Mom started crying right as the nurse walked into the room. I was so relieved I didn’t even flinch as she swabbed my arm with alcohol and inserted the IV.
“Two bags,” Dr. Thomas mouthed to her.
“Does she need a blood transfusion or anything?” Sloane asked.
“I’ll give her one,” Caroline and Sloane said at the same time.
Dr. Thomas looked back at me. “Are you on a vegan diet? Because if so, we can tailor this plan to fit your lifestyle, but I will warn you that some bodies simply respond better to heme sources of iron, which are the ones that come from animal products. We can try nonheme sources first and see—”
I put my hand up, dreaming of steak. “Any excuse to eat a cheeseburger is great with me.”
He gave me a thumbs-up. “Then I’m going to give you this food list and several supplements that should help, and I’m going to ask you to come back here to see me in three weeks.”
“But that’s the week before the wedding,” Mark said.
The trifecta of Murphys turned to glare at him.
“I can have Emerson’s care transferred to—”
“No!” Caroline and Mom shouted at the same time.
He smiled. “I’d really like to check you out again this next visit, and then, if you’re making the progress I think you’ll be making, I can turn you over to a doctor closer to where you’ll be living. Where is that?”
“LA,” I said, as Mark said, “Georgia.”
We looked at each other. Dr. Thomas looked at Mom. Then he looked back at me. “OK. Well, when you figure it out, let me know.”
The nurse came in to give me a second bag, plugged in a heating pad, and placed it over my arm.
“Oh, I’m fine,” I said.
“Trust me,” she said. “As fast as you’re sucking up that iron, you’re going to need that heating pad.”
I cringed.
“Any questions?” Dr. Thomas asked.
“Should she restrict her exercise?” Mom asked, as Caroline said, “Is it OK for her to drink alcohol?” and Sloane asked, “Are you sure this isn’t aplastic anemia?” and Mark said, “Could travel be dangerous for her health?”
The doctor looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
“I know,” I said, rolling my eyes. “But you might as well answer their questions now so they don’t annoy me until I break down and call you later to ask.”
“She is fine,” Dr. Thomas said to the room with a smile. “Emerson may exercise as she feels able, may drink alcohol as she feels able, and her bone marrow looks beautiful, so no, this is not aplastic anemia.” He turned to Mark. “And whatever argument you two are having about where you will live is not something that I can fix for you.” He gave me a satisfied smile.
“Thank you so much for everything,” I said. “We realize you have other, normal, non-high-maintenance patients waiting.”
Dr. Thomas smiled. “Karen will be back in a few minutes to remove your IV.” He handed me his card. “I take my celebrity patients very seriously.” He cleared his throat. “I mean, I takeallmy patients seriously. But here is my private cell-phone number, so feel free to call me anytime, day or night.”
He walked out the door and then turned, popping his head back through. “Oh, and Ms. Murphy?” Four of us turned to look. “I very much hope I’ll be referring you to a doctor in LA. My wife absolutely adores you.”
“His wife,” Mark said under his breath. “Sure.”
I tried to hide my smile. I squeezed Mark’s hand encouragingly and braced myself for the hugs that I knew were about to engulf me. This was great news. Better than great. I expected to feel like the huge weight I had been carrying around for months had been lifted, like all my worries were floating away. I did feel better, sure. But now that I knew my health was going to be OK, now that I knew this was something I could fix, I had to admit that what had been gnawing at me wasn’t these impending test results. It was something else. And now I was going to have to face what that was.
FIFTEEN
ansley: the queen of everything
