room it hit me... I was just advocating an abortion! That thought sent shivers up and down my spine. I dismissed it immediately. Renee's health is paramount, but an abortion... agh!

         Those thoughts took on a profound change from their form on previous occasions. They were not so esoteric anymore... they were real! Somebody's life was involved! Somebody I loved! {i]And the baby will be my first grandchild!

         I hated what had happened to Renee. How could somebody be so cruel? Why do 'we' have to make such weighty decisions?

         My little girl needed me that day much more than ever before.

         I visited her for an hour. She woke up briefly while I flexed her hands, arms, legs and feet. As I moved her legs, my eyes became a little blurry. I kept thinking of whoever that other person was, that monster, doing the same thing, but for a very different purpose. I was careful to move her gently so she didn't jump with pain. It was so easy to make a mistake even when you are mindful of her contractures.

         Somebody who doesn't care could wrench her legs apart, and I'm sure the pain would have been excruciating. She must have been crying... and no one heard her, or came to help! I could hardly swallow.


         Clarence and another resident walked in to visit as usual. At first I looked at them with suspicion, but from the conversation, I couldn't tell if they knew what had happened to Renee. She fell asleep while we talked.

         Several nurses and aids came by Renee's room, too. One ushered Clarence out into the hall to distract him. The other two expressed their condolences for what had happened. I tried to be optimistic and thanked them for their concern.

         From my brief observations, the whole place seemed to know. Confidential, huh?

         I made a few entries into the third logbook about the room, her temp, and the staff's concerns.

         I put the logbook back into the nightstand as I always did just before I was going to leave. Renee woke up again, so I told her we were going to Neil's Army graduation for a few days but would be back Saturday, kissed her goodbye and left. Her eyes followed me all the way out the door. I could barely see my way to the van.


1998/10/20 Tuesday Late Evening [Ferne and Don]
         I returned home after visiting Renee and told Ferne the news. "The tests were in, and Mark said she is definitely pregnant."

         Ferne and I talked all evening about whether we should tell the other two kids about Renee right now, or wait until after Neil's "Big Day."

         We assumed we had four or five months to decide what to do. There were many things we didn't know that we would hope to have cleared up before we needed to tell the kids. I wanted to present a complete story when I did tell them. We made a list:
         1. Could Renee carry the baby to term safely?
         2. Would the baby develop adequately given Renee's altered state?
         3. How could we care for a new baby?
         4. Where should we move Renee to, since Town Manor seemed reluctant to keep her there?
         5. How will the police investigation affect Renee's care?
         6. How will the Town Manor investigation affect Renee's care?
         7. If the pregnancy becomes risky for Renee, should we seek to terminate it? When? (Absolute last resort!)

         We would need Dr. Danish's report to know answers to numbers 1 or 2. It may be available when we get back from Neil's graduation.

         Number 3 would not really be a problem, we raised three.

         We had no knowledge of maternity facilities in northern Massachusetts. The social worker at Town Manor might be able to help. Although Mark made no suggestion to that effect. And, why couldn't they continue to care for her? It shouldn't be that much more difficult than her present care.

         We had never been involved in any serious investigations other than the one conversation with the Boston police three years ago. We wondered what it would be like.

         We talked at length about #7. The abortion debate sickened both of us.

         "After coming so close to losing Renee at BCH, when she barely passed the plugs-out test, how could anyone deliberately chose to end a life?" I asked.

         With tears in her eyes, Ferne said, "It's not fair that we have to make that decision again... for Renee or a baby."

         "Nothing is fair about Renee's case," I said. "We'll have Dr. Danish's report in a few days, but if it suggests an abortion, I'd want to get a second or third opinion."

         If there were any acceptable reasons for ending a pregnancy, even to the 'Lifers,' Renee's was it. Her life would be in danger, she was raped, and the possibility of an impaired baby from the mother's condition is high.

         "It all comes down to character," I said. "Do we accept responsibilities or not?"

         "But, how do you value one life over another?” Ferne asked. “It's our daughter, Don."

         I hung my head. "It's not a black and white choice either. There are no guarantees that Renee's life would be measurably better if we terminated the pregnancy. The abortion could be risky for Renee, too. But the baby's life would sure end."

         We didn't have all the answers we needed to make a choice yet. But, neither of us could imagine how it would be anything other than life... somehow.

         News like this would also probably spoil the mood at graduation... so we decided to wait until after our return to tell Nina and Neil.


Pages: 15
Words: 3,078

Footnotes
1  I was consulting 3 days a week at MDI, formerly Micro Dynamics Incorporated, now part of Herley Industries, 10 Sonar Drive, Woburn, MA.