“I don’t believe you.”
He shrugged and got up from his perch on the bed. “Fine. Wait and see. If I don’t have an appointment for you by the end of the week, she’s going to do it herself. That’s what she told me this morning. Just ask her. Better get ready for school, or we’ll both be in trouble again.”
Mercy had to struggle to hide her amazement as she stepped into Clarence Knight’s bedroom behind Lukas and Darlene. The huge man made his standard, dilapidated double bed look like a doll’s crib. The center of the mattress formed a deep well that strained beneath the weight of his enormous, sleeping bulk. The sound of snoring reached all along the length of the dimly lit hallway leading to the room. He slept propped up on shabby, worn pillows, with nothing but a huge pair of shorts to cover him.
Clarence had a full head of dark, nearly black hair that grew below his ears. A full beard and mustache disguised much of his face, but they did not hide the great slope of flesh that bulged from chin to chest. Without the fat, some women might have called him attractive. To Mercy he was just another man who didn’t know how to handle his physical appetites.
Immediately she felt guilty for the tenor of her thoughts. What if it were a woman lying here encased in this prison of flesh instead of a man? What did it matter? Clarence was in trouble. Even in the dimness of the room, Mercy detected superficial ulcers on the man’s grotesquely swollen legs. Why hadn’t he been to the doctor long ago?
Darlene clicked on the bedside lamp and leaned over, her own wheezing drowned out by the sound of her brother’s troubled sleep.
“Clarence,” she called softly, shaking his arm.
No reaction.
She glanced up at Lukas and Mercy with an apologetic shrug. “He’s hard to wake. He doesn’t sleep well at night because he stops breathing so many times. I’m always afraid he’ll stop breathing for good.”
“You probably don’t sleep too well, yourself,” Mercy said. She couldn’t keep the cynical tone from her voice. Had it ever occurred to this man that his sister might be sacrificing her life just to keep an eye on him? Her breathing sounded awful. Darlene was the one Mercy wanted to check out.
Lukas squeezed his way around Mercy in the crowded room. He leaned forward and grasped the giant by the arm. “Clarence,” he called loudly. “I’m Dr. Bower, the person your sister told you about. Clarence? Try to wake up now, please. Dr. Richmond and I need to talk to you.”
Clarence’s eyes opened slightly, and he growled and shifted in the bed. The bedframe shook as if an earthquake had hit. His eyes came open more, and he glanced at his sister.
“You’re wheezing again.” The deep, grating bass of his voice betrayed concern. “Where’s your stuff?”
“I’ll get more,” she said. “But first, I want you to talk to these doctors. They came here to help us.”
Clarence’s chocolate-brown eyes came open wider. “Doctors?” He looked up at Lukas, then at Mercy standing slightly behind him. As if suddenly embarrassed by his state of undress, he reached and pulled a sheet over his bare torso. The sheet didn’t quite fit across his huge abdomen. His attention focused back onto Mercy, and he frowned.
“Mr. Knight,” Lukas interjected, “I’m Dr. Bower, the emergency room physician Darlene told you about. This is Dr. Richmond, a friend of mine. We’re here to help you.”
“Help me what?” Clarence growled. “Darlene needs the help. Can’t you hear her? Take care of her and leave me alone.” He pulled the sheet up higher on his chest.
“That’s exactly what I intend to do,” Mercy snapped. “But she wants you to be treated first. For once why don’t you consider her feelings?”
Lukas shot her a warning glance, and she looked away. She shouldn’t have come on this wild-goose chase. The man wasn’t going to accept their help anyway. She could see it in his eyes. And she certainly wasn’t in the mood today to deal with the male species. They should exist on another planet. Maybe in another universe.
“I’m in good health,” Clarence Knight growled. “Can’t you see how healthy I am? Get out. I can’t afford your medicine.”
“I’m not after your money,” Mercy shot back.
He leaned back and grunted, studying her expression more closely. “You’d be the first doctor who wasn’t.”
Mercy opened her mouth to argue, but Lukas reached out and gently squeezed her arm.
“When Clarence lost his insurance,” Darlene explained to Lukas and Mercy, “the family doctor refused to see him anymore.”
“I’m sorry you had so much trouble, Mr. Knight,” Lukas said. “We aren’t charging you for the medication we brought you today, and we aren’t charging you for our help.”
“I didn’t ask for your help.”
“You told Darlene you would see me,” Lukas said. “But you wouldn’t come to the emergency room.”
“Those places cost money,” Clarence said. “I know. I got hit with a bill from Knolls three years ago. Darlene had to help me pay it off.”
“You know I wanted to do it,” Darlene told him. “Clarence, please just talk to them for a little while.” She stopped and took several breaths. “You told me you would. They really care.”
“If they really care, they should know you’re in trouble, sis.”
“More than you realize, and you’re part of the reason,” Mercy snapped, ignoring Lukas and his warning glance. “We brought medicine for her.”
“Then help her and leave me alone.”
Mercy clamped her teeth down on her tongue to keep from making another angry retort. She raised a brow at Lukas, then looked at the sister, who continued to struggle with her breathing. “Come on, Darlene, let’s leave these…gentlemen alone for a few minutes and see if we can get rid of that wheeze.”
Darlene hesitated, looking at her brother.
“Go on, sis. I’ll be fine.”
Mercy led the way out of the room and waited for Darlene to follow. The only redeeming quality that man had, in her opinion at the moment, was the fact that he did seem to love his sister very much. That might save him in the end if he listened to Dr. Bower, which he was probably too bullheaded to do.
Lukas closed the door.
“Lock it,” Clarence growled.
Lukas did so.
The big man visibly relaxed. “Thanks. Okay, Doc, let’s get some stuff straight.” He tossed off the sheet and struggled to move his bulk to the side of the bed. He swung his legs over to the floor, then sat there for a moment huffing. “I don’t want a doctor here.”
“You told your sister you would see me.”
Once Clarence caught his breath sufficiently, he inched closer to the side of the bed and anchored his hands on the edge of the mattress. “I only said that to stop her crying. Can’t stand to see a lady cry.”
“Then you’d better go through with this, Clarence, because if you don’t, she’ll be crying again. You’re in trouble and you know it. What’s worse, she knows it.”
“I told you I can’t pay, and you and I both know this one trip ain’t gonna cut it. I’ll have to go in for all kinds of tests, maybe even surgery. I’m not gonna saddle Darlene with all those bills.”
“You won’t have to.”
“How can you say that? They told me three years ago how much it would cost to fix me up, and I’m a lot worse now.”
Lukas took a deep breath. “You obviously qualify for aid.”
“No. No handouts.” He leaned forward and tried to push himself off the bed. He fell back, gasping.
Lukas stepped forward to help him.
Clarence held a hand up to ward him off. “I’ll do it myself or I won’t do it at all.” He leaned forward again, and this time made it to his feet. “Gotta go to the john. At least I can still do that for myself. Don’t know how long it’ll last.”
Lukas heard the man’s labored breathing and itched to use a stethoscope on him. But first things first. “Have you been urinating more often lately?” he asked.
Clarence’s sour breath filled th
e room as he puffed his way to the attached bathroom. “About twice as much, seems like. Maybe even more.”
“Thirsty a lot?” Lukas listened to the floorboards groan.
“Lots.” Clarence squeezed into the bathroom and closed the door.
Lukas reached into his medical bag and pulled out his stethoscope and his sphygmomanometer with a thigh cuff. He might as well be prepared.
The toilet flushed and the door opened. Clarence extricated himself from the bathroom and lumbered back toward the bed. Lukas could have heard him breathing from the far end of the house.
Clarence clutched his chest as he lowered himself to the mattress once more.
“Feels like someone is sitting on your chest, doesn’t it?” Lukas observed.
Clarence continued to catch his breath. He nodded. “How’d you know?”
“I’m a doctor. You also seem to have a lot of difficulty breathing.” That was the understatement of the week.
“Some. I’m okay after I rest. You try carrying all this weight around for a while. You’d be out of breath, too.”
“Of course I would. Especially if I were in heart failure, had diabetes and a possible bowel obstruction. Your heart is straining to keep up with your body, and the angina pain indicates your coronary vessels are clogging up, probably due to high cholesterol and triglycerides.”
“Use English, Doc.”
“I’m saying you could have a heart attack at any time. All of it’s treatable, Clarence, but time is your enemy right now.”
“How’s that?”
Lukas stared at the man. Was he in denial? “We’re talking life and death here, Clarence.”
“We all have to die sometime.”
Lukas felt a chill as he looked into the big man’s eyes. They were not cold, hard eyes. They were a deep, warm brown. But he wanted to die. Darlene was right.
Clarence leaned forward. “Let me tell you something, Doc.” He kept his voice low. “Darlene’s going to be okay once I’m gone. I made sure of it.”
“How can you say that?”
“Insurance.” He sat back with a nod of satisfaction. “They wouldn’t carry me for medical, but they couldn’t dump my death benefits. I paid them off before all this happened.”
“Do you really believe your sister would rather have your money than you?”
“She doesn’t know what she really needs right now. I’m just a dead weight to her.” His face contorted in a humorless grin. “No pun intended.”
“Why don’t you treat your sister like an adult and let her make her own decision about this?”
“I’ve always taken care of Darlene. I can’t do this.” He gestured around him helplessly. “I can’t live like this. It’ll drain her dry, and then she’ll die, too.”
“Not if you’ll swallow some of that pride and let us help you. Clarence, what you’re planning will destroy your sister.”
“No, it won’t. She’ll miss me for a while, but she’ll be fine. She’s a lot tougher than she looks.”
“Doesn’t love count for anything with you?”
“Why do you think I’m doing this? Do you really think I look forward to dying? There’s no other way.”
“Yes, there is. You have someone who wants to help you right here, right now, with no strings attached. I think you’re worth it and I think your sister is worth it.”
“How can you think that? You don’t know us.”
“You’re a human being, and I hold human life sacred. Call it a sacred trust.” Lord, show me how to reach this man. He’s not listening to me. Will You speak to him Yourself, please? I’m not good at this kind of thing.
Clarence grunted.
Lukas sighed. “Look, Clarence, I risk losing my job by treating you, and Dr. Richmond is at risk of losing patients today because we care about what happens to you.”
“I didn’t ask you to come here.”
“But we’re here. Dr. Richmond is proving right now that she cares about your sister. What can it hurt? If you’re planning to die anyway, what’s a little needle prick to find out what’s going on in your body? It won’t hurt nearly as much as a heart attack. What’ve you got to lose? We can’t call out the national guard to drag you into the hospital if you don’t want to go.”
For a moment Clarence seemed to waver.
“Won’t you at least let me check you out?” Lukas asked. “Let me take some blood, a urine sample, listen to your chest and back, take your blood pressure. The tests won’t cost you or your sister anything. I promise. Let me make up for some of the mistreatment you feel you’ve received from the medical profession before.”
Clarence looked at Lukas for a long moment. “No strings?”
“None.”
“I won’t leave this house.”
“I wish you would, but we’ll do what we can here for now.”
“What’s in it for you and the lady doc?”
“Glory,” Lukas said drily, grinning. Then he sobered. “I can’t just sit by and let someone die if there’s something I can do to help. I think Dr. Mercy feels the same way in spite of her outward attitude.”
Clarence hesitated for another moment, then shrugged. “Okay, Doc, slap that cuff on and let’s see what happens.” He held up a finger. “But I’m staying here.”
Chapter Fourteen
Mercy checked Darlene’s pulse oximetry after one breathing treatment with a portable Pulmo-Aide nebulizer unit. Ninety-four. Not perfect, but a little better. She only had a little expiratory wheeze now.
“Darlene, I wish you were breathing a little better, but I can leave you a Proventil metered dose inhaler. I want you to use two puffs every six hours, as needed. You’re probably familiar with it, aren’t you?”
Darlene nodded, her face set as it had been ever since they had left Clarence’s room.
Mercy sat down beside her new patient. “I know you’re worried about your brother, but you need to start thinking a little about yourself right now. He’s responsible for his own health. You can’t—”
“I realize I can’t force him to take care of himself, Doctor,” Darlene said. “But I can’t help trying.” She glanced at Mercy, then away. “You’re acting just like all the rest. You don’t understand Clarence. You don’t know what he’s been through—what we’ve both been through. Everyone’s so quick to judge someone just because he’s heavy. They just see the outside, not the heart. You don’t know why he is the way he is.”
“Why is any man—” Mercy caught herself and glanced at Darlene, chagrined. “Sorry, I didn’t intend to bring my prejudices to work with me. Dr. Bower told me a little about your situation on the way here, and I understand…even admire the fact that you want to make your own way without state aid. I can’t, however, agree to the extent Clarence has taken it. Doesn’t he see what he’s doing to you?”
“He thinks that if he dies I’ll be free to live my own life again. He thinks he’s going to die.” Darlene’s eyes filled with tears. “So do I.”
“Maybe not if you’ll let us help. I wonder how Dr. Bower is doing with him right now.”
Darlene shook her head. “Clarence is very stubborn.”
Mercy put a hand on Darlene’s shoulder and squeezed. “They’ve been in there for quite some time, and I haven’t heard any raised voices. I’ve found that Dr. Bower can be very good with patients.”
The door to Clarence’s room opened and Lukas stepped out. “Dr. Mercy, may I have the venipuncture kit and blood tubes? I’ll also need a specimen container for a UA.”
Mercy stood up and grinned at Darlene. “See what I mean?”
Jarvis George sat in his darkened office and hoped his phone would not ring. At two o’clock on Tuesday afternoon, it might not get too bad in the emergency room. With a little luck maybe no one would get sick or have a wreck or try to saw off a finger before someone took over at seven…whoever it was. Jarvis frowned. He didn’t even remember who was coming…. Oh, yeah, it was Bower again.
He muttered an o
ath and opened the top drawer of his desk. He felt through the shadows for the little blister packages of Ultram. But did he really need them? The pain wasn’t as steady as before, but the confusion was worse. For the first time in his life, he understood what patients meant when they said their symptoms fluctuated. Sometimes he felt almost normal, then another headache would attack, like an invisible monster stalking him. He felt so frustrated. He got so angry at the littlest things lately.
With the bare amount of light that seeped in past the heavy gold drapes at his plate-glass window, he glanced at the sheet of paper on the corner of his expansive desk. June had followed through on her promise to find out more about Lukas Bower at Cunningham. The unsatisfactory results caused more confusion, and Jarvis buried his face in his hands. Why keep pushing this? Why did he feel so much antipathy and fear over the new doctor? Just let it go.
But he couldn’t let it go. Not only was Bower uncertified and undisciplined, his presence here posed a problem for the hospital, a change this community wasn’t ready to make. Didn’t they understand how much money it would cost them if Pinkley decided to hire more full-time physicians for the E.R.? The docs would all expect more money, raises every year. Knolls wouldn’t be able to afford it, and then what? They’d be taken over, bought out by the big boys in Springfield or St. Louis, some moneygrubbing HMO that didn’t give a rip about human lives. He hated that! He slammed his fist against the desk, then grimaced and grabbed his hand.
A sudden, soft knock at his door startled him and shot another wave of pain through his head. “Go away.”
He mouthed the words without sound, making no attempt to rise.
The knock came again. “Jarvis? You in there?”
Ivy.
Slowly Jarvis pushed his chair back and stood. He walked to the door and unlocked it, then turned on the light. The brightness made him wince, but he must not let Ivy see.
He pulled the door open and forced a smile. “My dear, you look wonderful.” She didn’t. She looked haggard and worried. Dark circles still underlined her eyes, and her mouth came together in an uncharacteristic frown.
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