Chapter 8
Julia was surprised to wake up with Howie still there. She half-expected to find the spot next to her empty this morning but it wasn't. Their was Howie, laying down on his stomach, his arm thrown over her bare, flat stomach. She looked down at her body and almost felt disgusted. She looked too thin. That reminded her that she needed to see the doctor today. She got up off of the bed quietly and tiptoed into the bathroom to take a quick shower.
Ten minutes later she walked back into her bedroom fully dressed, just in time to see Howie stir. He opened one eye, seeing her buttoning up her blouse. "Hey." She greeted with a smile. "Hi..." He said groggily, a cheesy grin on his lucious lips. She walked over to him and kissed him gently on the lips. "Sleep well?" She asked. "oh yeah...the best in months." Howie replied. Julia grinned and kissed him one more time, than picked up her phone on her bedside. She dialed the number of the doctors office she frequented to. "Um yes, hi, this is Ms. Julia Pierce. I need to make a doctor's appointment for sometime today." She listened to the other person on the line. "Uh huh, oh yes, yeah, uh huh, that's great! Alright, I'll see you in two hours than. Bye." She hung up the phone just as she felt strong arms pull her into a warm, naked body. Howie laid his head on her clothed shoulder. "Mmm, you smell good." He said his eyes closed. "Well thank you. What are your plans for today?" Julia asked. "My plans are to spend the day with you." Howie responded. Julia smiled at that. "Alright, but that means you might have to come with me to the doctor's."
"No problem. Why do you have to go to the doctor's?" Howie wondered. "Well lately I haven't been feeling too well. I've been kind of sick for awhile, and when I went to the doctors before it was just the flu, but I know its something more. I've been naueasated on and off for months. And I don't know if you noticed, but I've lost too much weight." Julia pointed out. "well yeah, I guess you do look smaller." Howie agreed. Julia nodded. She figured it wasn't something serious, but she was all too wrong...
* * *
Three Days Later...
"What?" "Cirrhosis. It's a liver disease. Most people get it from drinking, but in rare cases it's transmitted other ways. Now the cause of how you recieved it is really hard to calculate. You don't drink, you don't smoke, you don't have Hepatitis A, B, or C, you have no blocked bile ducts, and are only leads to go on are herditary, or you might have inhaled some toxins, or maybe taken some drugs your body didn't like. Now...you say this started about 5-7 months ago?" Julia nodded, hanging on the doctor's every word. "People in Cirrhosis sometimes go through long periods of time before knowing they have it, small symtoms will show up here and there, and that is probably why when you went to the doctor's the first time they told you you had the flu. It's too bad you didn't come back again sooner though, cause now you have serious problems." "Well I couldn't get a to a doctor because I've been busy taking care of my kid." Julia pointed out. "I'm sorry. But that still doesn't fix what's going on in your body. As I said before your type of Cirrhosis is VERY rare, it doesn't happen to many people, and I'm sorry to tell you this but if you don't get proper attention very quickly, this could be fatal."
Julia's heart pounded at the word. Fatal. She did not like the sound of that. She couldn't believe this was happening to her. She felt like she was pregnant all over again. "Now today, we're going to run some ultra sounds and take some tissue from your liver. I don't know, but you might have a string of hope that you WON"T need surgery." "Surgery?" Julia whimpered out. "Yes, surgery. Now it will most likely be your only option. It's very important that if you need this, we operate within the week. So I'm going to have to send these samples to the lab right after our session, and than call you with the news tommorow." "Um, it's perfectly safe, right?" Julia wondered, her hands starting to shake. The doctor kept silent for a second, than looked up at her. "I'm going to be honest with you Julia and not lie. If you don't get this surgery you'll only live for a few more months and than your liver will fail on you and stop working. We're going to need to get you a liver transplant, and the good news is that 80-90 percent of patients who do this survive the surgery. Sometimes the new, healthy liver is rejected by the body and others...well, they just don't make it. Now this is your choice. If the surgery goes well, you'll live out your life, long and healthy. In your case though, it's really serious. We don't know how you got the disease, and your in bad shape. You've been walking around with these symtoms for a long while, and you need treatment."
Julia gulped, gripping the operating table. "Now, after this, you might want to discuss this with your loved ones. Your going to need them to get through this, and if your feeling like you can handle it we have a pyschiatric ward in the building. Julia just nodded, feeling tears well up in the corners of her eyes. She couldn't believe how serious this was, and it all came down to surgery. How was she going to tell Howie? Oh god, what if she didn't survive, what would happen to Danni? Wait, don't think, think positive. She told herself. She just hoped that this wouldn't sent anyone else into a panic.