Doctor Campbell breathed deeply as if to assuage the rising irritation becoming apparent in his face. “I suppose it’s fortunate then, Mr. Goff, that you did not inherit your mother’s disease.” He nodded to Saga. “Pleasure to meet you, Miss Trygg. Please excuse me.”
Saga watched him depart to give his condolences to Cousin Carys before she glared back at Elis. “That was rude of you.”
“I really don’t like him,” said Elis.
“You don’t say?” Saga scrutinized the man in front of her. “I’m pretty sure half the funeral overheard the malpractice threat.”
Elis shrugged. “If the shoe fits.”
“What part of your mother’s care do you feel he was negligent in?”
“His nurse certainly did most of the actual care, for one.”
“That’s how live-in nurses work, jackass, that’s not negligent or illegal.”
“Why are you defending him?”
“I’m not defendinghim, I’m defending the medical profession from a tantrum with a pocketbook,” sniped Saga.
Elis glared briefly before it melted into something resembling a contrite expression. “So… What exactlyislympha…de…nomasis?”
“Lymphedema-distichiasis syndrome,” Saga corrected.
Elis tapped the bridge of his nose and winked. “That one.”
“You mean to tell me your own mother had been living with a diseasefor years and you never bothered to ask what it was?”
“You didn’t know.”
“I wasn’t privy to the information—” Saga exhaled a growl of frustration. His mother was dead and he was obviously drunk. She should be more charitable. “I’m not a medical dictionary, but I know regular lymphedema has to do with excessive fluid in your lymphatic system.”
“Right… And that would be…?”
“The system of tubes that carry certain fluids through the body. Lipids, proteins, vitamins, pathogens…that kind of thing. It basically helps balance your fluids.”
Elis nodded thoughtfully but Saga suspected from his expression he still didn’t quite understand what she was talking about. “And how exactly would you know if your lymphatic system was too…fluidy?”
“Well, untreated, excess fluid can cause swelling, among other things.”
“How does that cause heart problems?”
“Your heart relies on cardiac lymphatics to drain tissue fluid in order to maintain intestinal fluid equilibrium.” Saga surprised herself with the answer. It had come so simply as if she were back at rounds, answering rapid fire questions.
His eyes widened. “That sounds serious.”
“Yes.”
“And it’s hereditary?”
“It can be.”
Elis looked like she’d slapped him across the face, and to be fair, she had been tempted.
Saga exhaled and attempted to get ahead of any hypochondria that might have been trying to rear its head in his inebriated state of mind. “If you had swelling, you’d know it, Elis, but if you’re really that concerned, you should see a doctor. Like that nice specialist you just chased away with a malpractice threat.”
He squinted at her. “You were less intimidating when you were twelve.”
“I would imagine so,” said Saga cooly.
