Nikki studied the offending mole in the middle of his back. At first glance, she knew his friend had cause for concern. For several reasons, she already assumed it was a melanoma. First, it was asymmetrical. Second, it had an irregular border. Third, the color was a mixture of red, brown, and black. And, fourth, its diameter was far greater than a quarter of an inch—more specifically, she guessed it to be a full inch across.
“Can you remove it right now?” he asked.
“No,” she said bluntly. “I’m not a dermatologist.”
“I’ve had general practitioners remove moles before,” he said. “Why can’t you?”
“Because I suspect it’s a melanoma and not a simply mole,” she told him.
“Melanoma? As in skin cancer?”
“Yes.”
“Then it is an emergency and you’re required to administer appropriate medical care.”
She ignored his implied threat. “You should also know that, depending on what stage it is, I could make matters worse by causing the tumor to shed cells that will spread beyond this spot.” She paused. “This really is quite large. How long have you had it?”
“A year or so.” His arrogance faded and worry took its place. “Am I going to die?”
“This is extremely serious,” she said. “You need to take care of this right away.”
“I’m trying,” he burst out. “That’s why I’m here.”
“With a specialist who concentrates on melanomas.”
He fell silent, then heaved a frustrated sigh. “OK. Where do I go and who do I see next?”
“I’ll make a few phone calls while you get dressed. As soon as I’ve arranged an appointment, I’ll be back.”
She found Lynette and, after calling the name the nurse had recommended, she returned to Pettigrew’s room. “Dr Everly is a dermatologist who comes here twice a week for consults. Tomorrow is one of his days and he’s agreed to see you at three p.m. If that time doesn’t work, you’ll need to drive to his office in Oklahoma City on the day after.”
He frowned. “Tomorrow isn’t an optimal day. I can’t wait until the next time he sees patients in Hope?”
“Time is of the essence,” she told him. “The cancer won’t stop spreading because you’re too busy to work treatment into your schedule.”
He exhaled. “OK. Three o’clock tomorrow.”
“Good.” She wrote out an order for a CBC, liver function studies, and a chest X-ray. “Before you leave the hospital, I want you to go to the lab for blood tests and stop in at Radiology for an X-ray.”
He took the piece of paper. “Can’t these things wait until tomorrow? I need to talk to my client before—”
“I don’t think you understand the gravity of your situation,” she said firmly. “Dr Everly will need these results so he can evaluate your condition properly. Your appointment will go much more smoothly and prevent further delays if these tests are completed now. Otherwise you risk not seeing another client. Ever.”
“Fine,” he snapped. “I’ll go right now.”
She ushered him into the hallway, relieved that he’d agreed to take care of his problem. He might not realize it yet, but his friend’s persistence just might have saved his life.
With Pettigrew off her mind, she suddenly noticed an odd, acrid smell hanging in the air. She followed her nose down the short hallway leading toward Galen’s ER and caught a glimpse of a door closing at the end—a family quiet room, if she remembered correctly. Deciding that some die-hard smoker couldn’t wait until he got outside to light up, she turned back.
A series of sudden loud pops sent her ducking for cover. Half turning to identify the source, she saw a flash of sparks out of the corner of her eye seconds before white smoke billowed toward her.
Fire!
CHAPTER SIX
NIKKI didn’t waste time as something hot whizzed past her cheek. Mentally she ran through the catchy phrase she’d learned at her teaching facility. RACE—Rescue, Alarm, Contain, Evacuate. With no one in immediate danger except herself, and it being far bigger than she could contain on her own, she had to concentrate on the other two tasks. She sprinted toward their reception area and found a wide-eyed Jean standing at her desk.
“What was that ka-boom I heard?” she asked as Nikki rushed in.
Conscious of the people still in the waiting room, looking equally curious, Nikki pulled Jean toward the door. “There’s a fire in the hallway leading to the ER,” she said tersely. “Send these people outside and call for help, while Lynette and I evacuate the patients from the exam rooms.”
With the receiver to her ear, Jean calmly asked the people in the waiting room to move outside. Nikki didn’t wait to see if they exited in an orderly fashion as Jean had ordered—she was too busy rushing toward the alarm.
As soon as she pulled the switch and the loud clang started, she hurried through the increasingly smoke-filled hallway in search of her nurse.
She found her in the first room with their appendicitis patient, taking his temperature.
“Sorry to be the bearer of more bad tidings,” Nikki said briskly, “but we have to leave the building right now.”
Art groaned. “Leave? What for? I just got here.”
Her gaze met Lynette’s. “We have a little bit of a problem.”
An announcement came over the loudspeaker. “Code Red. Minor Emergency Center. Code Red. MEC. Attention. This is not a drill. Repeat. This is not a drill.”
Art paused. “What’s a Code Red?”
“Fire,” Nikki said, as the alarm began to clang loud enough to hear through the closed door. “But don’t worry. Everything’s under control.” She hoped. “Can you sit up if we help?”
“I guess I’ll have to.”
With Nikki taking one arm and Lynette the other, they soon eased Art to a sitting position. He eyed the distance to the door. “I hate to break this to you, but I can’t make it.”
“Sure you can,” Nikki said, although she had her doubts. “Are the other exam rooms occupied?” she asked Lynette.
“I just put folks in two and three.”
“Get them out of here,” Nikki ordered. “I’ll stay with Art. Do we have a wheelchair nearby?”
“I think it’s in the med room.”
“I’ll find it while you take care of the others. Are they ambulatory?”
“Undressed, but ambulatory.”
“Slap their clothes back on and move ’em out.” She turned to Art. “Can you rest by yourself for a minute until I come back? I promise I’ll be quick.”
He nodded. “Yeah, sure, but if I don’t lie down again, I’ll end up on the floor.”
She helped him recline, wondering if a wheelchair would be enough to move him to safety. It would have to be. “Hang tight,” she told him.
“Can’t do anything else,” he replied wryly.
Steeling her ears to the deafening noise of the alarm, Nikki dashed into the hallway and rushed toward the med room. No wheelchair. Not sure of where else to look and unwilling to waste time, she retraced her steps, noting that the smoke appeared thicker than it had earlier.
Suddenly she ran into what seemed like a brick wall.
“Galen!” she exclaimed, deciding that he was a sight for her sore, smoke-irritated eyes, even if his grim face and tousled hair made him appear like a specter in the hazy hallway. “What are you doing here?”
Galen grabbed her shoulders as he swept his gaze over her from head to toe, enjoying the feeling of relief that coursed through him. The heavy double fire doors were always closed between his department and the hallway leading to hers, so he hadn’t known about the fire until the announcement had come over the loudspeaker. Then his heart had beaten in double time.
“I should be asking you that,” he said, more crossly than he’d intended. “You’re supposed to be outside with everyone else.”
“I’m evacuating our last patient. He needs a wheelchair and I can’t find one.”
He mumbled a curse.
“Maybe we can get by without it.”
“I don’t think so,” she said. “What Art really needs is a gurney. Hot appendix.”
“What’s he doing in the MEC instead of ER?”
“He complained of a generalized stomachache. I was waiting for the lab results and a phone call from Dr Stevens before I sent him upstairs.”
He strode into Art’s room. “No wheelchair in sight,” he said, sounding unconcerned—although he was. “Can you make it if I support you?”
Art drew his legs up to curl into a fetal position. “Aw, man, I don’t think so.”
“Can you find a gurney?” Nikki asked. “I hate to jostle him more than we have to.”
Galen eyed the young man’s form and made an instant decision. “You go and I’ll stay. If the situation gets worse, I can sling him over my shoulder and carry him out. You can’t.”
“I barely know my way around the hospital, much less where I’d find equipment. You’re the one who needs to go. Art is my patient, so I’m the one who’s staying.”
The distinct mulish set on her face told him that, short of flinging her over his shoulder and carrying her out, she wouldn’t leave.
“You’re wasting time,” she warned.
He shot her a glare, then left. Intending to go around the building to enter the ER through the ambulance bay, he reached the front entrance just as two fire engines and an ambulance pulled into the front driveway. Firemen streamed off their trucks like ants and entered the building. At the same time two paramedics began unloading equipment from the back of their ambulance. One of them was Annie McCall, and while she was a welcome sight, the empty gurney that she and her partner were readying for use was even more so.
He rushed to Annie’s side. “Are you using that for anyone in particular?” he demanded without preamble.
Annie guided the gurney to a spot beside the ambulance. “No. Why?”
“I need it.” Without giving her or her partner time to argue, he steered it onto the sidewalk and rushed toward the entrance.
“I’m sorry, sir.” A policeman in his mid-twenties stopped him at the visitors’ desk. “You can’t go any farther.”
“The hell I can’t!” he exploded. “There’s a doctor and an extremely sick man in there and I intend to get them out.”
“The fire department will handle it.”
Galen gave the officer his most lofty glare. “You can either step aside or end up on this gurney yourself, but I am going in.”
He didn’t budge or appear intimidated. Apparently he’d stood up to tougher characters than Galen before. “I’m sorry, sir, but I have my orders.”
“For the love of…” Galen ran a hand through his hair, the only legal way he knew how to release his frustration at the moment.
Annie’s voice came from behind. “It’s OK, Dave. I’m going with him.”
“Sorry, Annie,” Officer Dave said. “No one is supposed to go in.”
Annie bristled. “Come on, Dave…”
The grizzled fire chief approached, his walkie-talkie in hand. His piercing black eyes raked over the trio as he frowned. “What’s the problem here?”
Frustrated by the delay, Galen explained. “We have a doctor inside, tending a patient with a hot appendix. They’re at the opposite end of the MEC and need a gurney to get him out.”
His walkie-talkie squawked, but Galen couldn’t make head or tail of the conversation.
“Ten-four,” the chief acknowledged, before he turned to Galen and Annie. “Hurry up,” he barked.
Forgoing the thanks so as to not waste another minute, Galen took off, conscious of Annie following. He whizzed through the lobby and careened around the corners, idly deciding that those frowned-upon med-school gurney races were now paying off. The smoke seemed less dense now, which was a good sign.
He flung open the door to Nikki’s exam room and pushed the gurney inside. “Your ride is here, along with reinforcements.”
“It’s about time,” she said cheerfully, giving Annie a nod of acknowledgement.
“Were you worried?”
She shook her head. “I knew you’d come back.”
His chest swelled after hearing her statement of simple faith. For the first time since their conversation a week ago, he felt as if he was finally making progress, although he didn’t want to jinx anything by letting her know how much her comment had touched him.
“You’re darn right, I’d be back,” he said lightly. “Locums are hard to find.”
“And don’t you forget it,” she retorted with a smile, and turned back to Art. “Here’s the plan,” she said as Galen and Annie pushed the gurney against the exam table and raised it so the two were at the same height. “We have to move you from point A to point B. Can you roll over or do we need to lift you?”
“I’ll try rolling.”
After careful maneuvering and tugging on everyone’s part, Art was safely on the stretcher with the straps secured around him.
“Are we set?” Galen asked, aware of the sheen of sweat on Art’s brow.
Art grimaced. “Yeah.”
“Then we’re off.” Galen and Annie steered him through the doorway, toward the minor emergency center’s exit.
“Easy on the bumps,” Nikki said as they came to the metal strip separating the linoleum from the carpeting.
“Yeah.” Art clutched his side. “Aw, man, I still can’t believe this is happening.”
Nikki looked over her shoulder to exchange a smile with Galen. “Your appendix or the fire?”
“Both. I positively hate waiting. I just want this over and done with.”
“As soon as we get the all-clear,” Galen told him, “you’ll have priority treatment.”
“Some consolation.” Art flung his arm over his face. “The one day I come to the hospital and need surgery is the same day the place burns down.”
Nikki chuckled as they passed through the automatic doors and came to a stop under the covered walkway and well out of the path of the entrance. “Just think of how you can use this in your act someday.”
He managed a grin. “I’ll be sure and take notes.”
Outside, Galen eyed the scene of organized chaos, glad that the few clouds in the sky kept the sun from mercilessly beating down on those unfortunate enough not to be under the canopy. Staff members milled around the patients in wheelchairs and on crutches while the more ambulatory patients and visitors simply waited and watched with wide eyes and slack jaws.
“Here’s where I leave you,” Annie said as she set the brake. “Just don’t forget to give my gurney back when you’re finished.”
Galen grinned. “I won’t. And thanks.”
“Yell if you need anything else.” With that parting remark, Annie returned to her partner’s side.
“That worked out well,” he commented.
“You stole her stretcher?” Nikki asked.
“Borrowed it,” he corrected, seconds before he saw one of his colleagues standing with a few of the ER nurses. “And speaking of luck,” he told Art, “I see our surgeon across the way. Have you met him, Nikki?”
“Not yet.”
“Then I’ll bring him over.”
“Yippee,” Art said glumly. “Nothing like having a medical consult in the great outdoors.”
Galen strode in Collin Stevens’s direction, pulled him aside and outlined the situation.
The forty-year-old surgeon grinned. “I was just coming to see him when the alarm went off. I wondered where my patient ended up.”
“He’s under the overhang with Dr Lawrence.”
“The locum for Tremaine?”
“That’s her.”
Stevens looked in that direction. “Nice-looking. Single?”
“Yes, and you’re not.”
The older man clapped him on the shoulder and laughed. “This is a switch. Feeling a little territorial, are you?”
“Some,” Galen admitted. “We were in residency together.”
“Ah,�
�� Stevens said, with a knowing lilt to his voice, “could she possibly be the proverbial one who got away?”
Galen grinned. He hadn’t thought of his situation in those terms before but, now that he did, they were appropriate. “Just check out her patient, will you?”
Stevens guffawed again, then accompanied Galen to Nikki’s side. After the introductions, he became purely professional. “White count?”
Nikki answered. “Eleven point eight with a definite shift to the left. Classic rebound tenderness in the lower right quadrant.”
Stevens smiled at his new patient. “As soon as this circus is over, we’ll work on fixing what ails you.”
Art smiled weakly. “Sounds like a good deal to me.”
Just then Galen caught Jean’s frantic wave. He excused himself, then joined her and Lynette.
“We overheard the chatter on the walkie-talkie,” Jean reported excitedly. “They think this was deliberate.”
A cold chill ran down Galen’s spine. “Are you sure? Sometimes the static makes it easy to misunderstand.” At least, he hoped she’d misunderstood their transmission.
“I’m telling you,” Jean insisted. “I distinctly heard them say ‘deliberate.’ Granted, I didn’t hear most of the conversation, but that word came through loud and clear. Dr Lawrence is lucky she wasn’t hurt.”
“What?” He’d thought she’d been caught up in the excitement like everyone else. He didn’t know she’d been more directly involved.
“She was in the hallway when the sparks started flying,” Jean said. “She ran back to my office and we got things rolling.”
Lynette leaned forward and spoke softly. “You don’t suppose this might have something to do with Emma, do you?”
Although he didn’t want to think the fire was anything but an accident, their suspicious mood was infectious.
“I hope not,” he said fervently.
Nikki listened to Art and Dr Stevens with half an ear, especially after she noticed Galen in an intense conversation with Jean and Lynette.
The Baby Rescue Page 9