Chasing the Wind

by Patricia H. Rushford

  Dr. Hildebrand thought it was probably acid reflux but chose to do several tests to rule out a heart condition. Anabelle took time to explain each of the procedures. “Unfortunately, acid-reflux symptoms can imitate heart-attack symptoms.”

  “So you think that’s all it is?” Karen asked. “I feel dumb, if that’s the case.”

  “It’s a good possibility since the omeprazole—the acid inhibitor we gave you—seems to be working. Your EKG looks good.”

  “So I shouldn’t have come in?” Karen frowned.

  “Yes, you should have. We’d much rather people come in when they suspect heart attack symptoms than wait and see. The symptoms can be similar, and sometimes it takes blood tests to determine whether or not a person has actually had a heart attack.”

  Karen sighed. “Thanks. I think the doctor told me that, but I couldn’t understand all of what she said.”

  Anabelle grinned. “That can be a problem. If you need any of us to translate, just call.”

  Anabelle had only Mr. Blake to check in on before finishing her morning rounds. Then she planned on talking to Becky about a discharge plan for Dr. Hamilton. Not that they needed one. From what she’d seen so far, her favorite doctor was as headstrong as Olga. Anabelle sighed, wishing she could do something or say something to Drew that would get his attention.

  When she entered Mr. Blake’s room, she noted that he seemed troubled as he sat hunched over in bed weaving his fingers together.

  “Mr. Blake, are you all right?”

  “Yes—I mean I feel okay. I’m still having some pain, but I guess that’s normal.”

  “Are you getting enough pain medication?”

  He nodded.

  “Is there something I can help you with?”

  “No…” He looked up at her. “Maybe. I suppose I shouldn’t be talking to any of you about this, but I just feel terrible.”

  Anabelle sat in the chair next to him. “What is it?”

  “I told my son it was okay, that he shouldn’t interfere, but he won’t listen. He’s an attorney, and…” Dillon paused. “He’s telling me we need to sue Dr. Hamilton for malpractice.”

  “Oh my.” Anabelle released a long breath. She wasn’t surprised but hoped that James had been wrong.

  “I don’t know what to do.” He leaned back against his pillow.

  “I wish I could help you, Mr. Blake. I do know that Dr. Hamilton would never purposely put a patient in danger. He’s one of our best doctors.”

  “That’s what I said. He even came by to see me and make sure I was okay after he’d just had a heart attack himself.”

  Anabelle wished she could tell him not to pursue a lawsuit, but it wouldn’t be right to influence him one way or the other. “If you’re inclined, you could pray about your dilemma. And pray that you and your son make the right decision.”

  “Thanks. I’ll do that.”

  She listened to his heart and lungs and after talking a bit more about his progress, Anabelle stepped into the hallway.

  Lord, what’s happening here? If they did move forward with a lawsuit, did they have a chance? Had Dr. Hamilton been negligent in operating when he wasn’t feeling well? Perhaps, but Anabelle knew he’d never put a patient in danger if he could help it.

  Yet he had blamed himself. I’ll add Mr. Blake and his sons to my prayers as well, she thought as she made her way down the hall to the next room.

  Elena tiptoed into Isabel’s room before heading for work. “My sweet girl,” she murmured. She wanted to hold her precious grandchild in her arms and shield her from all of the painful things life could bring. And one of those things was, unfortunately, the child’s own mother.

  Since speaking to Sarah the previous day, Elena had been in turmoil. War raged in her heart. Compassionate Elena—the nurse, the mother, the nurturer—wanted to reach out to Sarah. She knew the kind of upbringing Sarah’d had, how warmth or love had been nonexistent. No surprise then that Sarah had followed such a destructive path.

  Another part of Elena wanted nothing to do with her. She tried to not see Sarah’s features in little Isabel, but the resemblance was there and unmistakable. While Isabel had her daddy’s dark hair and eyes, the facial features and smile were Sarah’s.

  Elena hadn’t told Rafael or Cesar about Sarah’s call. She had a feeling Rafael still pined for his daughter’s mother, and she didn’t want to see him become hopeful only to be heartbroken once again.

  Cesar would have suggested they take Sarah in under their wing to give her another chance for Isabel’s sake. Even though he worked as a police officer and witnessed the worst of the worst, he still had a compassionate heart. Elena couldn’t help feeling it would be a naive heart in this situation.

  Elena lightly drew Isabel’s dark hair aside and planted a light kiss on her cheek. In another hour or two, Rafael would take her to preschool. Elena focused on the life they had built together, just the four of them, and tried once again to shut Sarah out of her mind.

  At the hospital, she became engrossed in her work and had almost forgotten about the Sarah situation until she acknowledged the deep inner voice.

  Sarah is in pain.

  Elena felt her steely resolve and cynicism start to crumble. What harm could there be in just checking Sarah out over coffee? Maybe she really was in a better place. At least she’d have made the effort God seemed to want her to make.

  Elena drew in a sharp breath and retrieved her cell phone from her purse. She punched in the number the secretary had given her. Sarah answered on the fourth ring.

  “Hello.” She sounded sleepy. Or drugged, Elena thought cynically.

  Before she had the chance to rethink her plan, she quickly made her offer. “Sarah, this is Elena. I have been thinking about what you said. I am not promising anything, but if you are available, I could meet you at the Cuppa Coffee at eleven thirty tomorrow morning.”

  Sarah’s voice came out in a sob. “Thank you so much for giving me a chance, Elena. I really am clean now, and I want my life back.”

  Elena went cold. “I’ll see you tomorrow at eleven thirty.”

  Sarah wanted her life back. Did she really mean she wanted Isabel back?

  Chapter Eleven

  AT THE END OF HIS SHIFT, JAMES KNEW HE wouldn’t be going home anytime soon. Tucker had taken a turn for the worst. Dr. Clark had heeded Dr. Hamilton’s advice and brought in Dr. Jeffries, a specialist from the teaching hospital in Peoria, to do a consult. She’d invited Dr. Hamilton and James to attend as well.

  He felt honored being there but, at the same time, knew how much he could bring to the table. He called Fern just before the meeting and let her know he’d be late. He also called Gideon.

  When his son didn’t answer, James left a message. “Gideon, I’ll be late tonight. Not sure when I’ll get home. Make sure your mom gets something to eat. I thought you might want to know that Tucker has taken a turn for the worst. He said you came by last night. Love you, Dad.”

  James closed the phone, took a deep breath and stepped into the conference room.

  An hour later, the four doctors and James filed out. Bottom line was that Tucker would be going into surgery again. The GI doctor from the teaching hospital would perform the surgery with Dr. Clark assisting. Since the nuclear test failed to show a specific bleeding spot, all they knew was that it was coming from somewhere in his abdomen.

  Dr. Jeffries indicated that they would look for bleeders and at the same time check for pockets of infection, then start Tucker on a course of the antibiotic cocktail James had suggested. The GI doctor had used it before, and the team agreed to give it a try.

  Dr. Hamilton had suggested James assist with the surgery.

  James figured he’d be lucky to be home by midnight. He went back to the floor to tell Tucker the news.

  “You’ll be there the whole time?” Tucker asked.

  “I’ll make sure the doctors do everything right, buddy.” James found it hard to speak. He clasped Tucker’s hand. “Yo
ur parents will both be here.”

  “Okay.” He closed his eyes.

  James sucked in a deep breath and pulled himself together while he removed the gown and gloves.

  Out in the waiting room, he spotted Dr. Clark and Dr. Hamilton talking with the Blairs. Mr. Blair signed the consent forms. “He’s good with it.” James attempted a smile. “I told him I’d be there to make sure the doctors did it right.”

  John Blair pinched his lips together and shook James’s hand. “Thanks.”

  Gideon came in as James was leaving. He gave his dad a hug. “Thanks for calling me.”

  “I’m glad you’re here.” He watched with pride as Gideon took a seat beside Tucker’s parents and asked if he could bring them anything.

  On the way to the surgical suite James called Anabelle and asked her to put Tucker on the Good Shepherd prayer chain. Their church had people in place specifically to make phone calls when intercessory prayer was needed. To ensure confidentiality, no specific details were given, just the name. Each person called the next until the chain came back around to the first caller. In this case Anabelle was first.

  “I’m sorry, James. These are the tough ones. I know. I’m praying. I’ll call Candace and Elena too.”

  “Thanks.”

  James paused outside the surgical suite, then plodded to the sinks to wash up. Dr. Jeffries and Dr. Clark were already there. Once they had scrubbed and stepped into their sterile garb, the procedure began. After years of practice, James managed to shift into his objective mode. He needed to let go of his feelings and focus entirely on his task.

  Dr. Jeffries used a balloon endoscopy to examine the colon and found numerous lesions and two small veins that were issuing small amounts of blood. There were several large pockets of infection that the doctor was able to drain. Dr. Jeffries felt that as long as the medications worked, he had a good chance of making it. James wasn’t so sure. As a medic, he’d seen his share of abdominal wounds; Tucker’s was bad.

  By eight o’clock that evening, Tucker was awake and responding, his vital signs stable. James and Gideon headed home around nine. Morning would come far too soon, and James had a lot to do at home before going to bed. Having a clone would have come in handy.

  Thursday morning, Anabelle sat in her favorite chair near the patio, letting her devotional for the day seep in. It had been about God’s will. Did anything happen outside of God’s will? Some people thought no, but Anabelle felt differently. God did not will Adam and Eve to sin. They ate of the forbidden fruit on their own. God did not choose that path for them.

  God certainly did not will for people to do bad things. And oh, there were so many bad things people did to themselves and others.

  As a nurse she often heard patients ask, “Why did God let this happen?” She’d asked that herself when her little girl had come so close to death. She finally realized that God had never wanted people to do evil, and He certainly never wanted harm to come to His children. God had not willed the accident that had nearly killed Kirstie. That horrid man had caused it. It had been his choice to drink, not God’s.

  Anabelle sighed. Such a philosopher she could be, especially when she felt maudlin like she did this morning.

  Last night’s meeting with the Bike Smarts committee had ended around nine. It looked as though they were all set for their school programs. The meeting had gone well but it seemed the older she got, the less stamina she had for those long evening get-togethers.

  Of course, it hadn’t helped to learn about Tucker. She’d read about the accident. Anabelle jotted a few notes down in her journal and prayed again for those on her list.

  When Anabelle entered the hospital for her shift, she knew someone had died. It wasn’t any sort of superpower—she had worked there long enough to pick up on the sorrowful tone. Though they had an excellent cure rate, death was certainly no stranger at Hope Haven. But because they counted every patient as a part of their family, they took losses hard.

  She checked on her own patients, and Debbie assured her they were all doing well. “Dr. Hamilton went home last night around nine. Said he wanted to get some sleep. Did you know he was seeing patients and acting as a consultant yesterday?”

  Anabelle tsked. “That man.”

  Debbie shook her head. “You have to admit he’s dedicated.”

  “True.” Anabelled smiled. “James called last night to tell me about Tucker’s surgery. Have you heard anything?”

  “Not recently. I do know he went from recovery to ICU.”

  Debbie hesitated and looked over Anabelle’s head. “Speaking of ICU, here’s Elena.”

  Anabelle turned.

  “Hi, Debbie, Anabelle.” There were no dimples in Elena’s cheeks this morning, only sadness in her dark brown eyes. “I have some bad news.”

  “I had a feeling. Let’s go into my office so Debbie can get her charting done.”

  “What’s up?” Anabelle hitched her hip up on the corner of the desk.

  Elena sat in the chair. “We lost a patient last night.”

  James knocked and stepped in. “Sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to talk to you.” He glanced at Elena. “Did you tell her?”

  “I started to.”

  James lowered himself into the second chair and leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees.

  Anabelle touched his shoulder. “Was it Tucker?”

  He lowered his head. “He died early this morning.”

  “James. I’m so sorry.” Anabelle closed her eyes for a moment to let the news sink in.

  “We thought he was doing better,” James said.

  Elena nodded. “He was for a while. But his immune system just couldn’t fight that level of infection.”

  “His parents must be devastated.” Anabelle wished there was something she could do for James. He seemed to be taking the boy’s death especially hard.

  “I can’t believe it.” James rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe I should have stayed with him. I might have been able to…”

  “Don’t do this to yourself, James,” Elena said. “Tucker was getting the best possible care.”

  “I know. Everyone did their best, including me.” James got to his feet, shoulders still slumped. “Doesn’t make it any easier.” He hugged each of the women. “I need to get back to the unit. Thanks for listening.”

  Once Elena and James left, Anabelle closed her eyes for a moment to pray for Tucker’s family. What a tragic loss. She reflected on the devastation she had felt when she’d learned of Kirstie’s accident and knew how long the road to healing could be, how long it could take to experience joy again.

  Anabelle asked for focus and the ability to tend to her own responsibilities—one of those being Seri. Becky had written another note about Seri’s being a social butterfly.

  After report and making her rounds, Anabelle found Seri at the nurses’ station chatting. “Seri, would you mind coming into my office for a few minutes?”

  “Sure. Like, now? I have to help Olga with her shower.”

  So what are you doing here? Anabelle held back the retort. An employer should never express disdain for an employee in front of their peers.

  Anabelle smiled. “I don’t think Olga will mind. I’ll just need a few minutes.”

  “Okay.” Seri eased out of the chair and walked with Anabelle to the office. Anabelle indicated for her to sit in one of the chairs in front of her desk. Rather than taking the intimidating approach of sitting with the desk between them, Anabelle took the chair beside Seri.

  “How long have you been with us, Seri?”

  “Um—a couple weeks.” Seri twisted a silver ring around on her finger.

  “Do you realize that in that time, I’ve had at least three complaints about your work—or I should say lack of it?”

  She fingered one of her small hooped earrings. “Um, no. Well, Winona griped at me a couple of times to quit talking so much and to help the others.”

  “How did you feel about that? Was Winona being
fair to you?”

  She shrugged. “I’m not sure because I do everything on my list.”

  “On your list?”

  “Well, yeah. Becky tells us who our patients are and what needs to be done. I figure when I’m done with that, I’m okay to do whatever. I’m pretty fast so lots of times I finish before the others.”

  “I see.” Anabelle glanced over the memos.

  “Please don’t fire me, Mrs. Scott. I really need this job. Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”

  “I’ve been looking at your personnel file. You graduated at the top of your class.”

  She shrugged. “School is easy for me. Sometimes too easy. But my teachers put me on a fast track and into gifted programs so I wouldn’t get too bored.”

  It was Anabelle’s turn to smile. She wasn’t dealing with a lazy young lady, but a bored one. “You like keeping busy?”

  “Sure. Who doesn’t?”

  “The other day when you heard about the plan to put everyone through the disaster training course, you seemed upset and told me your date was more important.”

  “Oh, that.” She bit her lower lip. “I was just griping.”

  “Did you read the manual?”

  “Yes.” She nodded eagerly. “During my afternoon break.”

  “I didn’t get your signed form.”

  “Oh no, that’s my bad. I think I left it in the book. It’s in my locker.” She started to get up. “Want me to get it now?”

  “It can wait, Seri.” Anabelle wished she’d taken time for this earlier. “I think I know what the problem is here. Would it make you too uncomfortable if I shadow you while you work this morning?”

  “You mean so you can see if I’m doing stuff wrong?”

  “More to see how you use your time.”

  “Sure.” Her blue gaze met Anabelle’s. “Does this mean I still have my job?”

  “That depends. Do you like working here?”

  “Yeah.” She tipped her head to one side. “I like people, and I like helping people. In fact, I’d like to go into medicine, maybe become a nurse or a doctor.”