Out of It

"you want me with you or to stay here?" he asked Ellie.

"You can stay." she said. "It'll be quick and they won't let you in for the x-rays anyways."

He kissed her forehead. "Okay."

"We'll be right back then." the nurse said as they rolled Ellie out of the room to do x-rays. They brought her back about twenty minutes later and told her they'd be back in a few minutes with the results. "I'm exhausted." she told Colt.

He nodded and smoothed her hair back. "Hopefully we can figure out what's going on and get you some medicine so you can sleep."

"I miss it." she chuckled a little. "I'm just going to close my eyes for a minute until the doctor gets here."

"I'll be here."

"Okay." she said. Ten minutes had passes and the doctor came in. "Alright, sorry to keep you waiting." he said. "We've got the results from the x-rays." he told them....but Ellie was knocked out. "I'll just tell you then."

"What's up?" he asked.

"Basically, she has a severe case of bacterial pneumonia.' he told Colt. "Along with that, it seems like she already had signs of the flu and a stomach virus, so all that combined together which is why she's like this." he said. "She is also dehydrated which you both knew, since she couldn't keep anything down." he told him. "We're going to give her some antibiotics for the pneumonia and it should start to work almost immediately. We do want to keep her overnight though to see how she responds to the medicine and also to keep an eye on that fever she has. When you first got here it was 106, but now it's at 103, which is good. It means it's starting to come down on its own."

He sighed. "Okay. So what do I need to do?"

"Just make sure she takes her antibiotics on time once she's at home." he said. "And make sure she gets plenty of rest and eats as well."

"She won't keep down anything." he told her. "The only thing she's keeping down is that IV of fluids you've got in her."

"We're going to start her off with some crackers, toast, bananas and anything else that is easy to digest. Normally most patients keep those down. She'll need to stay away from dairy products, fatty foods, things with caffeine in it and highly seasoned foods. It's just until we see that she can keep the food down. Once she gets better, she can slowly start to eat things she would normally eat."

He sighed a little and nodded. "Okay. Thanks, doc." he said. "She can go home tomorrow, you said? You don't have to drain her lungs or anything?"

He shook his head. "That isn't necessary in her case."

"Okay, good." he nodded. "Anything else?"

"That's it for now." he said. "The nurse should be here in a few to bring her some crackers and so on."

"Can't it wait?" he asked. "This is the first time she's gotten any real rest in a while." he said. "I don't want to wake her until she's ready."

He thought for a moment, but nodded. "Alright fine. I'll tell the nurse to wait until she's up.'

He couldn't believe the doctor had to think about it. Pft. "Thanks."

He just wanted her to eat, geez. "Not a problem. Just buzz the nurse if you need anything." he said and left the room.

In the meanwhile, Colt's Mom texted him. Kids are good. They're watching a movie and should be falling asleep soon. How's it going there? Were you able to find out anything?

Goodness, poor thing. At least she's getting some sleep finally. Do you need me to bring you anything?

(going to bed now, night!)