Sacred Trust (25 page)

Darlene sat inside the E.R. doors with both feet elevated in a wheelchair, refusing to be taken into an exam room until she knew Clarence was going to be okay.

“We gave him a third nitro on the way here,” Connie told Mercy. “His pain has eased more each time.”

At the count of three the group lifted in unison, and amid grunts and groans, they gently placed Clarence onto the slightly wider exam bed. They expertly handled oxygen, IV and monitoring equipment.

Mercy leaned over Clarence with her stethoscope and auscultated his massive chest. Heartbeat and breathing were muffled. No wonder the paramedics had trouble getting readings on him.

When she straightened, Clarence asked, “Is it a heart attack?”

“I don't know yet.”

“What about my sister? How's her foot?”

Mercy turned around and saw Lukas standing at the exam room entrance. “Lukas, would you mind taking care of Darlene? Looks like I'm going to be here awhile.” She
motioned to Lauren. “Let's give Mr. Knight another nitro and put him on a Tridil drip. Put him at three CCs an hour.”

“Yes, Dr. Mercy.”

Mercy walked out to the desk. “Carol, we need a stat cardiac workup, EKG, CBC, chemistry panel, cardiac enzymes and PT, PTT. And get us another nurse down here. We're going to need her.”

“What about a portable chest?” Carol asked.

“No. With someone his size it would be a complete waste of time.”

She walked back into the cardiac room. “How's the pain now, Clarence?”

“Still a three in my chest,” he muttered. “Six in my arm.”

“Feel like a pin cushion yet?” Mercy asked, grinning wickedly.

Clarence laid his head back wearily. Mercy stepped up and patted his huge arm. “We need to run these tests.” She paused, almost expecting him to refuse the tests and demand to be taken back home. “Lukas will take good care of Darlene.”

Clarence looked up at Mercy. “I know.”

“And I'll take good care of you.”

“I can't afford it.”

Mercy sighed heavily. “We've been over this before. You have no choice.”

He watched her for a moment, his dark eyes filled with sorrow. “I know.”

Mercy hid her surprise well. Aha! Wait until Lukas heard about this.

“Once you get to feeling better, I'll have social services come by and talk with you.” She waited for an argument.

None came.

Now was not the time to shout for joy. She patted his arm again. “Stop worrying so much, Clarence. That's one of the things that put you here in the first place.”

J
ulie was back, and Tedi was furious.

For nearly two weeks, ever since the day Dad had really lost his temper and scared Tedi almost to death, he'd been better. There'd been no booze, no bad temper, no nasty remarks about Mom. And no Julie. Coincidence? Tedi didn't think so. It sure had been good while it lasted, with Dad in make-up mode.

Late this afternoon, though, about two hours ago, Julie had come ringing their doorbell. The first thing she'd stuck through the door when Tedi opened it had been a bottle of wine. The next had been a stupid fake smile, a tearful apology for Dad, and a hug. For him.

Tedi wanted to puke. She also wanted to break the wine bottle over Julie's curly blond hair, but it was too late now. Dad had finished most of the bottle. Tedi knew that because she'd spent the past two hours eavesdropping while she pretended to watch television and do her homework.

She knew she shouldn't eavesdrop, but how else would she have known that Dad and Julie were talking about
marriage? Actually, Julie was talking about marriage, with a big, fat diamond ring, at least a carat. Ugh!

And how else would Tedi know how much Dad drank? The amount of booze he drank had a direct effect on his meanness. Julie didn't know that yet, but it was never far from Tedi's thoughts.

Julie's voice reached the family room just loudly enough for Tedi to hear over the television.

“Sweetie,” she said, “I'm concerned about Tedi. Is she still having trouble over the divorce?”

With a scowl, Tedi got up from her perch on the sofa arm and crept closer to the hallway so she could hear better.

“She's fine,” came Dad's voice. “You don't have to worry about her. Kids recover better than adults. My parents got a divorce when I was Tedi's age, and I turned out okay.”

A commercial blared suddenly, drowning out everything but Tedi's indignant thoughts.

“Butt out, Julie,” she muttered.

“She thinks her mother is supporting both of you,” came Julie's voice again.

“Oh, no,” Tedi whispered to herself. “I'm dead.” Julie would just make things worse. When she left tonight…

Julie's hateful voice continued. “Maybe she's just jealous of our relationship, but I don't know why she would—”

The Energizer Bunny thudded his drums. Tedi jumped, and for a couple of moments, she didn't hear anything.

Then came Dad's irritated voice. “You've been discussing family finances with my daughter? My finances aren't any of your business.”

“But when we're married—”

A screaming car salesman tried hard to get Tedi's attention. She wanted to ram her fist through the screen. But she wouldn't be the one ramming fists tonight. Dad would be.

She couldn't let that happen.

Tedi knew she had to leave first, at least until Dad had time to cool down and sober up.

 

“Ouch!” Four-year-old Timmy Bradley tried to jerk his lacerated arm away from the anesthesia needle. His tiny face scrunched up into prescream.

Lukas Bower finished the injection and held his hands out so the little boy could see he was finished—for the moment. “I'm sorry, Tim. Remember, I told you that the first one would hurt just a little, like a bee sting. The next one won't hurt.” He placed Dermalon 5.0 suture in the needle driver.

The nurse, Claudia Zebert, shifted her grip on the child and gave him a warm, grandmotherly pat on the leg. “Want some extra help, Dr. Bower?”

Lukas shook his head and grinned at his patient, who watched him suspiciously and held tightly to his mother's leg.

“Thanks, Claudia, but Tim's a big boy. Besides, we're going to play a game.” Lukas waited until Timmy's face registered curiosity. “Tim, I have some Popsicles in our freezer in the other room. If you can feel me stick you again, I'll give you a Popsicle.”

The child's eyes held Lukas with growing interest and a little less fear than when he'd first come into the emergency department.

“But you can't cheat,” Lukas continued. “You have to look at Mom so you won't be able to see when I stick you. Is that okay with you?”

Timmy frowned and nodded his head.

“Okay, here we go. No fair peeking.” Lukas moved closer to the wound.

“Ouch!”

Lukas suppressed a laugh. “Hey, I haven't even stuck you yet. You really want that Popsicle, don't you?” He glanced over at Mrs. Bradley's tense face and winked.

She tried to force a smile, but her chin quivered. She was a young mom, and this was her first child.

“Okay, Timmy, can you count to three?”

Before the child finished his count, Lukas gave him the final injections.

Timmy got his Popsicle anyway.

 

Tedi stuck a jacket, an apple and a peanut butter sandwich into her denim school backpack. She couldn't go to Mom's. Dad would just cause more trouble for her, maybe even have her committed again like he'd threatened. Grandma was hiking somewhere in Colorado.

Tedi stepped to the door of her bedroom and listened. Their voices barely carried up the stairs from the den. If she was really quiet…

She put on a sweater, pulled the pack over her shoulders and turned off the light as she slipped out the door. Maybe if Dad didn't see the light, he would think she was asleep and not bug her. Or maybe he would be too drunk. Or maybe he would be thinking murder.

Now she heard anger in both voices as they carried up the stairs. Even Julie wasn't as sweet and fakey as she had been.

Better get out of here before Julie left and Dad exploded.

The voices continued as Tedi crept down the stairs. She skipped the third step from the bottom because it always squeaked, but she landed too hard on the next one. It thumped.

The voices paused.

Tedi froze.

The phone rang. No one made a sound. It rang again.

“I'd better get that,” Dad said. “It's probably work. We've been waiting the whole afternoon on a client to arrive from L.A.”

“What?” Julie sounded shocked. “You'd interrupt—”

“Let go!” came Dad's irritated voice, then the sound of the telephone receiver being picked up. “Yeah?”

There was a pause, then, “They're here? Now?” More silence. “Yes, Gordon. I'll be down. Give me a few minutes.” He hung up.

“How could you do this?” Julie's voice was suddenly cold and harsh.

“Do what? I'm trying to earn a living.” He paused. “How am I supposed to buy that ring for you if I don't make a sale now and then?”

Tedi didn't wait to hear anything else. She slipped out the front door without another sound and hurried along the sidewalk to the street.

Three blocks away was an open field. Across that field was a farmhouse and a barn. Tedi knew about it because she'd gone there last fall on a field trip with her class to see a bunch of beehives. The beehives weren't in the barn, so it would be safe.

It was the only place she could think of to go and hide for a while. She didn't feel like thinking about what she would do when it got dark. That would be a while yet. Right now she just had to get away, at least until Dad had time to sober up.

 

Lukas stepped out of the curtained exam room and walked Mrs. Bradley and Timmy to the central desk,
where Claudia waited with follow-up instructions. They arrived at the desk just as the radio crackled with the familiar voice of Buck Oppenheimer.

“Knolls Hospital, this is Knolls 832. Please come in.”

Lukas answered. “This is Knolls medical control. Go ahead.”

“Medical control, we are currently inbound with a twenty-five-year-old Caucasian female patient who is complaining of acute pain in her lower abdomen. Her BP is 100 over 60 with slightly increased respiration. Heart rate is 90. She is very agitated and has twice asked us to return her home. We've convinced her to get checked out. Do you have any questions or orders?”

“Yes, what is your ETA?”

“We'll be there in about two minutes.”

“Thank you. Please advise us of further developments. This is medical control out.”

“What developments can happen in two minutes?” Claudia muttered as she watched Timmy and his mom walk out the door. “Why does the ambulance crew wait until they're almost here to call us? And tonight's going to be a full moon. You can already see it out there, and it's not even dark yet.”

Lukas grinned. “Come on, Claudia. You're not superstitious, are you?”

“Everybody knows all the psych patients and Obs show up during a full moon. From the sound of it, this gal could be both crazy and pregnant.”

Lukas shook his head. He had only worked with this fiftysomething nurse a few times, but he appreciated her manner with patients. Her maternal, no-nonsense attitude gave her an edge over the other nurses in spite of the fact that she was the most recently hired, and there
fore worked the night and weekend shifts no one else wanted.

“Relax, she may not even get here,” he told her. “Remember that the ambulance attendants had to convince her twice to continue the ride.”

“As I said…” Claudia shrugged.

“I thought recalcitrant patients were your specialty.”

“That and grouchy doctors. I'm thinking of changing my specialty.”

“Too bad. The emergency department is filled with both. We'd miss you around here.”

“Can't say the feeling's mutual, except for you, Dr. Bower. You're never grouchy. I guess you haven't been at it long enough.”

“You just haven't been around at the right time.”

“Oh, I'm not denying you have a temper, but grouchy and angry are different. Dr. George is a grouch. Listen, is that a siren?”

“Sounds like it.”

“Has it been two minutes?”

“Nope, but they haven't unloaded her yet.”

In barely over two minutes the emergency department doors opened to admit Buck and Connie pushing a gurney. On it lay an overweight young woman with long, unkempt blond hair and a tight grimace on her face.

She opened her eyes momentarily when Lukas greeted the attendants, and her face contorted as tears dripped down her cheeks.

“I don't want to be here,” she moaned, then glared at Buck. “I told you to take me home!”

Claudia stepped forward and nudged Buck away from the gurney. “Nonsense, honey. You look like a sensible girl to me. I'm sure you realize how silly it would be to
come all this way, pay that whopping ambulance bill and go back home in pain. Connie, let's put her in five. It's got stirrups, just in case.”

Buck stood watching them move off, then shook his head and ambled up to the desk. “Whew! It's a good thing Claudia's here tonight, Dr. Bower. She can handle Tia Calvin. Shoot, Claudia could sweet-talk Cowboy's pet lion and not get chased out of the pen like I did. How humiliating. I'm beginning to think I'm no good with animals or people.”

Lukas raised a brow. “Interesting patient?”

“If you call a whiny neurotic interesting. That female is nuts. One minute she's grabbing my arm and begging me to help her. The next minute she's shouting at me for taking her blood pressure. By the way, don't ask her if she's pregnant. Connie did and got screamed at. You can sure tell we'll have a full moon tonight.”

“You say Tia asked to be taken home?”

“Twice, but she was hurting so badly we were able to change her mind.”

Rita joined them at the central desk and sat down in front of the computer terminal. “Kind of makes you glad your regular job is just fighting fires, huh, Buck?”

“You got that right. These moonlighting shifts are opening my eyes to some whole new experiences. First Leonardo, now Tia. Maybe I don't need this much experience.”

“Oh, come on, Buck,” Rita teased, “you didn't have to help Beverly feed the lion.”

“No, and I learned a valuable lesson. I escaped the lion, but I didn't escape my wife when she found out about it.”

“Does our patient tonight deny pregnancy?” Lukas asked.

“She not only denies pregnancy, she denies ever even kissing a man and was outraged that Connie would accuse her of it.”

Connie came out of the exam room with the gurney. “Okay, Dr. Bower, she's all yours. Come on, Buck, let's get out of here. You could've helped us transfer her to the bed, you know. She's not exactly a lightweight.”

“I already told them once!” came a shriek from room five. “Why do people keep accusing me—”

“Now, now, settle down, Tia!” Claudia managed to outshout the patient. “Nobody's accusing you of doing anything, but we have to ask. You wouldn't want us endangering any little babies just to be polite.” Her voice was soothing and firm all at once.