Page 232 of Fighting Chance
My cheeks heat, my palm growing damp in Kieran’s as I whisper. “Yes, he gave me birth control…” My words taper off as my eyes widen. “Oh my god, is it the birth control? I completely forgot. I asked him so many times if it was safe to take with my current medication!”
“He prescribed you a birth control pill that’s high in estrogen, which likely stimulated your immune system and clashed with your current trial medication, resulting in this flare-up.” Shaking her head, Dr. Montary curses under her breath. “I swear to you, Layla, I will be flagging this with the board and reporting that GP. He’s put you and your health in harm’s way. He had to know that the birth control would do this.”
Tears are running down my cheeks freely now.
“I-I asked him so many times, I?—”
“Could he have administered it because he doesn’t believe in lupus?” Kieran asks, his voice full of restrained anger.
Dr. Montary’s eyebrows furrow. “If that’s the case you’d have a malpractice lawsuit on your hands.” She reaches forward as if to comfort me but stops, the years of her treating me making our relationship feel close. “I’m so sorry, Layla, but good news is if you stop immediately your trial medication from Berlin should hopefully take effect again, though it might be around a month before the side-effects completely wane.”
Nodding, I wipe away my tears, looking to Kieran. He’s clenching his jaw so tightly I’m surprised his teeth haven’t cracked. “Kieran?” I whisper.
“I’m going to sue him into oblivion.”
The ferocity in his tone has my eyes widening.
Clearing his throat, he runs his fingers through his hair, visibly trying to calm himself. “Can we still run some tests today? More bloodwork to make sure it is the birth control and nothing else underlying?”
She dips her head, already standing to put gloves on. “Yes, I would like to also do?—”
“Sorry to cut you off but I had blood drawn recently. I haven’t gotten the results back yet though.”
“Here or at another facility?”
“Here.”
“Let me check if they’re in. What did they test for?”
My laugh is humorless. “Everything under the sun.”
Nodding along, she picks up her reading glasses and leaves them perched on the top of her nose. “Ah yes, I can see.” Dr.Montary cocks her head as she continues to read, the silence in the room palpable.
The anger wafting off Kieran is a living breathing thing. Leaning over, I whisper, “Kieran, it’s okay now. It’s fixable.”
“Shouldn’t have happened in the first place, sunshine.”
“Sorry, excuse me a moment. I’ll be back.”
My frown is deep as Dr. Montary steps out, her short heels clicking along the floor, her pencil skirt swishing.
“What the…? She doesn’t usually leave the room.”
Kieran must see the panic on my face because he leans over, placing a kiss on my forehead. “I’m sure she’s just printing out the blood work.”
I point to the printer on her desk.
Pursing his lips, he offers, “Maybe she ran out of paper?”
Dr. Montary wasn’t out of paper.
Ten minutes later, she steps into the room again, a strained smile on her face as a technician comes in behind her wheeling a portable ultrasound.
“I’m sorry to keep you waiting, Layla.” Taking a seat in front of me, she’s clinical, talking facts, and I know what that means. I’ve been in enough doctor offices to know the tone she’s using isn’t a good sign.
Clinging to Kieran’s hand for dear life, I move forward in my seat. “Is everything okay?”
Dr. Montary clasps her hands in her lap and I notice how fragile she seems in this moment, older than she was when I met her. I always thought she was ageless.
