Feeling refreshed from a quick shower, he returned to the ED waiting room just in time to meet the boys coming back from the cafeteria. The kid who returned with Lincoln and Patrick, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, wasn’t the same one who’d left with them. Noah had a cell phone, clicking with his thumbs like he’d been using one his entire life. Braham was right. Noah was acclimating within an hour. But Rick knew he’d be proven right, too. How could you live here with all the advantages then choose to go back? Kit and Cullen Montgomery kept saying they were returning to 1881, but they’d been here two years now and had yet to set a date for their return.
Noah would not go quietly into the night. Rick couldn’t think about Noah’s return until he knew Amber’s prognosis. He closed his eyes and tried to rest.
“Rick. Rick. Wake up.”
Startled, he jerked away from the hand shaking his shoulder.
“Sorry to wake you,” Charlotte said. “Come with me. I’ll give you an update.”
He jumped to his feet, groggy and slightly confused.
“Where are you going, Rick?” Noah asked.
“Oh, hi, Noah. Ah, with Charlotte. I’ll be right back.” He shook his head, trying to snap his brain cells back into organized thoughts as he shambled behind her into a small consulting room.
Charlotte closed the door and didn’t let a beat pass between the click of the bolt in the doorknob’s strike plate and her announcement. “Amber is really sick. Her pulseOx is 67.”
“That’s low, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but she got better when we put her on oxygen and she is resting comfortably now. There’s fluid in her lungs. That’s a big part of why she’s short of breath. She’s also got a big heart murmur.”
Rick dropped into the closest chair, unable to speak from the shock of it.
Charlotte sat beside him. “It sounds like significant mitral valve disease. The nurses started IVs, and we’re getting a chest X-ray and labs. I’ve called radiology to get a cardiac ultrasound. They should be on their way.”
“This is my fault. I should have insisted she come back earlier.”
“One or two days isn’t significant. The disease has been progressing for some time. I’ve called in our best cardiologist. We should have a better handle on what’s going on within the hour.”
“Is she going to be okay?”
“We’re doing everything we can. If anything changes, I’ll let you know right away.” Charlotte walked over to the door to leave.
He pushed to his feet and threw his arms up. “That’s it. That’s all you’ve got. That’s all you’re going to tell me? That’s crap, Charlotte. You’ve got to give me more. Amber’s scared to death of hospitals and doctors. She needs me. I need to go see her.”
Charlotte grasped the door handle. “That’s all I can tell you until the cardiologist does his workup.”
“Please, let me see her. Just five minutes. Two minutes. One minute.”
“Not yet. There are a lot of people going in and out of her room. Until we get a handle on her problem, you need to let us work on her. Does she have any family? They should be notified.”
“Why? Is she going to get worse?” He couldn’t even find the words to form the question—Is she going to die?
“We’re doing all we can, but she might need surgery. I’ll know more after the cardiologist evaluates her. But if you know her family, you should call them.”
“Her parents are in London, and her sister is still in the past.”
“Can you reach her parents?”
“Probably, but they’re not going to understand why Olivia isn’t here.”
“Olivia Kelly? Is she the woman Connor’s been interested in?”
“Yep.”
“Do the best you can. I’ve got to go. Oh, Braham said Ripley has a mild concussion and she’s staying for a few days at the vet hospital. He also said we can expect a full recovery. Now, have you had anything to eat?”
Rick shook his head, unable to think about food or anything else but Amber’s health.
“There’s an upscale American café about a mile away. Braham likes to eat there. Get a decent meal, Rick. It’s going to be a long night. I’ve got to go.”
“I’m not leaving. When Braham gets here, we can eat in the cafeteria.”
Charlotte left him there in that small room with its plastic furniture and antiseptic smells. He couldn’t remember ever being so alone. His brothers would be with him now, if he could only call them. He leaned his head against the wall, listening to the squeak of wheels, a female announcer on the cable news channel, the ping of an elevator door, and canned music. He hated it all. He hadn’t signed up for this, but this—the damn brooches—had seduced him with hopes of living out a Western fantasy.
He had to see it through, no matter what it cost him.
Moving like a zombie, he walked back to the waiting room with its tables covered with soda cans, snack food wrappers, unfinished cups of stale coffee, and year-old magazines. It smelled like vomit and pee, sweat and booze breath, perfume and stale tobacco on people’s clothing. He hated hospitals. Maybe he could get Pops to come out here. He’d come on the QT, but his father was involved in the winery evacuation. God, that seemed so long ago. But it was recent enough that the fires were still smoldering—according to the reporters on the TV that never shut up.
Braham was huddled with the boys, updating them on Ripley’s condition. They saw Rick coming and Noah jumped up out of his chair, his smile dropping to the floor in fear. He chewed his bottom lip before he asked, “How is she?”
“She’s breathing easier. We can’t see her yet, but she’s feeling much better. We’ll know more in about an hour.” That seemed to satisfy Noah, and he returned to his seat between Lincoln and Patrick, two iPads and an iPhone.
Rick sat down next to Braham and said in a low voice, “She’s seriously ill.”
Braham dragged his hands down his face. “I’m sorry to hear that. What about her family? They should know what’s going on.”
“Her parents have been on an African safari. They’re in London now. And her sister is still in the past. I can’t think about them yet. I’ll wait for the cardiologist’s report and then decide. If Amber needs open-heart surgery, I’ll get her parents here and Olivia, too.”
“Come on. Let’s go downstairs or we can go out. But ye need to eat.”
“I’m not leaving. I don’t want to miss the next report.”
“Then let’s go downstairs,” Braham said. “Hey, boys. We’re going to get something to eat. Ye staying or going?”
“We’ll go,” Lincoln said. “Will you buy us ice cream?”
“Yeah, but don’t tell yer mothers.”
After hamburgers and ice cream they all returned to their plastic chairs to wait on Charlotte’s next report. It didn’t take long. Braham and Rick followed her into the same consulting room as before and she closed the door.
“The cardiologist has seen her. The good news is that we think we know what’s going on. I watched the ultrasound with the cardiologist while it was being done and it’s pretty clear that my initial impression was right. She has severe mitral valve disease.”
Rick’s gut gripped him, and he gagged.
Braham put a hand on Rick’s shoulder. “Ye okay, buddy? Ye need a trashcan?”
“Give me a minute.”
Charlotte left and returned with a cup of water.
After a few seconds, the hamburger, fries, and ice cream settled back in Rick’s stomach. He sipped from the cup of water.
“If you need something—”
He waved her off. “I’m fine now. Go on.”
“The oxygen therapy and medicine we’ve given her are keeping her comfortable. From talking to her, it sounds like she has a history of untreated strep throats. This sudden onset of bad mitral valve disease coupled with that history leads us to believe she has rheumatic heart disease.”
“That’s curable, right?”
Charlotte lea
ned forward in her chair, rested her forearms on her thighs. “It’s rare to see an adult with this situation, but it does happen.”
“So what are you going to do? Give her medicine?”
“She needs to have her mitral valve replaced. I suspect the cardiac surgeons will want to do the surgery in the morning.”
“Open-heart surgery?” Rick clenched and unclenched his fists. “Amber is only thirty-two. You can’t be right about this.” It’s not true. It’s not true. If he kept repeating it to himself, maybe Charlotte would settle on another diagnosis. “Go back and look again. It’s got to be something else.”
A knock on the door brought Charlotte to her feet. She opened it to find two doctors, their names stamped above the pockets of their white coats. Charlotte made the introductions of the two surgeons: Drs. Wilkes and Scully.
Dr. Scully said, “I’ve reviewed the ultrasound, examined Miss Kelly, and talked to the other doctors about their findings. I agree, she has significant mitral valve disease, probably from rheumatic fever. I recommended to Miss Kelly that we replace her mitral valve with an artificial valve tomorrow. She agreed but only if her parents and sister can be here. She said you’d make that happen, Mr. O’Grady.”
Time seemed to slow as emotional numbness took hold. He was unable to absorb all the information he’d been given. Even if he was Houdini, how could he possibly make it happen?
“As you know,” Dr. Scully said, “this is a serious surgery, but we do it a lot. She’s an otherwise healthy woman and should tolerate surgery well. It should take us two to four hours to replace the valve. After that, she’ll be in the hospital for at least a week, including one to three days in ICU. Recovery is anywhere from four to eight weeks.”
“Two to four hours,” Rick mumbled. “A week in the hospital. At least four weeks in recovery.” It was a handful of information to absorb. If he was finding it difficult, how was Amber handling it all alone? “When can I see her?”
“She’s feeling better now, and has asked to see you and Noah, I believe,” Dr. Wilkes said. “You can go back for a few minutes.”
Rick stood on shaky legs. “How long has she had this condition?”
“This could have started several years ago when she had her first strep throat infection that wasn’t treated with antibiotics,” Dr. Scully said. “Since she hasn’t seen a doctor in years, the rheumatic heart disease has gotten progressively worse. Did it happen overnight? No. Did it happen last week? No. If you had brought her in last month, I’d be telling you the same thing, but she’d have been in better condition for surgery.”
“Are you saying if she’d had an antibiotic for a strep infection years ago she wouldn’t be in this condition today?”
“This used to be the most common cause of mitral regurgitation in the United States but has significantly declined due to early treatment of strep infection.” The doctor reached for the door handle. “If there aren’t any other questions—”
Rick leaned against the wall for support. “Noah and I can see her now, but can I stay in her room tonight?”
“She’ll be in the cardiac care unit until surgery. You can visit her during special visiting hours. I don’t believe they have moved her to the unit yet. You can visit her here in the ED for a few minutes. Anything else?”
Rick looked at Braham and then Charlotte. “I guess not,” he said in a flat voice.
“I’ll see you before surgery tomorrow morning,” Dr. Scully said.
The surgeons left, leaving Rick with Braham and Charlotte in the claustrophobic consulting room. “Amber said if she could have one day hunting fossils, she’d go home, go to the doctor, and get a magic pill. If she’d only taken those pills…”
Charlotte touched his arm. The warmth of her fingers reminded him that he wasn’t alone, but it didn’t ease the restrictive band tightening around his chest. He thought back to what he could have done differently that would have eased Amber’s suffering.
Covering for her on stage when her shortness of breath interfered with her ability to sing, had been his first mistake. He’d had so much fun performing that he allowed her to continue even though she was struggling to breathe.
Going to Denver had been his second mistake. He’d wanted to extend his own western adventure so much that he agreed to take her, knowing she was sick.
Escorting her to Morrison had been his third. When Amber begged to have her dream come true, he wanted to make that happen because he cared for her. He let his emotions get in the way of doing his job—protecting her.
Charlotte gave his arm a little shake, pulling him back to the present. “We all make decisions about our health care,” she said. “Sometimes we get it right. Sometimes we don’t. How many things are you not doing since you were released from Walter Reed?”
“This isn’t about me, Charlotte.”
“I know it isn’t. My point is that you shouldn’t get mad at Amber for what she didn’t do while you are—”
Rick slammed his fist into his palm. “I’m not mad at her. I’m mad at myself because I wasn’t strong enough to do my job and tell her no.” He headed toward the door. “Noah and I will visit her then check into a hotel.”
“We have plenty of room for you, Noah, and Amber’s family when they arrive. Don’t give it another thought,” Charlotte said.
“And I’ve got whisky and cigars,” Braham said. “We’ll sit out by the river and ye can tell me everything about yer trip to 1878.”
“Thanks…” Rick squeezed his eyes shut, pressed his fingers against the bridge of his nose, desperately trying to control his emotions, but his legs still shook. He was too damn scared.
Braham gave him a hug. “We’re family. Now ye and Noah go see her and tell her she’s got a pile of people wishing her well.”
“Give me a minute,” Rick said, signaling to Braham and Charlotte to leave him alone. It took him a few minutes to regain his composure and settle his restless mind. When he had himself together again, he left the consulting room to find Noah.
“Come on, buddy. We can see Amber now.”
Charlotte met them at the door leading to the ED patient rooms. “Noah, Amber is hooked up to a lot of equipment. It’s scary looking, but it’s there to make her feel better.”
Noah took Charlotte’s hand with an almost desperate grasp. “Will you come with me? You know… In case I have questions that Rick can’t answer.”
Rick glanced at Charlotte, nodding. It was okay with him. He’d probably have questions, too.
She led the way into Amber’s room and Rick smiled when he saw her. She wore a nasal cannula, and he could hear oxygen blowing from it into her nostrils. Her lips were no longer blueish. There were IV poles on both sides of the bed with IV bags hanging off the poles, IVs in both arms. A vital-signs monitor near the head of the bed beeped with each heartbeat. A blood pressure cuff rode her upper right arm. She appeared more comfortable, but she was shivering.
“Can we get heated blankets?” Rick asked.
“Sure,” Charlotte said.
Rick kissed Amber’s forehead, then took her hand and kissed each finger. “How’re you feeling, sweetheart?”
“Much better. It doesn’t hurt to breathe now.”
Noah stepped up to the bed, staring at all the equipment. With the tip of his finger, he lightly touched the IV bags, tubes, and cords, his head flinching back slightly. “What is all this?”
“Modern medicine,” she said.
“Are you scared?” he asked.
“A little.” She smiled. “The doctors are going to fix me up, but there’s something I need to talk to you about. We shouldn’t have brought you here, but it was an emergency. Rick needs to take you back to your dad.”
Noah shook his head. “I won’t go.”
“You have to, Noah. Your dad has to be worried sick about you.”
“Lincoln said my dad is dead.”
“No,” Rick said. “Lincoln shouldn’t have said that. When you go back, he’ll be the
re for you.”
“I’m not leaving until Amber’s better. You can’t make me.”
Charlotte came back with a heated blanket and spread it out over Amber.
Rick gave her a Please help me look.
“Come with me, Noah,” Charlotte said. “I want to talk to Lincoln and Patrick about what y’all can do tonight. And I bet Braham will take you by the vet’s office, so you can visit Ripley. Would you like that?”
“Yes ma’am.” He kissed Amber’s cheek. “Can I come back tomorrow?”
“We’ll talk about it later, Noah,” Rick said.
“Have fun with the boys,” Amber said.
“I’ve never had friends like them before. They’re smart, but they don’t know much about dinosaurs. I’m teaching them all I know.”
“Good for you,” Amber said. “Later you can tell me about your meeting with Dr. Lakes.”
Charlotte made a last check of Amber’s connections and monitor readings, then took Noah out of the room.
“Will you take him home, please, and bring Olivia back in time for surgery? The thought of Daniel believing he’s lost his son just breaks my heart.”
“I’ll have to leave this afternoon. Noah won’t want to go knowing you and Ripley are so sick.”
“Then bring Daniel here.”
Rick was about to explain how difficult that would be, but then he noticed the uptick on the heart rate monitor. He was upsetting her, and he couldn’t do that. “I’ll work it out, and I’ll get your parents here, too.”
“Give me your phone,” she said. “I want you to have contact information for my parents and my assistant.” He gave her the phone, and she punched in names, email addresses, and phone numbers.
A nurse came to the door and told Rick they were ready to transport Amber to the CCU. “I wish I could stay with you, but they won’t let me.”
“You have to go get Daniel and Olivia. Charlotte told me she’d be close by, so I won’t be alone.”
Tears pushed to his eyes. Leaving her was the hardest thing he’d ever done. “Take care, sweetheart. I’ll be back soon.” This time he gently kissed her lips. “Rest easy.”
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The Amber Brooch: Time Travel Romance (The Celtic Brooch Book 8) Page 55
