JAMES HEAVED A SIGH OF RELIEF WHEN HE REACHED the hospital parking lot on December 27. He’d needed chains just to drive through town. It had been no sure thing that he or anyone else would reach their destination this morning. No telling when he’d get home again if the storm kept up.
Just in case, he’d brought an extra change of underclothes. Having clean outfits wasn’t a problem. He always wore hospital scrubs to minimize the need to wash clothes at home.
After changing in the locker room, he went down to the second-floor nurses’ station. Lorraine Wilder, his nurse supervisor, met him there. A woman with thirty years of experience, she wasn’t one to waste time with idle chitchat.
“The scheduled surgical nurse can’t make it in from Peoria this morning. That means Dr. Drew is going to need you in surgery,” she said. “The liver patient in 236 had a bad night. Dr. Drew is going to remove portions of her bile duct.”
James tensed. That meant Mrs. Witten’s condition was continuing to deteriorate. The surgery would only be a temporary fix. She’d still need a transplant.
“Okay,” James said. “You want me to prep the patient or are you going to take care of that?”
“Go ahead and prep her. I’ll take care of the rest of the patients in the unit. Dr. Drew is doing his best to get to the hospital, but the going is slow.”
“Tell me about it,” James mumbled as he gathered the necessary prep supplies. The second floor seemed unusually quiet. No linen carts rumbled along the hallway. Few pages sounded over the loudspeaker. Even fewer nurses and orderlies handling patient care.
Despite the early hour, he found Mr. Witten and Tammy at Trisha Witten’s bedside. He suspected Neil had stayed the night.
He looked up, his eyes bloodshot with fatigue. “I thought you might be the doctor.”
“Sorry. Dr. Drew is en route though. I’m going to prep your wife for surgery so she’ll be ready when he arrives at the hospital.”
“Neil, ‘oney, I don’t ‘ave time for surgery.” Trisha’s eyes were glazed, and her words were slurred. “I have to do my Christmas shopping. I wanna get you a nice new coat.”
Neil squeezed her hand. “It’s all right, Trisha. The coat I have is fine.”
Their daughter shot James a pleading look. “She’s been confused since yesterday afternoon. She doesn’t remember Christmas already happened.”
“It’s not unusual for a patient with a failing liver to experience some confusion and memory loss,” James assured her. “The surgery Dr. Drew plans should help.” Help, maybe, but for how long?
“Tammy, is that your young man?” With an unsteady hand, Trisha pointed at James.
“No, Mom. Jeffrey had to go to work.”
Trisha squinted at James. “Then who is he? Jeffrey won’t like you seeing another man.”
James stepped beside his patient. “I’m James, your nurse, Mrs. Witten. You’re at Hope Haven Hospital. I’m going to get you ready for a surgical procedure that will make you feel better.”
She seemed to have trouble processing what he had said. “Neil, is that all right?” she asked in a tremulous voice.
“Yes, sweetheart. You do what the nurse says.”
James nodded his approval of Neil’s support. “I’m going to ask your family to step outside for just a few minutes. Then they can come back and stay with you until you’re taken to surgery.”
Neil stood. Both he and Tammy eased their way to the door. “We’ll be right back, Trisha. Don’t worry.”
James thought the lines of worry etching both Neil’s and his daughter’s faces were enough for any family. It was best to keep Trisha as calm as possible.
As promised, it didn’t take James long to prep his patient. He stepped into the hallway and urged Neil away from the door.
“As soon as the doctor arrives, he’ll explain the situation and what he plans to do. He’ll ask you to grant permission for the surgery.”
“Anything that will help her,” Neil vowed. “I wanted to give her part of my liver. I wasn’t a match.” He drew his daughter close and hugged her with one arm. “Tammy was tested too.”
“I’m adopted.” Tears filled Tammy’s eyes. “I wish now that—”
“You’re the daughter of our hearts, Tamitha. Your mother and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Still tearful, Tammy nodded; and the two of them returned to Trisha’s room. James went back to the nurses’ station, arriving just as Anabelle whipped around the counter.
“Good morning, Anabelle.” He jumped back out of her way. “Haven’t seen you yet today.”
“You won’t be seeing much of me all day.” She stepped into the supply room. “Debbie Vaughn had to get home after her night shift. Her husband had to go to work, and they have young children. Somebody has to be home with them.”
She came out of the supply room with her arms full. “Becky called in. She can’t get out of her house. The snowplow left a six-foot-high berm across her driveway that’s turned to ice. Her husband’s trying to dig them out, but it may take a while. Which means Winona and I are it for the Cardiac Care Unit. Leila Hargrave is trying to round up more nurses.”
Leila, the nursing administrator for the hospital, was one tough cookie. She’d be a hard one to say no to if she had any sense you were available. She was also a good administrator who stood behind the nurses when needed.
“And wouldn’t you know,” Anabelle added, “we had two admissions last night. The holidays, between eating too much and shoveling snow, are so hard on hearts.”
With that, she dashed off at a near run.
James was beginning to suspect the hospital would be severely understaffed for the duration of the storm. He could only hope the bad weather would relent soon.
The moment he turned around, he spotted Elena coming his way.
“Hey, you’re supposed to be in Spain,” he said.
“Don’t I wish.” She pushed back a wayward strand of dark hair from her forehead. “We barely made it to the end of our driveway, which turned out to be a good thing. The flight was canceled.”
“Sorry to hear that, but I’m not surprised.”
“The good news is that Leila practically kissed me when I called in to see if they needed more nurses.”
“Boy, do we,” James said.
“I gathered as much. I’m assigned to ICU unless there’s no action there, in which case I’m to help out in the CCU.”
“Anabelle will be very glad to have you.” He gave Elena a quick hug. “Sorry about the trip though.”
“It’s okay. We’ll have another chance.”
Her words sounded optimistic but James couldn’t miss the wistful longing in her eyes.
He prayed her dream trip would yet come to pass.
Candace had barely had time to take a breath since she’d arrived at the hospital this morning. It was as if every pregnant woman in Deerford was determined to give birth—and gain a tax exemption—before the new year started.
She finally escaped from the Birthing Unit to go upstairs to the staff restroom where she could have some privacy.
The shock of realizing why she’d been so tired still had her reeling. Of course, she could be wrong. Her fatigue could be from not getting enough sleep. Or the frantic holiday pace. Or stress. Or tumors or diabetes or a thousand other potential causes. As a nurse, she knew the possibilities were endless.
She’d had no way at home to test her supposition. Until she knew for sure, she didn’t want to tell Heath.
For the moment, the restroom was empty. She stepped into the farthest stall from the door.
Her heart rate accelerated. Her breathing turned shallow. Her face flamed as though she’d been running a race. With shaking fingers, she tried to rip off the cellophane wrapper and nearly dropped the whole thing.
“Oh, for pity sake! It’s not that hard. Just do it!”
She heard feet shuffling a couple of stalls away. “Everything all right in there?”
“Fine.” Her voice broke.
She sat quietly, waiting for the other woman to leave. This was a test she wanted to perform alone. Maybe she should have waited until she was home. Not that she’d necessarily be alone at home, given that she had two children, a mother, and a husband living there with her, all of whom could be very attentive.
Finally, the other woman washed her hands and left.
“No more procrastination, Candace. Do it!”
Then the waiting began in earnest. She checked her watch. She didn’t want to look at the results too soon. If it came out negative, she’d be disappointed. But that wouldn’t be the end of the world. There was plenty of time to…
If the result showed positive—
Her heart skittered an extra beat. Perspiration coated her palms and formed between her breasts. A world of what-ifs scampered through her brain, making her dizzy.
She couldn’t stand it any longer. She looked at the test stick.
Positive!
Thank You, God! She exhaled a shaky breath.
Before they’d married, she and Heath had discussed having another child. They’d both agreed it was a good idea. But instead of purposefully trying to get pregnant, they decided they’d let whatever happened happen.
Guess what? It had happened.
She tittered a ridiculous giggle. She, of all people, should have recognized her symptoms. She’d specialized in pregnancy and birth all of her nursing career. She’d already given birth to two babies.
It hadn’t even dawned on her. Until last night.
Two nurses banged in through the restroom door, laughing and chatting about their holiday.
Standing quickly, Candace adjusted her clothes and dropped the test stick into the pocket of her scrubs. As coolly as she could, her excitement barely contained, she exited the stall.
“Hi, ladies.” She stood at the sink, lathering her hands with soap, wanting desperately to find Heath, to tell him the good news.
Although she knew she should go back downstairs to the Birthing Unit, she hurried down the hallway to Radiology. Molly Abrams, a blonde X-ray technician with a pixie cut, who doubled as a receptionist, was behind her desk. The screen saver on her computer slowly scrolled one Caribbean island scene after another. A perfect antidote for the weather outside.
“Hi, Molly. Is Heath around?”
“Honey, we’re both going around and around so fast, we’re about to meet in the middle. There’ve been a bunch of accidents. The ER is filled to overflowing with broken bones and who knows what else.”
Candace’s excitement deflated like a tire penetrated by a sharp nail. “Guess this isn’t a good time.”
“Not really.” Molly picked up a chart from her desk. “I’ll tell him you dropped by next time I see him. Might be a while.”
She darted away, more energy than any young woman needed, leaving Candace staring after her, blinking and wanting to chase Heath down wherever he was. But that wouldn’t do.
Patients always came first. Hers included.
With a sigh, she headed downstairs.
After prepping Mrs. Witten, James joined Dr. Drew in the operating room. They stood side by side at the sink scrubbing for surgery. They both wore surgical caps covering their hair and green gowns over their scrubs.
“Are you going to perform the surgery laparoscopically?” James had assisted the doctor several times when he’d skillfully maneuvered the miniature fiberoptic instruments, the procedure visible on a monitor. A primary benefit of laparoscopic versus traditional surgery was the much shorter recovery period.
“Not this surgery. There are a few specialists at major hospitals who have developed a laparoscopic procedure for liver duct resectioning, but I haven’t been trained. And the truth is, if we don’t get the patient some help soon, she won’t be around long enough to recover from any kind of surgery.”
Wincing at the bleak prediction, James continued scrubbing his hands and forearms. “She still has a low-grade temperature.”
“I know. We’re going to douse her with every antibiotic I can think of and hope for the best.”
Holding their hands up, they backed their way through double doors into the operating room. Mrs. Witten was already on the table; Dr. Moore, the anesthesiologist, was positioned at her head.
“Hello, Trisha,” Dr. Drew said. “How are you feeling?”
“When will I be able to go shopping? I have a lot of presents to buy.”
“Don’t you worry about that.” Dr. Drew glanced at the anesthesiologist, who nodded, acknowledging the patient’s confused state. Dr. Drew waited while the circulating nurse gloved him and adjusted his mask. “I’m sure you’ll get everything done in time.”
James held up his hands and the nurse gloved him as well and tied his mask in place. Then he stepped up to the operating table and the waiting tray of sterilized surgical instruments.
With another nod from Dr. Drew, the anesthesiologist began the drip that would put Trisha Witten under sedation. Mentally, James held his breath hoping she’d awake feeling better and more cognizant.
Assisting with a surgery never failed to amaze James. Even when he was an army medic he’d been fascinated with the precision, the knowledge needed to perform the simplest of surgeries. A complicated one like a duct resection drew on the doctor’s years of experience and often a review of the procedure immediately prior to surgery. Nothing was left to chance.
He lost track of time as Dr. Drew deftly found the blocked ducts, removed sections, and sewed them back together again with a stitch that the finest seamstress would have to admire.
The overhead monitor continued to beep a regular heart rhythm, the bouncing line moving steadily across the screen. Oxygen intake remained within normal limits. Breathing steady.
“All right,” Dr. Drew straightened his back. “That’s the best I can do. I’ll close her up now.” The nurse patted the sweat from his brow.
James carefully counted the clamps as the doctor retrieved them. It wouldn’t help the patient to leave one behind. She didn’t need any more added complications.
“We’ll keep her on heavy antibiotics and pain meds for a few days,” Dr. Drew ordered. “Let’s hope she’ll be stabilized until we can get her a new liver.”
James thought Mrs. Witten’s future was in God’s hands now. He’d pray for her recovery and the much-needed liver.
With the hospital short of staff, and an uptick of vehicle accidents plus one complicated birth, Candace and Heath were both late leaving the hospital.
The snow was still falling, or rather the snow was blowing sideways, piling up in frozen drifts that hadn’t been plowed in hours.
Tiny frozen pellets stung Candace’s face. She kept her head down and clung to Heath’s arm. She had to tell him about the baby. She’d nearly burst out the exciting announcement several times during the day and had had trouble waiting to be alone with him to break the news. No question, he should be the first person she told.
“I don’t know if I can get the car out of the parking lot, much less all the way home.” Heath raised his voice to be heard over the wind.
“Maybe we shouldn’t try. We might never get back in the morning, assuming we make it home tonight.” She had to tell the children about the baby too. And her mother. But maybe not tonight. She and Heath could relish the news for a few days before sharing it with others.
Heath helped her into her snow-covered four-wheel-drive compact SUV. “I think you’d rest better at home. Let’s see how this goes.”
Climbing in behind the wheel, he turned the key. Nothing happened.
Candace folded her arms across her chest. She shivered. If Heath could get the car started, the heater would take care of the cold.
He tried the starter again. Not even a click.
Leaning his head back, he blew out a cloud of chilled breath. “I knew I should’ve checked that battery. Of all the dumb things—”
“It’s all right, honey. You’re not dumb, and we’re going to have a baby.” The words she’d been saying to herself all day flew out of her mouth before she could stop them. What a way to break the news—
His head snapped around; his vivid blue eyes widened. “What did you say?”
She licked her chapped lips. “I said, we’re going to have a baby.”
His mouth opened and closed several times. He swallowed hard, making his Adam’s apple bounce beneath his turtleneck sweater. “Now?”
“Not this instant.” She grinned. “I’m guessing next July.”
“Oh my. You’re sure? I mean, it couldn’t be a mistake or anything, right?”
“No mistake. I took a pregnancy test this morning.”
“This morning?”
“Yes, honey. This morning. You’re going to be a daddy.”
“Oh, wow! I mean—” He grabbed her by the shoulders, kissing her soundly. “You’re all right, aren’t you? I mean, you’re glad and all, right?”
She palmed his cheek with her gloved hand. “I’m over the moon.”
“Yeah, that’s good. That’s great.” He looked around the parking lot. Cars were piled high with snow and few people were in sight. “We’ve gotta tell somebody.”
“There’s no rush.”
“Yeah, there is. I’m going to be a daddy!”
He shoved open the car door and stepped out into the pelting snow. Raising his hands above his head like he’d just scored a touchdown, he shouted at the top of his lungs. “Hey, everybody! We’re going to have a baby!”
Candace burst into laughter. “Stop that, Heath! People will think you’re crazy.” Snow covered his cap and the shoulders of his heavy down jacket.
He ducked down to look at her. “I am crazy, little chickadee. Crazy in love with you!”