Page 57 of A Hidden Hope
He rubbed his chin. “Have you spoken to Dok about this?”
“No.”
“Would you?”
Annie rocked her hand back and forth. “She’s so busy right now.”
“She’s never too busy for you, Annie.” He frowned, and then a determined look came into his eyes. “Well, don’t you worry. I’m not giving up. Something out there will help. I’ll keep working on it until we find the right remedy.”
Annie appreciated how earnest he was, but it also spiked up her anxiety. “Gus, you don’t have to go through all this trouble. It’s my problem to solve.”
Gus shook his head, his voice firm. “No way, Annie. We’re in this together. If this is what’s holding you back from our working together, then I’m going to do everything I can to solve it.”
Through the window, she watched him head across the parking lot to join his partner. What if this was a problem that couldn’t be solved?What then,Gus?
The next morning, Dok asked Wren and Charlie into her office to test their medical knowledge. All Matt’s idea. Last evening, during dinner, she had been complaining to him that she felt like she was constantly answering questions for Wren and Charlie. “I know it’s part of the supervising gig, but sometimes I feel like I’m their personal Google.”
“So turn the tables,” he said. “Ask them questions.”
Of course! Why hadn’t she thought of doing that? There was one patient, in particular, whose symptoms were stumping her. It might be interesting to hear what the two residents might come up with.
“Arthur Roberts, age seventy-one,” Dok said, “had complaints of muscle weakness, fatigue, swelling, and difficulty breathing. I need both of you to take a look at his case and see if you can come up with some possible causes.”
“Evie and I saw Mr. Roberts just the other day,” Charlie said. “He stopped in to get his blood pressure taken. After he mentioned those other symptoms, we thought it best if you checked him out.”
That same day, Dok had seen Arthur Roberts and ran a standard blood panel to rule out obvious causes. Nothing showed up.
“Mr. Roberts is a widower, isn’t he?” Charlie nudged his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “I think he said his wife died five or six weeks ago.”
Dok nodded. “That’s right.”
“I wonder,” Wren said, “if something changed with his diet when she died.”
Dok’s eyes cut to Wren. She hadn’t considered diet. “Go on.”
Wren leaned forward. “What if it’s something as simple as a vitamin deficiency?”
Charlie turned to her. “How so?”
“Scurvy!” Wren’s arms lifted in the air, like she was getting excited. “Sailors used to get scurvy on long whaling trips because they had no vitamin C. It’s possible that Mr. Roberts has been eating heavily processed foods since his wife died. No fresh fruits or vegetables.”
“Interesting thought,” Dok said, “but symptoms of scurvy take longer to present.”
Wren’s arms fell to her lap before she straightened abruptly. “Beriberi! It presents quickly.”
Dok raised an eyebrow. “Beriberi?” She almost laughed out loud. Almost. “Highly unlikely. Quite rare in this day and age.”
“But it does fit his symptoms,” Wren said. “Beriberi is caused by a deficiency in vitamin B1, also known as thiamine. If Mr. Roberts has been eating a diet lacking in fresh foods rich in thiamine, it’s entirely possible.”
Wren spoke with such confidence! She was most likely wrong in her diagnosis, but she was definitely confident. Dok, trying to be a good supervisor, decided to test the theory. “Let’s rule it out. Wren, ask Annie to call Mr. Roberts. We’re going to need a specific blood test to check his thiamine levels.”
As they stood to leave, Dok jolted, momentarily startled. She’d completely forgotten Charlie was still there! He’d gone so quiet during Wren’s lively monologue, it was as if he’d faded into the background. And, truthfully, Dok blamed him for that. She’d asked for input, but Charlie had brought almost nothing to the table. Not exactly a confidence booster.
The next day, Arthur Roberts’s blood test results arrived, and Dok reviewed them carefully. Her jaw nearly hit the floor. Severe thiamine deficiency. Beriberi—practically unheard of!
Wren had nailed the diagnosis. Smart, sharp, intuitive—and that girl had opinions. Charlie had none.
Wren continued to impress Dok as a potential partner. Charlie, not so much.
