Throughout the years, Madilyn had rarely talked about her family. Having known her for years, Roxanne had never probed because she could tell that her friend did not wish to discuss it.
The only things Roxanne knew were that Madilyn’s family lived in the northwest and that she was in constant contact with her mother. Naturally, Roxanne became acquainted with Madilyn’s mother, Lorraine Xander, through numerous video calls. Madilyn took her mother’s last name.
“Where is Mdm. Xander now?” Roxanne asked. “Have you brought her in? I’ll take a look at her first, then I want all the reports you have on her condition. Now’s not the time to wallow in sadness. Lest you forget, I’m a miracle worker!”
Madilyn knew that Roxanne’s medical skills had solved many impossible cases and cured many patients the hospital deemed incurable. Besides, she was learned in ancient medicine.
This time, however, Madilyn did not dare hold on to any hope. Based on her own years of medical experience, she could tell her mother might not make it this time.
Her heart was gradually failing. Then, her other organs would break down until they were all beyond repair. Not only did she fear her disappointment worsening if she regained any hope, but she also did not want to put pressure on Roxanne. “She’s here, Roxanne, at our hospital. Let’s go.
I’ll take you to her.” After wiping her tears, Madilyn composed herself and led Roxanne toward the inpatient department. Roxanne was shocked upon entering the ward and seeing Lorraine, who was sound asleep. “How did she become so thin?”
Compared to the video call two months ago, her cheeks seemed to have shrunk, and her eyes had sunken. The skin on her exposed arms had sagged pitifully.
“After our last video call two months ago,” Madilyn choked out, “Mom didn’t want to turn on her camera anymore and insisted on sticking to voice call. I was so stupid not to have seen that she was hiding the increasing severity of her heart disease. I thought she was stable.”
Roxanne’s heart sank when she saw how emaciated Lorraine looked. I was going to greet her and ask her how she was feeling.
Given how deeply she is sleeping, she might be, borderline comatose. I may not have the chance to ask her. Roxanne did not say much else. Instead, she took the patient’s pulse. Lorraine’s skin felt frighteningly cold.
Grasping her stick-thin wrist, Roxanne felt her heart wrench with pain. Her pulse was so weak that it was almost disappearing. Roxanne’s heart lurched. Indeed, she’s almost gone.
However, she did not voice her fears. She turned to face Madilyn and said, “Don’t worry. There’s still hope. Let her get some rest. We’ll head back to the office to peruse her case files.” Madilyn nodded. She picked up her mother’s hand gently and tucked it back under the quilt.
The pair returned to the office and began examining all of the reports. Roxanne perused them with rapt attention while Madilyn. explained how her mother had been battling a wildly-fluctuating illness for years.
In order to minimize the stress on her mother’s heart, Madilyn only told her about things after they had been watered down. After examining the CT scan results for half an hour, Roxanne detected something strange in the patient’s heart. “Look at this, Madilyn. What’s this? Why is there a little spot here?”
Madilyn leaned over and, after examining it for a long time, could not detect anything awry. “This happens during the scanning process Perhaps there was a period when the flow of the blood accelerated, causing this change.”
Roxanne’s brow knitted together. It’s true that something like this may happen. However, she could not get rid of the feeling that the spot on Lorraine’s CT scan result was different, but she could not put her finger on what it was.
