Sally woke up next morning with the same headache and was surprised to see the house half empty. She went downstairs into the kitchen and was greeted by her mum cooking rice.
“Since when have we ever had rice for breakfast” Sally enquired.
Jane started laughing.
“Breakfast? Do u know what time it is young lady? 1 o’clock”.
“WHAT! One o’clock. What about school? What about netball? Why didn’t you wake me up?” replied Sally quiet startled and gazing around frantically for a clock.
“Calm down Sal. Sit down at the table and I’ll explain everything to you” her mother reassured her.
Sally learnt from her mum that she had been moaning all night with a headache. Her mum had sat by her all night hoping and praying that the headache would ease down gradually but it had remained very bad until around five o’clock in the morning, which is when Jane actually went to bed. Jane had got very worried and had arranged an appointment with the GP at two o’clock for Sally.
“Sally Fitzgerald” called the receptionist at the GP. “Dr Stanley is waiting for you in room three”
Sally thanked the receptionist and walked briskly to room three followed closely by her mum. Dr Stanley had been their family doctor for years and was also a close friend of Jane so he knew Sally quite well.
“So what brings you here today Sal?” questioned Dr Stanley.
“Well…i have been……….” started Sally but was soon interrupted by her mother:
“I’m very worried about her James. She has had a constant headache all day yesterday. At first I thought it was just normal migraine but it got severe during the night and I’m really concerned” said Jane looking rather beleaguered.
“Come on Jane. You should know better. After all you’ve gone through with your headaches you are still worried?” questioned Dr Stanley.
“No James its just that………….Drop it Jane, there’s nothing wrong with young Sal here. She’s just got a lot of things in her mind. It must be stress. Let her relax and I’ll prescribe some painkillers for her” interrupted Dr Stanley without letting Jane finish her sentence.
Jane dejectedly picked up the prescription and left the surgery. In the back of her mind something wasn’t right. Something wasn’t right about Sal. There was something wrong but she just didn’t know what.
The next morning Sally insisted on going to school. She had previously missed a lot of school and didn’t want to miss anymore. Her mum eventually gave in and drove Sally and Sophie to school.
At the school gates her friends Nat, Jessie, Kat and Mel greeted Sally. They all enquired about her absence on the previous day. Not wanting to make too much of a scene, Sally just replied that she was ill. She linked arms with her friends and made her way down towards registration. Finally relieved that her headache had gently eased down to the point when it was no longer there. she approached the back of the class and occupied the seat next to Nat. Just when everything seemed to be going perfectly, she was faced with a sharp pain on the right hand side of her head. It was as if someone was stabbing her with a dagger. She clutched her head hoping it would go away. After that she never knew what exactly happened. Sal was very unstable and started moving like a drunken man coming out of a pub at 4am in the morning. She was blinded with a bright white light and lost sense of the world around. She fell further and further down a whirlpool
Sally gradually opened her eyes and found herself lying on the floor with a crowd around her. Nat, Jessie, Kat and Mel were sitting around her. At a snail’s pace she hurled herself up onto her feet. Her legs felt like jelly and she got the taste of pear drops in her mouth. She learnt from Jessie that she completely by surprise passed out. No matter how much Mel insisted Sally refused to go to the school office and report what had happen.
The thing about high school is that, news gets around school faster than the pupils do. By lunchtime nearly everyone in year 10 had heard about Sally’s blank out just before registration. Sally took Mel’s advice and tried not to listen to the unkind remarks being passed at her. She tried to stay focus in lessons but her head was hurting her so much that she couldn’t concentrate. To make it worse, Sally’s English teacher set their coursework to be handed in the following week. English wasn’t Sally’s best subject but she tried her best to obtained good results.
When she got home, Sally ran to her mum and started crying.
“I know I’m acting really immature but I can’t take it mum. My head is too painful,” sobbed Sally tearfully.
Jane didn’t know what to say. She had never been in this situation before. Eventually after a lot of consideration Jane ordered, “That’s it, we are going to the GPs right away and sorting this out”. And with that Jane grabbed her car keys from the living room table and stomped out via the kitchen door. Sally, unable to refuse followed dejectedly behind her mum.
At the Gp’s Jane demanded an emergency appointment with Dr Stanley.