Jed tried to speak, but nausea overcame him. It seemed that two words at a time were about his limit. Dr. Howarth intervened, stepping further into the room and closing the door behind him. “Don’t leave on my account. If Jed’s happy for you to stay, so am I. I could use the help in convincing him to take better care of himself.”
Jed swallowed hard, fighting the urge to puke on Dr. Howarth’s shiny shoes. He held out his hand to Max. “Stay, please?”
Max stayed. He took Jed’s hand and settled back into his place on the edge of the bed while Dr. Howarth pulled up a chair.
“Okay, I know you’re pretty beat up, so I’m going to keep this as brief as I can. I’ve had a look at your blood work. In terms of anemia, it’s not good. I tested you a month ago, and your levels have dropped through the floor since then. You were well last time I saw you. What’s changed?”
Jed thought back. Until a few days ago, he’d felt okay. His fitness was improving all the time, and some days, he hardly felt the pain in his leg.
“Anything you can think of? Stress? Changes to your diet or eating habits?”
The doctor was more right than he knew. The constant nausea was a problem, but it was manageable if he remembered to eat. Trouble was, without Max placing plates of food in front of him, it was often sundown by the time it occurred to Jed, and by then he didn’t see the point….
“He’s been by himself a lot recently. He doesn’t remember to eat when he’s on his own.” Max squeezed Jed’s hand but kept his gaze averted. “And there’s been some… family drama over the past few weeks. It’s been stressful for everyone.”
Dr. Howarth made a note. “That’ll probably do it. When did the sickness start?”
“Yesterday, I think.” Jed looked at Max. “It’s Thursday, right?”
Max met his gaze and nodded.
“Abdominal pain?” Dr. Howarth asked
Jed broke his stare with Max. “Yeah.”
“Can you show me where?”
Dr. Howarth stood and came toward him. Max jumped down from the bed and retreated to the corner of the room. Jed felt cold without his touch, but the toe-curling sensation of Dr. Howarth pressing on his belly was enough to distract him.
He winced.
Dr. Howarth frowned. “Is that sore?”
“Yes.”
“What about here?”
Jed gritted his teeth. “Yes.”
Dr. Howarth relented and stepped back. “Any chest pain?”
“Not until this morning.”
“I can see you’re dizzy and off balance too. Have you passed out at all over the last few days?”
“I don’t think so.”
Max shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Dr. Howarth glanced his way. His gaze lingered for a moment before he made another note. “You had an irregular heartbeat when you came in. That seems to have resolved now, but I want to run some more tests to be sure. I also want to conduct an endoscopy. The gastroparesis and anemia can exacerbate and mimic each other. I think it’s most likely that the gradual drop in your iron levels brought on the relapse, but we need to be sure there’s nothing else going on. Do you have any questions?”
“Can I go home?”
“In a few days. I want to keep you in and treat this anemia properly. Your blood pressure is always on the low side, but it’s really low right now. Even if I discharged you, I doubt you’d get very far. How long since you last kept some food down?”
“A day or two.”
“Water?”
“Yesterday.”