Barrett, Julia Rachel - Pushing Her Boundaries (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Julia Rachel Barrett

  “You two sound like an old married couple,” her elderly neighbor mumbled.

  “Hardly,” Maggie said under her breath. Trying to ignore her seatmate’s fidgeting, she immersed herself in her book. It wasn’t until she felt the older man’s head bounce on her right shoulder that she lifted her eyes. The flight attendants hadn’t even been by to take their drink orders. They were still working in the galley.

  Wondering if he’d fallen asleep, Maggie stole a quick glance at the man’s face. Shit! She flipped the clasp on her seat belt and jumped to her feet. As she did so, the man fell forward at the waist. She yelled for the flight attendant as she worked to free the man from his seat belt.

  “Fuck.” Her seatmate was beside her in a flash, helping her to lay the man down flat on his back in the aisle. “Get me your emergency kit,” he ordered in a soft voice to the flight attendant. “I’m a doctor, she’s a nurse.” He looked at Maggie. She had her hand on the man’s neck, feeling for a pulse.

  “You get anything?”

  Maggie shook her head. She leaned over and gave the man two quick breaths while her companion began chest compressions. The two alternated compressions and breathing while the flight attendant showed them the contents of the emergency kit. It contained epinephrine, generic Benadryl, and several sizes of airways.

  “You have an Ambu bag?” Maggie asked the attendant.

  He shook his head. “We have a small oxygen tank.”

  “Won’t help,” said the doctor. “How about a portable defibrillator?”

  A female flight attendant reached into a cabinet. “Here.” She tossed the portable defibrillator in Maggie’s direction.

  Maggie opened the plastic package. She pulled out the contents.

  “Christ,” the doctor muttered, ripping open the bag containing the electrodes, “I’ve never used one of these portable units.”

  “Me neither,” said Maggie, “but I think it’s pretty simple. Just stick the electrodes on the chest and hit the button. If I remember correctly, the thing is programmed to give three shocks or check for a heartbeat after each shock—something like that.”

  Working efficiently, the two of them soon had the defibrillator pads in place and the machine turned on.

  “Clear,” the doctor said, and he pressed the button.

  The man’s body jerked. The doctor looked at Maggie, and Maggie looked at the machine. “No heartbeat,” she said. The doctor was about to resume compressions. “No, wait. I think it will shock him again.” Both sat back on their heels and waited. The machine generated another shock. Still no heartbeat. A flight attendant knelt beside them.

  “The pilot says we’re midway between Sacramento and Salt Lake City. He says Salt Lake City would be faster.” She kept her voice soft.

  Maggie realized the other passengers were dead silent. She glanced over her shoulder. Everyone stared in their direction. She looked back at the elderly man. His face was dusky, his lips blue. As a hospice nurse, she’d seen enough death to know he was long gone. Maggie looked directly into her seatmate’s eyes and nodded her head just slightly. He got the message.

  “Okay, yeah, Salt Lake City,” he said. He reached over and turned off the AED. “Let’s get this stuff off him and make him more presentable.” Together the two removed the pads and buttoned the man’s shirt. Maggie brushed the white hair from his forehead.

  “Maybe we should put him in your seat,” whispered Maggie. “We can lean him against the window.” The doctor looked at her. She shrugged. “Well, we can’t leave him lying here in the aisle.”

  “You do this often?”

  “Um, actually I do. I’m a hospice nurse.”

  He snorted and a corner of his mouth turned up. “I don’t like to lose patients.”

  “He wasn’t your patient.”

  After a pause, he said, “Yeah, but he died on my watch, so that makes him my patient. I’m responsible. I’m sure there’s family waiting for him in Denver, or wherever his destination is.”

  Maggie heard real regret and sympathy in his voice. She laid a hand on his arm. “You’re not responsible. If anything, I’m responsible. I should have noticed what was happening, but I was too busy...”

  “Too busy ignoring me?”

  “Yes.”

  Both Maggie and the doctor looked up as someone cleared his throat. The pilot stood in front of them. He crouched down to their eye level. “I’ve radioed ahead. We’ll be landing in Salt Lake City in twenty minutes or so and the paramedics will meet us at the gate. We’ll need to get him secured,” he gestured to the man on the floor of the plane, “and you’ll have to take your seats.”

  Maggie did her best to screen the body as her seatmate and the pilot slid the dead man into the window seat and buckled his seat belt. The pilot thanked them before he returned to the cockpit to make the announcement.

  “I’ll take the middle seat.”

  “No.” Maggie shook her head. “I’m okay. I can sit there.”

  “Not on your life,” he replied. “When we land, he’s going to flip forward and you aren’t strong enough to hold onto him. I’ll take the middle seat.”

  Maggie ran a hand through her short curls. “Yeah, you’re right. Stupid of me.”

  She heard static as the pilot’s voice came on in the cabin. “Ladies and gentlemen, as you all probably know by now, one of our passengers has fallen ill. Fortunately we do have a doctor and a nurse on board and they have the situation under control.” Maggie and her seatmate exchanged glances. “We’ll be making an unscheduled stop in Salt Lake City. I promise we’ll have you back in the air and on the way to Denver as quickly as possible. We’ve radioed ahead. Those of you who are connecting to another flight shouldn’t have any problem. I’ve turned on the fasten seat belt sign, as we’re beginning our descent. We apologize for the delay and we appreciate your patience and understanding.”

  Maggie waited for her seatmate to arrange himself and fasten his seat belt before she sat down. She readjusted the seat belt, tightening it around her hips. “I feel kind of weird,” she blurted out.

  The man looked at her. “Why? Because a man just died or because you’re sitting in his seat?”

  “Both, and because he died leaning on my shoulder.”

  “Well, better you than me. I would have assumed he was asleep and shoved him over into the aisle. It’s okay. You did the right thing and you stayed calm. So you’re a hospice nurse, huh?”

  Maggie leaned down to pick her book up from the floor. “Yeah, I’ve been a hospice nurse for six years.”

  “Six years? How old are you?”

  Maggie laughed. She couldn’t help it. “Back to being rude, are you? You never ask a woman her age.”

  He laughed too. “I only meant that you look too young to have been doing anything for six years. I’d guess twenty-four or twenty-five.”

  “When I was twenty-four, I was a charge nurse in coronary care.”

  “Ah,” he said with a grin, “so you’re thirty.”

  “And you are a sneak. I don’t think we should be laughing when there’s a dead man in the seat next to you.” Maggie leaned back and closed her eyes.

  “Why not?” His voice interrupted her thoughts. “I doubt he cares. He probably thinks it’s ironic.”

  Maggie’s eyes flew open. “Hey, he had a broken hip, right? What do you want to bet he threw a big pulmonary embolus?”

  The man tapped her temple with his index finger. “Smart girl.”

  Maggie forgot to be irritated. “It happens.”

  “Yes, I know.” He smiled at her and stuck out his hand. “We got off on the wrong foot. I’m Mace.”

  “Mace?”

  “Short for Mason. And you are?”

  “Margaret Anderson, but everyone calls me Maggie.” She shook his hand.

  The plane dipped lower and both glanced at their poor companion to make certain he remained balanced in his seat. “So, Miss Anderson, it is Miss, isn’t it?” Maggie nodded. “What’s in Minnea
polis?”

  “My sister. She just got engaged and I’m meeting her fiancé. We’re spending a day or two downtown, maybe we’ll go to a ballgame at the new stadium, and then we’re driving up north to the Boundary Waters. Her fiancé has a friend who wants to take us on a canoe trip.”

  As Maggie watched, Mason raised his eyebrows. “And do you like canoeing?”

  His tone sounded so professional that Maggie laughed. “Yes, I like canoeing, but I haven’t done it since college. I guess we’ll be out in the wilderness for four or five days, so it ought to be interesting. The canoeing part doesn’t bother me. It’s the sleeping on the ground part I’m not happy about.”

  “You’ll have tents and sleeping pads, I assume?”

  “Yes, but sleeping pads or no sleeping pads, I can’t sleep on the cold, hard ground. Puts my head at a funny angle and gives me a migraine.” Thinking of the cold, hard ground reminded Maggie of their cold companion. She glanced at Mace. “You don’t think they’ll make us get off in Salt Lake City, do you, to accompany him, I mean?”

  “Don’t worry about it. If one of us has to stay with him, I’ll stay. I’m sure there’ll be a later flight.”

  “Yes, but…”

  Mace reached over and stroked her hair. The gesture took her by surprise. “I got this,” he said.

  Chapter Two

  “Lynn, oh my god, what the hell happened to you?”

  Maggie had been waiting at the curb in front of the Hubert Humphrey Terminal for nearly an hour. Now she stared at her sister, watching her climb in slow motion out of a rental car, her left leg in a cast, both eyes bruised.

  “Shit.” Maggie dropped her bag and rushed to help Lynn with her crutches. “What happened?”

  “A stupid car accident. I was broadsided by an idiot who ran a stop sign.”

  “Geez, Lynn, why didn’t you call? I would have flown in right away.” Maggie gave her sister a careful hug and propped her against the car before she flipped open the trunk and stuffed in her backpack and her carry-on bag. “When did this happen? And why isn’t Jeff driving you? Why are you driving yourself?” Maggie grabbed the keys from her sister and helped her into the passenger seat.

  “Calm down,” said Lynn, when Maggie climbed behind the wheel. “It just happened two days ago. I’m okay.”

  “You don’t look okay. How do I get out of here? Are we going to your apartment? Damn, you know I hate these highways in Minneapolis.”

  “Hey, I can drive. I got here, didn’t I?”

  “Uh, hell no, sis. Which way?”

  “Take a left at the light and then a right onto the main road.”

  Maggie put the car in gear, and with a look over her shoulder, she pulled away from the curb. She had a basic memory of the route from her last few visits to Minneapolis. “So what bones did you break and where’s Jeff?”

  Lynn sighed. “I broke my ankle.”

  “Why the black eyes?”

  “Smacked my head on the side of the car.”

  Maggie opened her mouth to say something, but her sister interrupted. “I’m fine, don’t even have a concussion. I’ve had a CT scan and an MRI. Really, I’m fine. Take a left up there to get onto the highway.”

  Maggie stopped in the left turn lane. “Well, where’s Jeff? Or you could have called me. I’d have taken a cab.”

  “I tried to call, but you weren’t picking up.”

  “Shit.” After a glance up at the red light, Maggie fished through her purse. “I forgot to turn it on, damn it. Sorry, sis.”

  “Green light.”

  Maggie pulled onto the highway, merging with what she considered insane Minneapolis traffic. As far as she was concerned, the drivers in Northern California were given an undeserved bad rep. Drivers in Minneapolis were way worse than any she’d encountered in either Northern or Southern California. At least in California people knew how to drive on a freeway. She’d been in one car accident in her entire life and it had happened in Minneapolis near Lake of the Isles, and now her sister…

  “Jeff got called into court. He had to go, and then he’s, well, he’s picking up his brother back here, back at the airport. I guess he got held up and he’s taking a later flight. We’re all meeting for dinner tonight.”

  Maggie raised her eyebrows and looked at her little sister. “His brother? Dinner? Are you nuts? I’ll make something for you tonight. You don’t look like you’re in any condition to go out to dinner.”

  Lynn crossed her arms and stared right back, a half-grin on her face. “Quit playing mommy. I’m fine and I’ve had this dinner reservation held for months. It’s at 20.21, Wolfgang Puck’s new restaurant in the Walker Arts Center, and there is no way in hell I’ll cancel. I hear the food is out of this world.”

  “You sure you’re up for something like that?”

  “Yes, Nurse. I’ve been looking forward to this since the place opened. I just wanted to wait to share it with you. Move over to the right lane and take the second exit.”

  Maggie signaled a lane change and moved over. “But we could go another…”

  “No, we can’t. I know you. You won’t come back until the wedding, and that’s not for seven months. By then we won’t have time. No, we’re going tonight. Besides, you barely know Jeff and it will be an opportunity for the two of you to bond.”

  Maggie grinned. “Over that bottle of wine you asked me to bring?”

  “Yup.”

  Maggie exited the freeway. This was familiar territory, near Lake Calhoun, and not too far from where she and a guy her sister had fixed her up with had gotten into their head-on collision. A Volkswagen Beetle versus a Cadillac in a driving rainstorm. The Beetle limped away, the Cadillac was totaled, and Maggie had to spend the night in the emergency room at Hennepin General, waiting to get her lacerations stitched up. The admitting nurse stuck her at the bottom of the triage totem pole; the stabbing victim, the head injury, the drug overdose, the stroke, and the heart attack were all ahead of her. “Hey, you’re not thinking of fixing me up with this brother, are you?”

  Her sister laughed. “Oh, you bring that up because we’re passing the intersection where you got slammed? I wouldn’t dare. There’s nothing sinister going on. Jeff’s brother has some time off, so we invited him up. I haven’t met him yet.”

  Maggie pulled into a parking space in front of her sister’s building. She turned and looked Lynn in the eyes. “Wait a minute. What about the canoe trip? You can’t tell me we’re still going on this canoe trip.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Well, thank god for small favors. I wasn’t looking forward to sleeping on the ground anyway.” She unbuckled her seat belt.

  “I didn’t say you weren’t going. I said I’m not going. Jeff and I are staying in his friend’s cabin to take care of their cats. I figured you might as well go. It’s all planned. The area is gorgeous, very wild. You have to take a boat just to get to the cabin.”

  Maggie rolled her eyes. “Why would I go if you’re not going? I don’t even know these people.”

  “Really, Maggie, it will be fun. I know you, you love being out in the wilderness, and talk about no phone, no lights, no motorcars. There are bears, wolves, cougars, moose…” Lynn smiled and brushed a hand over her arm. “Please? This way Jeff and I can spend a week at a beautiful cabin for free, which forces Jeff away from work and gives me an opportunity to recover, and you get to have an adventure.”

  “You always did know how to push my yes button.” Maggie sighed. “I never have been able to say no to you, not even when you fix me up with total losers who try to get me killed.”

  Lynn punched her in the arm. “Hey, at least you can’t say I’m not trying. Besides, you seem to hook up with plenty of losers without my help.”

  “Ouch.”

  “Well,” said Lynn, “it’s true.”

  “Yes, little sis, unfortunately it is true. Guess I can thank dear old mom and dad for that. So what am I wearing to this restaurant? I didn’t exactly bring formal at
tire. More like jeans, jeans, quick-dry pants, and more quick-dry pants.”

  Lynn grinned. “I got you covered, girl. I have the perfect dress for you.”

  Chapter Three

  “Are you sure this dress isn’t too short?” Maggie turned and looked over her shoulder at her backside in the mirror.

  Her sister snorted. “A dress could be down to your ankles and you’d ask if it’s too short. For the last time, no, it’s not too short. God, you are so lucky. You got the best legs in the family, like Mom’s, long and slender. I got stuck with grandma’s legs, muscular.”

  “Yeah? Well, you got the boobs. I got nothing.”

  Lynn laughed. “You got enough. You fill out that dress.”

  Maggie turned and stared into the mirror, studying her cleavage, or what there was of it. She shook her head. “How do you wear this dress? You must fall out of it.”

  “That, my dear sister, is the idea. Jeff likes it.”

  “Oh, I imagine he does. Let’s just hope I don’t fall out of it. It’s a bit on the loose side.” Maggie sat down to pull on the black stilettos her sister had loaned her before she helped her sister slip a flat onto her bare foot. “You want to cover this cast with something?”

  “Nah.” Lynn shook her head. “It’s a warm night and I had a pedicure right before the accident. I want to show off my cute gold toenails.”

  Maggie put an arm around her sister. “Sweetie, are you sure you’re up for this? ’Cause I’m fine with hanging out here.”

  “Nope, we’re going.” Lynn tossed the car keys in Maggie’s direction and Maggie snatched them out of the air. “Jeff and his brother are probably already at the bar. I want to make a splashy entrance with my crutches.”

  Maggie helped her sister out the door. “I still don’t understand why Jeff couldn’t pick us up. I mean, he knows you’re in no shape to drive.”

  “I already explained half a dozen times, there was a problem with his brother’s flight. He missed his connection or something.”

  Wonder if I should mention the excitement on my flight? No, forget it, especially not after my only sister was just broadsided by an idiot. “Shoot! The wine! I left it in the fridge. Wait right here and I’ll get it.”