Silent Pledge

by Hannah Alexander

  He loved Estelle’s interpretation of contracts.

  As he sat waiting in the cushioned chair in front of the desk, he heard snatches of conversation from Lauren, then Josie, and then from Mercy as she walked down the hallway toward the office where he sat waiting for her.

  He relished the sound of her voice.

  The door opened, and Mercy slipped in and caught sight of him. The sudden light of greeting that filled her gaze was not as joyful as he had anticipated, not as enthusiastic as she had been last night at her house. Instead, there was a quiet thoughtfulness. Probably a patient case that still drew her attention.

  She shut the door quickly behind her and leaned against it. “Can you believe this? Is this really happening?”

  Her voice held a sense of wonder, but her dark eyes did not reflect the carefree abandon he had come to cherish when they were together.

  “I’m caught up, and you’re here, both on the same day.”

  She wore royal-blue scrubs today beneath her white lab coat. Her coffee-colored hair hung loose around her shoulders and down her back and shimmered with health in the streaks of sunlight that beamed through the windows. She’d never looked more beautiful to him. And every time he saw her, that beauty deepened.

  “Don’t say that too soon,” Lukas warned. “This may be the eye of the hurricane.”

  Without looking away from him, she reached behind her and locked the door with a gentle snap. “They’ll have to break in.” She smiled at last. “Lukas, you look wonderful. I’m so happy you’re here.”

  He crossed the space between them and caught her in a hug. She smelled wonderful, like antiseptic and soap. She felt even better in his arms. He buried his face in her hair and held tight, unwilling to release her immediately, and he could feel her surprise. He was never one to initiate a frontal attack of affection like this.

  “Mercy, I’ve missed you so much,” he said quietly.

  He heard her catch her breath—was there just the slightest hesitation?—and then she reached up and drew him closer.

  “You can’t imagine how many times I’ve wanted to hear you say that,” she whispered. “Oh, Lukas, I’ve dreamed of holding you just like this.”

  The soft brush of her words tingled against his neck. He relished her nearness for a final few seconds, then reluctantly released her. “There have been so many times I’ve picked up the telephone to call you, but you were either at work, or it was too late at night.”

  “And those were probably the times I was lying awake, thinking of you and wishing I could talk to you.”

  “I did call to let you know I was coming down last night, but—”

  “I know. I didn’t get the message.” She closed her eyes and shook her head sadly. “It’s like we keep missing each other, isn’t it, Lukas? You don’t suppose…is it possible that maybe…Someone doesn’t want us to be together?”

  Lukas stared at her, blinked, frowned. “Someone?”

  “Someone, with a capital S.”

  He hadn’t expected that. All the time they’d been apart Mercy had seemed to miss him, to want him back here in Knolls, even sharing her practice with her. And after what Estelle had said about her…

  Mercy turned to the paper bag he had set in the middle of her desk. “Did you get this from Antonio’s?”

  “Yes. Hope you don’t mind a little cholesterol today. It’s seven-layer lasagna and that triple-death chocolate dessert you love so much.”

  She grimaced. “You know, I love the low-fat pizza, too.”

  “Yes, but this is what you got on our first date.”

  She sighed and shook her head, then stepped toward him and lifted her face toward his as if she might kiss him. “You are a romantic. I don’t care what anybody else says about you. Thanks, Lukas.” Instead of kissing him, she took his hand and linked her fingers with his. “Mind if I ask the blessing?”

  Lukas took a last, lingering look into her eyes before bowing his head. Something was still wrong. He could hear it in her voice.

  “Dear Lord…thank You.” The warmth of her words slid into the silence with soft hesitance. And sadness. But sadness about what? “Thank you for this precious friend, who has taught me so much about kindness these past few months. Thank You for his generosity and his wisdom. You knew just what I needed.” Her voice wobbled, and she fell silent. Her fingers tightened their grip.

  Lukas felt his appetite abandon him. Something was very wrong. He looked up to see tears making a steady course down her cheeks.

  Instinctively he reached toward her. She released his hands and wrapped her arms around his waist as she buried her face against his shoulder.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “Oh, Lukas…” For a moment she just held him.

  Lukas felt that old, familiar power she had always had over him, and he felt, with the same familiarity, that sense of helplessness that weakened all his defenses when she cried. That was fine. He no longer wanted, or needed, a defense against her power.

  “I’ve missed you,” she said finally. “Last night I was so happy to see you. Tedi—” She raised her head and looked into Lukas’s eyes, and the tears sparkled. “You saw how she reacted. She’s missed you so much. Both of us have.”

  “Then, why are you crying? I’m here. If Estelle gets her way, I’ll be coming back to help you here at the clinic until the E.R. is finished.”

  He thought the possibility of his returning soon would finally bring that joy to her eyes that he loved so much. It didn’t. “I made a mistake when I signed the contract at Herald,” he said. “I knew after my first shift that accepting a position there was the wrong thing to do. I may be in some legal trouble if I leave before my contract is up, but I doubt if Mr. Amos can face down Estelle Pinkley when she’s on a rampage.”

  Mercy watched him in silence as fresh tears filled her eyes, then she once again pressed her forehead against his shoulder. “Lukas,” she whispered, “what do you know about the concept of reconciliation?”

  He felt the power of the word like a blast of icy air. “What…concept?” he managed to croak.

  She sighed. “Do you think it’s God’s will that Theo and I…that we try to put our marriage back together?”

  Lukas felt as if she had taken a flying leap at him and kicked him in the stomach with both feet. His breath caught. His hands fell away from her shoulders, and he stepped back, staring at her helplessly.

  But before he could reply, the piercing cry of a siren reached them. At the same time, the telephone rang at Mercy’s desk.

  She wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand, took a deep breath, and snatched up the receiver. “Yes.” She listened for a moment. Her eyes closed involuntarily. Her face grew pale. “We’ll be ready, but call Air Care for standby. She’ll probably have to be airlifted out.”

  She hung up the phone and turned to Lukas. “It’s Kendra Oppenheimer. They found her unconscious in the sauna at the health club. Buck thinks she’s taken an overdose of her medication. The ambulance is bringing her here.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Lukas stared at the back of Mercy’s head as he followed her down the hallway toward the wide back door of the clinic. He was still trying to recover from her question. If she was thinking about getting remarried to Theo, then why the warm welcome at her house last night? Why the telephone calls? Why did she behave as if she still cared?

  But he shouldn’t think about that right now, not with the noisy bustle around him in preparation for Kendra’s arrival.

  The large receiving room, which had once been used for storage, was now set up somewhat awkwardly for unloading of patients from an emergency vehicle. Mercy had made several obvious improvements to aid in the care of seriously ill or wounded patients. The lab had many more capabilities, as did the radiology room. The place looked as if it had been equipped as a class-four emergency department. Lukas could only pray they would be equipped for this one.

  As the ambulance van pull
ed swiftly into position to unload the patient, Lukas battled his own selfish emotions. Hadn’t he purposely stayed away from Knolls so Mercy would have the freedom to make her own decision about Theodore? And she was obviously struggling with that decision now. What had he expected? If he truly loved Mercy the way a man should love a woman, wouldn’t he be able to place her needs above his own?

  Before the ambulance stopped rolling, Buck Oppenheimer burst out the back door of the vehicle in a rush. He wore a muscle shirt and snug biker’s shorts that showed every ripple in his muscle builder’s body. “I found her in the sauna at the end of the weight room.” The words spilled out of him in a frightened stream. “She was conscious but could barely lift her head, and she was flat out on the floor. She’s stiff as a board, like she’s cramping or something. I thought about heatstroke, but I looked for her purse to see if she’s taken an overdose of her drugs—”

  “No,” came Kendra’s groggy voice from inside. “I didn’t…” The complaint dissolved into a mutter of unintelligible words.

  Lukas and Mercy stood back as the attendants came around and pulled their patient out of the van. Kendra was lying on a backboard with an IV in her right arm and monitor leads attached to her chest. She was dressed much like Buck. Her eyelids were half draped over her eyes.

  Connie, the experienced paramedic with hair as short as Shannon’s, acknowledged Lukas’s presence with a brisk nod. “Welcome back, Dr. Bower. Glad you’re here.” She turned to Mercy. “I guess Buck filled you in on what happened. When we got there she had a heart rate of one-thirty, respiratory rate of thirty-five, and her blood pressure was high but fluctuating. Her temp was one-oh-four at the health club. I didn’t tube her, because her airway seems okay at this point. Boy, her muscles are rigid, though.”

  “Do you have her on normal saline?” Mercy asked.

  “Yes. Wide open.”

  “Good, Connie. Start another IV.”

  When they moved Kendra, Buck stayed by the cot as if attached by an unseen cord. “What if it’s an overdose? All I found was her dosage case in her purse, and it still had medicine inside. All her bottles are at home.”

  “How long have you been at the club?” Mercy asked.

  “About an hour.”

  “And she’s been exercising all that time?” Mercy’s voice rose in alarm.

  “S-stop…” Kendra’s voice came in a whisper, and tears dripped down the sides of her face into her hair. Her eyes remained shut.

  Mercy stepped to her side quickly. “Kendra? Can you talk to me?”

  No response.

  Lukas stepped forward and palpated Kendra’s legs. Buck and Connie were right—the muscles were very rigid—almost too rigid even for heatstroke.

  “Push her just inside the door,” Mercy instructed them. “That’s where we’re set up for treatment.” She squeezed Kendra’s fingers and watched.

  Even from where Lukas stood, Lukas could see the capillary refill was sluggish.

  “Lauren?” Mercy said. “Where’s Lauren?”

  “Right here, Dr. Mercy,” came Lauren’s reassuring voice from the hallway. She rushed into the room carrying ice packs, a fan and a plastic spray bottle. “Thought you’d want to get the temperature down as quickly as possible.”

  “Good.” Mercy kept her attention trained on the patient. “Kendra?”

  Still no response.

  Mercy reached over and moved her knuckles against the center of Kendra’s chest.

  The young woman winced. Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked up at Mercy. More tears dripped down her face. “C-can’t move. S-so tight.”

  Mercy took Kendra’s hand in a gentle grip. “It’s going to be okay.” She turned to Lukas. “Would you help us take her off this backboard? Lauren, get me a blood gas. Buck, you may be right about the heatstroke. Lauren, did Josie go to lunch yet?”

  “Yes, about ten minutes ago. You want Loretta to try to find her and get her back here?”

  “No, we’ve got enough help. Let Buck pack her in ice and spray the mist over her. Let’s cut those tight clothes off. Sorry, Kendra, you’ll have to get some new exercise gear later. Connie, can you stay with us for a while?”

  “Sure can, Dr. Mercy,” the paramedic said. She turned and gave orders to her EMT partner, Dan, to keep a close watch on Kendra’s vitals, then turned back to Mercy. “What can I do to help?”

  “Draw blood for a septic workup and then give her a Tylenol suppository. Lauren, after you get the ABG you can run the lab. It’s okay, Kendra. We’re going to get you cooled down.”

  Lukas once again tested the rigidity of Kendra’s leg muscles. “Mercy,” he said softly, “feel how tight her muscles are. And look at her—she’s not flushed, she’s pale. And she’s not too dehydrated for tears or perspiration.”

  Mercy frowned and leaned over Kendra, patting the younger woman on the shoulder. “Kendra, do you feel like you’re burning up?”

  “Y-yes.”

  Mercy tested the feel of her arm and leg muscles and looked back at Lukas, her face revealing increasing concern. “You’re right. That’s lead-pipe rigidity.”

  Buck placed the ice packs under his wife’s arms and in the groin while Connie cut away the outer layer of clothing. Kendra moaned in protest, and Buck cupped the side of her face with his hand. “I’m sorry, but I’ve got to do this, babe. We’ve got to get your temperature down fast.”

  Her tanzanite-blue eyes came open wide when Connie started the second IV, and her gaze reached up to him in pleading. Her teeth were still clenched. “I’m scared, Buck. What’s happening?”

  He turned to Lukas and Mercy helplessly.

  “Spray the mist over her, Buck,” Mercy said. “The drugs she’s been taking could be causing this reaction, especially with the exercise. She could have neuroleptic malignant syndrome. It’s a rare reaction, one we have to treat in a hurry.”

  “You mean it’s not an overdose?”

  “No!” Kendra cried through clenched teeth. “I told you that.”

  “Buck, direct the fan on her,” Mercy said, then turned and called over her shoulder, “Lauren, do we have Dantrium and Ativan in stock?”

  “I think so, Dr. Mercy. I’ll go check. If not, I’ll send Dan to the hospital for some.”

  “No. I know we’ve got some kind of benzodiazepine here. I want you to give it intravenously as soon as you can get it in, then check on the Dantrium.”

  “Heart rate’s going up,” Dan informed them. “One-twenty. BP’s rising.”

  Mercy turned a worried gaze to Lukas. They had to break the fever fast. If this was heatstroke, lowering the body temperature could relieve symptoms. If Kendra was suffering from neuroleptic malignant syndrome, the IV drugs would be necessary to break the muscle rigidity. Otherwise there could be a major dysfunction of all organ systems. Muscle breakdown could lead to kidney failure, even death.

  “Connie, keep a close eye on her airway,” Mercy said. “Kendra, are you feeling sick to your stomach?”

  “No, but I can’t move.” Her voice rose on a spiral of fear and frustration.

  “Just let us know if you feel nauseated. Since you can’t move, we’ll have to move you.”

  Tears continued to spill from Kendra’s eyes. “Buck?”

  “I’m right here. I’m not leaving you.” He continued to spray and adjust the ice packs and the fan. “It’s going to be okay. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

  Mercy turned to Lukas, and for a moment she reached out and touched his arm, as if for strength. “I can’t wait to find out for sure what this is.”

  “No, you can’t. The drugs won’t hurt her if it’s heatstroke, and they’re necessary.”

  She lowered her voice. “I could turn this one over to you.”

  “There’s no need.”

  “But you’re the E.R. doctor.”

  “You’re doing great. I’m taking orders from you today, Dr. Richmond.”

  Theodore Zimmerman sat with his fingers twined t
ogether like reinforced chain links. He had always hated doctors’ offices, feared needles—though he would never admit that to anyone—and resented the lack of dignity a patient suffered sitting in a thin, backless gown. He could almost hear the rattle of the paper on the exam table as it echoed the pounding of his heart.

  What was going on? Why the gown? He’d thought he was coming in for the results of his second blood test for hepatitis B. At worst, he’d expected to be ushered into the conference area for a discussion on the best treatments available for the disease. At best, he’d hoped to be told the initial result was a fluke. This naked vulnerability had not been in his plans. Neither had hepatitis.

  What he’d hoped—what he’d dreamed about for several weeks—had been the possibility that Mercy would see him with new eyes, that she and Tedi would begin to understand and care for the new Theodore and the different heart God had planted inside him. That didn’t seem to be working out any better than his blood tests.

  The walls and heavy, ornate wooden doors in Dr. Robert Simeon’s office were more solidly constructed than most—an internal medicine specialist could afford such decor, and his patients expected it. Theodore could barely hear the sounds of ringing telephones, chattering voices and brisk footsteps. The attractive sweet-faced young nurse who’d taken his vitals simply explained that placing a patient in a gown was standard procedure for examination. And of course, knowing Robert, he would be thorough. Mercy had commented several times in the past about Robert’s font of knowledge and his common sense. He would take every precaution.

  For years Theodore had resented Robert Simeon, had even been jealous of his close professional relationship with Mercy. After the divorce he had wondered if Mercy and Robert would take the bond to a more personal level. They hadn’t. He should have known Mercy better than that. Robert’s style was Porsche Carrera. Mercy’s was all-wheel-drive Subaru—with four doors and plenty of storage in case she needed to haul patients home from the hospital or buy them groceries.

  At the thought of Mercy, Theodore felt the tension squeeze tighter in his gut. If he really had hepatitis, what would happen to all the dreams he’d been daring, lately, to dream about getting his family back? God, please let this all be a big mistake. Please give me a chance to make it all up to them. What if he was truly sick and would be off work for a few weeks or even months? He had good insurance at Jack’s Print shop, but how would he pay his bills?