Jack walked slowly around the hospital gift shop, browsing for another Christmas present for his daughter. Being apart from her, especially during the holidays, was becoming increasingly difficult. He had even contacted the American Hospital in Paris to see if a consulting position could be arranged for a few months, but the amount of bureaucratic hurdles to leap over made the prospect near impossible.
After a few more minutes of perusing the store’s inventory, he decided on a rainbow unicorn stuffed toy. He was just about to sign the credit card receipt when he noticed Madison walk into the store.
“How did your meeting with Isabella’s grandmother go?”
“No revelations,” he answered, handing the pen back to the volunteer. “She did mention Isabella was having some lower abdominal and pelvic pain for the past few weeks. She spoke to her family physician about it, but he wasn’t concerned.”
“Did he order an ultrasound or a CT scan?”
“No. He didn’t think any tests were necessary.” Jack grinned.
“What?” she asked.
“It was nothing. I asked her if she had noticed anything at all out of the ordinary and she told me Isabella had been experiencing very rapid breast development of late.” He added, “I assured her that wasn’t what was making Isabella sick.”
Staring steadily at Jack, Madison eased the container of coffee away from her lips.
“You’re sure about the pelvic pain?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“And the rapid breast development?”
“Of course I’m sure. I may be getting a little senile, but I still remember how to take a medical history.” A little taken back, he asked. “What’s going on?”
Madison handed her coffee cup to Jack, grabbed her cell phone and dialed Marc.
While she waited for him to answer, she paced back and forth.
“C’mon, Marc, pick up your damn phone.” Finally, on the sixth ring, he answered. “Marc, find an ultrasound machine right now and meet me in Isabella’s room. Don’t ask me any questions. I’ll explain everything when I see you.” She drew a sharp breath, gestured toward the lobby and said, “C’mon, let’s go.”
“What’s going on?”
With a smile that couldn’t be contained, she answered, “Well, if I’m right, you may have just stumbled across our first real clue for finding out what’s causing GNS.”