Rob
It was past 11 in the morning.
Katy normally wakes up at the crack of dawn.
Howard opened the door.
"Um.... The Pediatrician is here."
"Let him in."
He walked in.
"I'm Dr. Asher."
"Rob."
"Nell."
"And who's this Princess?"
"More like evil Queen." Howard muttered.
"This is Katy."
"And she's 16?"
"Yeah."
"So, what happened last night?"
"A Mountain Lion mauled her body." Nell answered.
"I've seen worst Mountain Lion mauling cases."
"That's not very reassuring."
"Most of them didn't make it through the night, Mrs. McLaughlin. And the others who did survive had a hard time later in life."
"Sorry."
"Was anybody with your daughter?"
"Human wise?"
"Yeah."
"No."
"Why was a 16 year old left unsupervised?"
"Why don't you ask her brilliant brother?" Jack retorted, walking in.
"I need as much info as possible to be able to help her."
"I signed us up for the Wild Horse Race. The Mustang is her horse. And she rode her out of the Arena. We were trying to find her."
"Isn't the Wild Horse Race a Cowboy event?"
"She dressed up as a Cowboy."
"I'm gonna have my assistant bring the CAT Scan, MRI, and the X-Ray machines up here."
"Great."
He was interacting with a male.
He walked back downstairs.
"Because just from an examination, I can guess that Katy's appendix is about to rupture and her pancreas is bruised. Which is as painful as it gets."
"Mm."
"Was she conscious when you found her?"
"Yeah."
"Was she talking?"
"Yeah."
"Full, coherent sentences?"
"Yes."
"And where was Katy when you found her?"
"In a cave."
"She got there by herself?"
"Her Mustang dragged her there to get the Mountain Lion away from her."
"You should be thankful that Mustang has a connection to your daughter. Or she'd have probably been dead when you found her."
Jack sneered.
He took a bunch of pictures with the machines.
"Katy is in excruciating pain. So much, that painkillers is not gonna help."
"But she was laughing last night."
"It could have been Katy's way of coping with the pain. Or she didn't want to let on how much pain she actually was in."
"Laughing to cope with pain?"
"Yeah."
I shook my head.
"Your daughter had a subdermal hematoma that appears to have disappeared on its own."
"She could've smacked it into a tree at the Creek. While she was trying to fight the Mountain Lion off herself."
"A ruptured appendix. A bruised pancreas. Perforated intestines. Sprained ankle."
I sighed.
"After the appendix removal and perforated bowel resection, she has to go into a medically-induced coma."
"What?"
"The pain will kill her. There are risks of heart attack, stroke, or a brain bleed if we don't."
I nodded my head.
"And how long will she be in this coma?"
"Until she's not at risk for any of those to occur."
She nodded her head.
"We're gonna get Katy prepped for surgery."
"Okay."
"Don't worry."
"Mm."
"Katy." Dr. Asher called.
She grumbled before turning on her side.
Katy put her pillow over her head when he kept calling her name.
"I don't even know you, dude! Get out of my room!"
"I'm Dr. Asher. One of your Doctors."
She squinted her eyes because of the sunlight.
"I have never seen you in my life!"
Katy laid her head back down on her pillow.
"Not my Doctor. Look like you're my age." She grumbled.
"Glad to see it's not only me who thought that." I whispered to Nell.
"I can assure you. I'm not 16."
He poked her.
"Come on."
"Do not touch me!"
"Wow. You got a pair of lungs on you."
"Stranger!"
"Katy."
Katy pulled her blanket over herself.
She grumbled.
Katy fell back asleep.
"Aggression can be a bad sign."
"That's just her way of greeting people she's never met."
"Mm."
I leaned over her.
I lifted Katy up.
She had her arms wrapped around my neck.
I walked down the stairs with Katy.
