Chapter 56

When Jake got up for work the next morning he followed his usual routine:  washed his face then went to check on Miri before getting in the shower.  When he walked into the baby’s room he felt a moment of shock before remembering where his little girl was.  No wonder I didn’t hear her over the monitor, he though as he headed to the bathroom to get his morning shower.  Though he’d just been in there the night before he didn’t really wash up and get clean.

Showered and dressed with a pair of jeans in over his scrubs, Jake woke Delilah to go in and eat breakfast with him.  As she got dressed he grabbed a leather jacket, his sneakers (because he was wearing his motorcycle boots), and his helmet.  When Delilah saw him she smiled.  “My sexy biker doctor”, she said as she gave a low whistle.

“That’s right.  I’ll fuck you up, then stitch you up, mother fucker!” he chuckled.

“What brought on the decision to take your bike today?”

“Still pretty pissed over last night’s bull shit.  Riding my bike help to clear my head.  Something about the roar of the engine relaxes me.”

She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him softly.  “I’m sure Mom and Dad made them see the error of their ways.”

“I wonder; if Miri had gotten hurt, would Dad have let me kick Jordan, Mandy, and Davina’s asses?  I know he’d have had no problem with me beating the shit out of Malachai.”

“I would have handled Jordan, Mandy, and Davina.  I’m a pretty peaceful person, but mess with my cub and there will be hell to pay.  Mama Bear comes out and she’s not happy.”

He laughed.  “You’re pretty sexy when you’re protective of Miri.”

“Glad you like it.  Now, shall we go see the family before you go to work?”

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After making his rounds that morning and seeing the patients that had appointments, Jake sequestered himself in his office.  He still had a mountain of patient files to sort through.  The file of one Marine Corps. Gunnery Sergeant named Thomas Macadam caught his eye.  He studied the file closely.  Gunnery Sergeant Macadam had been in the Middle East in an undisclosed location in the desert with his platoon.  They were EOD.  They destroyed what needed to be destroyed.  They were the Army Corps. Of Engineers in reverse.

He read carefully over the young Gunny’s service and medical records.  The service records read a lot like another Marine he knew.  There were things blacked out, but Jake got the gist of things.  Gunny Macadam was in the wrong place at the wrong time when a roadside bomb went off.  The percussion of the blast cause hemorrhaging and scarring in his brain.  As a result, he was experiencing limited speech and motor function as well as vision and hearing loss.  Ok, the first half of the service record read a lot like his late Uncle.

You’re getting this procedure, Gunny.  Were my Uncle Matt still alive he’d plant a boot in my ass if I didn’t make it my personal mission to try to make you whole again, Jake thought as he laid the file on the ever growing stack of procedural recipients.  He chuckled at a thought that popped into his head.  Come to think of it, so will my mother.

He started to feel a little light headed so he opened his desk drawer and pulled out a small package of peanut butter crackers to snack on until he orders lunch.  After lunch, he’d finish what he could before doing his afternoon rounds and going the hell home.  He was ready to go home already.  He couldn’t look at another file.   And to be perfectly honest with himself, he wasn’t really feeling very well, his blood sugar dropping aside.  He felt like he was trying to come down with something.  He never got sick.  It was one of the few things other than his physical looks that he got from his father.  He had a pretty high immune system and resistance to disease and sickness.  For him to be coming down sick meant that he was pushing himself far too hard and that he needed to get a break and to detox.  I can’t do this today, he thought.  I feel like hell.  I’ve got to get something to eat and go home.  I’ll see if Mom can suggest some herb or essential oil to help me clear the shit in my head up.  He grabbed some tissue and blew his nose before calling to get some lunch.  He ordered from the Chinese place he always ordered from, getting only a large bowl of egg drop soup and some Crab Rangoon.  The only reason he got the fried crab puffs were because he needed the carbs.

As he waited on his face, he called to the floor.  “After I make my rounds for the afternoon, I’m going to go home and get some rest.  I’m not feeling very well.  It seems I’m trying to come down sick and we can’t afford the Chief of Neurology to be sick- especially when he has a clinical trial to run”, he told the other doctor on shift.  After he hung up, he stretched out and caught a short nap while he waited  for his food.

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On his way out to the parking lot to head home, he called his mother to warn her that he was going to need something to clear his sinuses when he got home.  “You sound like hell, Jacob”, she said when she answered the phone.

“To be honest,  I feel it.  You’ve always told us to listen to our bodies, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.  Is there anything you can suggest to unclog my sinuses?”

“Yeah, when you get home, I’ll have you do an aromatherapy facial steam.  It will clear up your sinuses and make it all drain out.”

“Sounds good to me.  I’ll be home in an hour.”

“I’m going to start looking for what oils to mix for you.  When you get home, I’ll have your wife put some water on to boil and grab a big towel from the bathroom so that we can cover your head and the bowel the water goes in.”

“Alright, Mom.  I’ll see you then.”  As he hung up and mounted his bike, he sneezed.  Yep, I’m sick.  I can feel it.  Good thing I’ve got a couple of days between now and then to get this shit cleared out of my head and chest.  He put his helmet on, dug his keys out of his pocket, and started for home.  He needed to get well to help the men and women that were going to be in the trial.  That was his top priority; get well the fix the men and women in his care that were broken.

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The oils in the hot water smelled funky, but at least he could smell them.  “Mom”, he called with his head under the towel and over the bowl of oils and water, “what did you put in this?”  He still sounded stuffy, but not nearly as bad as he had when he walked in.

“Just Eucalyptus, Spearmint, Lavender, and Chamomile, my son.”

“It smells like Vicks Vapor rub with lavender in it”, he laughed.  The laugh turned into a hacking cough.

She pounded lightly on his back as he coughed.  “Seems like its working”, she said.  “You can smell it and you’re coughing up the congestion.”

“OH, THIS SUCKS!!” he bellowed.

“You’ll be fine, cry baby”, Maddie laughed when she came into the room.

“Go to hell, Maddie.”

“Be there, done that, got the hoodie”, she laughed.  “Hey, Jake, did you know that doctors make the worst patients?”

“Fuck off, Madison”, he grumbled.  “I don’t feel well.  Leave me alone or next time YOU’RE sick, I’m going to be sure to pick on you.”  He took another deep breath of the scented steam and started coughing again.  As his mother beat on his back, he thought, This is going to be a LONG three days.