Chapter 6 - Jane
1699 Words
What happened?
Struggling to open my eyes, I find myself in bed.
How did I get home?
The last thing I remember is asking that guy for help. Groaning to myself, I sit up and rub my eyes.
“Good morning. How are we feeling? Better?”
My eyes fly open and I realize that I’m not at home. I’m in a hospital room. Panicking I look around and see a plump middle-aged woman in white standing next to my bed, writing something on a clipboard.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. My name is Joy Simpson. Nurse Joy or Nurse Simpson is fine with me” she states as she fiddles with an IV bag at the head of the bed. I look down and see tubes and wires stuck to my arm and hand.
Looking me in the eye, she stops what she is doing and takes a hold of my hand. “Are you alright honey? Can you answer a few questions for me, or would you like a glass of water first?”
“Water, please” I croak. It feels like someone poured sand down my throat. Licking my lips, I try to get any type of moisture to relieve the dryness. The nurse lets go of my hand and grabs a cup from the counter, removes the plastic film, and fills it with water from a jug nearby. My throat starts to ache in anticipation.
“Don’t worry dear, we’ll get this all sorted out. But first here’s your water. Drink slowly or you can make yourself sick. I’ve only given you half a cup. You can have more in a bit.”
She hands me the cup and I force myself to sip it. The water is the greatest thing in the world and I instantly start to feel better. Getting a nod of approval from Nurse Joy, she heads out the door. A few moments later she returns with who I assume is a doctor.
“Good morning. I’m Dr. Hansen. How are you feeling? I’m sure you have many questions, but Nurse Simpson and I would like you to answer some of our questions first. Are you able to do that?”
Giving the empty cup back to Nurse Joy, I nod.
“Great! Nurse, could you please?” Dr. Hansen asks, holding a clipboard and a pencil out towards her. Taking them she pulls a portable counter to the end of the bed and looks at the doctor and I expectantly.
“No need to be nervous, these are very simple questions. If you need a break just let us know. Ready? First question. Can you tell us your full name and your age?”
“Jane Rhode Quinn and I’m nineteen.”
“Great! Can you tell me your address?”
“5420 Imperial Apartments, apartment 127.”
“Can you tell me what month and year is it?”
“June 2020.”
“Excellent. Now for a little harder one. What is the last thing you remember?”
I close my eyes and think.
“I was at the library doing schoolwork and I saw someone I thought I knew. I think I stopped and asked them to help me get a book or something. My legs didn’t work right and I think I fell.” rubbing the bridge of my nose I try to think back. “ And I remember sparkies in my eyes.”
“Sparkies?”
“Yeah, kinda like when someone has one of those sparklers, you know, the kind you get at birthday parties? Anyways, it's like when they are waving them around and you see lines of light following them. I’m sorry, does that make any sense?”
“Yes, I suppose it does.” the doctor chuckled. “I do get what you mean.”
Pulling a chair next to the bed, he sits down, folds his hands and leans forward with his elbows on his knees.
“Now, you’ve been a very patient patient, do you have any questions for me before we get to why you are here?”
“Other than wanting to know what happened, I just have to know, are you always this funny?”
Laughing, he grabs another clipboard and flips through a few pages. Wiggling his eyebrows, he looks pointedly at Nurse Joy, “No, not always. Nurse Simpson will probably tell you how dull my jokes are as soon as I leave.”
Nurse Joy puts an exaggerated shocked expression on her face.
“Now Miss Quinn, what had happened is that you were brought in with severe hypoglycemia or low blood glucose. You were unconscious and we gave you an injection of glucagon. This brought your levels up. You should be fine for now, but we have to figure out what happened that caused such a severe drop in glucose levels. Right now we have you on a saline drip.”
Taking one last look at the chart, Dr. Hansen sets it down and looks at me.
“So can you tell me if anything like this has happened to you before?”
“No, nothing like this.”
“Do you get dizzy, shaky, nauseous, blurred vision, headaches, weakness, sweaty, or confused often?
“I kinda feel shaky and sweaty sometimes, maybe a little weak. I thought I was just nervous or anxious.”
“Ok, so how about your eating habits? Exercise? Stress?”
I look down at my hands.
“I haven’t been eating well,” I admit. “As for exercising, I walk everywhere, but nothing else other than that. I’ve also been really stressed.”
“Well, hopefully this is a one time thing brought on by not eating and stress, but you will need to learn about symptoms so you can identify if you are going low again.”
Standing up, Dr. Hanson goes over to Nurse Joy and reads what she has written. Nodding to himself, “So, for now, we are going to monitor you for the day and if your vitals and glucose levels stay stable, I’ll be able to release you tomorrow morning. Nurse Simpson is going to go over the information on hypoglycemia, as well as things you can do to avoid further episodes. Thank you Nurse” Giving a small wave he turns and leaves.
After he leaves, I suddenly feel exhausted. Nurse Joy calls the front desk for breakfast to be sent to my room. Sitting down in the chair the doctor had vacated, she starts to go over the symptoms and signs of low blood sugar. When the meal arrives, I try to eat, but I’m not very hungry.
“Dear if you do not eat properly you will drop low again and you’ll be stuck here even longer. This is really important to understand. Even if you do not feel hungry you must eat regularly. I’ll leave you a take-home information package you can go over in more detail later. There are also some really good links to websites that you should check out as well.”
Forcing myself to eat more, I start to giggle. “Nurse Joy? Have you ever heard of Pokemon?”
Sighing, she gives a little pout.
“Unfortunately, but I was Nurse Joy before the game, so Nurse Joy I will stay.” Waving her hand dramatically. Seeing the look on my face, she laughs and gives a wink.
“Now dear, I hate to add to the stress of recent days, but I have to ask. Do you have any medical insurance?”
I’m sure my face just lost all color. “No.”
“It’s okay. I will send someone down this afternoon to go over your options. Luckily, you will not be charged for the private room. On top of our normal intake numbers, there was a multi-vehicle accident yesterday morning and this was the only bed left. Now finish your breakfast, I have my rounds to complete, but I will check on you later.”
I force myself to finish my food, then lay down and cry myself to sleep.
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The next day, I sit at my kitchen table with all the information that I received from the hospital spread out before me. Nurse Joy was extremely helpful and kind. I was put on a payment plan for my medical expenses, but it would still stretch the limit of my budget. Everyone tried so hard to help me, nurses and orderlies even gave me a few leads on societies and charities that may help with my bills. Some of the other nurses told me that they were surprised that Dr. Hansen had made a few jokes. I guess he is usually a stick in the mud. I was released with the promise to call the hosptial to speak to Nurse Joy if I ever need help understanding about hypoglycemia.
I poured over the information packet that she had put together, and began to understand that I am prone to low sugar levels. It is definitley something I will have to watch out for. Luckily, I don't have to change much of my eating habits to accommodate. I mostly have to remember to snack more often, eat regularly, and keep a stock of high sugar snacks in case I do go low.
Now I just have to call the library and get my stuff. I hope nobody has taken it or that the library didn’t get rid of it.
“Hello, St. Jerome’s Library, Michael speaking.”
“Umm, hello. My name is Jane Quinn and, well, this is going to sound weird, but I was taken out of the library in an ambulance on Saturday. I was wondering if you guys found my stuff there? I was studying and my laptop, and all my books and school supplies were left on the table I was working at.”
“Oh! It's you! Yes, we have all your stuff here. I found it when I was doing my rounds for lockup. I’m so glad you’re okay. I was the one who called the ambulance, but when I called the hospital to try and get an update on your condition, they wouldn’t tell me anything.”
Breathing a sigh of relief, I reassure the librarian that I'm okay and make arrangements to pick up my stuff in the next few days.
“Thank you so much Michael!”
“Don’t think anything of it. I figured they were yours. When you get here just ask for me and I’ll get you sorted out as soon as possible. See you!”
What a weekend! Not only do I still have my assignments to finish, I now have a huge medical bill AND I didn’t even manage to find out the hot guy’s name. Thank god my stuff is there, I don’t think I could afford to replace my textbooks and my laptop. It’s the one thing that hasn’t gone wrong this week.
- Writer
