“Hey, Dad,” he said after the preliminary greetings, “I’m off this whole weekend. What do you think about that?”
“I don’t believe it,” came his father’s musical baritone voice. “It’s been months since you had a Saturday and Sunday off in a row. How’d you manage that your first week there?”
“I’m the only full-time physician working at Knolls Community E.R. Since most of the other docs practice family medicine during the weekdays, that’s when I work. Mrs. Pinkley warned me that once she wins her battle with the number crunchers, she’ll be hiring more full-time doctors in the E.R. and then I’ll have to share my cushy hours.”
“What did you tell her about your problems in Kansas City?”
“The truth. I told her that I had personality differences with my trainer during my residency, and—”
“Did you also tell her you weren’t the only one who had trouble with him? Did you tell her that he and a nurse lied on the witness stand about your actions?”
“No, I just showed her the court papers where my name was cleared and the hospital was forced to stop blocking my license. She checked my references and told me that was good enough. She also said that it was her opinion that docs were worse about professional jealousy than attorneys. I guess she was satisfied, because she hired me. She’s quite a lady.”
“Is she married?”
Lukas sighed and rolled his eyes. “Yes, Dad, she’s married, and she’s retirement age.”
“Doesn’t hurt to ask. Found a church yet?”
“Not yet.”
“Just think, you might even have time to join the choir and actually be there every Sunday for a change.”
Lukas shook his head. Dad had never come to grips with the fact that his youngest son could not carry a tune. “What are you doing this weekend? I thought I might drive up. It’s only about a two and a half hour trip to Mount Vernon from here.”
“We won’t be home tomorrow. We’re driving to Roaring River with the Goennigs for some fishing.”
Lukas stifled his disappointment. There was plenty to do this weekend. “Still feeling like a newlywed?”
“I still am a newlywed. It’s only been a year.”
“How’s Beth?”
“Busy as ever.” Besides being the church librarian, Lukas’s new stepmom, Elizabeth, was on the kitchen committee at church, and she helped out at the senior citizen center and delivered food for Meals on Wheels. She’d been good friends with Mom and Dad before Mom got sick, and she was there for them throughout the chemotherapy and radiation. After Mom died, Beth had been there for Dad as a friend. She, too, had lost a spouse five years earlier, and Lukas had always been glad of her friendship. She’d fit perfectly into the family, and she was good for Dad.
“I wish you’d called sooner,” Dad said. “We just made the date with the Goennigs today.”
“That’s okay, Dad. I probably need to stay and settle in, anyway.”
“Oh? Don’t tell me you actually have furniture now. That tiny apartment of yours barely had room for a bed and a couch.”
“I had a small kitchen table, too.”
“Does your new house have a kitchen?”
“Of course.”
“Have you found your way into it? I bet your refrigerator isn’t even hooked up yet.”
“I don’t have a fridge here.”
“It figures.”
“I haven’t had a chance to get one. I’ve only been here a week and I’ve been working. I’ll probably pick one up tomorrow somewhere.”
“Do you have a stove?”
“The house came with one, yes.”
“Let me guess. You don’t even know if it’s gas or electric, do you?”
“I specifically remember the gas flames when they showed me the house.”
Dad sighed. “Do you have any new kitchen utensils? Last time I checked, all you had was that skillet and spatula Beth gave you for Christmas last year.”
“I eat out a lot. I used to keep cereal and milk when I had that little fridge in KC, but most of the time the milk got old before I had a chance to drink it.”
Dad clicked his tongue. “You’ve been a bachelor too long, Lukas. You need a wife.”
“I haven’t had any volunteers.”
“Any possibilities? Any dates lately?”
“No actual dates…”
“But…?”
“But nothing. One of the nurses invited me to eat with some of the staff, but I was late and everyone else had left. She’s been nice so far, but I just don’t—”
“Son, you have to get over what happened in KC. You can’t let one woman’s actions hurt your own growth.”
“Dad, that woman’s testimony in court almost destroyed my career. All she had to do was cry sexual harassment when I wouldn’t go out with her, and seduction when she turned up pregnant, and they listened! If it hadn’t been for that DNA test—”
“But you’re not in jail, and your career has not been destroyed. God is faithful.”
“I know, but people aren’t. There are some pretty vindictive people in this world.”
“That’s why you always count on God, not people. You’re a good doctor, Lukas. Don’t forget that. And you’re a wonderful person. You deserve a loving woman, someone who shares your ethical standards—someone who shares your faith. Don’t give that one misguided nurse the power to color all of your relationships with all other women for the rest of your life.”
Lukas hesitated, glancing at his watch. “I guess I should go get some dinner before everything closes. Have a good time tomorrow, Dad, and tell Beth I sent my love.”
There was a loud sigh over the phone line. “I’ll tell her. Take care. Our prayers are with you every day. And, Lukas? One little date with a nice Christian lady wouldn’t kill you.”
After Lukas hung up he pulled on his jacket, grabbed his bag and walked out to the car. Sometimes he wished he’d kept his mouth shut about the Kansas City court case, but Lukas had never been able to keep secrets from his father. Besides, being fired from the hospital and kicked out of the residency program had left Lukas without an income for several months, until his permanent medical license had come through. During that time, not long after Mom’s death, Lukas had gone home to stay with Dad and work as a respiratory tech at St. John’s in Joplin.
Enough wallowing. Though he was disappointed about his immediate plans falling through, the weekend still beckoned ahead like a long holiday. There were hiking trails to explore and a river nearby. He’d heard one of the EMTs—Buck, the guy brave enough to try to feed Cowboy’s lion—talk about how he liked to fish. Fishing didn’t measure up to hiking, but the company would be nice. Of course, Lukas hadn’t been invited.
Ten minutes after leaving work he parked on the town square by the courthouse, took a picture textbook out of his bag to study while he ate and walked down the street to the only place on the square still open this late, Little Mary’s Barbecue. He liked this café, not only because they served his favorite food, barbecued ribs, but also because of the homey atmosphere and the fact that they pitched their homemade dinner rolls to you from across the room, just like at Lambert’s up near Springfield. Lukas carried his book with him over to a corner table, ordered a plate of ribs and proceeded to read about dermatological medicine, his latest in a series of subjects he wanted to know better. His two-week dermatology rotation had bored him to death, but sometimes a case would crop up in the E.R. He wanted to hone his knowledge.
He smelled the sharp, smoky aroma of ribs as the server set the platter on the table. Then he heard a quick intake of breath, but by the time he glanced up from his reading, the server was stalking away—and “stalking” was the word for it. She shot him a glance over her shoulder as she neared the kitchen, and he could have sworn he saw offended animosity in the look. What was wrong with her?
After a quick, silent blessing, he reached for a rib and resumed reading, with the book lying flat on the table. He was careful not to get barbecue sau
ce on any pages. He did, however, become a little concerned when another woman came out through the swinging kitchen doors and walked toward him. She, too, did not stop, but gave an offended gasp as she rounded his table and returned to the back, where the first waitress stood glaring at him with her arms folded across her chest.
Lukas looked down to see if he had barbecue sauce smeared all over his shirt. Nope, nothing. His clothes were wrinkled, but that shouldn’t—He looked down at his reading material and went cold with mortification. The particular case about which he was so innocently and intently reading involved an area of the male anatomy seldom discussed in mixed company outside the medical realm. It included pictures. He shut the book with a snap, smearing red-brown sauce all over the cover. Time to leave.
Maybe he did need to get that refrigerator and stop eating out so often.
Sunday morning, Lukas sat in a middle pew halfway over from the aisle at early service at Covenant Baptist Church. Saturday had been almost a bust—he always considered his day a failure when he spent it catching up with laundry and dishes and mail. He’d even worked up his nerve and tried to call a couple of guys from work to see if anyone wanted to go to a movie or something. No one did. Worse, he didn’t even get a fridge, because a storm kept him inside. Some wonderful weekend this was turning out to be.
An elderly gentleman in a baggy suit and tie greeted him and shook his hand, as many had done when Lukas first walked through Covenant’s front door. It was nice to meet the people like this before services began, but since Lukas rarely arrived anywhere early, he hadn’t had much experience with this kind of thing. What he had experienced was that churches invariably singled out newcomers and embarrassed them during welcome time, either by making them stand when everyone else was seated, or remain seated while everyone else stood. On several other occasions when attending a new church, he had purposely arrived late to avoid the “first-time visitor” greeting; then the next time he came, he couldn’t be mistaken for a first-timer. Antisocial, maybe, but it made things easier for a shy person. Besides, he wasn’t as interested in seeing all the friendly Sunday school faces as he was in watching the nitty-gritty-business-meeting faces. Now that was something that could show the character of a church body. He was also interested in seeing how many people attended evening services.
Why he’d come to Covenant Baptist, he didn’t know, except that it was close to home and he’d already been here once for Jane Conn’s funeral. True, it probably meant that Ivy Richmond might be a member, and that wouldn’t be comfortable, but he had to start somewhere.
A familiar voice reached him from the aisle. He jerked around to find Lauren talking with some teenagers beside the pew on which he sat, and he nearly groaned aloud. He hadn’t thought of the possibility of running into her here. Before he could turn back around she spotted him, and a huge grin spread across her face. Oh, great.
“So! You decided to come!” She didn’t ask permission this time but plopped right down beside him and laid a hand on his shoulder. “I’m so glad.”
“Yeah.” He forced a smile. One did not get up and leave before services even began. “I didn’t know you attended here.”
“Of course you did. I told you, remember? At the cantina the other night.”
No, he didn’t remember. He was probably too busy behaving like a paranoid idiot then, too. This was crazy. She was obviously a member of this church and was only being friendly to a newcomer.
“So are you all settled in now? Got your stuff moved?”
“What there was of it.”
“Good. How about a picnic down at the river this afternoon? I’ve got a couple of fishing poles and some good bait. Moving to a new place must be awfully lonely, and—”
“Actually, Lauren, I don’t think so.” He refused to lie and tell her he had something better to do, because he didn’t, but why did he feel so guilty for turning her down? Was it the sudden expression of hurt and embarrassment that crossed her face and was gone in an instant? Or was it Dad’s warning the other night that it was time to forget the past? “Thanks for the offer, but no.”
“Sure.” She swallowed, and the smile returned. “Well, anytime you want a fishing buddy, let me know. I can show you the best spots in the county.”
After the service Lukas went home, changed into his hiking gear, and looked for the nearest forest trail. Lonely wasn’t so bad. It never hurt to take things slowly.
Chapter Eight
At six-thirty Monday evening, two weeks after the disappointing weekend off, Lukas Bower watched with envy as the day shift prepared to leave, all except for him. He glanced at the clock and grimaced. He was stuck here for another full twelve hours, compliments of scheduling by his beloved director, Dr. Jarvis George. Lukas hated twenty-four-hour shifts. Amazingly, there were no patients in the emergency department at this time, and this was usually the evening E.R. rush hour.
Carol and Lauren chattered as they prepared to walk out together.
The ambulance radio buzzed. “Knolls Community Hospital, this is Knolls 830. Come in.”
Beverly leaned forward and pushed the button and told them to continue.
“Be advised this is a code-red response.” Beverly caught her breath and turned to glance at Lukas. It was a disaster code. The voice continued. “We are currently leaving the scene of a head-on MVA. A large sedan with three occupants struck a minivan with two adults and three children. You will receive eight patients.”
Lukas started to call to Carol and Lauren, but he saw they had both stopped and put their purses back under the central counter.
“Looks like we’re in for some overtime,” Lauren said as she edged closer to the radio.
The ambulance report continued. “We are currently inbound with two class-one patients. The first is a Caucasian male, late twenties, who was the driver of the sedan. His vitals are: BP 80 over 45, heart rate 142 and weak, respiration 52 and labored. His initial O2 sat was 68 percent. He has absent breath sounds over the left side. He is responsive only to pain. He is intubated and is being ventilated. We have two large bore IVs established, and 1000 CCs of fluid are being bolused to the patient.”
Lukas began his mental note-making as he listened.
“There is prominent bruising to his chest,” the paramedic continued. “He moans when chest is palpated. His O2 sat has increased to 87 percent. Does medical control have questions or orders at this time?”
Lukas leaned forward and pressed the Talk button. “Wish to be advised if this patient has been secured on a long spine board with full c-spine immobilization.”
“Affirmative.”
“Acknowledged. Is patient showing signs of tracheal deviation and/or jugular distension? Also, is he having muffled heart sounds?” Lukas waited for a long moment.
“Sorry, the backboard and c-collar prevent my checking tracheal deviation or venous distension. Background noise drowns out heart sounds to an extent.”
Lukas frowned. This was not a very aggressive ambulance crew. “Please continue with report on second patient.”
This evening shift was not looking good. Time to start getting ready. Lukas pushed the talk button as soon as he received the report. “Knolls 830, what is your ETA?” How much time would they have to prepare for this deluge?
“About eight minutes. Does medical control have further questions or orders?”
“Affirmative. Is second patient intubated?”
“Negative, medical control. Are unable to intubate patient at this time but are assisting patient with bag mask ventilation, rate of 20.”
Lukas frowned again. “Copy, Knolls 830. Increase respiratory rate to 24.” He cleared and signed off, then released the switch, making mental preparations. “Sorry, Lauren and Carol, we need to keep you here for a while.” He turned to the night secretary. “Rita, please call medical and surgical backup and be prepared to do a disaster code. I’ll have to wait and see what the report is from the next ambulance unit.”
“Where d
o you want me?” Lauren asked.
“And me?” Beverly asked.
Lukas gave them instructions, then turned to the secretary. “Carol, see if we can get some additional nursing staff down here, and then make sure radiology is on standby.”
“Gotcha.”
“Beverly, also check on air flight availability. Sounds as if we’ll have to fly some of them out. Request standby at this time.”
“Okay, Dr. Bower.”
“Lauren,” he called, “better make sure we have some mannitol set up in trauma two. We’ve probably got a head injury with a classic Cushing’s reflex. Make sure there’s an intubation set up in there, too, because I’ll have to tube him.”
He turned to Rita. “Have you been able to reach our medical and surgical backups yet?”
She hung up the receiver she’d been holding. “No, Dr. Bower. I’ve beeped both of them.”
“Good. I’m sure they’ll call right back. Ask them to come as soon as possible and warn them that this is a disaster code.”
Once more, the ambulance radio blared to life. “Knolls Community Hospital, this is Knolls 832. Knolls, come in please.”
Lukas pressed the talk button. “This is Knolls Community medical control speaking. Go ahead, 832.”
“Knolls, we are currently inbound to your facility with two class-two patients. Be advised, two additional ambulances will be en route to your facility, with short ETAs. One will have a class-two patient who requires extrication.”
They gave information and vitals on a female and a male, one with possible neck injury and one with possible back injury. With an ETA of approximately six minutes, he knew he had to get the nurses back to work quickly.
“Does medical control have any further questions or orders?” the paramedic asked.
“Nothing further at this time,” Lukas said. “Keep us advised of any further changes in the patients’ conditions. We will expect you in about six minutes. This is medical control out.” Lukas pressed the button and turned to find Carol standing behind him. “Call the disaster,” he said. “We need more help, and we still haven’t heard about the children. See how many more helicopters we can get on standby. I don’t know how many we’re going to need yet.”
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