Unpredictable (A Dance Story)

Chapter 9

A weird sensation had begun to spread up my arm as I sat waiting for Holden. The sensory loss had pretty much robbed me of feeling, but for some reason I was feeling something...

"I spy, with my little eye, something...Ford."

"Holden, something's wrong."

"I know something's wrong, I'm about to go find the little jerk and punch his face in for - "

"No. This is serious."

Holden's face turned instantly solemn. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know. That's the problem."

He sat down across from me. "Are you in pain? What hurts?"

"Beside my pride? Well, my arm. Not that it hurts, but it...feels."

"Feels? You've got to give me more than that."

"I feel something. Something unpleasant."

"Okay, up we go. I'm taking you home."

I stared up at him with wide eyes. "But you drove all the way out here."

He stared back with a grin. "You're almost too cute to say no to. But, no. You're going home."

And that's how I ended up back in the hospital the day after I got out. Holden drove me home and my mom was confused at first, but as soon as I mentioned the strange feeling in my arm, we were back in that horrible place.

"How could you discharge her without verifying the diagnosis?" My father shouted. He didn't know much about anything medical, but he was fired up enough to fake it.

"With traumatic events, the outcomes are very hard to diagnose at first," the nurse soothed.

"Well, maybe you should have told us that!" My mother replied icily.

"Ma'am, it was all written down in her discharge papers," the nurse said, obviously annoyed, "Did you read the papers?"

"Not yet, but - "

"Listen. She was to be on bed rest, with minimal arm movement. She was supposed to..."

The nurse went on, naming things I should have been doing. In my mind, I made a mental 'did not do' list, checking off things as she said them. Nope, didn't do that or that, or, oh man, I didn't do that either!

I wiggled on the thin paper of the exam table, wondering what this would mean for me. How long until I would be allowed to step out of the house? Or go to school? What about dancing? Words like 'Brachial Plexus' and 'Flaccid limb' made me flinch. From what I understood, my arm might or might not become an extremely painful part of my existence. Dance and school weren't on the top of the medical priority list.

"Mom," I whined, picking at the white bandages. The feeling got stronger and stronger by the second.

"Did you take your pain medication?" The nurse asked immediately.

I had taken the morning pain meds, and I wasn't supposed to take any other medication until later on. I thought so, anyway. The nurse pursed her lips and pulled up my records on the computer. She stared at the screen, puzzled.

"I'm sorry..."

I glanced at my parents as the nurse called someone. She had been one of my nurses for a week, so she knew what was going on. I didn't know what the problem could possibly be.

"Alright," she finally sighed, "We have a bit of a situation here. I remember you, of course, but not all the technicalities. It seems that there's been a mistake, though, with the system."

I waited for one of my parents to explode. Evidently, so did the nurse. When nobody blew their top, she continued.

"Your records have been switched with that of another patient. Your medication in the hospital was only affected on the last day or two. It's not necessarily hindering you, but...It's not helping. It's essentially an anti-depressant. With other functions, of course. These side effects are not helping your pain tolerance."

I breathed in sharply. What?

"How do we fix it?" Mom asked hesitantly. To my surprise, she didn't seem angry. Just worried.

"We could either let the medicine run its natural course, which would cause you quite a bit of discomfort, Sweetie. Or we could flush it out of her system and get the right medication in her body. We'll consult with a doctor, but I have to warn you: whatever mood you are in right now will not last."

She faced me directly. "If you thought you were experiencing strange emotions, they will get a lot stranger."

Hm. My intense anger in the past two days hadn't seemed out-of-place at the time, but I definitely could have handled the situations a lot better. Both times I had dissolved into extreme sadness afterward, too. But really, had any of those emotions lasted very long? I winced suddenly, clutching the arm. "Ow," I squeaked.

"Let's get you to a room," the nurse decided, "And I'll send a specialist up."

***

"Hello, Ella. How are you feeling?"

"Crappy. Tired. Useless. You?"

The doctor chuckled. "Not nearly as worn out. So, tell me when this started."

"I was at the mall," I began, then stopped when I saw his expression.

"Hey, you messed up my records and gave me the wrong medicine. Don't chastise me for going on a date."

The doctor sighed. "Fair enough. Continue."

"Well, besides being emotionally crushed over a heartless boy's obvious disgust at my injuries, I did experience a strange feeling in my arm."

"Ouch," the doctor commented.

As far as I was concerned, letting all of my 'strange emotions' out on this new doctor was quite a good way to vent. "So I had a friend drive me home, my mother flipped, the feeling tightened into pain, and now I'm here."

"Anything else to add?"

"Does it have to contribute to your medical analysis?"

"Preferably, yes."

"Then, I'm done."

"From what you told me, I believe the best course of action will be to flush the medicine out of your system."

"That sounds painful."

"Not necessarily painful, though it's not pleasant. We could also run some tests, but by the time we finished, you might as well just wait it out."

I sighed. "Whatever you want to do. Doctor knows best."

He smiled. "That's what I like to hear. I'm going to go get your parents and inform them of our decision, then we'll get started on the actual course of action. Oh, and I'm Dr. Moore." He extended a hand. I sat up in my hospital bed and reached my left hand, which wouldn't have worked for a handshake. Dr. Moore realized his mistake and swapped hands.

"Pleasure meeting you, Ella."

"The pleasure's mine," I mumbled sarcastically.

***

Did you think Ella was getting better? I always have some trick up my sleeve :p To kinda explain the situation here (it's a bit confusing) the medicine they accidentally put her on caused some weird moods and stuff. She thought she was getting better, but she wasn't. Now it's backfiring, and Ella has to get the right medicine in her system.

And yes, Logan is just that mean :(

Well, opinions? Vote & comment.

~HalleBallet