Final Diagnosis by Arthur Hailey

Author:Arthur Hailey [Arthur Hailey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-02-15T16:00:00+00:00

Thirteen

Vivian kept very still—bewildered, uncomprehending. This thing could not be happening to her; it must be someone else Dr. Grainger was speaking about. Her thoughts raced. That was it! Somehow the charts of two patients had become mixed. It had happened before in hospitals. Dr. Grainger was busy; she could easily be confused. Perhaps some other patient was even now being told . . .

Abruptly she stopped her thoughts, made them stand still, tried to clear her mind. There was no mistake. She knew it, clearly and definitely, from the expressions of Dr. Grainger and Mike Seddons. They were watching her now, seated on either side of the hospital bed where Vivian half lay, half sat, propped up by pillows behind her.

She turned to Lucy Grainger. “When will you know . . . for sure?”

“In two days. Dr. Pearson will tell us then. One way or the other.”

“And he doesn’t know . . .”

Lucy said, “Not at this moment, Vivian. He doesn’t know. He doesn’t know anything for sure.”

“Oh, Mike!” She reached for his hand.

He took it gently. Then she said, “I’m sorry . . . but I think . . . I’m going to cry.”

As Seddons put his arms around Vivian, Lucy rose to her feet. “I’ll come back later.” She asked Seddons, “You’ll stay for a while?”

“Yes.”

Lucy said, “Make sure that Vivian is quite clear in her mind that nothing is definite. It’s just that I want her to be prepared . . . in case.”

He nodded, the untidy red hair moving slowly. “I understand.”

As she went out into the corridor Lucy thought: Yes, I’m quite sure you do.”

Yesterday afternoon, when Joe Pearson had reported to her by telephone, Lucy had been undecided whether to tell Vivian at this stage what the possibilities were or to wait until later. If she waited, and Pathology’s report on the biopsy was “benign,” all would be well and Vivian would never know of the shadow which, for a while, had drifted darkly over her. But, on the other hand, if, two days from now, the pathology report said “malignant,” amputation would become vitally urgent. In that case, could Vivian be prepared in time, or would the psychological impact be too great? The shock, suddenly thrust upon a young girl who had not suspected that anything serious was wrong, could be tremendous. It might be days before Vivian was ready mentally to accept major surgery—days they could ill afford to lose.

There was something else Lucy had also weighed in balance. The fact that Joe Pearson was seeking outside opinion was significant in itself. If it had been a clear-cut case of benign tissue, he would have said so at once. The fact that he had not, despite his unwillingness to commit himself either way when they had talked, meant that malignancy was at least a strong possibility.

Deliberating all these things, Lucy had decided that Vivian must be told the situation now. If, later, the verdict was “benign,” it was true she would have suffered fear unneedfully.

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