A New Cullen Sister

Chapter 39

"Amelia's fever broke half an hour ago," Carlisle said, staring at the computer screen. He was video chatting with Dr Anderson and was updating her on Amelia's progress, or lack thereof. He had moved his laptop to Amelia's room for there was not even the slightest chance that was he leaving her alone for what could be a very long call.

"I'm glad to hear that," sighed Dr Anderson, twirling a pencil around with her fingers, "she's still looking very flushed."

"Yes she is. She melted ice packs, that's how high her temperature was."

"Yikes. Has any damage been done?"

"Aside from her kidneys, nothing we can tell as yet. We are busy draining the blood from her right lung so that we can get it to reinflate."

"She has a haemothorax? She had a pneumothorax with us about a week into her hospitalisation but she bounced back remarkably well. We are not too sure how it happened but the bottom line was that she got air in her chest cavity and it took a while for the lung to reinflate."

"That's never a good sign. I'm not sure if I should induce a full barbiturate coma or leave her to heal naturally."

"She's not going to heal naturally like she should but with pneumonia and a collapsed lung, I'd be very hesitant to knock her out for a prolonged period of time. Comatose patients are already such a sitting duck for pneumonia, it's a recipe for disaster in Amelia's case as she already has it. She'll surely get pleuritis or something equally dreadful. Besides, she needs to be active and moving about if that lung is to reinflate."

Carlisle nodded, deep in thought. His head was spinning.

"She likes ice cream," said Dr Anderson, breaking the silence.

"I'm sorry?"

"Mint chocolate ice cream is her favourite. Give her some when she wakes up. It'll help her feel better emotionally. Alternatively, give her some chocolate. Speaking of sugar, how is her blood glucose? You are going to struggle to normalise her levels for the next week or so. Expect opposite extremes – she bounces from extreme highs to extreme lows with startling ease."

"Noted. I didn't know she even liked ice cream. When do you recommend we lift the sedation?"

"If her heart is looking strong, then lift it this afternoon. If not, delay it until you feel ready. I trust your judgement, Carlisle. From what I can see and hear, she's faring alright. It's only what, 11am on your side?"

"Correct."

"Lift it around 2pm. The chances are that she will sleep right through the night anyway. Her body had taken quite the beating. Let her awaken by herself."

"Alright, I'll do just that. Seeing that her fever is broken, I'll start the feeds up again."

"Yes, she needs nutrition now more than ever. Carlisle, I honestly think she should not go back to school again."

"I agree with you, Joanne, but I can't see that going down without a fight."

"You'd be surprised. Give her some credit, Carlisle, she's a lot tougher than she looks. She's been told worse things than not being able to go to school. She'll survive this one too, she just takes everything in her stride. With this morning's setback, however, I think your family needs to prepare themselves. She's unlikely to survive another one," Dr Anderson said seriously. She was not one for mincing her words, and she wasn't about to start either. That was probably the first thing that Amelia liked about the half-giant specialist – she was direct, just the way Amelia liked it.