My Christmas Doctor

She left the room and I lay there thinking about how I was supposed to relax when everything happening was just causing me more and more stress. Was the stress going to kill me? That only served to make the intense stabbing pain return and I mewled, muffling the painful cry that wanted to burst from my mouth.

I decided I would turn on the tv. Maybe something on there would distract me enough to ease the pain. I picked up the remote and started scrolling through the channels. Finally, I happened upon a show called The Ten Best Beach Vacations, which served to relax me somewhat as they showed the rolling waves and gorgeous sandy beaches. I could picture myself there, lying on a lounge chair, sipping a Pina Colada, or a Mai Tai, the sun on my skin, the waves rolling up onto the beach…

Maybe my next book could be set in Tahiti? I thought with a smile. I wonder if Martin will pay my research expenses on that? I laughed softly to myself as my eyes closed and I drifted in that half-awake, half-asleep drowsy state as the show moved from beach vacations, to one about mountain resort vacations. After the mountains it was waterparks, and then Christmas destinations. I guessed they showed those in the hopes that people would start booking their vacations now for the holidays at the end of the year.

The door to my room opened, and back-lit from the light of the hallway, stood the most gorgeous man I had ever laid eyes on. "Ms. Adams? I'm Dr. Brian Chase."Chapter 3JaneThe Greek god who called himself Dr. Brian Chase came into the room and held a hand out for me to shake. His touch was firm, but gentle as he shook my hand. "Hello," I whispered, my voice was getting weaker and shakier.

He sat down on the edge of the bed near my hip. "I understand you've been experiencing severe chest pain?"

I nodded.

"Can you show me exactly where you're feeling the pains?" he asked.

I drew my hand across my chest, down my breast bone, and then murmured, "And my upper back, shoulders, and neck. It hurts to take deep breaths." My voice was so soft, barely a whisper.

"May I?" he asked, holding up a stethoscope. Seeing my confirmation, he proceeded to listen to my heart. "Yes, I think there is definitely something going on. I want to run a few more blood tests and check your potassium levels. In the meantime, I'm going to prescribe some anti-inflammatory medication, which should help with the pain. And get you hooked up to a heart monitor."

"Do you know what this is? What's wrong with me?" I asked softly as Amy prepped my right arm to take some more blood from me.

"This will just pinch a moment," she murmured and pressed the needle in, then took the blood.

Dr. Chase waited until she finished before answering. "I'm pretty certain it's pericarditis."

"What's that?" I asked as Amy pressed a cotton ball to my arm and put tape over it.

"It's an inflammation of the pericardium, which is the membrane that surrounds the heart. If I am correct, then I believe your doctor misdiagnosed you with the gastric reflux, which is why the medication wasn't working for you."

"But… I don't understand…" I frowned. "What causes it?"

"Well, I believe we can rule out heart attack, and you haven't had heart surgery. Your doctor of record hasn't diagnosed you with Lupus or Rheumatoid Arthritis, and as far as I can tell from your medical records which your doctor sent over from Akron, you haven't been in an accident. So, I am fairly certain the viral infection you had back in mid-October brought it on and that is when your doctor diagnosed you with the gastric reflux. I believe you actually experienced an acute attack of pericarditis, and you have been having recurrent attacks of it since then, which are just getting progressively worse. Your symptoms mimicked the gastric reflux at the time, and if a GP doesn't know to look for it, they wouldn't have known from your symptoms that it was pericarditis."

"What… what can I do?"

"First of all, you need to stay calm, stress can make the pains sharpen and send you into a stroke, which we'd like to avoid. Second, if I am correct about the potassium, then we'll get that fixed and it will help with the pain as well." He took a syringe from Amy and added it to the IV flowing into my left arm. "This is the anti-inflammatory medicine. You should start to feel a little bit better with it. I want to keep you here for a few days, make sure you are recovering. How are you sleeping?" he asked.

"It's been intermittent," I replied softly. I could already feel the medicine beginning to work as my chest felt less tight and I could breathe a little deeper.