A Doctor's Trust (Lifeline Air Rescue Book 4)

by Scott, Laura

  And he shouldn’t be interested in Jenna now. For one thing, they worked together. If he could just convince his body to ignore her on a physical level, he’d be better off.

  “With all this mannitol being infused, shouldn’t I place a Foley catheter?” Jenna asked, interrupting his thoughts.

  “Yes.” Zane mentally winced, glad Jim was out of it and wouldn’t know the catheter was going in. “Good plan.”

  “ETA five minutes.” Nate’s familiar drawl came through the helmet.

  Jenna quickly and efficiently placed the catheter, then went back to her documentation. “Vitals are stable. He’s putting out a lot of urine, I hope his blood pressure holds up.”

  Zane forced himself to concentrate on patient care. “If his blood pressure starts to rise, that’s a bad sign. Once he gets to Trinity, they’ll put an intracranial monitor in place to keep track of his intracranial pressure.”

  “I’ve heard of that, but I have never seen one.” He picked up a hint of wistfulness in Jenna’s tone but was reminded again at how determined she was to put her sister’s education before her own.

  Which was too bad because he thought Jenna would make an excellent doctor or nurse.

  Calls remained steady as the night wore on. Zane was grateful. At least the time passed quickly when they were busy. Not until about five in the morning did they have time to sit and relax again.

  “Only two more hours to go.” Jenna stretched her feet out and rested her head on the back of the sofa with a sigh. “I’m exhausted.”

  He wondered if her toes were still painted pink beneath the steel-toed boots. “Didn’t get much sleep yesterday?”

  “No.” She yawned and blinked.

  “Do you mind if I ask a question?”

  Her eyes snapped open, and she straightened as if on instant alert. “I guess not,” she responded cautiously.

  “If I loaned you money, would you get your car fixed?”

  “No.” Her instant refusal was no more than he’d expected, but he’d felt the need to try.

  “Why not?”

  “Because I don’t spend money I don’t have.” She looked at him for a long moment. “And besides that, there’s no reason to go into debt for car repairs. I’ve been riding the bus alone since I was ten.”

  He sucked in a quick breath. Ten? All the kids he’d known at that age had been driven to events in the comfort of carpools made up of the neighborhood parents. He tried not to let his reaction show. “I guess you’ve been on your own for a while, then.”

  “Yeah.” She declined to say anything more, and Zane understood she didn’t want to talk about her past. He couldn’t help himself from asking, even though he knew he was prying.

  “What happened to your parents?”

  “My mom died a few years ago; my dad was never in the picture.” The closed expression on her face didn’t invite further questions.

  He suspected there was more to the story than she was telling him, but he didn’t know how to make her confide in him.

  Wasn’t even sure why he wanted her to confide in him. All he knew was that he had this deep urge to help.

  And he suspected his concern didn’t stem from feelings as simple and straightforward as friendship.

  7

  Jenna didn’t know what possessed her to agree to put on a basketball camp with Zane.

  A week had passed since he’d made the offer. During the week, she made it through Rae’s final exams and graduation with a minimum of tears and an overwhelming sense of relief. Despite everything her younger sister had been through, she managed to graduate high school. And now that school was out, the basketball camp was a good way to keep the kids out of trouble. She’d prepared herself for Zane backing out at the last minute, but here it was, Saturday morning, and Zane had shown up at nine sharp as promised.

  She stood courtside and watched him gather the kids around, talking them through the next drill. At first, the group had given the newcomer plenty of attitude, until Zane had started to play.

  She wasn’t an expert on basketball—in fact, she’d borrowed books from the library to learn about it before taking her volunteer coaching position. But when Zane began to shoot, even she could tell he’d been a talented player in college. She wouldn’t be surprised if he’d been able to go professional. Although she couldn’t imagine anyone choosing to become a doctor instead of a pro basketball player. Maybe he’d suffered an injury of some sort.

  While he’d warmed up, the boys had looked on, murmuring to each other, growing more and more impressed in spite of themselves. Zane took dozens of shots from all over the court and rarely missed. He had moves they could only dream of learning.

  A couple of hours into the camp and Zane had their undivided attention.

  “Does everyone understand what we’re going to do next?” Zane asked.

  The boys nodded. Jenna had decided to do two separate basketball camps, the first with only the boys, the second for the girls. Zane volunteered to run both of them with her.

  “Good, line up on each side of the basket and take turns shooting.”

  Amazingly, the boys did as they were told, running the shooting drill as if they’d been doing it all their lives. Jenna clapped from the courtside when the occasional shot went in.

  “All right, way to go!” she shouted. Truth be told, she was a far better cheerleader than a coach.

  Zane grinned at her. “Do you want to join in?”

  “Me? Are you crazy?” She shook her head good-naturedly. “I have no talent for basketball at all.”

  “Really?” Zane arched a brow. “Then why on earth did you pick this sport to coach?”

  She lifted her shoulder. “It was the one the kids wanted to play, both the girls and the guys. I figured the rules couldn’t be that hard to learn.” She flashed a cheeky grin. “I’m not dumb. Klutzy, yeah, but not dumb.”

  “No.” Zane’s voice dropped lower as he stepped closer, reaching out to take her hand in his. “I would never call you klutzy or dumb. Quite the opposite. You’re smart and beautiful, Jenna.”

  The atmosphere between them was charged with something far more potent than adrenaline. His fingers around hers were warm and strong, yet gentle. She fought the urge to throw herself into his arms. What was wrong with her?

  “I—thank you.” She pulled out of his grasp, telling herself it was not a good idea to even think about getting involved. Emotionally or physically. Zane was a nice guy, but they came from different worlds. He lived on Pluto, remember? She didn’t belong anywhere near Pluto. And she had a younger sister she was responsible for. “I think they’re finished with the drill.”

  “What?” Zane glanced over. With obvious regret, he moved away. “All right, you guys, split into two teams. I want to see how you play your assigned positions.”

  His attention was centered back on the kids, but her heart still pounded erratically in her chest. She took a deep breath and let it out again, slowly. But no matter how much she lectured herself, she watched Zane instead of the kids on the court.

  “Come on, you guys, let’s put a little effort into this!” Zane shouted from his position courtside. “The goal is to beat the other guys down to the basket, making your shot before the defenses set. Those of you playing defense, you want to stay with your man no matter what. Hustle, hustle!”

  Peeling her gaze from Zane, she turned to watch the team. Jenna was amazed at how the boys stepped up their efforts in response to Zane’s encouragement, zipping up and down the court, stealing the ball or making a shot, and taking off again on defense.

  She was exhausted just watching.

  One of the boys must’ve tripped because he went down hard on the court. A teammate stopped to offer him a hand up, then called out, “Hey, Doc, I think something is wrong with Damien.”

  “What do you mean?” Zane strode onto the court, and Jenna immediately followed. “Everyone stand back. Let me take a look.”

  Jenna knelt on the other side of
Damien. The kid was out cold. Could he have hit his head that hard on the floor? She remembered the guy from the mall shooting, and her stomach clenched. She felt for a pulse as Zane lifted the kid’s eyelids to examine his pupils.

  “His pulse is highly irregular,” Jenna noted with a deep frown.

  “Does he have a history of heart problems?” Zane’s gaze was dark with concern.

  “Not that I know of.” She pursed her lips. “The community center requires a complete physical every other year to play. I’m sure I have Damien’s on file, but I know all the kids with medical problems, and he’s not one of them.”

  “His pupils are equal and reactive. I don’t think hitting his head caused him to black out,” Zane mused.

  “Damien, can you hear me?” She gave the boy’s shoulder a hard shake. “Open your eyes, Damien.”

  The kid’s eyes fluttered open. “What happened?”

  “You tell us.” Zane leaned close. “How do you feel?”

  “Like I want to puke,” Damien answered with brutal honesty as he put hand to his stomach.

  “Don’t sit up, just rest here for a minute.” Zane’s gaze caught hers. “We need to have him checked out at Children’s Memorial just to be safe.”

  “I agree.” Jenna pulled out her phone and called 911, asking for an ambulance to be dispatched to the community center as soon as possible. Then she stared down at Damien. More than once she’d seen young players with heart problems, a result of experimenting with cocaine. Had Damien done something stupid? She really hoped not but had to ask. “Damien, you haven’t done any drugs lately, have you? Any crack or cocaine? Heroin?”

  “No way.” Damien’s eyes widened with innocence. “I don’t do that stuff anymore.”

  Which meant he used to. Or at least had at one time. Had his previous drug use affected his heart? Maybe, especially if Damien had taken its drugs that were less than pure.

  “Drugs?” Zane arched a brow. “I was thinking more along the lines of a prolonged QT syndrome.”

  “What?” Jenna had never heard of such a thing. “Is that some sort of hereditary heart problem?”

  “Usually hereditary, but not always.” Zane kept his fingers on Damien’s wrist, monitoring his pulse. “When young kids drop in the middle of playing sports, the most common cause is prolonged QT interval of the heart. The symptoms include feeling nauseous, dizzy, and light-headed to the point of passing out.” Zane’s expression grew more serious. “Sudden death isn’t uncommon. We’re lucky his heart didn’t stop completely.”

  On that, Jenna could agree. It was possible Damien had the rare syndrome, but she strongly suspected the boy’s problem was related to previous drug use. Or possible current drug use. She didn’t expect the kid to readily admit to using as that would mean getting kicked out of the community center. As a paramedic, she’d seen similar cases too many times before.

  Outside, the shrill sound of a siren indicated the ambulance was close.

  Zane glanced up at the boys who were crowded around them. “Sorry, guys, we need to cut this camp short. We’ll schedule another one, though, don’t worry.”

  Seeing the disappointed faces, Jenna wanted to protest, but she knew Zane was right. She would need to accompany Damien to the hospital, and she couldn’t leave Zane here alone. The community center rules call for at least two adults to be present at all events. There wasn’t time to find another adult willing to step in at the last minute.

  The ambulance pulled up outside the community center door. Two guys roll the gurney across the floor toward them, and she recognized them as Miguel and Kurt, two EMTs she used to work with and who sometimes volunteered at the center.

  “Jenna!” Kurt greeted her warmly. “How are you?”

  “Yeah, where have you been? You haven’t picked up any shifts lately. We’ve missed you,” Miguel added.

  “I’m fine but busy. Listen, Damien here needs your help.” Jenna quickly diverted their attention to the patient. “His pulse is irregular. He blacked out while playing basketball.”

  The two EMTs hunkered down and got to work, connecting Damien to the portable monitor and performing a quick assessment.

  “His heart rhythm is pretty fast,” Miguel noted.

  “It is. I think he needs a beta-blocker,” Zane agreed. “The treatment for prolonged QT intervals is to give beta-blockers, like Inderal. Let’s get him transported to Children’s Memorial as soon as possible.”

  Both Kurt and Miguel slanted Zane a curious look.

  “Zane is an emergency medicine doctor. I work with him at Lifeline,” Jenna explained before one of them asked the obvious question. “Come on, let’s get Damien on the gurney.”

  In a few minutes, they were ready to go. The rest of the team gazed at Damien with concern. Each of them seemed younger somehow when faced with a potentially serious illness. Nothing like the tough guys with knives that had busted up her last practice.

  “It might be better if I stay here and notify Damien’s mother. I need to close the community center, too,” Jenna said in an undertone to Zane. “Would you mind riding along with Damien? I’ll meet you at Children’s Memorial in half an hour.”

  “Sure.” Zane pulled his keys out of his pocket and tossed them at her. She caught them with one hand. “Bring my car, if you don’t mind.”

  She rolled her eyes and juggled the keys. “You’re not going to rest until I drive your car, are you?”

  “Nope.” He flashed her a quick grin. “See you later.”

  Zane waited patiently while Miguel and Kurt slid Damien’s stretcher into the back of the ambulance, then jumped in after them. Jenna watched them leave, then turned toward the group of boys. “Will you guys help me by putting the equipment away before you go?”

  The chorus of assent was gratifying to hear. She headed to the office to call Damien’s mother. She wasn’t at home and didn’t answer her cell phone, so Jenna was forced to leave a message. The boys remained subdued as they loaded the basketballs onto the rolling cart and stored it in the equipment room. A few of them hung back, and she sensed they wanted to talk to her.

  “Coach Jenna, is Damien gonna be all right?” Lucas wanted to know.

  “Yeah, like, is he having a heart attack?” Joey chimed in. “My brother had one when he was only twenty-four, but the doc said it was because he did cocaine.”

  Her smile was grim. “Trust me, Joey, cocaine is very bad for your heart, and it absolutely does cause heart attacks. Right now, we don’t know for sure if Damien is having heart trouble or if there is something else going on. We won’t know for sure until he has tests done at the hospital.”

  “Man, that would suck to have a heart attack before you’re eighteen.” Lucas seemed troubled by what had happened to Damien, and she could only hope this little episode would help the boys stay away from drugs.

  Joey punched him in the arm. “Dude, it sucks to have a heart attack no matter how old you are.”

  Lucas looked puzzled. “But old guys expect to have heart attacks, don’t they?”

  “All right, let’s go.” Jenna herded them toward the door. “I have to mop the floor, then lock up. You guys can help me by getting out of here.”

  “Will you let us know what happens to Damien?” Lucas asked before heading out.

  “If Damien doesn’t mind,” Jenna promised. “Now get going so I can finish up here and get to the hospital.”

  Once the kids left, she quickly ran the mop up and down the court before closing and locking the door behind her. Carrying Zane’s keys, she found his Lexus easily enough and slid into the buttery-soft leather seat. The car couldn’t be very old, it still held that new car smell.

  For an instant, the simplicity of getting into a car and driving to your chosen destination made her yearn for a set of wheels. Maybe if she didn’t put money toward Rae’s college fund this month, she could afford to get her car fixed. Not that driving her beat-up junker was anything like being behind the wheel of Zane’s plush Lexus.


  As soon as she thought about it, she shook her head. If she didn’t put money toward Rae’s college and her car broke down again, she’d still have no car and less money for Rae. No-win situation either way. Doing her best to push the idea of fixing her car out of her mind, Jenna drove to Children’s Memorial Hospital, located on the grounds near Trinity Medical Center.

  Zane was seated in the emergency department waiting room when she walked in.

  “What’s going on?” Jenna was alarmed when she saw him sitting there. “Wouldn’t they let you stay with him?”

  “Don’t worry.” Zane lifted his hands in a gesture of self-defense. “They took Damien over for an echocardiogram. I haven’t left his side until now.”

  Contrite, she took a deep breath. Zane was a nice guy who cared. She didn’t need to attack him. “Sorry. I just didn’t like to think of Damien lying there all alone.”

  “I understand.” Zane took her hand and gently tugged her down into the seat beside him. “I do have some good news, though. His drug screen came back negative. When they did the initial EKG, the doctor agreed that Damien likely does have prolonged QT syndrome. His collapse on the court today had nothing to do with drugs.”

  “I’m glad.” Jenna sat back in her seat.

  Zane’s brows levered upward. “That’s it? You’re glad? Jenna, you all but accused the kid of doing drugs.”

  Now she was the one on the defensive. “Look, Zane, I’m glad Damien’s drug screen was negative. But you act as if drugs are completely unheard of. More of these kids experiment with drugs than you know.”

  “And it’s possible they aren’t as involved as you assume,” Zane argued.

  He had no clue what he was talking about. “Maybe I do sometimes think the worst about things, but it’s better than being disappointed. Besides, you heard Damien—he pretty much admitted to doing some sort of drugs at one time or another. And his heart irregularities could have been caused by former drug use, too.”