The Great Doctor Thomas Moore

Helping A Single Mother and Saving A Little Kid's Life Part 1

I watched him as he grabbed a chair calmly and then sat on it. He then took off his stethoscope from over his shoulders and put it on the side of the kid. This kid was around 5 years of age, with a thin body and some shadows below his eyes. Other than this, I didn't notice anything unusual about him.

"So, can you tell me what is the problem?"

Harry asked this question calmly as he took out his notebook and pen while waiting patiently for the mother's reply. That was weird, as I just experienced the rapid pace of Emma work out there, and now Harry here was working so slowly.

"I just felt my kid was sick, I think he might have a fever."

Just as this mother replied, I detected her lie instantly. I thought about telling Harry about that but I didn't, as what should I justify myself then? I had an ability that acted like a detective? That wasn't logical at all.

"So, did you record the temperature back then?" Harry asked the mother as if he was buying her words for real. I stood by the side while Harry started to write some notes in his notebook while the mother replied:

"I… I measured it once and it was 39 degree."

This was another lie! I looked directly towards that mother, she was in her 40th, ill matched old looking clothes, with worn out handbag and pale old shoes. She was poor, just like me, so she must be lying to hide something from Harry.

Although I knew that, I felt deep sympathy towards her, as she might be in real need of help but she couldn't ask for it as she was afraid of something. Fear was something I used to live with, and I understood it perfectly.

"Ok, I will examine your kid now."

Harry then used his stethoscope just like I learned at the college, he started with hearing this kid's heart beats, as he was assessing its rhythm, any abnormal sounds, and counted the number of the beats per minute.

After that, he heard the breathing sounds in each lung one at a time, starting from up moving slowly downward. He then took out a mercury thermometer and put it under that kid armpit.

At the same time, he checked the kid's throat and after that he examined the kid's abdomen. He didn't find any abnormality whatsoever, as he even asked the kid to walk in front of him to and fro.

He checked the kid back and examined his lungs too, but he couldn't find any problems. He asked about any abnormalities in the bathroom, but he found none. When he finished, he looked at me and asked:

"What do you think, Thomas?"

I wanted to tell him she was lying, but I held myself back as I said:

"I honestly didn't find anything abnormal about this kid."

Harry nodded as well while moving out from his chair as he said:

"Me too, so it's either a hidden thing or nothing at all. So, we need to do some random tests, after all I think this kid's heart beats have some issues. Wait for me here while I consult with my colleagues upstairs."

I watched his back while he went far towards the central counter, and then I checked the neighboring rooms, there was no one there, so I gathered up my courage, grabbed the chair where Harry just left, took out my notebook and looked seriously like Emma did before when she treated that patient.

"Now, as we are alone, you can stop lying and can you just tell me the truth? What really happened to your son? I just want to help him."

The mother looked at me with a shocked look, as she was about to reply to my question, I recalled my previous meeting with the dean. In her situation, I would absolutely lie, so I used the same words and behavior of the dean as I said:

"I need to warn you, I can detect if you are lying or not, as I have a medical sense ability, so don't test my patience here and trust me when I say I'm here to help your son. So, just tell me the whole truth so I can help him."

The mother paused, and this move of her was spotted directly by me. I felt a strange feeling of pride as I detected the future attitude of the mother here and acted based on my assumptions, which turned out to be true, and that just felt awesome.

"Well, I… he…"

She was hesitating, so I used the last approach I learned from Harry, be slow and patient. I kept my silence as I looked towards her fixedly waiting for her frank reply. After moments of awkward silence, she sighed a deep long sigh that I felt very familiar, this was the sigh I usually used when I lost all hope about solving a certain problem.

"Ok, I will tell you… my little boy here didn't have fever, but as I was in the market buying some stuff for us, he took a pesticide spray and sprayed it all over his skin. When I returned home, I found that bottle which was written on it a clear warning about its toxicity, so I feared and came here at once."

I knew she was finally telling the truth through using my ability, so I asked the most important question in my mind:

"Why then did you lie? You just have to tell the truth here."

Suddenly her face started to change as she began to cry silently, this kind of cry when you couldn't even express your own fears and sadness out loud. I held myself from hugging her and comforting her, as this wasn't an ethical act to do in medicine, so I wanted to help her more than before, as I said:

"I need to know the problem here so I can help you."

She looked to me silently for a long time while her tears kept flowing slowly like heavy rocks, then she said softly in a low tone that I heard with difficulty:

"I… I'm a single mother, and I went through hell to win my son custody, which I will lose if his father knew about this incident. I knew it was my mistake for leaving him alone in the home, but I was gone for less than half an hour. I don't want to lose my kid for this mistake, I don't want to lose him ever…"

She couldn't continue her words as she went on crying aggressively this time. I felt great sympathy for her, as it seemed this beautiful boy's father had left him and went to live his life while this poor mother was trying everything possible to raise him.

I sighed, but I couldn't find anything to help her out, so I thought about Harry. He was my senior, and he experienced situations like this for sure, so he should know how to act. I looked to her as I said briefly:

"I will be back."

The mother looked at me with horror but I just smiled, sometimes smiles would be the best cure for fear. I went on towards the counter where I found Harry was writing some things inside his notebook. Once I approached, he noticed me as he raised his head and asked:

"We have a long list of investigations to be done, but this mother's insurance is just a partial insurance, so it's a problem here. give me a second as I'm trying to sort out these tests and choose the fittest from them."

I cleared out my throat as I didn't want to be rude with this kind senior of mine. this act had attracted his attention as he asked in low tone:

"Is there something you want to tell me?"

I looked around, so Harry understood immediately that I was afraid to be overheard by someone, so he moved from his place as he said:

"Follow me."

He went to a room away from the mother and her child room by some distance. There was no one around us, so he asked seriously:

"What's wrong, Thomas?"

I took a deep breath and then said:

"This kid has some complicated situation."

Harry looked at me strangely while nodded by his head for me to continue, so I started to narrate the situation the mother was in and the medical condition of the child. Once I finished, I saw Harry moving rapidly towards the nursing counter and I followed him:

"This issue isn't a big deal, we can just not mention it, especially her insurance wouldn't cover the test for organo-phosphorous poisoning, but if we delayed our treatment, this kid would be in serious trouble. Good job Thomas, this kid's life is saved thanks to you."

I didn't understand his meaning, but what I understood was that this kid was going to be in trouble and now he would be saved. I also felt relieved about this mother situation, as she wouldn't get any problems from this.

"Give me an Atropine ampule and syringe, also get a cannula and follow me rapidly," Harry issued this series of orders to the nurses who started to act rapidly. He then looked to me as he headed again to the mother and her child as he said:

"Today, Thomas, this little poor kid is saved by you. After we finish here, I will buy you dinner as a reward. Let's go."

I felt proud as I did something that seemed important, although I didn't know what it was, but I did it and would get rewarded for that. I intended to ask him about this later when we left here, as I was still worried about the kid and his mother, whom I hoped they never got separated from any given day.