Capítulo 29: Only Dr Janice can help us with that

In a luxuriously furnished office, a tall handsome man sat behind the dark mahogany desk peering down at a stack of documents, his expression gloomier than the weather on a rainy day.

His grim look made even the bright light streaming in from the floor to ceiling window appear out of place.

When Johnson pushed open the door to the President's office, he was immediately engulfed by the melancholic atmosphere.

He stood still, hesitating for a moment, not sure whether he should go back out or say something.

"Speak," ordered Shawn, without even bothering to look up from the pile of documents before him.

"Sir, it's about old Mrs Hudson."

Shawn's head jerked up from the documents he was reading towards Johnson's direction. He had an apprehensive look as he inquired, "What about her?"

"The butler just called and said that the old lady's health had deteriorated and she's been rushed to the theater to be revived."

Shawn stood up abruptly, "When was that?" He asked, his voice rising in worry. He grabbed his jacket from the suit stand and headed straight for the door in long strides.

"About ten minutes ago."

"Any news about Dr Janice?"

"None yet. But our aides said she's been away from Luxembourg for over a month now."

They arrived by the elevator and Johnson pressed the button.

"Find out about her present location and report to me immediately." He stepped into the elevator with Johnson. "I don't mind going to see her in person if she's not replying to our mails. Nana's treatment can no longer be delayed."

"Yes sir."

The drive to the hospital took them about thirty minutes. Most of the workers were already in their offices, so traffic was light.

Shawn had always hated the smell of disinfectant. If not for his Nana, there's no way he'd come to the hospital. But for the past few years he could count on his five fingers the months he hadn't been to the hospital.

Three years ago, his grandmother was diagnosed with a rare disease.

It started with a terrible ache around her abdomen. Then it gradually advanced to swollen lymph nodes.

Some months later, some rash began to spread across her body.

When some clinical tests were carried out, it was discovered that some vital body parts have been affected.

Two years later, there was a hemorrhage in her retina which led to loss of vision.

Because the liver was also affected, causing her body to accumulate fluid, she gained weight inexplicably.

The doctors' diagnosis later revealed liver cirrhosis and they commenced treatment for that. But since then, several other symptoms have been popping up every now and then and she's been in and out of the hospital the past three years.

It was last year that Dr Steffan Rosse, who happened to be Shawn's best friend, returned back to the country.

Dr Steffan had been away for ten years pursuing his medical career. After returning to Baltimore, he learnt about old Mrs Hudson's sickness and told them about Dr Janice whom he had heard a lot about when he was abroad.

Through his contacts, he was able to get Dr Janice's email address and shared it with Shawn.

Since then, they've been trying to reach her but to no avail. Despite sending numerous mails, none has been replied to, thus they have been unable to book an appointment with her.

Shawn was already familiar with the hospital so knew where the theater was. When they arrived, the nurses were just wheeling his grandmother out of the theater, with them was Dr Steffan who has been in charge of his grandmother's treatment for the past one year.

"How is my Nana, Steffan?"

"She's out of danger now," responded Dr Steffan.

They followed them to the VIP ward. After settling her in bed, Dr Steffan turned to Shawn.

"Can you please follow me to my office? I need to discuss something with you."

Shawn stared at his grandmother lying almost lifeless on the bed. He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat.

"I'll be back," he said to his grandmother's maid who has been taking care of her. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying. With the back of her hand, she wiped off the pool of water that had gathered in her eyes and nodded in silence.

Shawn motioned with his eyes to Johnson to stay back and then followed his friend out.

Dr Steffan closed the door behind them as soon as they got to his office.

"Shawn…" He took his seat behind the desk and indicated for Shawn to sit.

"Although your grandmother has been rescued, we don't know how long we can keep up with this." He drew in a long breath, exhaled, then continued,

"As you are already aware, the crisis have been more frequent recently and we don't know when the next one will occur."

"She has been on steroids all these months in order to alleviate her pains but we can't continue giving her that."

"Why do we need to stop the steroid's injection? At least she'll be relieved from the pain with the injection until we find Dr Janice to get a proper diagnosis, why stop now?"

Steffan stood up, walked over to Shawn and placed a hand over his shoulder.

"I know you are concerned about your grandmother, we all are. But long term use of steroids have side effects. I think I explained this to you in the beginning."

"You did, Steffan," Shawn affirmed. "It was meant to be a temporary measure while we wait for a proper diagnosis."

"It's good that you remembered."

"As you are aware, we have been giving your grandmother different forms of steroids for over a year now and that is quite a long time. Now, the side effects are beginning to kick in."

Looking straight into Shawn's sad eyes, he said,

"What we need is a permanent solution to her ailment and only Dr Janice can help us with that."

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