“I didn’t mean to sound accusatory,” he explained gently. “I was simply concerned because the procedure you’ll go through on Monday - the extraction of the bone marrow - isn’t particularly pleasant. You’ll certainly be sedated and have pain medication, but the aftermath can be very difficult for certain patients. Painful. With such low body fat, I’m afraid to say that it’s likely going to be even more painful for you. I’m also concerned that you might have low iron stores. We’ll do a blood draw in a few minutes, run some lab tests, but I’ll most likely advise you to take iron supplements for a few weeks after the procedure so you don’t become anemic. Let’s have you up on the exam table now, hmm?
Scarlett looked at him warily, remaining where she stood. “What for?” she asked defiantly. “You’ve already taken my blood pressure, and weighed me. Can’t you just jab me with that stupid needle for the blood tests so I can leave now?”
David chuckled. “I’m going to guess you don’t like needles very much. Good thing you’ll be fully sedated for the extraction so you won’t have to see the size of the needles we use.”
Scarlett shuddered visibly. “Yeah, good thing. Can we, uh, maybe stop talking about needles for now before I chicken out of this thing? Or barf up my breakfast. Which I’d hate to do because it was really yummy. And expensive. Though of course I’m not paying for it. Just added it to my tab.”
He gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze, a little alarmed to notice how bony it was. “Good for you. You should make sure to eat well between now and tomorrow night. You’ll need to stop eating and drinking anything, including water, by eleven o’clock tomorrow evening. And nothing at all on Monday morning. You’ll need to have an empty stomach for the procedure, in case there’s any resulting nausea from the anesthesia. But Lydia will give you written instructions about all of that. And I’ll give you my contact information in case you need to ask me something before Monday morning. Okay?”
She shrugged. “Sure, I guess. Anything else?”
“Just a quick exam,” he assured her. “Honest. I just need to make sure you don’t have any skin rashes or cuts that haven’t healed over, things like that. Anything that might increase the risk of infection.”
She hesitated for long seconds before slowly, reluctantly, reclining back on the exam table. She stared up at the ceiling unblinking as he quickly but thoroughly examined her neck, torso, arms, and lower legs. David was careful not to grimace when he noticed the visibility of her ribs, or the concaveness of her flat belly. Her almost total lack of body fat was also a cause for concern, as it would most likely leave the site of the bone marrow extraction more tender to the touch than on a patient who was a little fleshier.
But neither he nor Lydia could hold back a gasp as he turned her onto her left side, exposing the right side of her torso and the ugly, puckered scar that he knew without having to ask had been the result of a nasty knife wound. Lydia covered her mouth with her hand and turned away abruptly, but not before David glimpsed the shimmer of tears in her eyes.
Tentatively, he touched his fingers to the scar, noticing that Scarlett was deliberately tensing her body so as not to flinch. “Want to tell me about this?” he asked bluntly.
“Nope. Not even a little,” she retorted. “But you’re probably going to keep pestering me until you hear the whole ugly story, aren’t you?”
He chuckled, his admiration for this young woman’s toughness growing by leaps and bounds the more time he spent around her. “Probably. Though I can already tell it was a stab wound. Any internal damage?”
She shook her head, keeping her face turned away from him. “I got lucky. The doctors in the ER told me it came real close to nicking a kidney.”
David shook his head somberly. “Nothing lucky about an injury like this. How long ago did this happen?”
Scarlett sighed, pushing herself to an upright position and pulling the edges of the paper gown to cover up her exposed body. She related the details briskly, without emotion, as though she’d merely suffered nothing more than a deep paper cut.
‘Man, those are some thick shields she’s built around herself,’ thought David compassionately as he listened to the almost offhand account of the incident that had nearly killed her. ‘Walls of ice and steel. But who can blame her? And I’m just going to guess that getting stabbed by a psychotic teenager isn’t the only traumatic thing that’s ever happened to her.’
“Are we almost finished?” asked Scarlett impatiently. “As you can probably guess, I really, really hate doctors offices and hospitals and needles and shit like that.”
“I don’t blame you in the least for feeling that way,” agreed David, thinking that this waifishly beautiful girl needed a good solid two weeks worth of sleep, about a month’s worth of calorie laden meals, and a whole lot of hugging. And that would be just for starters. “I think I’m all done with my part, we just need a little bit of blood from you for those tests I mentioned earlier. Lydia can take care of that for you right here.”
“I’ll be quick,” promised Lydia, her dark eyes filled with compassion. “And you’ll barely feel the needle, I promise.”
As Lydia got her supplies ready to take the blood sample, David gazed at Scarlett in concern.
“You may or may not need to stay in the hospital overnight after the procedure,” he told her. “I won’t be able to make that determination until I see how you feel after coming out of the anesthesia, how much pain you’re in, and how easily you can walk around afterwards. I know you flew in yesterday from California and that you’re staying in town, but do you have anyone here who can look after you for a few days?”
“Nope. Just me. Fortunately, I’ve got a real comfy king sized bed in the room, cable TV, and carte blanche to order whatever I want from room service,” she declared cheerily. “What more could a girl ask for, hmm?”
David gave her a half-smile in response. “It’s good that you have someplace to relax and stay off your feet for a few days. But my concern is that you’ll be in a lot of pain, and that you might need someone to help you get to and from the bathroom, take a shower, that sort of thing. How long are you supposed to stay in Phoenix?”
“I’m scheduled to fly home next Friday. So that will be four days after the procedure.”
“And what about after that?” he prodded. “Do you live alone?”
“I wish,” she mumbled darkly. “I have a steady stream of roommates, but if you’re implying that any of them would lift a finger to help me, hold your breath. It’s pretty much every man or woman for themselves in our place.”
“Do you have stairs in your residence? The reason I ask is that going up and down a flight of stairs could be challenging if you’re in a lot of pain. As you know, we’ll be inserting the needles in your hip area.”
Scarlett shuddered. “Please don’t remind me, okay? Thank God I’ll be knocked out for the whole time. Have I mentioned yet how much I fucking hate needles? As for the stair issue - yeah, I have a flight of stairs to climb to get in the front door, and then two flights to get to my room. I, uh, sort of live in the attic, and the bathroom is down one level.”