Kevin Storm finished his coffee from Karen's Kandie Kitchen five minutes ago. He was boring a hole through the door at the end of the hall with his eyes.
The door opened and closed once or twice a minute ever since he arrived in the central visitors lounge on the top floor of the Rose County Hospital.
Storm already looked at the seven magazines on the table next to the orange and sand color over-sized chair. There was a nice view out the bay window to the west, but while most days the clouds and their shapes would capture his attention; right now he worried more about potential storm clouds in room 325.
In addition to worrying about his friend, Ken Records, he was a nervous about the tape recorder in his briefcase. Pete Moss asked him to bring it. If Ken was up to it, Pete thought, he might want to record a short blurb they could put on the air with an update on his condition. No pressure, Moss said, if he doesn't want to talk that was fine. But he suspected Ken would want his fans to know what happened.
Record's secret already wasn't much of a secret. Folks were whispering and wondering all over town. No one knew what was going on, but lots of people worried about the man who helped them work through tough issues and tough times on the radio. Ken was a voice of reason in the community; you didn't have to agree with him to know he wanted the best for Roseville and his beloved Wisconsin.
Back in the office near the lab, Dr. Noel was on the phone with the state's top allergist. he couldn't believe what he was being told. In his many years of doctoring and working a variety of shifts in the hospital he never heard anything like this. As he hung up the phone he tried to think how to tell Ken the news. On the other hand, it could be much worse. He got out of his chair wearily and walked down to 325.
"Good morning, Ken," Dr. Noel said as he walked in, "I've got news."
"What is it, doc?" Records asked.
Noel sat in the chair next to the hospital bed. An IV slowly dripped a saline solution into Record's arm. The doctor began with the discovery of a black dot behind Ken's knee through everything that's happened over the last day and a half. Ten minutes later he stood up, shook Ken's hand, and promised to be back before the end of the day.
Kevin Storm stood when he saw the doctor leave his friend's room. The doctor flashed a slight smile and nodded toward the door as he headed down a back stair to the Emergency Room. Never a dull moment around here, he thought.
Storm knocked lightly and walked into a spectacular room overlooking a picturesque Rose River landscape.
"Well, buddy, how are you, man?"
"Tired, my friend," came the reply, "but according to the doctor, I'm pretty blessed. Apparently, after all these years I've developed an allergy to red meat."
"What! I've never even heard of that!" was Storm's response.
"Neither had the doctor," said Records. "It can be triggered when eating red meat after receiving a tick bite. I'm fortunate I didn't have a worse reaction. But long-term it means I need to lay off the red meat. I'm not sure I could have done that a week ago, but it's reality now."
The two friends sat silently for a while. Storms handed Records a cold can of his favorite soda, which the doctor said was OK beforehand. When they started talking again, Kevin mentioned the tape recorder.
"Oh, good," said Ken. "I was hoping you might have one. I'm going crazy in here. I'm not ready to go back to work yet, but tell Pete and the gang I'll be on the air for my Saturday shift and full-time the Monday after that. In the meantime, if you're ready I'll try to give you some usable tape to put on air."
Kevin grinned and breathed a sigh of relief. His friend still didn't look so good, but he knew from his spirit that things would be OK. That thought was confirmed when Ken cut a promo for his first show back on the air, featuring Dr. Noel and the state's top allergist, Dr. Max Straw, next Monday.
In Madison, Dr. Maxwell Straw looked at his calendar then clicked on MapQuest. Where is Roseville, he wondered, and why would anyone want to interview him?
The guys in the University Relations department thought it was great news and already booked him a room in Roseville. This couldn't be a phone interview, they told him, he needed to go to Roseville.
Pick up the action in Chapter 16 this afternoon at 3.
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