Salvation Salvation By: Krige Van Rensburg Dr. Bower was busy with some paperwork when a soft knock on his door interrupted him. ‘Come in’ he called, and stood when he saw a young girl and her mother enter his surgery. ‘Ah, good afternoon, you must be Mrs. Le Roux’ he said and extended his hand. The poorly dressed woman shook it absent-mindedly. ‘Good afternoon doctor, this is my daughter Samantha, she’s the sick one.’ ‘Hello Samantha, how are you?’ Dr. Bower said and ruffled her curly red hair. She shied away from his hand and hid behind her mother’s leg. ‘Say hello to the doctor’ she commanded, but Samantha just stared at the stranger in the white coat with big round eyes. ‘I’m sorry doctor, she’s a bit shy.’ ‘Really?’ he bend down toward her ‘such a big girl who’s shy? Well, I bet she’d like a lollipop won’t she’ he said and brought a green menthol Popsicle out behind his back as if by magic. Samantha managed a slight smile before she took the candy gratefully. ‘What do we say Samantha?’ her mother pressed. She looked to the floor and replied in a hoarse whisper ‘Thank you.’ ‘Ah, it is my utmost pleasure Samantha. Now please, have a seat and we can see what the problem is.’ They both took to their chairs, and Dr. Bower sat opposite them. He took out a piece of paper and a pen. ‘Right, let me just write the name down…ok. How old are you Samantha?’ ‘She’s five’ her mother answered for her rather rudely. ‘Ok, any recent operations, medications that she may have had?’ ‘Ummm… she had her tonsils removed about a month ago, but apart from that…no, nothing that I could think of.’ ‘Ok, any allergies, like penicillin, or…’ ‘No, no allergies.’ ‘Right, ok, so what seems to be the problem?’ he said and folded his hands on top of his desk. Mrs. Le Roux lowered her head as if to challenge, and spoke in a very agitated tone. ‘Well, she’s been coughing a lot lately, and it’s keeping me awake at night. I can’t get a minute of shuteye with all that coughing, and I need to get my rest. I work from 8 to 5 everyday, and this kid… ‘The coughing, is it a deep chesty cough, or…’ ‘Yes, a deep chesty cough, no wait…it’s all of them. From the deepest to the lowest, you name them, she has them.’ He looked at Samantha and saw that she was staring at the floor. ‘Have you tried coughing medicine?’ ‘Look doc, I wouldn’t be here if the cough medicine helped now would I? Could you please just take a look at her and prescribe something so we could go home? I have a lot of work to do.’ He cleared his throat. ‘Mrs. Le Roux, I understand that you are in a hurry, but I need all this information not purely out of procedure, but because the wrong medicine might have terrible side-effects on your child.’ ‘Hey, if it’ll make her quiet’ she mumbled. ‘Excuse me?’ ‘Oh nothing, carry on doctor’ she said with a forced smile. ‘All right… is she feverish?’ ‘Yeah, she’s feverish, I think.’ ‘Ok…when did the coughing start exactly?’ ‘Last week.’ ‘Last week? Ok, now Samantha why don’t you hop on the bed over there and let the doctor take a look at you?’ he said with a warm smile. Her mother made no attempt to pick her up, so Dr. Bower lifted her and placed her gently on the bed. He took a clean thermometer and positioned it carefully under Samantha’s tongue. ‘Just keep it there for a while and we’ll soon see whether the nasty fever has gotten you or not ok?’ She nodded awkwardly with the instrument in her mouth. He took her wrist and measured her pulse with his wristwatch. ‘Mmmhh… heart rate is racing.’ He took his hands and pressed gently below the back of her jaw line. ‘Ok, let’s take a look’ he said and took the thermometer out of her mouth. ‘Mmmmhh, she has quite a fever.’ He placed it in an anesthetic bowl and took a wooden depressor out of a drawer. ‘Ok Samantha, say Ahhhh.’ As she complied he pushed her tongue down gently. The back of her throat was raw from the coughing, and it was covered with white blisters that ran all the way down. He threw the wooden depressor into the wastebasket and positioned his stethoscope over his ears. ‘Ok Samantha, nice deep breaths okay?’ he said as he placed it on her chest. With each breath, the child’s pain could be heard by the doctor’s ear. There was inflammation of her lungs, and the bronchioles were obstructed. As he moved the instrument over her chest to further examine the lungs, she suddenly flinched with her left shoulder. ‘What’s wrong Samantha? Does it hurt…’ he trailed off as he saw a strange mark protruding from the back of her neck. He leaned over and carefully lifted her dress to discover a horrifying burn mark of a clothes iron running all the way down her back. ‘Well doctor?’ Mrs. Le Roux said from behind, startling him. He looked at the poor child and combed his fingers through her hair before going over to his desk. As he sat down he cleared his throat. ‘Mrs. Le Roux, I…’ ‘It was an accident’ she said bluntly. It fell on her.’ ‘Mrs. Le Roux, even if it was an accident, the chances of an iron falling exactly…’ ‘It was an accident’ she pressed more seriously. ‘Now please give us the prescription so that we can go home.’ ‘But Mrs. Le Roux, the child needs to be further examined by a dermatologist…’ She raised her voice ‘Nonsense. Now Doctor, we will not speak of this again. Just do your job and stop acting the hero. Not all of us get a salary like yours, so please…give me the prescription.’ Dr. Bower had many encounters over his medical career, but there were virtually no instances like this one. It took a conscious effort to keep his hands from shaking. He exhaled slowly and picked up his pen. He spoke as he wrote ‘Mrs. Le Roux, Samantha has a very bad case of Bronchitis, and without treatment, it may lead to lung infection. I am prescribing an antibiotic that needs to be taken three times a day after meals…’ ‘We don’t eat three times a day’ she interrupted, but he ignored her. ‘…also, a cough medicine which should definitely put a stop to her coughing. I’m adding Lozenges to ease her sore throat.’ He tore off the piece of paper and handed it to her. She snatched it from his hand and stood. ‘Come Samantha’ she said and left the room hastily. Samantha clambered down and followed her mother. She turned to look at the doctor before closing the door. He picked up his phone and dialed reception. ‘Yes Dr. Bower?’ ‘Melissa, can you get me the number for child abuse?’ ‘Child abuse? I’ll have to check, hold please.’ He was put on hold with an extremely joyous melody. After almost a minute he looked at the clock and the wall and froze. It wasn’t the time that startled him, but rather his framed Hippocratic Oath next to it. His eyes were transfixed on the line, which read that the relationship with the doctor and patient is confidential and will never leave his room. This he swore to uphold. ‘Dr. Bower?’ came Melissa’s voice for the second time. ‘ ‘Your wife on line four doctor.’ ‘Thank you’ he said and pushed the button. ‘Hello?’ ‘Hey honey, how are you?’ ‘Not bad… not bad at all.’ ‘What’s wrong?’ ‘Oh just tired I guess. I have to see one more patient then I’ll be home.’ ‘Great, listen I’m going to the Gym, so I’ll se you a bit later. The nanny will take care of the baby till you get home.’ ‘How is he doing?’ ‘Oh he’s fine. He’s fast asleep.’ ‘Good, good…’ ‘Honey, are you sure you’re all right?’ ‘Yes, I’m fine, thank you. Listen Kim, I have to go, my patient is almost here and I have to organize a few things, I’ll see you later, love you.’ ‘Ok, see you later, I love you too’ There came a knock on the door as soon as he had the phone down. ‘Come in.’ It was Melissa. ‘Sorry to bother you Doctor, here are the test results for Stephen. He’s waiting outside with his parents, shall I call them in?’ ‘In a minute, I just want to have a look at these first, I’ll call you.’ She nodded and closed the door behind her. Dr. Bower placed the file in front of him and closed his eyes ‘Please God, please I beg of you, do not burden me with this task. I cannot be the bearer of bad news. I haven’t asked much of you, but now I come to you on my hands and knees. Please hear me…’ He opened his eyes and paged through the file. Right at the end was what he was looking for: Patient: Stephen Flemmer Date of Birth: 1987-05-28 Age: 15 Medical Aid No: Topmed #53294 Results: Blood tests – Viral 1 & 2 – Positive He closed his eyes again and picked up the phone ‘Melissa, send them in please.’ Stephen Flemmer came in first, neatly dressed, followed by his father, who was still in his business suit. ‘Dr Bower’ he said and extended his hand. ‘Good afternoon Mr. Flemmer, please, have a seat’ He said after he shook his hand. As he sat in his own chair, he cleared his throat and took a deep breath. There wasn’t an easy way to do this. ‘Mr. Flemmer, the test results have returned, and I am afraid your son is HIV-positive.’ Stephen’s head fell downwards, and the tears came almost immediately. His father didn’t move. ‘Are you sure doctor? Can’t we…can’t we take another test? Maybe if we…’ ‘I’m sorry Mr. Flemmer. The tests are 100% accurate.’ He fought the lump in his throat. Mr. Flemmer looked at his son and put his arm around him. The tears were bordering on his eyelids, but he was a strong man. ‘I’ll leave you for a moment.’ Dr. Bower said and walked toward the bathroom. He dropped the lid of the toilet and sat on top of it. As he closed the door he dropped his face into his hands and cried. ‘Why lord? Why?’ ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss Dr. Bower opened the door to his own home and stepped inside. He dropped his briefcase on a table and took his coat off. He walked to the living room and found the nanny in front of the television. She stood when she saw him. ‘Ah, Mr. Bower, the baby is fast asleep, I didn’t hear a sound.’ ‘Wonderful, here you go’ he said as he handed her a couple of folded notes. ‘Thank you Mr. Bower, I’ll see you tomorrow, have a wonderful evening.’ ‘Do you need a lift? It looks like it’s going to rain any moment now.’ ‘Nah, I’ll be all right, thanks anyway’ ‘Ok, see you tomorrow.’ As she left, he walked to the kitchen and fixed himself a whisky and water. He had a couple of sips and stared outside as the first drops of rain fell. There were low rumblings of thunder far away. He got a sudden chill and walked toward the baby’s room. Once inside, he grabbed a chair and pulled it next to his son’s cot. He switched on the night-light and folded his arms over the brim of the crib. He looked at his little chest heave up and down with every breath and spoke softly ‘Hello my boy. How was your day? Did Gail look after you? Yes she did, yes she did. What? How was my day? Well, you could say I’ve had better…but being here with you makes it all worthwhile. You see, daddy has quite a responsibility. What? Yes, I know you’re my responsibility, but Daddy has a responsibility to other people as well. One day, when you’re bigger, you’ll understand. But for now, Gabriel, you can just be my little boy, my son and my salvation.’ ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss At the same time in another part of town, Samantha was struggling against the cold. The roof of her small room was leaking, and the cold raindrops were dripping on her blankets. Her coughing had stopped, thanks to the syrup, but her throat was on fire. As she turned around in her bed, something stuck her in her back. She sat up and reached down, her hands closing on the green lollipop Dr. Bower gave her. She held it to her face and prayed, thanking baby Jesus for everything.
Copyright © 2002 Krige Van Rensburg |