by J. G. Sumner
Jillian thought about calling to let him know dinner was in the fridge. Ultimately, she decided against it. She didn’t want to bother him or hear any more about poor Laney.
Jillian ascended the stairs to get dressed. She thought about how relaxing the crashing waves made her feel and decided to wear a bathing suit to work so she could keep that feeling going. Normally, she wore jeans and a black t-shirt that said ‘GOT BEER?’ on it. That was what everyone wore to work. Jillian rationalized that it wouldn’t hurt if she wore a bathing suit just once.
Jillian made sure all the doors were locked and Duke was safely in the house. She grabbed her keys and headed out. Just as the door was about to close, the phone rang. She stopped for a second and contemplated whether to answer it before deciding against it, shut the door, and locked it. As she walked to the car, her cell phone rang. Jillian reached into her purse and grabbed it. Josh’s smiling face was plastered across the screen. She couldn’t help but smile. “Hello?”
“Hey, Jilly. How’s your day been?”
“Not bad, I slept late. Since I wasn’t sure if you were coming home, I fed and walked Duke. Also, I left some food in the fridge for you.” Jillian knew if she put Josh in a good mood, he’d be gentler with her.
“Thanks. I’m actually coming home. Probably not until late, though. I’m hoping to be able to hang out with Laney for a while.”
“Oh? What about her parents?”
“They’re working on getting her moved to St. Louis. They’re packing her things.”
“Um, wow. When did that happen?” Jillian got in her car and started it. She switched her phone over to Bluetooth.
“Her parents hired another doctor, and he agreed to work on transferring her.”
“That’s crazy! Everyone knows you’re the best doctor out there. How do you feel about them canning you like that?”
“Oh, I’m fine. It’s a long story, and I can fill you in on it later. This is really for the best.”
How could he be okay with being fired and Laney moving away? Jillian pinched her left cheek to make sure she was alive. Her prayers had been answered. The drama in Josh’s life was finally leaving. She didn’t have to worry about him being heartbroken or carrying around so much stress. Things were working out just how they were supposed to.
“So, the reason I was calling…”
Jillian almost forgot Josh was still on the line. “Yeah?”
“I talked to your doctor today.”
“Umm hmm.” Jillian held her breath. She knew this was coming, hence the need for the buttering up.
“He doesn’t think it’s a good idea for you to quit your meds. He wants you to come to his office tomorrow.”
Jillian forced the air from her lungs. “I have to work tomorrow.”
“I made your appointment for two in the afternoon. You can head to work right afterward. You’ll have plenty of time.”
“I told you I’m doing fine. I don’t need to see him.”
“A lot of the antipsychotic medications have a very long half-life. They can be in your system for days and even weeks. When they completely wear off, you could be in some trouble. Will you please just go?”
Josh was being very sweet. Usually, his approach was more of a demand and insistence. This was an entirely new Josh. “Does it really mean that much to you?”
“Yes. It does.”
“Will you go with me? I could use some support. Plus, you speak the lingo.”
“I’m sorry but I’m on call. I don’t think I can leave. Especially since I think we’re waking up Laney tomorrow.”
Jillian was deflated. Josh was putting her on the back burner again for the stupid twit. Jillian was tired of Laney monopolizing all his time. She needed him and she was far more important than some random girlfriend. “I need you. You won’t believe me if I tell you he said I’m fine. You need to hear for yourself.”
“I don’t think I can. This is an important step in Laney’s recovery.”
“Why are you waking her up? I thought she was being transferred.”
“That’s the part of the long story I’ll fill you in on later.”
“Well, good for Laney. I hope it works out the way she wants.”
“I guess we’ll have the answer to that question soon. So, will you please go to your doctor?”
“Do I have to?”
“Yes, you do. Please don’t let me down. Just see what he has to say. If he feels like it’s okay for you to be off the meds, I’ll support you completely. Please, do this for me.”
Jillian sighed. “Fine. Since you’re being so nice about it, I’ll do it.”
“Thank you. I do want to know all about how the appointment went. Please call when you’re done.”
Jillian rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Whatever. Hey, I have to go. I just pulled up to work. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Okay then. Have a good night. I love you.”
“I love you too.” Jillian hung up the phone and stormed out of her truck. She slammed the door. “If he thinks I’m going to see that damned quack, he’s got another thing coming. I’m fine, and he’s just going to have to accept it.” Jillian pulled up the straps on her bathing suit, tightened the knot on her sarong, and stormed into work with no desire to play the part of the chatty bartender.
Chapter 24
Laney
Peppermint…it’s that smell again. Why do I smell peppermint? Who’s there? What do you want?
“Laney, your days are short-lived. Your wonderfully charmed life is over. You’re being shipped home with your mommy and daddy. You’re going to Timbuktu. You can find yourself a nice young man there. Go live the simple life. You aren’t good enough for someone like Josh. Say goodbye to him. He isn’t even your doctor anymore. You see, he doesn’t want some broken girl. He deserves someone who can take care of him. He deserves someone like me. You two are over!”
Why are you doing this? Somebody help me. I’m living in a nightmare! Someone get me out of this bed. I need to get back to my life. Just please let me wake up. Wait…the peppermint. It’s gone.
***
Josh
The ringing brutally invaded Josh’s dream. At first, he thought it was church bells. He looked up to see the bell ringer waving at him. There were tons of people around him. Everyone was dressed up, smiling and patting him on the back. Laney was next to him in her wedding gown receiving hugs from her friends and other guests. They were wishing them luck and farewells. Laney’s smile was infectious, causing Josh to beam from ear to ear. He’d done it. He finally married the woman of his dreams. The bell kept ringing. Instead of adding to the happy moment, it became a nagging sound piercing his ears.
He finally realized it was the ringing of his phone.
Josh took a moment to process things before he pushed Talk. “Hello?”
“Dr. Stone?”
“Yes.”
“Hi, this is Lynn. I’m the nurse who’s taking care of Laney tonight.”
Josh sprang up. His heart raced and perspiration formed on his brow. He shot up in bed ready to dash out of the house if he needed to. “What is it? Is she okay?”
“Well, I think so. You had left strict orders to call if Laney had more episodes of tachycardia.”
“And…” Lynn wasn’t spewing the information fast enough, and he wanted to reach into the phone and pull it out of her.
“Well, she’s been taching out in the one-thirties for the last twenty minutes. I’ve given her some extra sedation, but it doesn’t seem to be helping.”
“What was happening around the time this occurred?”
“I’m not sure exactly. She seemed fine. There were no changes in her vital signs, and she had been tolerating the dialysis well. I stepped out of the room for a few minutes to get some more dialysate and her meds. When I came back, her heart rate was going crazy.”
“Did she receive all of the doses of her beta-blocker the last twenty-four hours?”
“Yes, Doctor. Everythi
ng has been given and on time.”
Josh rubbed the stubble on his face. He paced back and forth across the room wracking his brain trying to figure out the cause. Nothing came to mind. He had to get to Laney to see for himself. “All right, give her ten milligrams of Lopressor via IV push. I should be there within a half hour. If anything changes, please call me immediately.”
“Yes, Doctor. Just to confirm, you said ten milligrams of Lopressor via IV push?”
“That’s correct. If her heart rate doesn’t come down within fifteen minutes, you can repeat the dose once.”
“Okay, thank you. I’ll draw that up right now.”
Josh barely let her finish before he hung up the phone. He threw on some scrubs, splashed water on his face, and grabbed his keys. He was out of breath by the time he hit his door.
***
Laney’s heart rate was still in the 110’s. While it wasn’t optimal considering her recent surgery, it was better than it had been. Lynn stood waiting for instructions.
“How many doses of the Lopressor did you give her?”
“Just the one. Her heart rate has slowly been going down. I didn’t think I needed to give her anymore just yet.”
“Go get her another dose of ten milligrams. I want her heart rate less than a hundred.” Josh barked the orders at Lynn.
“Yes, Doctor.” Lynn scurried out of the room.
Josh leaned over Laney’s bed and kissed her forehead. “Laney, baby, what’s going on with you? What’s causing your heart rate to keep getting elevated? Baby, I need you to stay calm. Just let me help you through this.” At first, Josh thought the tachycardia was related to the surgery and what was going on with her heart. By all accounts, her heart was healing remarkably well. Josh had consulted with the cardiothoracic surgeon. He wasn’t terribly impressed with the fast heart rate since it seemed to resolve itself fairly quickly and there had only been a few episodes—mostly when others were in the room. This time it was different. It lasted longer. Josh was worried something else was causing it, but couldn’t imagine what.
Josh scoured through Laney’s recent labs and tests looking for possible signs of infection. He didn’t find anything. Her white cell count looked good, her lactic acid levels didn’t show any signs of sepsis, and she hadn’t been running a fever. He was puzzled, and it was frustrating. He’d never been in a situation where he couldn’t figure out what was wrong with his patient.
Josh flipped through Laney’s history to see if there was a pattern to the episodes. To his delight, he found a trend. They all seemed to happen between three and four in the morning. What’s going on at that hour? Is she being bathed? Are they turning her? He made a mental note to ask Lynn when she came back in.
Josh pulled his hand across Laney’s forehead and through her hair. Her curls were becoming tangled and smelled more and more like the hospital. Her lips were chapped from the tube in her mouth. Her face was growing sunken from the weight she had lost. Laney was wasting away before his eyes. Josh wrapped his arms around her and placed his head on her chest. Her heart pumped steadily against his face. More than anything, Josh wanted to make this go away for her. Instead, he raised his head and connected the freckles on her nose with his index finger and slowly brought his finger down to her lips. He missed the heat that exuded from them every time she kissed him. Unable to hold back, Josh bent over and placed his lips on the corner of Laney’s. Even though she was unable to kiss him back, her lips felt like heaven. Warmth filled Josh’s heart as he pulled back and continued looking at his angel. “God, I love you. You’re my world. You. Are. My. Everything.”
Lynn tapped Josh’s shoulder. “Excuse me, Dr. Stone. I need to get to her IV so I can give her the medication.”
Josh struggled to look away. He cherished the moments he and Laney had together and never wanted them to end. “Yes, of course. I’m sorry.” Josh stepped away from the bed. According to the monitor Laney’s heart rate was back down into the eighties.
“Wait! Hold off on that medication.”
Lynn followed his gaze toward the monitor. “Well, look at that. Her heart rate is down. It looks like you have the magic touch.”
Josh smiled hoping what Lynn said was true. “Or, the medications you gave a little while ago have taken full effect.”
“Maybe, but I’m guessing Laney might be head over heels for the doctor who rushes to her bedside anytime day or night to make sure she’s safe. I know I would be.” Lynn smiled at Josh coyly.
If Josh didn’t know better, he would say she was flirting. He didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was Laney. “When I was going through Laney’s records, I noticed her heart rate always goes up between three and four in the morning. What’s going on around that time? Are you turning her? Giving her a bath?”
Lynn crossed her arms and looked at Josh pensively. “Well, I can’t speak for other nights, but there wasn’t anything going on tonight. I literally just stepped out of her room to get her meds and dialysate.” Lynn walked to her table and looked through the medication records. “Yes, every night since Laney has been here, her dialysate has been changed between those hours.”
“What’s the process for that?” Excitement built in Josh at the thought he might have found the answer.
“The pharmacy makes the dialysate and brings it up to the medication room. I’m required to go down, pick it up, and check it against the orders written by Dr. Arnold. At the same time, I get the medications that are supposed to be given at four so I don’t have to go back later.”
“About how long does this take?”
Lynn thought about it for a second. “Not long. I think about ten or fifteen minutes.”
“In the meantime, is the dialysis machine still running?”
“Oh, yeah. I always make sure I get the dialysate before it runs out. It becomes a huge mess with the machine if I run out and an air bubble gets into the system.”
“What’s going on in Laney’s room while you’re gone?” Josh asked Lynn, but he was just as much asking himself.
“Shouldn’t be anything at all. Especially nothing to provide stimulation.”
“Does someone cover for you while you’re out of the room?”
“Well, kind of. I had the nurse taking care of the patient next door keep an ear out for any alarms or bells ringing while I was out. She didn’t stay in the room, though.”
“Hmmm.” Josh was perplexed. It seemed the only time her heart rate went up was when there were people in Laney’s room. There was no reasonable explanation for Laney’s heart rate to accelerate. He wished there were security cameras inside the ICU. Unfortunately, the only cameras were located at the visitor entrance. If the person gained access through any of the employee elevators into the unit, there wouldn’t be any video. But how would they get in unless they had a badge? He needed to check with security to see if anyone came through the visitor entrance during those hours. He also planned to be at Laney’s bedside the following night. Hopefully, that would give him some insight into the cause.
“What do you think it is?” Concern was written all over her face.
“I’m not sure. I plan to be here tomorrow night. Hopefully, I can figure it out then.”
“I’ll be back tomorrow night as well. I’ll try to pay extra attention and see if I notice anything different.”
“Thank you. I appreciate your help.” Josh folded his body in the chair next to Laney’s bed. He held her hand, placing it to his nose. Despite being in the hospital for several days, Laney was still beautiful. He couldn’t get enough of her in one breath, and continued to hold her close and breathe her in. He longed to feel the heat of her body next to him in his bed. He wanted to feel her touch, smell her hair, and listen to her laugh. He hadn’t washed his sheets since the last time she stayed because he didn’t want the smell of her to go away. It made it feel like she was with him. He needed that more now since she was in the hospital.
“I love you.” The words rolled off of his tongue e
ffortlessly as though he’d been saying them his entire life. “I’m going to fix this. I’m going to make you better and bring you home with me. I’ll never let you out of my sight again. When you’re well enough, we’ll take a trip just the two of us. Everything will be perfect. I’ll give you the life you deserve.”
Josh released Laney’s hand and angled himself so he was able to lay his head next to her shoulder. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 25
Josh
Josh was startled awake by a firm hand grasping his shoulder. He opened his eyes to find Dr. Russell towering over him. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and slowly stood up. He rolled his neck from side to side to get some of the kinks out.
“Good morning. Did you pull an all-nighter?” Dr. Russell broke the silence with his hearty deep voice.
Josh continued to stretch out his back and his arms. “No, I got a call early this morning informing me Laney developed some tachycardia, and it wasn’t resolving. I came in to check it out firsthand.”
“I know you can handle this case, but I think you may have been right to recognize you are too close.” Dr. Russell patted Josh on the shoulder. “Tell me about the tachycardia.”
Josh went through all of his findings from earlier. “Since I’m on call tonight, I’m going to make sure I’m in Laney’s room between three and four to see if I can figure out what’s going on.”
“I think it’s probably a good idea. Perhaps you’ll find something we’re not seeing.” Dr. Russell paused. “Maybe you might want to think about playing more of the boyfriend role and less of the doctor role from here on out.”
“I hear what you’re saying. I just don’t know if I can pull back completely. I need to fix her. I need to make sure she comes back to me.”