The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, as it’s known in the healthcare world, is designed to protect the patient’s privacy, but in doing so, it can also block family members from certain access to their loved ones in the hospital.
Vicky knew the HIPAA rules of patient confidentiality, had been drilled into her employee’s regularly, and to violate those rules, meant immediate dismissal.
“Is my mother there, Alice Montgomery?”
“No ma’am, I’m sorry, she’s not on this floor.”
This floor? Don’t panic… it probably doesn’t mean anything.
“Can you transfer me to the floor she is on, please?”
“Yes, ma’am, right away.” The nurse hit the transfer button, and typed in the number.
“CVICU, Nurse Julie, speaking.”
Vicky screamed in her head, Oh, my God! He’s on the cardiovascular intensive care unit, that’s where they take the patients who’ve had heart surgery.
“Julie, this is Victoria Montgomery, is my father a patient on your unit?”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Montgomery, but HIPAA—”
“Son of a bitch!” She took a deep breath, and then apologized, “I’m sorry, Julie. I know you can’t tell me. Get your nurse manager, Linda, on the phone, I want to talk to her immediately, please.”
Julie transferred her to Linda’s pager phone. “This is Linda on CVICU, may I help you?”
“Linda, its Victoria Montgomery. Please, please, I’m begging you, tell me how my father is. I’m nine hours away in a foreign country, and have not been able to call before now.”
“It’s okay, Victoria, I recognized your voice.” Oh thank you, Jesus! “I need you to stay calm, all right? Your father is on the verge of a myocardial rupture—”
“Oh, my God! His heart ruptured?” Vicky could barely breathe, it felt like she was having a heart attack as well. She gasped to catch her breath.
“No, Victoria! You misheard me. I said he is on the verge of one. We think we’ve caught it in time. I’m so sorry, I should have said that differently. He is in critical condition, at the moment, and they’re prepping him for surgery. We’ve been trying to call you, Victoria, you should come home, right away.”
“Oh, Jesus! Oh Mary, Mother of God!” With trembling lips she asked, “Who…, who is his surgeon?”
“Let me check that, just one second.” Linda sat down at the nearest computer and brought up Leonard’s medical record, “Yes, a Dr. Joyce McMillan. Wow, you can’t do much better than her.”
“Is she there, can I talk with her?” She must have flown down there as soon as she heard. God bless you, Joyce!
“She’s not here at the moment.”
“What about my mother? Is she with him, or my Aunt. He’s not all alone, is he?”
“Your mother is here, and we’ve set her up in the solarium suite, just down the hall. We let her come and go, as she pleases. Your Aunt Ruth has been with her the entire time. There are also a lot of employees keeping vigil, prayer circles, bringing food for your mom, that kind of thing. Your mom and dad will want for nothing, Victoria, I promise you that.”
A small sigh of relief, “Oh, Linda, thank you so much! Please, tell my parents how much I love them, and will be home just as soon as I can, and also tell Joyce…, Dr. McMillan, thanks from the bottom of my heart!”
“I’ll tell them, and try not to worry, Victoria, we’ll take good care of your dad, I promise you that.”
Vicky could only blubber her words of thanks, so she quickly said goodbye, and hung up. What should I do? God, this is impossible! I need to go back…, but I need to be here…, but he’s my dad? She remembered what her father had requested, just last night, ‘So you’ll stick by her side and finish your mission, no matter what happens with me?’ “Damn it, dad! Why did you make me promise that?”
Aidan walked in from the shower, drying her wet hair with a towel, and immediately sensed the change in Vicky’s mood.
“What’s wrong? Is it your father?”
Vicky shook her head, “Um…”
“What is it, baby?”
“Can you…, can you just hold me, sweetheart? Just for a minute?”
She looked so forlorn, that it broke Aidan’s heart. They sat down on the edge of the bed, and Aidan enclosed her with her arms. Vicky buried her head in Aidan’s shoulder, and almost immediately began crying.
Aidan whispered, “Please, baby, tell me what’s wrong,”
“No, please, just hold me.”
Aidan held her close, stroking her hair, rocking her gently, until finally, Vicky regained her composure enough, she could stop crying.
Aidan lifted her lovers chin, and looked into her red, swollen eyes, “Are you okay, kid?”
“Yes, the um…, the doctor said this might happen, you know, so soon after losing the baby, and being shot, and all that stress. Just one of those hormonal things, I guess. Anyway, I’m going to take a shower, and get ready.”
Aidan watched as Vicky retrieved her backpack, and went into the bathroom. Aidan had read somewhere that such a sudden hormonal change could dramatically affect a person’s mood, and with all that Vicky had been through, the past couple of months, it’s a wonder she hadn’t broken down before now. Though it sounded plausible, something was nagging at the back of Aidan’s head. Something told her that there was more to it than that.
The rest of the afternoon, Aidan scrutinized Vicky closely, but Vicky had resolved to honor her father’s wishes, and centered all her focus on the job that lay ahead. She gave no indication to the others that secretly, she was dying a slow death inside.
Looking through the hotel gift shop window, Vicky turned to Aidan, and asked, “Jo, do you think it would be okay, if I bought something in the gift shop, and mailed it to my father?”
“Sure, that’s a great idea.”
The three went inside the gift shop, and looked around. The hotel catered to Americans, mostly military, and other tourist. Vicky saw something immediately, that she knew her father would love. It was a t‒shirt that read, ‘My daddy’s a Marine’, with the hotel address on the back.
“Pop will love you in that.”
Vicky looked at her, and smiled warmly, “I love that.”
“What?”
“That you call him pop. He told you to do that, didn’t he?”
Grinning, Aidan replied, “Yeah, and I’m kinda getting a kick out of it. Would you mind if I sent him something too?”
“No, of course not, that’s really sweet of you, Aid…, I mean, Jo.”
“Good, I’ll show you what it is, when we get back to our room.”
Jerry was looking at the diamonds, displayed in the jewelry case, and focused in on a particular ring he liked.
“Thinking of someone special?”
Looking up, he smiled at Vicky, “Yeah, my girl back home. I’ve decided to take the plunge.”
“Congratulations!”
Jerry barely smiled, thinking there was nothing to congratulate him for. It’s not like he had a choice in the matter, thanks to his pushy mother. Jerry had been to war, had been wounded in that war, and still, he was afraid of his own mother. It wasn’t that he was a momma’s boy, far from it. It was that she held all the cards. She was the reason he had joined the Army in the first place. He thought it would be safer to go to war, than fight with his mother.
Aidan joined them at the counter, “What? What are you two talking about?”
“Bill’s going to ask his girl to marry him.”
“Oh, that’s great man, congrats.”
“Thanks. I think I finally have the nerve to ask her. I almost did once, but…” he looked at Aidan and changed his mind, saying instead that he had chickened out. What he didn’t say was that the very day he had planned to ask his girlfriend to marry him, was the day he learned from Vicky that Aidan was still alive, with no memories of the attack. He knew he had to help her, so he jumped on the first plane to Arkansas. He was glad he had
.
Aidan was confused. First Vicky cries for no apparent reason, that she will explain to her at least, and now Jerry shrugs off his wedding announcement, like it was a fate worse than hell. Again she was feeling left out, but this time, she didn’t understand why.
“What’s she like? Is she good enough for you?” Vicky loved to mother her friends, and Jerry had become one of her dearest friends.
He grinned at her, and replied, “It’s more like, I’m not good enough for her. She’s a real looker, so sweet, mischievous, passionate and a great kisser.” Jerry painted a picture of his idea of the perfect woman, when in fact, he had never met the girl. It was just too embarrassing to tell his friends that.
But Aidan had played poker with the man. She knew when he was bluffing, because his eyes gave away his tell. This time though, she didn’t know the reasons for it, but then, she didn’t need to know, because it was none of her business.
“Listen, I’ve got connections in Arkansas, if you need a job after this is all over with? Oh, but I don’t mean to presume.”
“Thanks, that’s nice of you, but I’m all set up, back home.”
“Well, just say the word, if you change your mind.”
***
After dinner, they returned to their rooms, and Vicky reminded Aidan, that she was going to show her what she wanted to send to her father.
“Oh, yeah, take a look at this.” She pulled out her cell phone, and showed Vicky the picture of her, when she was awarded a medal for marksmanship. “I thought I’d send that to your dad, and let him know what a sharpshooter you are.”
Vicky smiled at the picture, remembering how excited she was, “Oh, please do, he’ll love it. I didn’t know they were taking pictures. Where’s your photo?”
“I don’t know, didn’t think about mine,” Aidan laughed, “But I just had a great idea. Why don’t you put that t-shirt on, and I’ll take your picture with my cell phone, and send that to him along with the other picture? I mean, unless you’d rather wait until you can wear it for him, in person?”
“No, we shouldn’t wait,” she replied quietly.
***
Joyce walked into the OR, with a sterile towel over her hands, and a mask over her face. “How’s our patient?”
“He’s under, doctor, but his blood pressure is 140/110.”
“Damn it!”
“I’ve given him everything I’ve got. I think we should wait, and get his pressure down first.”
The pensive look on the anesthesiologist’s face, told Joyce that she wasn’t going to be able to cut Leonard open for a while. With his pressure shooting up that high, having never had high blood pressure before, Joyce knew it was the heart about to rupture. If she went in now, he could stroke out. She feared the only way to bring the pressure down, was to let the rupture happen, and repair it after the fact. This was not ideal, and in fact it was very risky, as it could cause more damage to the lining of the ventricular wall. The one saving grace in all that, Joyce thought, was that he had some pericardium around the wall, that had formed from a leaking hole in his artery, which apparently he had been unaware of, or his doctor had missed, at his last checkup. The pericardium produced a pseudo-aneurysm, which at the moment, Joyce was thankful for, because it was containing the rupture. But still, it was a no win situation, any way she looked at it.
“Damn it!”
“Do you want us to call you when he’s stable, doctor?”
“Let’s wait and see. If we think it’s going to be a while, I’ll step out and visit with the family. But until then, would somebody get me a stool to sit on, please.” Joyce leaned up against the crash cart, and watched the EKG screen, willing the high numbers to come down.
***
Vicky slipped off her blouse, and put the t-shirt on, over her bra. Then, thinking of her dad, she put her hair up in pigtails. She knew he always loved her in pigtails, as a little girl.
Aidan caught her breath when she saw Vicky. She thought she had been transported back to elementary school. She wore her hair up in curly pigtails, had a face full of freckles, and her eyes would sparkle blue in the sunlight. But something was different. It was Vicky’s eyes. They weren’t her usual crystal clear blue, but more of a smoky gray. She was positive something was wrong now. Something more than just a hormonal change, if indeed, that was even part of it.
“I had forgotten how cute you were in pigtails. You should wear them, more often.”
Vicky chuckled, “Not in your wildest dreams, missy.”
Indeed! Aidan snapped the picture and prepared to text it to Vicky’s dad, “Do you want to say something on here, before I send it?”
“Yes, just say that I love him, very much… oh wait!” she just realized that her father would be too sick to look at his phone, “Send it to Yvonne, instead. Ask her to print them out, and give them to my dad. That way he won’t have to squint to see them.”
“Hey, that’s a great idea.”
Aidan set to work on sending the two pictures, while Vicky took her hair down, and put her blouse back on. She walked outside on the balcony of their hotel room, to get some fresh air, and to hide the tears that threatened to fall. It was a beautiful view, with the sun setting over the city below. She leaned against the railing, looking past the city into the desert, unaware that Aidan was watching her, from the shadows of the room.
Aidan wanted to stop time, and just gaze upon her lover, she was so enamored with her beauty, the type of beauty that radiates from the soul. You are so beautiful, so completely stunning. She took out her cell phone again, and snapped a picture of Vicky, just as the wind caught up her shimmering gold hair, and the sun sparkling on a hint of a tear in her eye.
Please hear my prayer, dear God, because I am lost without my dad. Please, ease his pain, and heal his heart, so that he can continue to love, and be loved. In your son’s most holy name, Amen. Vicky leaned on the railing as Aidan came up behind her.
Aidan so desperately wanted to make it all better, but the only thing she could think to do, was to wrap her arms around Vicky, and will her to take whatever she needed from her. As the sun set over Baghdad, Vicky laid her head back against Aidan, and pulled Aidan’s hands to her chest, to warm her heart.
“That beautiful sunset hasn’t got a thing on you, baby.”
Vicky smiled, and Aidan could feel her body soften in her arms. For even that much, she was grateful. She could have stood out there on the balcony all night, if Vicky had wanted to, but a muffled yawn, coming from her lover, told Aidan it was time to go in.
“Come on kid, we’d better call it a night.” Aidan walked over to the closet, and pulled out a blanket and pillow. She arranged them on the floor.
Vicky watched, confused. “What’s that for?”
“This is where I’m sleeping tonight.”
“I don’t understand, why?”
“Because, if I sleep beside you tonight, I won’t be able to keep my hands off you, and we need to get some sleep for the trip tomorrow. We have to be sharp and ready for anything.” Aidan hoped that explanation would suffice. Even though it was true, the real reason was that something was hurting Vicky, and she was afraid of adding to it.
“Oh… okay, I guess that’s best.”
Vicky was disconnected from what was happening around her. She was tired and depressed, and just wanted to sleep, so she didn’t put up a fight. Instead, she changed into her nightclothes, and crawled into bed. Now Aidan was certain something was deeply troubling her lover, and it bothered her that all she could do was be as supportive, as she could be. When Aidan did finally fall asleep, her brow was still creased with worry.
***
“Hi, my name is Ellen Olivier. Is Mrs. Montgomery here?”
“Yes. I’m Mrs. Montgomery. Do I know you?”
Yvonne showed Ellen in, and closed the door behind her.
“No ma’am, though we did meet at Aidan’s medal ceremony. My wife is Dr. Joyce McMillan.”
“Oh, that’s
nice.” Alice was to distracted by her stress, to realize that Ellen was talking about Leonard’s surgeon, but Ruth wasn’t.
“Ellen, we’re so grateful to Joyce, for dropping everything, and flying down here to operate on Leonard.”
Alice just realized, “Oh. She’s… she’s your wife…, wife?”
“Yes ma’am, for fourteen wonderful years now.”
Ruth was envious, and curious, all at the same time.
“Thank you for coming, Ellen. Can I get you something to drink?” Alice was nothing, if not the proper southern belle, who knew how to put her opinion to the side, and properly welcome her guests.
“Thank you, no, I’m fine. I’m sorry I arrived late, I rushed over as soon as the wedding was finished.”
“A wedding? Oh that’s right, you’re a wedding planner, or something like that.”
“Something like that, yes.”
Ruth asked, “You rushed over here? So it was a local wedding? Anyone we might know?”
Ellen was never one to brag, especially standing in a hospital room, under stressful circumstances, but she couldn’t not answer the question. “The Governor’s daughter got married today.”
“Oh, yes, I read about that in the paper. I am impressed.” Alice was genuinely impressed because of the prestige the wedding generated.
“So tell me,” Ruth had a glint in her eye, “Was she a bridezilla?”
Ellen chuckled, and replied, “No, not at all. Just your typical nervous bride”
Ruth wanted to question her more, but there was a knock at the door. It was Joyce.
She looked around the room, and was surprised to see Ellen there. She kissed her on the cheek, and asked her to wait while she talked with the patients family. Then she turned to Alice, and asked if she would like to speak in private. Alice said no, she needs her family and friends around her, right now.
“Mrs. Montgomery, I just wanted to let you know, that there’s been a delay in the surgery, while we wait for his blood pressure to come down. Leonard has developed a pseudo-aneurysm, better known as a hematoma, which has actually contained the rupture, for now. We’re going to monitor him closely tonight, and try again in the morning. They’ll bring him back to his room, but I’ve ordered that he be kept sedated, so only one visitor at a time, in his room please. I’ve also asked for a nurse to be by his bedside the entire time.
Remember, It’s You I Love: Operation Pink Knight Page 17