by Marie Force
With the incisions completed, they moved very quickly to deliver Janey’s son, to cut the cord and to repair her uterus. David worked with laser focus to remove the placenta and manage the blood loss.
In addition to helping David with suctioning blood from the Janey’s uterus, Mason kept a watch on her vital signs. “BP is 80 over 50.”
Too goddamned low, David thought as he worked faster.
The roar of the chopper landing on the helo-pad in the parking lot gave a measure of relief that help had arrived for the baby. But Janey couldn’t be transported until he got the bleeding under control.
David lost track of time as his entire world was reduced to the task at hand. Sweat dampened his brow and his fingers and neck cramped, but he remained focused on the effort to save Janey’s uterus and preserve her fertility.
“How’s the baby?” he asked Mason.
“Haven’t heard anything. They took him to the chopper.”
“At least they’ve got the right equipment.”
“Yeah.”
“Was he breathing?”
“I don’t know.”
David said a silent prayer for the baby and for Janey, and kept working.
Victoria returned to the procedure room. “How is she?”
“Hanging in. The baby?”
“Same. He’s a fighter. Four pounds, six ounces. They’ve got him tubed and warmed in the chopper. Joe is with him.”
“Good. How long has it been?”
“Almost forty minutes.”
To him, it felt like hours had passed.
“The doc on the chopper wants to know if you need help.”
“I think I’ve got this, so I’d rather he stay with the baby.”
“Joe and her parents are going crazy wanting to know how she is. Can I give them an update?”
“Tell him she’s stable but not quite out of the woods yet.”
“Be right back.”
David kept working, kept stitching, kept praying.
“I think you’re winning the war, Doc,” Mason said. “The bleeding has definitely slowed, and her BP is coming up.”
David had noticed the same thing, but it wasn’t time to celebrate yet. They had a long way to go before there’d be anything to celebrate.
A subdued crowd was left at Mac and Maddie’s house after Janey was whisked away. Mac had taken his parents to the clinic, and Grant, Evan and Adam had followed in Adam’s car. Stephanie, Grace and Abby opted to stay at Mac and Maddie’s so as not to overwhelm the clinic’s small waiting room and because Tiffany was their close friend.
“I…I don’t know what I’m supposed to do right now,” Maddie said. “I want to be there for Janey and Joe—and Mac, but Tiffany…her wedding. She’ll be here any minute, and we have to pretend everything is all right because they deserve this day.”
“She wouldn’t expect you to pretend everything is okay,” Daisy said. “She’ll understand there’s been an emergency.”
“Yes, yes, you’re right.”
“Hey,” Grace said. “They’re here.”
Daisy stood back to watch Tiffany and Blaine come in, glowing with happiness that was dampened when they heard about what’d happened to Janey.
“You need to get over there,” Tiffany said to her sister. “You need to be with Mac.” To Grace, Abby and Stephanie, she said, “All of you need to be there. They’re your family.”
“I’ll stay with the kids,” Daisy said. “Go to her.”
“Thanks, Daisy,” Maddie said. “That’d be a huge help. Are you sure you don’t mind, Tiffany?”
“Of course I don’t mind. This is no time for a party.”
“Now that ain’t necessarily true,” Ned said from where he stood inside the front door. “As much as we’d all like ta, we can’t go stormin’ the clinic and creatin’ a scene. That t’aint what Janey or Doctor David needs. Her family is with her, and the best thing the rest of us can do is stay here and eat all this food ya got and celebrate the newlyweds. I know my girl Janey,” he said, his voice faltering, “and she’d hate ta be the reason yer wedding got messed up.”
“I wouldn’t feel right having a party while Janey is fighting for her life,” Tiffany said.
“Ned’s right, honey,” Blaine said. “There’s nothing we can do for Janey and her baby except pray, so we may as well stay here and keep each other company until we know more.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Tiffany said. Turning to Maddie, she added, “Go be with Mac.”
Maddie hugged Tiffany. “I’m sorry to bail on you, today of all days.”
“You’re not bailing on me. He’s your family now. He needs you more than I do.”
Maddie gave her a final squeeze. “Love you, and I’m so happy for you.”
“I’ll want to hear the second you know anything.”
“We’ll call when we hear.”
After Maddie and the others ran out the door, Tiffany turned to Daisy and Blaine. “I’m so worried about Janey and the baby. I can’t even think about what Joe must be going through. And her parents…”
Blaine put his arm around her and kissed her forehead.
“Congratulations,” Daisy said with a smile. “I heard it was a lovely ceremony.”
“It was,” Tiffany said, her eyes watering. “But this…”
“It’s a terrible turn of events on such a happy day, but for what it’s worth, I think Ned is right,” Daisy said. “Janey wouldn’t want it to ruin your special day.”
Tiffany nodded and closed her eyes, took a moment to collect herself and then looked up at Blaine. “Let’s go say hello to everyone and have something to eat. We can figure out the rest of the day as we go.”
“Sounds like a good plan to me.” He held out his hand to her.
Tiffany smiled at him as she curled her fingers around his.
Their happiness was palpable and made Daisy long for the day when all her questions would be answered the way theirs had been. And then she remembered the way David had bolted out of there to take care of his ex-fiancée without a word to her before he went.
Of course he was only doing his job, and would’ve done the same thing for anyone whose life was in immediate danger. But that it was Janey and that he’d run out without even so much as a glance in her direction made Daisy feel discarded, which in turn made her feel selfish. Janey was fighting for her life. What right did Daisy have to feel even the slightest bit jealous for the way David had reacted to Janey’s crisis?
“You’re being a jerk,” she whispered to herself as she went upstairs to check on Hailey, who was still asleep. She wandered next door to the guestroom, where the bloody sheets were a sobering reminder of how grave the situation had been.
They don’t need to come home to this, she thought as her hotel training kicked into gear. She stripped the bed and the pad that had saved the mattress from being ruined, gathered up all the soiled linens and put them in the washing machine with a healthy dose of bleach and detergent.
Staying busy helped to keep her mind off the way David had run from her to tend to Janey. It kept her mind off the fact that he’d never given her a thought as he left her behind. It kept her from wondering when she might see him again. It kept her from thinking too much about what he must be going through as he tried to save the woman he’d once loved.
Frank McCarthy sat with his son Shane, daughter Laura, her fiancé Owen, his mother Sarah and Charlie Grandchamp, in a gathering of chairs on the lawn, still trying to get his head around what’d happened to his niece.
“Have you heard anything at all from the clinic?” he asked Laura, who’d broken the news to him when he arrived after officiating at the wedding.
“Not a word.” She rested a hand on her own extended belly. “It’s so scary, Dad. What if…”
“Don’t go there, hon,” Owen said. “She’s young and strong and healthy. She’s going to be fine. She has to be.”
Laura and her cousin had always been close, first as girls a
nd now as adults. The thought of something happening to either of them was simply unbearable.
Tiffany and Blaine came down the stairs from the deck, their happiness dampened by the crisis facing Janey and her unborn child.
“I feel bad for them,” Owen said. “Tough thing to have happen on their wedding day.”
“I’m sure they’ll make the best of it,” Frank said. “What else can they do? Everything that can be done for Janey is being done.”
As he said the words, a large white helicopter with a red cross on the side flew over the house in a roar of engine noise that had everyone looking up to watch it go by.
“Help has arrived,” Frank said.
“Thank God,” Laura replied. She dropped her face into her hands.
Owen ran a hand over her back, and Frank suddenly needed to get up, to move, to walk, to do something besides sit there and think about what his brother’s family was currently going through.
Frank stood. “Can I get anyone a drink?”
They declined and he walked over to the bar, where the family’s pilot friend, Slim Jackson, was holding court.
“What can I get you, Judge?”
“You can call me Frank, and I’ll take whisky. Neat.”
“Coming right up.”
Frank turned away from the bar and noticed Betsy Jacobson coming down the stairs from the deck. Drink in hand, he went over to say hello to his brother’s houseguest, who he’d met the last time he was on the island. Her curly dark hair was contained today in a ponytail that made her look much younger than her forty-eight years. The dark circles under her eyes had faded, and she had a bit of a tan that gave her a healthy glow.
“Hi, Frank,” she said with a warm smile as she gave him a quick hug. “I heard you were back on the island.”
Although surprised by her spontaneous show of affection, he happily returned her embrace. “I promised Laura I’d stay at the Surf this time, but I was hoping to see you here.”
“I can’t believe the situation with Janey. I’m so sorry. Mac and Linda must be beside themselves.”
“I’m sure they are. I’d like to be with them, but the boys are all there, and the rest of us are resisting the temptation to overwhelm them with support.”
“They know you’re thinking of them.”
“I just wish we’d hear something.”
“I assume she’s in good hands.”
“The best possible hands. The doctor is her ex-fiancé. He won’t let anything happen to her if he can help it.”
“Oh, well… That’s a lucky break.”
“How’ve you been?”
“Better,” she said as they strolled together to the edge of Mac’s property, which overlooked the ocean in the distance where her son Steve had been killed in the sailboat accident. “Being here has helped, although I’m sure Mac and Linda are ready to be rid of me by now.”
“They’ve loved having you.”
“You know what they say about guests and fish, right?”
“What’s that?” he asked, amused by her lighthearted smile and the sparkle it brought to her dark eyes.
“They both start to stink after three days. I positively reek by now.”
Frank wasn’t sure what possessed him to lean in close enough to breathe in her alluring scent. “If that’s reek, I want to know where I can buy a bottle of it.”
Her deep and lusty laughter sparked a feeling in him he hadn’t experienced in years. Desire.
“I’m looking into getting a place out here for the summer.”
“You should talk to Ned. He owns half the island and can probably square you away with something.”
“Ned the cab driver?” she asked with eyes gone wide with surprise. “Big Mac’s friend Ned?”
“One and the same.”
“Well, I’ll be damned. Didn’t see that coming.”
“His secret identity as the island’s land baron is part of his mystique.” He glanced at her. “Can you keep a secret?”
“I sure can.”
“I’ve been talking to him about buying a place out here.”
“Really?”
Frank nodded. “I’m retiring in September, and since both my kids have ended up here, I’d like to be where they are, especially with two more grandkids on the way.”
“Good for you. That’s really exciting.”
“I’m looking forward to it. My work has been my life for too many years. It’s time for a little balance, and having both my kids here made it an easy decision.”
“Won’t you miss the city?”
“Nah. It’s got nothing on this place.”
“There’s something special about Gansett. I can see why you all love it so much.”
“I’m going to be back and forth a lot this summer. I’d like to see you or, um, take you to dinner or something.” God, it had been years since he asked a woman out, and apparently he was seriously out of practice if that clunky sentence was any indication.
“Or something?” she asked with a smile, poking gentle fun at him.
He liked it. He liked her. “Dinner. Let’s start with dinner.”
“I’d love that.”
The minute David finished closing and dressing Janey’s incision, the paramedics whisked her out of the room and ran for the chopper. David followed them, briefed the doctor onboard and then backed away as the helicopter took off with Joe, Janey and their newborn son onboard.
As it banked sharply and headed for a trauma center on the mainland, the surge of adrenaline he’d been running on drained from his system. He bent at the waist and propped his hands on his knees. He’d done all he could for her. It was in God’s hands now as well as the doctors who would care for her in Providence.
“David.” Big Mac McCarthy’s hand on his back snapped David out of his contemplation, and he stood to face Janey’s father.
Big Mac’s eyes took in the blood that was all over David’s scrubs, and swallowed hard. “Is she…”
“She should be fine. It’s going to be a tough recovery, but I was able to save her uterus.”
“And the baby?”
“I just don’t know, Mr. McCarthy. He’s only thirty-two weeks. I wish I could give you certainties, but we’re going to have to wait and see.”
“You gave them both a chance, and I’ll never have the words to properly thank you for what you’ve done twice now for my family.”
“I did my job. I did what I would’ve done for anyone on this island, but I’m happy I was here when Janey and her son needed me.”
“Thank you.”
David nodded.
Linda joined them and gave David a hug. “Thank you so much. No matter what happens, we’ll always be grateful for what you did.”
“I just hope it was enough.”
“Did you reach Carolina?” Big Mac asked his wife.
“I did. She’s stuck in bed with some deep wounds from her fall, so she won’t be able to go to the mainland for a couple of days. I promised we’d keep her posted.”
“Let’s go find Slim and get to Providence.”
Mr. and Mrs. McCarthy left, but their four sons waited to shake hands with David and thank him for his efforts on behalf of their sister. He saw them off and went inside, where Victoria and Mason were cleaning the procedure room.
“Thank you both for your help,” he said.
“You were amazing, David,” Victoria said. “Amazing. Any chance they have is thanks to you.”
“It was all of us. I couldn’t have done anything without you guys.”
“We helped,” Victoria said, “but you were the star. I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks. I um, I need to…” David walked out of the room and went into his office, closing and locking the door behind him. The emotion-packed hour caught up to him, and he wanted to be alone when the tsunami overtook him. He sat on the sofa, head in his hands, and finally let in the overwhelming fear he’d kept at bay the entire time Janey had been open on the table.
“Janey… God…” When he allowed himself to think about how easily it all could’ve gone very wrong, he began to tremble violently. He’d been in way, way over his head performing surgery under those conditions and on Janey of all people. “Janey…” He sat back, fingers buried in his hair and tried to calm his racing heart.
For the first time since Joe screamed his name at Mac and Maddie’s house, David thought of Daisy and winced at the way he’d run from her side and never looked back. What was she thinking right about now? All at once, the only thing that mattered was getting to her. He stood and pulled off his bloody scrubs, changing back into the shorts and polo shirt he’d had on earlier.
Filled once again with adrenaline that zipped through his veins, he pulled opened the office door. “Victoria!”
Alarmed by his cry, she came out of the procedure room. “What’s wrong?”
“I need to borrow your car.”
She didn’t hesitate when she said, “Let me get my keys.”
David was coming out of his skin by the time she returned and handed the keys to him.
“Everything okay?”
“It will be,” he said, leaving her stunned when he kissed her cheek and hauled ass out of there.
Victoria’s old car started on third try, and David spun out of there as fast as he dared and drove directly to Daisy’s house in case she’d gone home while he was in surgery. He didn’t want to drive all the way to Mac’s house if she wasn’t there, and since he’d gotten separated from his phone at some point, he had no way to call her.
He pulled up to her house a few minutes later and was alarmed to find her door standing open. “What the hell?” The new door Mac had recently installed was in splinters and hung askew from the door frame. Running from the car, he went up the stairs and into the house, which had been trashed. The bouquet of lilies was scattered on the floor, the vase smashed to pieces. “Daisy!” The powerful aroma of the lilies filled his senses, and he screamed for her as he ran through the house, broken glass crunching under his feet. “Daisy!”
After establishing she wasn’t there, he ran down the stairs and out to the street, where several of the neighbors had gathered to find out what all the screaming was about.