Chapter 9: Don't Say Never
Chapter 9:
When the paramedics arrived, they had great difficulty releasing Sheridan from Luis’ grip. He was insistent that he be with Sheridan in the ambulance. Luis’ desperation grew and he feared that he could lose the only woman he had ever loved. As the paramedics closed the ambulance doors, Luis sat on a bunk near Sheridan and watched as one of the paramedics hooked an IV to Sheridan and checked her vital signs.
Suddenly, Sheridan’s nose appeared to be bleeding. Small red droplets of blood emerged from her nasal area and dripped down her upper lip. One of the paramedics quickly took care of the nosebleed and cleaned Sheridan up. She would need serious medical attention once she arrived at Harmony General Hospital. One thing was for certain Sheridan’s symptoms were quite bizarre. Given the fact that Luis had stated she had no prior symptoms of such in the months that had passed.
“Sir where you aware of any symptoms your wife may have had that could have contributed to her fainting and having a nosebleed?” said the male paramedic in a serious tone.
“Not that I am aware of” Luis said trying to recall if he ever noticed anything out of the ordinary.
“Is my wife going to be alright” Luis asked desperately.
“Sir we won’t know the extent of Sheridan’s condition and how severe it is until the medical doctors have properly examined her, but until then you should rest assure that we will do everything we can to help your wife.” The female paramedic said in a calm and reassuring voice.
Luis was hopeful that Sheridan would pull through this and the paramedics words reassured him slightly.
As they approached the hospital, the ambulance drove into the emergency entrance. The paramedics burst open the doors and stepped out. Then they grabbed the stretcher Sheridan had been placed on and wheeled her out. She was immediately rushed into the hospital and taken into main ward. Dr. Eve Russell who was on call that night, attended to Sheridan personally.
“Ok Dr. Russell, we have a Caucasian female who fainted suddenly and we have no other leads as to what has brought on her present condition. Her vital signs are weak and she suffered a nosebleed on the ride over.” Dr. Walker relayed to Dr. Russell what the paramedics had written on Sheridan’s chart.
“Perhaps the patient needs a cat scan or MRI done, perhaps there was some head trauma of some sort. We need to rule out all possibilities before we can properly treat Mrs. Fitzgerald.”
Luis watched closely as Dr. Russell spoke with Dr. Walkerton regarding Sheridan’s present state. He could hear what they were saying, from behind the glass. The muffled words of the two doctors irritated him, because he desperately wanted to know what was going on. He noticed two nurses moving Sheridan away from the emergency examination room and down the hall.
Luis rushed through the doors and yelled “Where are you taking her?”
Eve rushed over and said “Luis we need you to remain strong. Sheridan is just being wheeled down stairs so we can run some tests and determine what is wrong.”
Luis couldn’t believe this was happening. “Eve is she going to be okay” Luis asked with desperation in his voice.
“We won’t know until we determine what’s wrong. As soon as I find out anything I will let you know.” And with that Eve raced down the corridor to catch an elevator.
Luis couldn’t think straight he was distraught. He needed to contact Sheridan’s family and tell them the news. He walked over to one of the payphones and inserted a quarter. He dialed the Crane residence and spoke briefly with Ivy to tell her what had happened. He was so troubled by the whole matter, that he could not even relay the proper information to Ivy regarding Sheridan. He speech was slurred and he often had to close his eyes to focus on what Ivy was asking him.
Half and hour later, most of Sheridan’s family members had arrived at the hospital. They rushed to Luis’ side to comfort him and where extremely worried about Sheridan. He told them what had happened and they just were thankful Sheridan had had Luis there to place the call to the paramedics. Or else who knows what would have happened.
After what seemed like days, Eve approached Luis and the other family members and finally shed some light on the dilemma. Luis approached Eve and quickly said.
“What’s wrong? Can we see her?” hold on Luis, all your questions will be answered. We have found out why Sheridan has experienced these bizarre symptoms and I am afraid it doesn’t look good.”
Nothing could prepare Luis for what Eve was about to tell him. He had never even though that Sheridan’s condition could be so far gone.
“Eve please just tell us” Luis begged.
“I don’t know how to say this…” “We ran an MRI and I was viewing it in the oncology unit. It clearly shows a small dark mass above the nasal cavity.”
“What does that mean?” Luis asked knowing that what Eve was about to tell him was not good news.
“The dark area is a nasopharyngeal mass and there is a small growth between the superior concha and the sphenoidal sinus.”
“What does that mean?”
“In simpler terms Sheridan has a tumor that is inoperable. The placement of the tumor makes it difficult to operate and all types of treatment are problematical.” Eve said in a serious tone of voice.
Luis was in shock. He wasn’t prepared for this. Sheridan had a tumor in her brain and there was nothing anyone could do. His eyes became watery and he kept believing and praying he would wake up from some horrible nightmare, but when he opened his eyes he was struck with the harsh reality that this was very real. As tears trickled down his cheeks he bit his lip and fought back all the pain that was eating away at him. Sheridan didn’t deserve this and what made him feel worse was that he could do nothing to help her.
To Be Continued…
