Fred had been out having tests done all morning, and we sat around impatiently waiting for Dr. Tucker to release Josh. Finally, at eleven, he came briskly into the room, Josh's chart in his hand.

"Well, Josh, everything seems to be fine, and there's no reason you can't go home now. I've just signed the discharge papers at the nurse's desk and took the liberty of setting up an appointment for you in my office tomorrow afternoon at four o'clock. Is that okay for you?"

We all agreed that four o'clock was fine. Josh wanted to know what the biopsy showed. Dr. Tucker said he wanted to know too, but wouldn't find out until tomorrow sometime, certainly before four. That's why he'd chosen that time for the appointment.

"Once we find out the results of the biopsy, then we'll know better what we're dealing with and the best way to proceed. So we'll discuss it at tomorrow's appointment. See you then."

It took us less than a minute to leave, as Josh was already dressed and had collected his things. He took the large bouquet of Mylar balloons his grandparents had given him to the nurses' station and asked Cathy to distribute them to the children in the ward.

I'd already been to the business office to settle any accounts that Josh might have for telephone and TV, so we were on our way in no time flat.

Maggie and Josh waited at the entrance while I pulled the van out of the parking garage. It was a gorgeous spring day, with a cloudless blue sky, temperature in the low 80's and birds chirping as if they were having a committee meeting.

As we rounded a corner a few blocks from home, a horrible sight unfolded. A beautiful German shepherd dog had broken free from his master and run into the street. The car in front of our van was unable to stop and struck the poor dog in its side full force.

The car immediately pulled to the curb, as did I. The frantic owner ran to the street. Crouched down by the animal, he stroked his head in an effort to comfort him. The driver got out of the car to apologize. He felt terrible about the whole thing and seemed just as distraught as the dog's owner.

I joined the group and introduced myself.

"Hello. My name is Joe Madison and I saw what happened. I'm the captain of the local rescue squad. Our building's only a couple blocks away. I can call for one of our ambulances to take your dog to an excellent animal hospital only a mile from here . . ."

"No! Absolutely not," said the dog's owner. "I already told my wife to call the Humane Society. They know how to take care of dogs."

"But," I warned, "it will take them some time to get here. We don't usually rescue injured animals, but the training and equipment we use for humans is more than adequate for that purpose. We have an orthopedic stretcher that splits in half the long way and can place your pet up on it without causing any further injury . . ."

"No, no, no!" The man simply wouldn't listen to anything I had to say, and it was killing my soul. I love animals and can't bear to see them suffer. The dog was obviously in great pain and seriously injured. I tried to see if there was anything at all I could do for him in the meantime, but the angry owner ordered me away.

Sadly, I left to rejoin Maggie and Josh in the van. Just then, the Humane Society's van pulled up. There was only one young man aboard. He jumped out and opened the back doors, and we watched him push a big cage toward the front of the van. Then he got back out, scooped up the dog and practically threw him on the bare floor of the van.

"I feel sick," Maggie said. "How could he be so . . . so . . ."

"Heartless!" Josh broke in. "I don't know if the owner's just being unreasonable because he's in shock over the whole thing or what. Well, I sure hope he's satisfied now. He thought the Humane Society could do better for his dog than the rescue squad. Humpf!"

We were all subdued the rest of the way home, praying the dog would come out of it okay. I made a mental note to check with the Humane Society tomorrow for my own peace of mind.

The following day, we arrived at Dr. Tucker's office a few minutes before four. His office was in the same building as Ozzie's.

"I'm afraid I have some rather frustrating news to report," Dr. Tucker began.

Maggie gasped involuntarily.

The doctor quickly reassured her. "Oh no, it's nothing bad. The problem is the biopsy didn't indicate any specific kidney problem. What it boils down to is we know the kidney function is deteriorating, but we have no idea why. I was hoping the tests would point to some specific disorder so we could begin treatment right away."

"I see," I said. "Well, where do we go from here, doctor?"

"Right now all we know is Josh's kidneys are functioning at about 40%, and I believe Dr. Martin already told you that one kidney functioning at 10% is all that's necessary. For all we know, Josh may have been born with this irregularity and could live to a ripe old age with no complications. The truth is, we just don't know. One thing we do know is it's causing Josh's blood pressure to elevate, so I'm going to prescribe some medication to help stabilize it. It'll probably take a few days to get the dosage exactly right, so if possible, you should bring him to the office each morning for a blood pressure reading . . ."

I interrupted. "Bring him all the way here just to have his b.p. checked? Heck, I can do that at home. After all, I'm the captain of the rescue squad, and have the necessary equipment to do that."

The doctor laughed. "I'm sorry. I forgot. Well, that's even better--it'll simplify things and that way we can get more frequent checks until we get it stabilized. The more often you can check it, the quicker we determine the correct dosage. Ideally, if you'd check it, say at mealtimes and bedtime, that would be perfect. Then call the office each morning and give the readings to the nurse. I'm starting out with a mild prescription so we can double or triple the dosage, or do whatever is needed to get Josh's blood pressure down to normal levels."

"That's no problem," I told him. "But what about the kidneys? Is there anything we should be doing with that problem?"

"No," Dr. Tucker replied. "It's possible they will never cause any other symptoms. My best advice is not to worry about it unless a problem develops."

Dr. Tucker gave us a list of signs and symptoms we should report to him if they should occur; meanwhile, there were no restrictions on Joshua's activities.

Halfway home Maggie announced, "Hey, fellas, I really don't feel like cooking tonight. Howzabout we go out for dinner?"

We thought that was a great idea, and Joshua suggested, "Why not see if the grandparents want to join us?"

Arriving home, I asked Mom if she, Dad and Grandma Jeanne would like to have an impromptu family dinner party at Paddy's. We all agreed to an early dinner, taking advantage of Paddy's terrific "Early Bird Special" menu.

Over dinner, I gave them the results of the reports from the hospital and Dr. Tucker. Then Josh asked his grandfather how the repairs were coming along at the print shop.

"It's been quite a challenge," Dad replied. "You know, I never realized how many machines we have. I had to get every single one of them cleaned. That black soot is so insidious--it gets into places where you can't even see it. I was up the wazoo in repair people for two days! Oh yes, Josh, remember those two nice college boys who came in the other day . . . the ones who are starting a house painting business for the summer?"

Josh nodded.

"Well, I gave them a call and hired them to scrub, then paint the whole inside of the place. They're doing a real good job, too. Looks like we can re-open on Monday after all."

"That's great, Grandpa," Josh said. "Hey, listen, if there's anything I can do to help, I'm available all day tomorrow."

Dad replied, "Actually I sure could use a hand if you're feeling up to it.

"I'm not sick, ya know," Josh insisted.

"Well, there's a bunch of odds and ends to go through, and we also need to need to make a long shopping list of all the stuff to replace that was damaged by smoke," Dad said. "For instance, a lot of our paper inventory is a mess. But with two of us digging in, it probably won't take more than a few hours. I'd sure appreciate the help!"

Josh readily agreed and said he'd head on over right after breakfast in the morning.








Continue to Chapter 14


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