Wu raised her eyebrow as he continued on with the story. She paused while typing. "Spiny injuries are pretty difficult to treat, it"s very unlikely if doctors haven"t produced results already that I can give you something different. I"m not a real witch despite what they told you. If you want a real witch, you can try the Wiccans? I heard they have a high priestess in dialysis upstairs, maybe she could be of more service to you than my doctor services."Nolan stood up and grabbed Dr Wu"s monitor with his hands. A fervent desire moving him to pa.s.sion. "Dr Wu, I know you"re the best I"ll find anywhere around here. Don"t you want to discover new things? Don"t you want to prove people wrong? Think of all the doctors who have put me down saying I have no point in trying to help my sister. You are my answer to that question. We can do something they can"t--we can try."
Dr. Wu looked like a wary bird who was going to peck his eyes out so Nolan feared that he had, in his mission, pushed a bit too much. But her eyes softened into wet pools. She wiped her face quickly before looking at him. "Ok. I"ll consider the case seeing how I know what"s it"s like to be in the system and jump through all the hoops and closed doors." Her voice was extremely soft. "There aren"t too many people I see nowadays who are as devoted as you are to their families. I am myself a person of little faith, but seeing your determination makes me think there could be a chance. I"ll do a consultation. But do keep this in mind that we are doctors as well as scientists because we still know very little about how the human body works. I"m sure you know that saying that the wisest man is one who knows that he is a beginner. I can"t help everyone."
Nolan saw the blank look in her eyes and wondered if the doctor had lost some patients today that she wanted to get better. On second thought, he could excuse her want for a drink. It was fully rectified in that occasion. He would probably have one himself, in her shoes.
Wu opened a stationary set and twisted the pen nib open to start the flow of ink. Her tone retained that gentle but professional tone as she began to ask him about his sister. "When was this race taken place? Ok, it says on the website that it was the first weekend in June. Let me make a note of that and subtract. Oh wow, it"s been over six weeks that your sister has been in hospital. No wonder, that would take a kick out of anybody." She shot him a look of pity that made his skin crawl. "You must be in school ...probably some sort of professional maybe grad school? How did you manage having a sister on the brink of death? Your parents must be horrified."
Nolan shook his head. "It"s just us. I can do both. I am taking less cla.s.ses this semester to look after her. I just want to try everything I can so when the end comes, if that does happen, I"ll have tried everything I could so it won"t hurt as much when I"m alone again."
Impervious to this, Wu continued to make notes and scroll. She made a face and then began in a more serious tone. "With paralysis of the lower body as severe as it is in your sister, I"ve pulled up some X-rays of her fractures here that Dr. Amrati who referred you emailed to me. It"s a wonder that your sister survived the accident. Half her body is not working as he had observed so a lot of things that should be functioning are not. I can see the nurses have also some notes here that she has been having some bed sores which is normal. It"s strange that she"s outlived her initial prognosis. From what I"ve seen in working in an urban setting usually these kinds of cases, they usually have no prognosis. Or to put it very blunt, if I take on her case you"re going to sue me."
She started to rip off the notes she"d taken, but Nolan reached forward and stopped her mid-tear. "That"s just . . . That"s just not fair! I know what will get you. We don"t have insurance so we"re paying out of pocket. I know that"s the trick to get doctors on board."
Her mouth grew back into her trademark smirk, but then she saw something on the charts and her hands folded under her chin as her brows knitted together. "Why is she constantly reporting a high amount of pain? It"s so strange that she can feel anything at all. It should be opposite to that. Her tolerance should be closer to zero."