When Jake finally went home the next morning, he left instructions with the nurses on shift to page him should something develop with the Corporal. “If she has another stroke, you page me immediately. I don’t care if I’m dead asleep or if I’m making love to my wife, you WILL call me if she starts to stroke out again. Understood?” The nurses nodded with a, “Yes, Dr. Draiman”. With that, he dragged his tired ass out to his car and went home to his wife. When he walked through the house, he almost fell face first in to foyer. Jeremiah and Marc caught him and helped him to the couch before heading out the door to go to school. Instead of lying down on the couch, the exhausted young doctor just slumped over and landed face first in the cushion. When David came out of the kitchen, he couldn’t help but laugh. “Jacob”, he called.
Jake startled awake. “Huh?”
“You’re face is in my seat, son. Did you want help out to the house so you can get some sleep?”
He sighed; his eyes were trying to roll into the back of his head so that he could sleep. “I’m need sleep, Dad. Can’t I just pass out on the couch here?”
David chuckled. “Um, no. This is your mother and I’s couch.”
“Dad, I know you have a bunch of work to do and Mom has at least two massages and one’s a hot stone. I’m only going to lay here for a couple of hours. I’m begging, Dad. I can’t walk another foot. Hell, I didn’t even walk over here. ‘Miah and Marc helped me over here.”
David looked at his son and sighed. “You know too much for your own good, sometimes, Jacob Micah. Ok, lie down and get a little bit of rest. When Delilah comes in, your mother or I will let her know that you’re in here asleep.”
“Is Malachai or Jordan expected over today?”
“Both of them are expected over this evening for dinner, but they shouldn’t be here until later.”
“Good, that means uninterrupted sleep.”
“You’re not working Thanksgiving are you?”
“No, I told them that if I didn’t have Thanksgiving off then I was going to quit. And I told them that I needed Christmas and Hanukkah off too for family reasons.”
“Yeah, the first day of Hanukkah is Christmas day this year.”
“Eight straight days off. What the hell am I going to do with myself?” he chuckled as he stretched out on the leather couch.
“I don’t know, Jake. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
“I’m probably going to sleep all fucking day on the first full day.”
“What about the night before?”
“The bastards have me working that day, but it’s a normal shift and not a fucking double.”
“Well, at least they did that much.” David sighed. “Get some rest, son. You’re right; I have a lot of work to do. Your Uncle Danny’s falling down on the job with Intoxication so I have to pick up the slack”, he said with a chuckle.
“Being a new grandpa is really taking up his time, huh?” Jake yawned as he stretched out on the couch.
“Yeah, so it seems. Now, go to sleep before I have you mother come out here to help me carry you out to your house.”
The last sentence didn’t even sink into his brain. Jake had already passed out and sank into a dreamless sleep.
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It felt like he hadn’t been lying down for very long at all when his pager went off. He snapped awake and check the number. As he stood, he dialed the number. “This is Dr. Draiman. What’s going on?” he yawned.
“She’s stroking again, Doctor”, one of the nurses said.
He was suddenly more awake. “I’ll be there in about an hour and a half. I need a shower real fast and change my clothes. I’ll be there as soon as I can get there. The video camera’s going isn’t it?”
“Yes, Doctor.”
“Good. I’ll be there soon as I can. Thank you for letting me know.”
“Just following your orders, Doctor. That’s all”, and the nurse hung up.
Jake ran out to the little house he shared with his wife behind his parents’ house. He looked for his wife, but she wasn’t there. He guessed she was in class that day. As he rummaged through the closet to get a change of clothes, he noticed a half drank bottle of Gatorade and the open box of saltine crackers next to Delilah’s side of the bed. Figures. Of course she talked to Mom and Mom shared her tricks. He grabbed a clean change of scrubs and headed to the bathroom to get cleaned up and refreshed to see what was going on with the strokes that his favorite Army Corporal was having.
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He ran down the hall toward the Neurology department at full speed. After the elevator reached his floor, he took off down the hall like a bat out of hell. When he reached the nurses’ station, he screeched to a stop and looked at the nurses. “How is she?” he asked.
“Dr. Rodriguez is in with her now. She almost didn’t make it through this one.”
He growled under his breath. “Fuck. It figures. I’m almost willing to bet that the clot’s making its way to her brain stem. It gets to the brains stem, we’re burying that young woman.”
“Dr. Rodriguez doesn’t understand the point of the EEG machine in the room or the video camera.”
“I have my reasons.”
“Would you mind sharing them with me, Doctor?” Dr. Rodriguez asked angrily.
“Yes, Doctor. As a matter of fact I would. There’s a method to my madness, it’s not sheer insanity. If you don’t like it, then you can kiss my ass. I’m her primary neurologist and I don’t have to share a mother fucking thing with you if I don’t feel the need. Now, get out of my way, Dr. Rodriguez and let me go check on my patient.” Jake pushed his way past the older man and headed into Yvette’s room. “Hey, Yvette, how are you feeling?”
“Like hell, Dr. D. I didn’t expect to see you here, though”, she said groggily. The left side of her face was paralyzed again.
“I know, Yvette. I’m sure you feel like death warmed over right about now and I don’t know that I can blame you. I’m going to review the video and the EEG results and I’ll let you know what’s going on. Hopefully, we can get this taken care of so that we don’t have to do this anymore.”
“Ok, Dr. D. I hope we can get this clot removed soon so that I can be a normal teenager again.”
He smiled kindly at the young woman who was in all actuality his age. “We’ll get you there, Yvette. Don’t worry.”
“Thanks, Dr. D. I’ll see you later.”
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Jake went down to his office and went over the EEG as he watched the video. “I got you, mother FUCKER!” he said with a smile. “I found you, you pain in the neck”, he said as he dialed the extension to the surgery department. “I need to speak with the neurosurgeon on shift please”, he said when the phone was answered. “Hey, Tom, it’s Jake Draiman. I need a huge favor if you can. I have a young woman up here that needs to have a clot removed from her occipital lobe. It’s making its way to her brain stem quick and if it reaches her brain stem you and I both know what happens.” He went silent for a moment. “You’re serious? You’ll do it? You’re a fucking life saver, man. I owe you huge for this.” He laughed. “I’ll see what I can do to make that happen for you. Luckily, I’ll see them tonight at dinner. My folks like to have us all over at least once a week to eat and get caught up. I’ll ask Jordan and Malachai for you tonight.” He was quiet for a moment. “No, man, I’m not on shift today. She’s a patient of mine that I’ve taken special interest in her case and I told the nurses to page me if she should stroke again. I’ll call up there and have them start prepping her for surgery and I’ll meet you in Neurology. Thanks again, Tom.” Jake called up to Neurology and had the nurses start prepping Corporal Jennings for surgery, then ran up to his department to meet with the neurosurgeon that was going to save the young Corporal’s life.
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