Halo's

Suffering from the effects of sleep deprivation, Dr. Russell removed his glasses and tossed them on his desk in frustration. Spots and floaters had begun to fill his vision interfering with his concentration. Knowing he couldn’t go on much longer without rest, he tried massaging his temples in an effort to keep his eyes open wanting to read more. There has to be something I missed, there must be. He thought. Reaching for another stack of papers, he comb over the list of narcotics that had already been administered to Mrs. Robins; Morphine, Codeine, Tylox and Demerol. All had failed. Some of the pain deadening agents were enhanced with steroids to elongate their effectiveness but this too had failed.

"Damn! I just don’t get it." Dr. Russell uttered, slamming the folder down.

"Arthur. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Give it some time. We will fine out what is causing this."

"I wish I had your confidence. Mind has been depleted. Everything we have tested her for has come up blank. The woman is healthy."

"Obviously she isn't, otherwise she would be here."

"Damn it Bill, I understand that, everything I've done has drawn a blank. Even you Bill, how many times have you gone over her cat scans and have come up empty handed? The only thing we are sure of, is the woman suffers from immense pain. Her heart rate is way above normal, her breathing is erratic and we can’t seem to do anything to correct it." Dr. Russell covered his face with his hands then drove his fingers threw his hair. "I could understand it if…if she had something tangible. Something we could test against but this damn thing whatever it is, keeps moving about her body never settling in any one spot long enough for us to figure out what the heck it is."

"Arthur, your driving yourself too hard, you need some rest. Mrs. Robins is sleeping, the best thing you did for her was to induce her into a coma. We’ll awake her tomorrow morning and begin a new battery of test. You can’t stay here beating yourself into exhaustion and expect to be fully functional. It just doesn’t work."

Dr Russell yawned and acknowledged his associate was correct. Dr. Wertheim stepped closer to his colleague and rested a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Arthur, did you ever think we could be dealing with something that the medical world has never encountered before?"

* * *

Greg Robins cautiously leaned over to give his mother a soft but re-assuring hug knowing any excessive pressure may induce additional pain. He was happy to see her awake, he was nervous about her being induced into a coma. "I’ve got the kids outside Ma, if it’s okay, I mean if you are up to seeing them."

"Yes honey, I’d love to see to them, just be careful, the pain has traveled to my right side." Mrs. Robins' speech was tight and at times broken, giving way to the intensity of her discomfort. Greg guided his two sons, Danny and Stevie, eleven and nine respectively into the room closely followed by their mother, Sheila. The isolation room was small to begin with and was made smaller as it was filled with medical equipment. Under their father’s guidance, the boys cautiously approached the end of their grandmother’s bed. "You boys stay here, okay?"

"Grandma Robins," Whined Danny. "you’re not going to die are you?" Mrs. Robins choked and began to cry and Danny cried with her. Greg rushed to his son and lifted him up to comfort him.