Title: Change in Plans
Author: Cathy Miller
Timeline: Post Santos, in the Our Choice Universe
Rating: Everyone
Disclaimer: Some are mine, but the two most important ones belong to the excellent
Aaron Sorkin…who incidentally told me to call him “Aaron”….True. Story.
Summary: An unexpected event forces some changes in the Lyman family schedule.
A/N: This was spurred by a discussion with some friends of mine. We agreed,
unanimously, that the other members of our families had NO IDEA what our daily
schedule was…I should probably also note that the entire group was made up of
women.
“I don’t need to go to the doctor. Joshua.”
“I really think you do.” Josh corrected his wife. “I already called Jenny. She’s coming
right over to stay with the kids.”
“She has class tonight!” Donna hated to disrupt her niece’s night at college now that
she’d finally decided to go back and finish her degree.
“History class. I think I can get her up to speed on anything she misses. Do you want to
change or just wear that?” Josh asked.
Donna looked down at her outfit; sweatpants and a t-shirt that read, “There’s no party
like the Democratic party”. “What’s wrong with this?”
“Nothing. But I’ve also learned that doesn’t stop women from determining they need to
dress a certain way when they go certain places.”
“Well, I’m not going anywhere so it really doesn’t matter what I’m wearing.” Donna
crossed her arms, but then had to wince when pain shot through her again. She had to
physically steel herself from hunching her body over.
“Uh-huh.” Josh replied, tongue in cheek. “Benjamin Lyman!” Josh bellowed.
Josh didn’t take his eyes off his wife while he waited for their eldest child to arrive.
“You’re not fooling anyone, you know. Lay down until Jenny gets here.”
“I’m fine.” Donna managed to stay upright, but Josh could see her shake with the effort
and took her by the hand to lead her back to bed. When he touched her hand he
frowned and placed his other hand on her forehead.
“You’re hot. How long have you been running a fever?” Without waiting for a reply, he
called his son again. “Benjamin Thomas Lyman, get in here!”
“Is Ben in trouble?” Tori, their third child, asked from the doorway.
“No.” Josh shook his head and stepped into the bathroom to find the digital
thermometer.
“It SOUNDS like he’s in trouble.” Tori noted.
“Yes, well, tonight he’s just slow.” Josh called back to her.
“He’s on the phone.” Tori reported and watched while her father popped the
thermometer in her mother’s uncooperative mouth. “Is Mommy sick?”
“No” “Yes” her parents answered simultaneously.
When the thermometer beeped Josh looked at it and smirked at Donna. “Tell me,
Victoria Helen, what is the normal temperature for a person to have?
“Ninety-eight point six.” Tori replied. A by product of her autism was an endless
fascination with numbers…and she knew A LOT of them.
“That’s right. And what does this say?” He held the thermometer out to Tori but out of
the reach of his wife.
“One hundred one point two.” Tori read. “Mommy you’re sick.”
“Yes, Mommy, you are sick. And Daddy is going to take you to the doctor now. But if
you’re really good, I”ll make sure you get a sticker.”
“It can wait until tomorrow.” Donna muttered.
“That’s what you said this morning. You’re getting worse, not better. Time to go.” Josh
decided. “Tori will you tell your brother-“
“Which one?” Tori asked.
“The oldest one- Which one have I been calling at the top of my lungs?”
“Ben.” Tori answered.
“Then that’s the one I want.”
“Kay.” Tori scrambled off the bed and went to fetch her brother.
“I don’t want to go to the doctor Josh.”
“Yeah, but you’re gonna. In fact, given the lateness of the hour, we’re going to end up
in urgent care.” Josh sat next to her and stroked her hair. “Donna, you rarely get sick.
Let me take care of you when you do.” Her reply was interrupted by Tori dragging her
brother into their room.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“Didn’t you hear me calling you?”
“I was on the phone, then I had my ipod on.” Ben explained.
“Well…don’t to that anymore. What if it was an emergency?”
“What?” Ben looked at his father in confusion.
“Mommy’s sick.” Tori announced.
“Are you okay, Mom?” Ben asked moving toward his mother. She never got sick.
“I’m fine, Ben, your father is just overreacting as usual.” Donna assured him.
“Uh-uhhhh. You’ve got a big temperature, Mommy.” Tori reminded her.
“I’m taking Mom to urgent care. Jenny’s on her way here. She should be here in about
20 minutes. You’re in charge until then.” Josh instructed his son.
“Seriously?” Ben asked.
“Look at my face, Ben. What do you think?”
“It’s just that I was supposed to go over to David’s now.” Ben reminded them.
“Excuse me?” Josh asked.
“I’ll totally do it. I just-“
“Yes, you WILL totally do it.” Josh’s voice rose.
“Don’t yell, Daddy.” Tori pled. She didn’t like loud, angry voices.
“I’m gonna. I just meant I have to call him is all.” Ben clarified.
“Make it quick. Your mom and I are leaving now. I have my cell phone on me if you need
to reach us.”
“Okay.” Ben held his hands up in surrender and followed his parents out of the
bedroom. They weren’t across the threshold when their second child joined the parade.
“What’s going on?” Ally asked.
“Mommy is sick. Daddy’s taking her to the doctor. “Tori relayed.
“At night?” Ally questioned.
“If Mom would tell us during the day, that she’s sick, I wouldn’t have to take her at night
when I got home.” Josh commented.
“I’m fine.” Donna assured her daughter.
“She has a temperature.” Tori contradicted. “And Jenny’s coming over to watch us until
they get home. Ben is in charge til she gets here.”
“That about sums things up.” Josh chuckled. “Everyone be good for Ben and Jenny.” He
told them. “I’ll call and check in a little later.” Josh led Donna out the front door to his car.
“We should wait until Jenny gets here at least.” Donna complained, but Josh had
watched as her walk became more and more stooped the longer they walked.
“Not likely. Ben will take care of things for 20 minutes. How bad is the pain, Donnatella?”
“Not bad…” she hedged.
“Donna…” Josh sighed.
“It’s starting to feel like I’m giving birth.”
Josh opened his car door and stared at his wife for a moment. “But…you’re not, right?”
Donna just sneered at him.
“Hey, I’m just trying to lighten the mood.” He kissed her forehead and closed the door
once she was settled inside.
*******************************************
“Jenny! Ben is supposed to be watching us but he’s just playing on his stupid
computer.” Tori tattled the moment Jenny walked through the door.
“Hmmmm…well, I’ll look right into that Victoria Helen.” Jenny promised. “Where’s Ally and
Jake?”
“Ally is watching TV and Jake is in the toy room.”
“So, you’re a little bored?” Jenny guessed and Tori nodded her head. “I’ll see what I can
do about that too.”
“Mommy’s sick.” Tori continued while she followed Jenny into the kitchen.
“I heard.” Jenny confirmed. “But she’ll be fine. The doctor will give her some medicine
and she’ll be better in no time.”
“She had a temperature.” Tori pointed out.
“We all get temperatures when we’re sick. It’s no big deal, honey.” Jenny grabbed the
phone when it started to ring. “Lyman residence.”
“Good, you made it there.” Josh replied. “I really appreciate you cutting class to come
over, Jen.”
“Don’t worry about it. Any special instructions?” she asked.
“No, just so long as everyone is alive and uninjured when I return.” Josh quipped.
“I think I can manage that. How’s Donna?”
“It’s hard to say. She keeps insisting it’s no big deal, but even I can tell it is. Oh, they’re
calling us back there. I’ll call later with an update.” Josh hurriedly hung up the phone
and helped Donna to her feet so she could shuffle back to the examining room.
She reluctantly shared her symptoms with the nurse who took blood pressure and
temperature readings. Donna described her stomach pain as across her abdomen and
said she wasn’t sure when the fever began.
“It’s probably one of the stomach flu’s going around.” The nurse opined. “The doctor will
be right in.”
Donna moaned and leaned over. Josh put his arm around her. “It’s okay, just lean on
me. The doctor is going to give you something to feel better and then I’ll take you home
and tuck you in.”
“You promised me a sticker.” She whined and leaned further into her husband. “Josh…I
feel sick.”
“I know, Donnatella.” He stroked her hair.
“No, I mean I REALLY feel sick.” She barely got the words out before she started
throwing up.
Josh grabbed for the trash can and held her hair back. “Easy, I’ve got you.” Once she’d
emptied the contents of her stomach. He wet some paper towels and ran them over the
back of her neck.
Donna had tears in her eyes as she thanked him. Then the door opened and an
impossibly young man came in claiming to be a doctor. He listened attentively as Donna,
with help from Josh, described her decline over the course of the day.
“Why don’t you lie down and let me take a look at you.” Dr. Monroe suggested and
Donna gingerly laid down on the examination table. He started asking her questions as
he listened to her heart and lungs and checked her lymph nodes for swelling. Josh was
about to request a doctor over the age of 21 when he started pressing on Donna’s
stomach and she cried out in distress.
“Is that where the pain is the worst, Donna?” He asked and she nodded while wincing
from the rebound pain. “And when did the pain start?”
“A few hours ago now. It just keeps getting worse.” She explained. “Is there something
you can take for stomach flu?”
“Yes, but I don’t think that’s what we’re dealing with here.” Doctor Monroe shook his
head.
“Then what is it?” Josh demanded.
“I can’t be sure until we get an MRI which we will do RIGHT NOW.”
“That doesn’t sound good.” Donna noted. “What do you think it is?”
“Let me put it this way…Have you ever had your appendix out, Donna?”
“Are you kidding me?” Donna nearly yells and tries to sit up, but ends up curled back up
in pain.
“Yeah, I’m going to have Julie take you down right now in a wheelchair.” He stepped out
of the room and got his nurse to bring a wheelchair to quickly take Mrs. Lyman to get an
MRI. “You can wait here, Mr. Lyman.”
“No, I’m going with Donna.”
“You won’t be able to go into the MRI with here.” He warned.
“Doesn’t matter. I’m staying with Donna.”
“Okay. I’ll see you back here shortly.” Dr. Monroe assured them both.
They were escorted directly to the MRI in the adjoining hospital and as predicted, Donna
had to go in alone from there. Josh paced and checked in with the kids while he waited,
but patience had never been his strong suit and he was about to blow a gasket when
Donna was wheeled back out.
“Were you playing poker in there or what?” Josh nearly exploded.
“Yeah, the pot got up to $500 bucks so I decided to stay a little longer.” Donna
deadpanned and Josh picked up her hand to kiss her fingers.
“Hanging in there?” He asked.
“I’m trying. I refuse to believe it’s appendicitis.” Donna stated.
“Okay, then. Let’s go home.” Josh chuckled. “Your strength of will has been a great
asset to you Donnatella, but I don’t think even you can will yourself not to have
Appendicitis.” Josh started to turn to go back to urgent care and nearly pulled Donna’s
arm off when the nurse took them in the opposite direction. “Ummm…where are we
going?”
“To admitting, sir. Dr. Monroe is admitting your wife to the hospital. He’ll be here shortly.”
“Ah-kay.” Josh sat next to his wife near the admitting desk. “I really don’t think they
admit you for stomach flu.”
“Shut. Up.” Donna requested, tears pooling in her eyes again.
“It’s okay, Donna.” Josh rubbed her back as the tears fell down her cheeks.
“No, it’s not! Do you know what they do for appendicitis, Joshua?”
“Yeah, but I don’t like to think about it.” He muttered.
“Well, me either, but they’re going to operate and take the appendix out.” Donna
whisper yelled.
“Let’s not focus on that right now.” Josh suggested, getting squeamish.
“I have to focus on that right now. I’m going to have to stay in the hospital, Josh. What
about the kids? What about the vacation we were going to take this week?”
“Slow down.” Josh tried to ease the panic he heard in his wife’s voice. There was really
only room for one of them to panic and when it involved anything medical, that role was
usually reserved for Josh. “Let’s take things one step at a time, Donna. First, let’s get
you well.”
“But-“
“No, buts. First we get you well, then we’ll take care of the rest. Jenny’s with the kids
now so everyone is fine and probably over sugared.” Donna let out a small, watery
chuckle at his comment. Josh and Jenny pushed the junk food, Donna tried to force
down the healthy food.
“Donna!” Dr. Monroe called out to her. “We’re going to admit you and get you prepped
for an appendectomy.”
“Isn’t there anything else we can do besides surgery?” Donna whined.
“Not so much, no. In fact, we need to get it out as soon as possible. You do not want
an appendix to burst. That’s all bad. We caught this in time. You’re lucky you came in
when you did.”
“That was my idea. I had to insist.” Josh noted.
“It’s a good thing you did.” Dr. Monroe seemed amused that Josh wanted credit, but
gave it to him nonetheless.
“Hear that, Donna? You should listen to me more often.”
“Shut. Up.” She repeated.
“Josh, we’re going to need you to fill out some forms so we can get moving on
everything. We’ll get Donna into the OR as soon as we can manage it. It’s a simple
procedure. We do them all the time; very low risk. We’ll keep you here a day or two,
Donna, just to make sure you’re well on the road to recovery before we send you
home.”
“Two days?” Donna repeated.
“Most likely, but you’re going to want to stay longer once you’ve sampled all the great
drugs we’ve got here. I’m going to go ahead and speak to the surgeon and she’ll come
speak to you before you head into the OR and ask if you have any additional questions.
I want you to relax as much as possible. You’re in good hands here and you’re going to
be fine.” Dr. Monroe patted Donna’s hand before he left them to fill out their paperwork
and adjust to the idea of surgery yet tonight.
“I want to call home.” Donna held out her hand for Josh’s phone and he silently gave it
to her. “Hi, Jenny…no not much, really. In fact, that’s why I’m calling. It looks like I’m
going to be staying overnight. It’s appendicitis and they’re going to operate yet
tonight….I know. I hoped it was just the flu too. Listen, I’m afraid we’re leaving you in a
tough spot with Tori. She’s not going to be happy about this change in plans and I don’t
know when Josh will get back to the house…right. No, I know you’ll be fine, I just…I
wanted to say goodnight to the kids.” Donna sniffled and Josh used his free hand to rub
her arm absently while she said goodnight to each of the children except Jake, who was
already asleep.
From then on, everything happened very quickly and before Donna had much time to
adjust to the idea, she as being wheeled into the OR. She hadn’t been in one since
Germany and just being wheeled in made her blood pressure spike.
“Donna, everything’s going to be fine. We’re going to put some medicine in your IV to
help you relax, okay?” The nurse asked and Donna nodded jerkily. She felt the effects
from the medication immediately and her head started to spin. Then she was instructed
to take deep breaths from the mask over her face and everything faded to black.
A Change in Plans: