“Good morning,” the receptionist greeted.
“I have an appointment with Dr. Chu, Jenna Pollard…”
“Sign in here and we’ll call you soon.”
Jenna signed in on the sheet, also giving the receptionist her insurance card. She was glad it had come in the mail so quickly, she needed to see a doctor after her recent bout of seizures, even on medication.
She went onto Instagram, scrolling through her *NSYNC related posts that popped up on her feed. It was fun to watch the fan made videos and things, but she knew people would freak out if she posted about being friends with any of the guys. She wasn’t anyone, but finding out she was close to them could get her the wrong attention. She’d stopped reading fanfic, the last thing she needed was to get thoughts into her head that she stood a chance with JC.
“Jenna Pollard,” the nurse called, Jenna walking down a hall. She sat in a fairly stark exam room. She pulled out her phone again, looking through her text thread with JC. He apologized for worrying her after taking off on her, but she worried that maybe it was getting to be too much for him. She wished she knew why he took off, but was glad he was ok. She smiled as she looked further back, little jokes he sent her based on episodes they’d watched.
She straightened up when she heard the door open. “Jenna, what brings you in today?”
“I’ve been having seizures even with my medication being consistent. I had an absent seizure on Saturday…”
“You’re supposed to report those, you know that…”
“I know. I didn't want to go to the hospital, knowing I could do the same treatment at home, but that’s part of why I came in today. To make you aware. I know I’d been under some stress with the one that caused the accident, but my life has been better, less stressful. I’m lucky I didn't drop the baby I was holding Saturday, that my friends could see me on the monitor in the nursery and took quick action. I’m getting worried.”
“We’ll review the scans they took when you were last admitted, I don’t want to run more scans at this point unless necessary. The petit mal could be a sign that we need to change your dosage, nothing major.”
“So that’s it for now?” Jenna wondered. “I’ve been getting headaches, too. More than usual. Nothing severe, Tylenol usually helps, but yeah…”
“Is your vision changing?”
“A little blurry at times, but I can manage.”
“Let’s make an appointment to see if you need glasses. You’re almost 40, it’s not a bad idea. That might help the headaches for sure. Otherwise, we’ll look at changing your dosage and things if we can avoid doing another scan. We’ll look over your file and let you know if we change your dosage. If you have more petit mals, just send me an email to add it to your file, ok? I know it doesn’t help you get to drive sooner, a seizure is a seizure, but if we can figure this out so you don’t have more, we can help you return to your normal life.”
Normal life, Jenna thought. Her life had become anything but, and she wasn’t complaining. “Thank you, Dr. Chu.”
She took the bus to work, hoping the kids would be a distraction. For the most part they were, especially when she was actively teaching. But during breaks and lunch, she was lost in her own thoughts.
“You ok?” Kim asked.
“Yeah. They’re gonna try and change my dosage, and I need to get my eyes checked. I’m just worried something will happen while I’m at work…”
“It’s just us, so what would I need to do if it did?”
“Get me to lie down, whether it’s a big or small one, away from everyone. Have me lie on my side so I won’t choke. Time everything, and if it lasts longer than 5 minutes, call 911. Our classes are all connected, see if you can get the kids to another room, just tell them I’m not feeling good. Try to stay as calm as possible. Hopefully I only get the small ones here, that’s easier to pass off as being sick or tired than a grand mal. Once I stop, see if I’m responsive. I might be really out of it, but I should wake up, be breatheing. My accident was the only time I didn’t really wake up. I was breathing, but wasn’t responding to Josh banging on my car window.”
“Are you going to tell Josh about the doctor visit?”
“No. It was all in response to what he was there for on Saturday. It’s weird though, I’m getting flashes of what feels like memories, or maybe more like fantasies…”
“Fantasies?”
“I was naked in front of him, and told him how I felt. It does fall into what I’d say or do after having a seizure, though a bit extreme. But he would’ve told me, wouldn’t he?”
“How DO you feel about him?” Kim asked.
“It doesn’t matter, he has a girlfriend, or at least he DID. She left this weekend,” she sighed.
“How do you feel?” Kim pressed.
“I’m in love with him…”
…
Jenna was on the playground at work the next day when her phone started buzzing. It was Dr. Chu’s office. She was afraid to know why they’d call so soon after her visit yesterday.
“I need to take this, I’ll be right back,” Jenna said, heading towards her classroom.
“This is Jenna,” she said, answering the call as she opened the door to her classroom.
“Yes, this is Dr. Chu’s office. Dr. Chu reviewed your paperwork and recent scans. They found an abnormality. We’d like to have you come in and do an MRI so we can run another scan. I’m sorry that whoever at the ER didn't notice this. It’s hard to say what we’re looking at for sure, but another MRI will help us get a clearer picture. You can schedule an appointment in radiology through the app. We'd also like you to schedule a visit with Dr Black. He is one of our Neurosurgeons that deals with brain tumors."
She shook her head, sure she heard her wrong. "Brain tumor?"
"Yes. I sincerely believe that is what triggered your seizure that caused your accident.”
“I’m at work, so I need to go, but thank you, I’ll schedule those appointments,” she said, hanging up. There was a pit in her stomach. They’d found something, wanting to look into it more. This couldn't be good.
The look on her face showed something was wrong. “Everything ok?” Kim asked, the other teachers looking at her briefly.
“Just the doctor’s office in response to my visit yesterday…”
“Wanna talk about it at lunch?” Kim wondered.
“Not sure there’s much to tell, but yeah, away from the kids.”
…
The kids had all gone to lunch, Jenna having grabbed her lunch from the staff room before going back to their classroom. She wished they had room for a mini fridge, but also wasn’t sure it would be allowed. She started heating up her food as the other kindergarten teachers came in and sat down.
“So what was the call earlier?” Kim started.
“Well, I had a petit mal on Saturday, an absent seizure. I basically spaced out, no shaking, but still a seizure. I was holding a friend’s baby, so I’m lucky nothing worse happened. I have no memory of it. I went in because I’ve been having seizures even with my medication on track. They think I might need a change in dosage. Then they called earlier, saying they found an abnormality. They want to do an MRI as soon as possible.”
“Jenna, I’m sorry,” one of the other teachers said. “I had no idea.”
“It’s about time you knew, in case I have one while at work. Here, they’ll want to send me to the hospital. I worry it’ll be in front of the class and traumatize them seeing me have either a grand mal or even space out and need to be taken away.”
“I’ll take you after dismissal duty today, I don’t want you taking the bus there and then have to worry about getting home.” Kim offered.
“I made an appointment for Thursday, that was the soonest time. What about your daughter? I can’t have her worried about me.”
“I’ll drop you off, leave her in extended care, and then pick her up after I drop you off at home. If it takes a while, I’ll get her and take her home first. My husband should be home, or my older daughter can watch her. We’ll get this figured out so you aren’t worrying about getting there and home.”
“I feel like I’m being a burden,” Jenna sighed.
“Would you feel like that if Josh offered to take you?”
“Oooh, who’s Josh??” one of the other teachers cooed.
“He’s the guy that saved my life. Made the 911 call. We’ve gotten to be friends. I might feel like it’s a lot, but at the same time, he’s done a lot for me in regards to this…”
“I’m closer, you wouldn’t have to wait for him or anything like that.”
“I’ll let Kelly know so she doesn’t worry when I’m home late.”
She took out her phone, texting Kelly about needing to get an MRI, not wanting to worry JC.
…
JC was sitting at the mixing board in the studio with his new artist, Sasha. She had been wailing for hours and he was just over it .
His phone jingled in his pocket, and he pulled it out. He saw that it was a message from Kelly. His eyes widened when he saw the message.
Call me. 911
He set his phone on the counter and hit the mic. "Let's take 20. I need to make a phone call."
The girl with a face full of piercings rolled her eyes "Come on, man. I'm in the zone."
That statement got an eye roll from him. If your zone is sounding like a wounded moose on its way out.
He got up and left the sullen girl alone in the booth and walked out in the hallway.
His phone started ringing, and he picked up the call.
"Kelly, what’s wrong?"
"Jenna needs you. Right now. I can't talk about it on the phone, but you need to be here."
"Did she have another seizure? " he asked, feeling his anxiety level rise.
"No. Please JC. She is gonna need you. I'll explain once you get here."
“Let me wrap this up, and I will be over,” he said, and thanked Kelly silently for getting him out of this session.
He hung up with her, and went back into the studio. He hit the mic and said, "Sasha, I have an emergency that I need to take care of. I have to go. Call the office and we can try again for next week."
"I'm gonna tell Eric about this,” she said, snotty attitude and all.
"I hope you do. See you next week," he said, grabbing his bag and walking out of the studio to his Jeep.
He drove over the speed limit to her apartment building. A feeling of dread set in with him. He did not like this at all. He buzzed and the door automatically opened and he hit the number 3 on the elevator keypad and waited impatiently for the doors to open.
He headed down the hall and Kelly was standing in the hallway waiting for him. Her face said it all. She pulled him into the apartment quickly.
"Kelly, what's going on? Where’s Jenna? " he asked, looking around the apartment.
"In her room," she said quietly. He headed down the hall.
"JC, wait. She got a call from that Neurologist, Dr. Chu, she saw after her last seizure. It was one of his NPs. She said they found something in the last CT that the doctors at Good Samaritan didn't find."
"What did they find? "
"She said it was an abnormality. But they want to be sure. They wanted her to schedule an MRI ASAP, and see a neurosurgeon."
"A surgeon?" The color started to drain out of his face. They said the same thing to Dad when he was diagnosed with…..
He couldn't breathe for a second. He must've been worse than he thought, because Kelly steered him over to the couch.
"JC? Are you Ok? I don't need everyone fading out on me today," Kelly said, snapping her fingers to get his attention. He stared wide-eyed at her and came back to reality.
"I'm ok. I need to see her," he said, standing up and going over to her door and knocking softly. He got no response, but opened the door anyway and stepped into her room, closing the door behind him.
She heard the door open, and turned over to see him standing there. She sat up on the bed and he sat down next to her hugging her so tightly that she could barely breathe.
She could feel his tears in her hair. He loosened his grip on her and looked down into her violet colored eyes.
"I…" He tried to find the words, but nothing came out.
" I'm scared, JC…" was all Jenna could say .
He pulled her close again and whispered into her ear. "I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere. Please, you can call me Josh. I haven’t been JC in a long time… "
She laid her head in his chest and cried. They stayed that way for a long time.
"I scheduled the MRI for Thursday,” she whispered
"I'm canceling everything on my calendar for the foreseeable future," he said, running his hand through her hair.
"No. Josh. I can't have you doing that for me," she protested as his fingers were flying on his phone.
"It's already done. I'm available whenever you need me," he said, matter of factly. "Nothing is as important as your health right now. That's the end of it."
At this point she didn't care anymore, she just held onto him for dear life.
