Chapter Five
An hour after the guys left, Andrew called. Jeni picked up on the first ring.
“I thought I told you to text me when you got home! It’s been—”
“Jeni, it’s Logan.”
“Logan? Why are you calling me? Is Andrew all right?”
“He’s okay, but I brought him to the ER—”
“Which one?”
“Saint John’s.”
“Room?”
“Fifteen.”
“I’m on my way.”
She’d never moved so fast in her life and walked into the hospital sixteen minutes later. She burst into the room and rushed to her brother’s bedside. “Andrew?”
An IV was in his arm, and a large bag of clear fluid hung on a pole beside him. His face was pale, and he kept his head against the pillow as he spoke. “I got lightheaded when we got to Logan’s house and wasn’t sure I could drive. He thought I should come here. So far everything has been negative, like flu and strep. There are a few more test results we’re waiting on.”
She wanted to be reassuring. “I’m sure it’s just a virus or something. I feel terrible I didn’t notice you weren’t feeling well.”
“He seems a little better since they gave him medication and started the fluids,” Logan put in.
Her eyes darted to him for the first time. He sat in a chair against the wall, hands in his lap and eyes worried.
“Thank you for bringing him.”
Logan nodded.
“You don’t have to stay,” she said. “I won’t leave.”
“I want to,” Logan said then looked at Andrew and added, “If that’s okay.”
“Sure.” Andrew closed his eyes.
Relief filled her. She didn’t mind being here alone with her brother, but it was nice to have someone else with her. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but she just had a bad feeling. Something seemed off.
In that moment, an older man in a white coat came into the room. His face was serious, and he slid the glass door closed behind him. “Andrew, I have the results of your lab work. There are a few things that concern me, and I’d like to admit you to run some additional tests.”
Jeni’s hand went to the blanket-covered mattress for support, and out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Logan move forward in his seat.
Andrew swallowed. “Okay, but what do you mean? What was concerning?”
“Your white blood cells are abnormally high, and your red blood cells are very low. I’m surprised you were able to walk in here on your own.”
“I had help,” Andrew admitted, glancing at Logan.
“What could that mean?” Jeni asked the doctor.
“There are a lot of possibilities. It still could be an infection, a virus like mono. The lymph nodes in your neck are enlarged, so that’s high on my list of what could be going on.”
“I had mono in college,” Andrew said. “Can you get that more than once?”