The Cover Up Novel By Ken David Stewart Part 31

Reggie with his oral reading. Drake gave Russel a short run down on Reggie's background and then gave Russel some suggestions as how to work with the boy. Russell felt good that Mr. Stephens had placed enough confidence in him that he would be allowed to work with one of his students on his first day on the job. Within a few weeks Russell Trane had more self confidence than he had ever had in his life. He went on to become a great asset to Drake and his students. Just having another competent pair of hands in his classroom took an enormous amount of stress off Drake. Having Russell's help and support made a very difficult job manageable.

Things changed for Drake Stephens at the end of April of that year. Drake's principal called Drake in to deliver the bad news. The government grant for Russell Trane had run out. The government had decided that they were not going to extend it for the remainder of the school year. This meant that for May and June of that year Drake Stephens would be on his own with his classroom of very needy students.

Shortly after Drake lost the services of Russell he found that he was becoming very easily fatigued. At times he would feel faint while he was standing up delivering a lesson to the whole class. On one occasion he had to grip his desk firmly to avoid collapsing. That weekend Drake became very ill. He developed a very high fever and his throat felt like someone was sharpening knives on it. This was followed by heavy bouts of coughing.

On Sunday, Drake's wife, Judy told Drake that he should see a doctor right away.

Drake checked the phone book for walk-in clinics that were open on Sunday. He found one located on Pembina Highway and drove down to the clinic. When Drake was called in to be seen by the young doctor he had no way of knowing that this young man would become his family physician for the next twenty-five years. The doctor asked Drake about his presenting symptoms and then felt Drake's glands. Drake's glands were very swollen. Along with the high fever, coughing and extreme fatigue the doctor knew that a diagnosis of mononucleosis was very likely in the case of his new patient. Fortunately the doctor had a small lab right on the premises so that he could order a blood test. In about five minutes the result of Drake's blood test came back. Drake's test was positive for mononucleosis.

For the next few minutes the doctor explained to Drake what mononucleosis is and what his likely prognosis would be.

“Well the good news Mr. Stephens is that mononucleosis will not kill you and the sore throat, high fever and coughing will likely end in a few days. The bad news is that your symptom of extreme fatigue could last up until one year from now.”