Chapter 35 How Did She Get This sick?
I sigh as I look at all the standard questions. Then I reach the insurance information part. Well, she doesn't have any. We should! But Beth and Jay never set it up for us, and all that money ends up in their pockets.
It doesn't matter. I'm not letting my sister suffer like this. I can pay for it.
"What are we going to do?" Liv asks as she looks down at the papers in dread. "How are we going to pay for Charlie to see the doctor?"
"Don't worry about it. I've got the money to pay this out of pocket," I promise. What I don't say is it will probably wipe out my whole account. It will probably be a couple thousand for a damn ER visit. It doesn't matter. Nothing else matters now other than getting Charlie the help she needs. And if I have to find a second job to make more money, then so be it.
It takes 20 minutes before a nurse comes to collect us. She looks like she's at the end of her shift, but she still offers a warm smile as she comes out to collect us.
"Charlotte Turner?" She ask, looking at the three of us huddled together in the waiting room.
"Right here," I say, standing up and pushing Charlie's chair forward. Olivia stands up with me and we follow the nurse into a back room.
She made quick work of her vitals. She had to remove her arm from the blankets, but was able to keep most of her covered up.
"103.2," she mumbled as she took her temp and writing it down on her paper. "135/90," she continued as she took her blood pressure. I saw her O2 levels were not that great either. 78%? I didn't even know that could happen. But the nurse said nothing about it.
"Okay, the doctor will be in soon," she assures us after taking a few tests.
"Thanks for your help," I say as she hurries to run the tests.
"She's going to be okay, right?" Olivia asks, petting Charlie's head carefully moving her sticky hair from her face.
This is the first time in a long time Liv has shown so much concern for Charlie. Normally our little sister is only concerned about herself and what she can get out of something. It's good to know even she can change when someone is sick.
"She'll be fine," I promise. "We are all going to be fine. I will take care of you."
I just don't know how long it will be before we can leave now. James said spring... That's better than August. But I can't keep my sisters in that damn house if Beth won't even give basic medical treatment!
But then again Rick said...
"Hello. I'm Dr. Matthews," the doctor says as he makes his way to the hand sanitizer machine and washing his hands, distracting me for my train of thought.
Charlie moaned and shivered. She blinked her eyes at the doctor. She looks so tired. Her eyes are glassy and her face is white, despite the fact she's burning up.
"It seems your sister has pneumonia, which is strange. She should've had the vaccine for it. But she's got a strong strain and it will take her a while to get back to normal. Good news is there is no run on the meds she needs," he said handing over a Rx.
"She should stay in bed for the next week or so. She can take Tylenol and Ibuprofen alternately every 4 hours to keep her fever down. Other than that, make sure she drinks plenty of fluids and gets some rest," he says kindly.
"Thanks, Dr. Matthews," I say in relief.
I wheel my sister back to the car and buckle her in. She's asleep before I start the car. I don't blame her. It's creeping up on 11 pm.
There is only one 24 hour pharmacy in the area and it takes 30 minutes to get there. It seems everything seems to be dragging. I just want to get her meds and get her back to bed as fast as possible. Not to mention, I'm exhausted.
"Stay here with Charlie, Liv. I need to get this medicine right now," I say.
"We'll be fine," she says snuggling up next to Charlie.
I don't have time to stick around.
The prescription takes 20 minutes to fill. They give me the antibiotics and a syringe. "Make sure she takes this every 6 hours," the pharmacist said handing me over the bag.
At least the medicine wasn't too expensive.
I rush back to my sisters and sit Charlie up, and help her take her first does.
The doctor was right. How the hell did she get this sick?