Читать книгу The Bridge Repair - Misty Malone - Страница 6

Kara was still leaning against Nick's chest, enjoying the feel of his arms around her, when he surprised her by asking her out to dinner. She moved back enough to be able to look into his eyes. “Are you serious?”

“Of course I am,” he said with a reassuring smile.

“After the way I treated you, you would still be willing to get to know me better?”

“The way you treated me was due to a concussion. The way you apologized when you remembered what actually happened was genuine, and I believe it was the real Kara. I would very much like to get to know the real Kara better.”

She leaned back against his chest, and wrapped her arms tentatively around him. When his arms pulled her tighter against him again she melted in next to him. “Thank you.”

“I'm confused. What are you thanking me for?”

“For understanding and not hating me. I really did think it was you.”

“I know. I could tell you were being honest.” While he still had her in his arms he rubbed her arm. “And I'm being honest when I say I'd like to take you out for dinner.”

Kara laughed as she turned her head so she could see his eyes. “Your bedside manner really is fantastic. Do you do this with all your patients?”

Now it was Nick's turn to laugh. “Not the men.” When he saw her look at him with her eyebrows raised he couldn't hold back a little chuckle. “Actually, only the feisty little brats who won't answer my questions. Will you have dinner with me?”

“I'd love to, Nick. Can we go in your Lexus SUV?”

“We sure won't be going in a yellow Mustang.” After another laugh, he helped her lay back against her pillows. “Are you ready for your dinner?”

He made sure she was comfortable and then sat with her while she ate. Afterward he checked her foot and was about to ask if she needed more pain medicine, when Stella came back in.

“Oh, Dr. Sherman, I didn't know you were still here,” she said, though she didn't sound real convincing to either of them. “I came to check Kara's vitals again.”

“I think you'll find her blood pressure up a bit. She needs more pain meds; I can tell by her face. She should have had them sooner.”

“She didn't ring us and ask for any.”

“She is to have them regularly for 24 hours after surgery.”

“I'm sorry, Doctor. I'll go get them now.”

“Thank you.”

After she left, Kara sounded a little worried. “Nick, I don't want anyone getting into trouble because of me.”

“She's not getting into trouble because of you, Kara. I'll explain why I did that after you're released, okay?”

She looked at him curiously, but didn't push it. “Okay.”

Stella returned shortly after their conversation. She put the medication in Kara's IV, and checked her blood pressure. She noted it in her chart, and looked over at Nick. “Is there anything else, Doctor?”

“I'm waiting to see if she has any fever before I leave.”

Stella nodded and checked Kara's temperature. “100.4”

He picked up her chart and began writing. When he was finished he turned back to Stella. “Check it hourly until it's under 100. If it goes up at all call me.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

Nick looked back at Kara and smiled. “Sleep well tonight. I'll be in tomorrow morning and check your foot.” He winked at her before he left.

Kara wondered why Nick left so quickly, but was busy with Stella, who was checking her IV and the stitches she'd gotten in her arm. She changed the IV bag then, talking to Kara the whole time.

When she left Kara realized she was sleepy again and closed her eyes. She was just starting to drift off to sleep when her phone rang. She looked at it and smiled when Nick Sherman came up on the ID.

“Kara, I hope I didn't wake you,” her handsome doctor said.

“No, you didn't,” she fibbed. “What's up?”

“Are you alone?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I wanted to explain my quick departure tonight. I had a reason, and I'll explain it all once you're released and I take you home. I can't really do it now, but I wanted to tell you I know it was quick, and I was rather rude with the nurse, but there is a reason. I'm not normally that rude.”

“Okay,” she said, even more curious now. “I didn't think that was the real you. I'm looking forward to get to know the real you better, though.”

He laughed at her wit, how she threw his own words back at him. “Getting to know you is going to be fun, I can tell. You get some sleep now, and I'll see you in the morning.”

“Okay. Thanks for calling, Nick.”

“My pleasure. Oh, and one more thing. The nurses should be giving you pain medication regularly, every four hours without you having to ask, until at least tomorrow evening. If they don't, you ask them for it. You'll heal quicker if you're not trying to deal with surgical pain.”

“Okay.”

“That's my girl. I'll see you in the morning. Good-night, Kara.”

“Good-night, Nick.” Kara put her phone down with a smile on her face. She found she really was eager to get to know him better. She closed her eyes and went right to sleep, with Nick starring in her dreams.

Kara slept soundly for several hours, but woke up restless. Her foot hurt, as did her head. She looked at the clock and thought back to when Stella had given her some pain medicine before she went to sleep. It had been a little over five hours ago. She'd been asleep, so she didn't know if a nurse had come in and put it in her IV or not. She assumed they probably had and she'd slept through it, since Nick said they would be giving it to her. She closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but the pain seemed to get worse. Ten minutes later it was becoming unbearable, and she hit her call button. Stella asked, “What can I do for you, hon?”

“Is it time for more pain medicine yet? My foot and head are really hurting,” Kara explained.

“Oh, my, yes. I'll be right in.” True to her words, Stella came into the room a few minutes later, carrying two syringes. She was talking as she put them into her IV. “You should have called sooner, dear, before the pain got this bad. This should help you in just a matter of a few minutes.”

“Okay, thank you.”

“Oh, you're quite welcome.” She set about checking her temperature, blood pressure and pulse, talking while she worked. “I'm so glad things turned out well with your surgery.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, when you said Dr. Sherman had alcohol on his breath when he was in that accident with you I was instantly alarmed. That means he probably still had alcohol in his system when he operated on you. It must have been a small enough amount that he could still function well, and I'm so glad. I cringe every time I think about what could have happened.”

Kara was shocked. She now knew Nick was not the man that hit her and had been drinking, but she couldn't believe a nurse at the hospital was telling her this. She tried to think it through, but her head was pounding, and she was extremely sleepy, so she simply put it aside to think about later. But even though she was sleepy, she lay there awake for quite some time after Stella left before she was able to get back to sleep.

When she woke up next it was morning and a new nurse was in her room, adding medication to her IV. When the nurse saw her wake up she greeted her. “Good morning, Kara. I'm Ellie; I'll be your nurse today. How are you feeling this morning?”

“Much better,” Kara answered, glad the pain was gone. “Nice to meet you.”

Ellie smiled and went on working. “Nice to meet you, too. Are you saying you feel much better than yesterday?”

“Better than last night. When I woke up my foot and head hurt so badly I thought I was going to scream.”

“Really?” Ellie seemed surprised, and looked at her chart again. She was asking her about when she woke up in pain, when Nick came into her room.

“How's my patient, Ellie?” he asked with a smile.

Ellie looked confused, but concerned when she answered Nick. “I'm not really sure, Dr. Sherman. She says she feels much better this morning than she did last night when she woke up in pain.”

Kara watched her hand the chart to Nick, and she saw the brief look between the two of them after Nick looked at the chart. He quickly looked down at her and smiled, though. “Are you feeling okay now, Kara?”

“I feel good now, yes.”

“Good,” Nick said cheerfully. “I'm going to let Ellie check your vitals and then we'll talk a little bit and I'll check your foot.” Kara nodded, and Nick went to look out the window while Ellie checked her temperature, pulse and blood pressure.

When she was finished she hung a new IV bag and addressed Nick. “Okay, Doctor, her chart's up to date for you. Did you want me to stay while you check her foot?”

“No, that's okay, Ellie. Thanks anyway. I don't have office hours today so I've got plenty of time. I'll replace the dressings myself.”

“Okay. Call if you need me, Doctor. Kara, if you need anything at all, ring your button,” Ellie said as she was leaving.

Once Ellie had gone, Nick surprised her by leaning down and kissing her forehead. “Good morning.”

“And good morning to you, too,” Kara answered with a big smile, which Nick was glad to see.

He sat down beside her so they could talk easier. “So, tell me about waking up. When was this, and what kind of pain were you in?” He listened carefully as she told him what time it was and that she called and got some pain medicine then, which helped.

“Did it wake you up, or keep you awake when the nurse kept coming to check your temperature most of the night?” he asked.

She frowned as she thought a moment. “She didn't check it that I know of except when she came in to give me the pain medicine, and then Ellie just did.

“Stella didn't check it last night?”

“Not that I was aware of. Maybe I slept through it.”

“Maybe,” he said with a smile, although Kara didn't think he meant it. She was getting the feeling Nick wasn't a big fan of Stella's. She decided she'd ask him about that, but in the hospital was not the proper place to do it. She'd wait until she got home.

That idea gave her a thought, though. “So, do I get to go home today before lunch or are you going to make me wait until after lunch?” she asked with the most innocent smile she could muster.

“Nice try,” he said with a grin. “Probably after lunch Monday now.”

Her innocent smile instantly disappeared and she gave him a bit of an indignant glare. “Monday? You said Friday!”

He had a stern look on his face almost instantly. “What did I really say, Miss Kara Jane Kerrington?”

His sudden seriousness, along with the stern look on his face and the very authoritative tone in his voice had her answering immediately, and honestly. “Probably Saturday, maybe Friday.”

His smile returned and he took one of her hands in his. “Much better, Kara. You were listening.” Seeing the shock on her face, he tried to explain. “The truth is very important to me, Kara. I know you were kidding, wanting to go home earlier, but I'm not a good person to push.” He saw her relax a little, but was still tense. “I'm sorry if I upset you. That was an instinctive reaction. I care about you and will do what I feel I need to do to keep you safe. As we get to know each other more you'll quickly learn what you can joke about with me and what you can't. Your health is something I will not take lightly.”

Kara watched him while he spoke, and she saw the sincerity in his words. The fact that he cared for her won out over any discomfort she felt with his sternness, and she relaxed and enjoyed how he rubbed her hand with his thumb.

He continued to rub her hand for a while after he felt her relax, to be sure she was calm again. “Are you ready for me to look at your foot?”

“Sure.” As he was taking the dressing off to look at the surgical site, she touched his arm lightly. “Nick?”

“Yes?”

“I'm sorry.”

“I know you are, honey, but don't worry about it. You don't have any reason to be sorry. I'm not upset with you; I just won't allow any joking around when it concerns your health.” He watched her reaction carefully as she nodded, but when she smiled, he knew she was okay, and more importantly, he hoped it meant his take-charge attitude wouldn't be a problem.

After checking her foot he shared his findings. “Your incision site looks good and the swelling is going down. If it's down enough by this evening we'll put your cast on so we can get you up on crutches. Have you ever used them before?”

“No.”

“We'll teach you how. Dr. Stone's going to want to make sure your balance is okay and you're not getting dizzy before we get you up on them, though.”

“So if I get the cast today, does that mean I may get to go home tomorrow?”

“There's a chance, but I really think it'll be Saturday. It won't do you any good to worry about it now, though. We'll just have to wait and see how everything goes between now and then.” She nodded, and they visited a little while. He encouraged her on several occasions to eat her breakfast, which was sitting in front of her, pretty much untouched. He even fed her a few bites. Afterward he told her to rest, promised he'd be back later, and left.

About an hour later Kara was looking for something to watch on television, when a man and woman came into her room. “Kara Kerrington?”

“Yes.”

“Hi, Kara. I'm Loretta Talbot and this is Vince Henderson. We're with the hospital quality control. Could we ask you a few questions?”

“Like a survey of sorts; do I like the care, or the food?”

“Not exactly, no,” Mr. Henderson said. “I understand you came here yesterday after being involved in an automobile accident?”

“Yes.”

“And I understand a doctor from this hospital was also there, at the accident scene?”

“Yes, Dr. Sherman,” Kara answered.

Ms. Talbot looked at Mr. Henderson before taking over the questioning. “And he then performed surgery on you?”

“Yes, he did,” she said with a smile, “although I didn't know about it until later. I was unconscious and don't remember anything about being brought here or the surgery.”

“But you do remember the accident and Dr. Sherman?”

“Yes, I do.”

Mr. Henderson squared his shoulders and got to his point. “Ms. Kerrington, we understand that Dr. Sherman had been drinking when he caused your accident, and we'd really like to ask you a few questions about that. Is that all right?”

Kara's mouth dropped open. “Where did you hear that?”

“Where we heard it isn't important, but we do have some questions we need to ask.”

“Where you heard it is important to me,” Kara insisted, “because it's not true.”

They again exchanged glances before Mr. Henderson pushed on. “What do you mean it's not true? I thought you said—”

“Look, yesterday I thought that did happen, but I was wrong. I had had a concussion and I wasn't thinking or remembering things clearly. When my mind cleared and I remembered correctly, I knew he was there at the accident scene, but he wasn't the one that caused the accident, or the one that smelled like alcohol. He witnessed it and came to help me right after it happened. That's why I remembered seeing him there.”

Ms. Talbot approached Kara and laid her hand gently on her arm. “Kara, it's important that you tell us the truth. If Dr. Sherman smelled like alcohol we need to know that. We care about the patients here at our hospital and if he's putting any of them at even a slight risk we need to be aware of it.”

“Trust me, you don't know me, but I assure you that if a doctor that was taking care of me in any way smelled like he'd been drinking, I would say something. I'm very opposed to people drinking, even a little, if they're going to be driving or working. I would like to know who told you this, though, and I think I have a right to know.”

Mr. Henderson spoke up quickly. “Our job, our concern is the hospital and what goes on here. If there is a possibility that one of our doctors is endangering one of our patients, it becomes our business, and we need to be told about it. I'm sorry, but I don't see why you feel it is your right to know where we got our information.”

Kara was becoming angry now. “I'll tell you why it's my right. I'm a patient in this hospital, and I'm the one that would be affected by less than stellar care. By less than stellar care, I mean sub par care by anybody employed here, and not just the doctors. Do you agree with that?”

They looked at each other with a question in their eyes, but Ms. Talbot nodded her head. “Of course. What are you insinuating?”

“Well, yesterday when I thought Dr. Sherman was involved in the accident, the only people around were myself, Dr. Sherman, who tried to explain that he was not the driver of the other vehicle, Dr. Stone, who said my concussion probably had me confused, and the nurse, who seemed extremely interested in what I was saying. She encouraged me to stick to my guns about my claim that he was the other driver. After my mind cleared and I knew he wasn't the other driver, I wondered why the nurse said what she did. I would have thought a good nurse would have known the effects of a concussion.”

Mr. Henderson looked a bit surprised. “She encouraged you to stick to your story?”

“Yes. I'm assuming she's where you got your information, since there were only four of us there. The two doctors both told me to wait until I was thinking clearly again before reaching any conclusions or acting on them. I sure didn't give you this information, so that leaves the nurse as the only other person there. In my opinion, she should spend less time trying to get Dr. Sherman in hot water and more time doing her job better.”

“Doing her job better? Are you saying —”

Kara cut off Mr. Henderson's question. “I'm saying last night when Dr. Sherman was here checking on me, before he left he told her to check my temperature hourly, and to call him if it went any higher at all. He also told her I was to have pain medicine routinely, not just if I asked for it, for the first 24 hours. The only time she checked my temperature was when I woke up in pain and called to ask if I could have more pain medicine yet. It was an hour after I should have received it, and she hurried in to give it to me, saying I should have asked for it sooner. All she talked about while she was doing that was Dr. Sherman being drunk while doing my surgery. I was shocked that a nurse in this hospital would even say such a thing to a patient, especially since he'd operated on my foot.”

Ms. Talbot looked flabbergasted. “She suggested he —”

“She said she was glad it turned out good, but he never should have operated on me after having alcohol. Then she came in and gave me a Tylenol, saying she had to get my temperature down. I can't say for sure, but I felt like my fever had gone up. We'll never know for sure, though, because she never took my temperature until I called her for more pain meds.”

The two both looked shocked, as Kara went on. “I personally am more concerned about the care I got in this hospital from her than from Dr. Sherman. I know she didn't check my temperature like Dr. Sherman told her to, and she hadn't given me the pain medicine on time. Then about all she talked about when she was in my room was gossiping about someone, mostly Dr. Sherman.”

She paused, then looked at the two of them. “So for those reasons, I think I do have a right to know where you got your information, especially if it was from Nurse Stella.” She leaned back and relaxed again, suddenly a bit tired, and still a little upset.

Mr. Henderson was very tentative when he spoke. “Okay, Miss Kerrington, thank you for your information. We'll take all this into consideration when we —”

“Oh, no, you don't,” Kara said. Both Ms. Talbot and Mr. Henderson had turned toward the door to leave, but slowed at her words. “You two get back over here.” They stopped and turned to look at her. Mr. Henderson looked annoyed and opened his mouth to talk, but Kara spoke first. “I repeat, I think I have a right to know where you got that erroneous information. If you won't talk to me I will call the president of the hospital and talk to him. I want to know what's going on.”

Ms. Talbot went back over to Kara. “Okay. I think, too, you have a right to know.”

Mr. Henderson spoke up. “Loretta, I'm not sure about —”

“Would you rather she talk to the president, tell him how upset she is? I'm not sure he'd be happy to hear we upset a patient.”

Mr. Henderson reluctantly agreed. “Okay, maybe you're right, although it is our job to check on any information like this.”

Ms. Talbot ignored the last portion of his statement and turned to Kara. “You're right, Kara, Nurse Stella is the one that told us this.”

Kara shook her head, obviously not impressed. “It seems to me Nurse Stella is a busybody that spends more time trying to get Dr. Sherman in trouble than she does doing her job. I don't know anything about her, if she has something in for him, or if she tries to get everyone in trouble, but if you ask me, if you're going to be concerned about someone giving less than adequate care, I'd look at her first.”

“While we're here,” Ms. Talbot said, “let me ask you a couple of questions about her care. Is it possible she could have checked your temperature last night while you were sleeping?”

“To be honest,” Kara answered, “yes, of course it's possible.”

Ms. Talbot and Mr. Henderson both seemed relieved with her answer, until she went on. “But I doubt it. I called her around 4:00, and I hadn't gone back to sleep yet at 6:00, so I know she didn't check it at all then. On top of that, I'm a light sleeper, so I doubt I would have slept through it once every hour. But I suppose it is possible.”

Mr. Henderson nodded. “She gave you the pain medicine at 4:00, you're sure?”

“Positive. I woke up and looked at the clock by my bed. It said 3:48. I waited about ten minutes to call, hoping I'd feel better, but I didn't, so I called a couple of minutes before 4:00. Dr. Sherman told me before he left the night before that the nurses should be giving me pain medicine every four hours for at least the first 24 hours after surgery, but if they didn't give it to me, I should ask for it because I would heal better if I didn't have to fight the pain from the surgery. She gave it to me last at 11:00, so four hours would have been at 3:00. That's why I waited ten minutes before asking for it. I thought maybe she'd given it to me and I slept through it, and it just needed a few minutes to kick in. When the pain got worse instead of better, I asked if it was time for more pain medicine yet, and she brought it right in.”

Mr. Henderson and Ms. Talbot were both quiet several moments. Finally he sighed. “Okay, Ms. Kerrington, thank you for this information. We will be closing the case on Dr. Sherman, but starting an investigation on Nurse Stella. Thank you for your help.”

“I have one more question,” Kara said. “Will Nurse Stella be my nurse tonight? I really don't think I'd feel comfortable with that.”

Ms. Talbot shook her head. “No, she won't be your nurse. I'm not sure if she's scheduled to work tonight, but we'll check on it and make sure she's not your nurse, even if she is here.”

“Thank you,” Kara said.

After they left Kara thought back over what she'd just learned. She picked up her phone and called Nick.

“Hey, pretty lady. How are you feeling?”

“So what's up between you and Nurse Stella?”

“Did someone come ask you some questions, by any chance?”

“Yes. What's going on? Did you know about it?”

“Kara, I'm on my way in to see you. Let me explain it all in person, okay?”

“Okay, but I'm confused.”

“I'll explain it when I get there. I'll be there soon.”

He walked into her room ten minutes later, carrying a bag from Schumaker's, a local deli, on a hospital lunch tray. “I stopped at the cafeteria and told them I'd bring your lunch up for them,” he said with a grin.

“Does the cafeteria always put their lunches in bags from Schumaker's?”

“Not always,” he admitted. “I told them to fix you something special for lunch today, though, so they went to Schumaker's.”

Kara laughed, and loved seeing him smile, as well. “So if they want to fix something special that's what they do?”

“Yep,” he said in a very matter of fact way. He turned serious, though, as he was taking the food from the bag. “Actually, I planned on eating lunch with you today and I love the corned beef sandwiches at Schumaker's. Have you ever had them?”

“No, but I love a good corned beef sandwich.”

“Then you'll love them,” he assured her.

“So you're saying this is better than the wonderful cuisine served from the hospital kitchen?”

“You betcha,” he said, grinning.

“Seriously, thank you, Nick. This was very thoughtful of you.”

“And a little selfish. Remember, I'm eating it, too.” After they both laughed, he finished putting the food out on her tray. “Now, are you ready for lunch?”

“Yes, I am,” she answered, “but I'm also ready to hear about the visitors I had this morning. Can you explain to me what's going on while we eat?”

Nick looked toward the door to be sure no one was coming in, then spoke quietly. “I can explain some of it to you now, but I'd prefer to wait until you're released and we're alone to go into some of the details. Can you live with that?”

Kara studied Nick several moments, and he could tell she was thinking. “I think I understand what you're saying, and I'll try. What can you tell me now?”

He glanced back to the door again. “Tell me if someone comes in.” She nodded, and he began his explanation. “Nurse Stella isn't a big fan of mine.”

“I gathered that. Why not?”

“She thinks I reported her to the chief of staff for some, some ... indiscretion.”

“Did you?”

“No. But she believes I did, maybe because it was my patient.”

“So when I said that you had been drinking and ran into me, she jumped on it?”

“Yep. She spends way more time than she should gossiping to begin with, so when she heard that, she thought she had the perfect opportunity to get even with me.”

“So did she get in trouble once, when she thought you ratted on her?”

He hesitated before answering. “I'd rather we talk about that when you're home.”

“Okay, I get that,” she agreed. “But, are you saying she went to someone high up and said you were drunk when you operated on me?”

He merely nodded his head.

“I'm sorry, Nick. I caused a ton of trouble for you.”

He quickly shook his head and reassured her. “No, you didn't, Kara. You were being honest with what you believed, and I respect that. As a doctor, I know it was the concussion. Dr. Stone suggested I get a blood test right away when you said that, though, and I'm glad he did. Now I have that, which proves there was no alcohol in my system when I did your surgery, or at least shortly afterward. I'm not going to be in trouble, Kara, so don't worry about it.”

He watched as she nodded, and could tell she was thinking about something, so he gave her time. “So if she reported this and it's not true, will she get into trouble?”

“Can we talk more about that when you're home?” She hesitated, and he could tell she wasn't comfortable leaving it at that. “Let me say she might, but could we talk more about that later?”

“Okay,” she agreed. “So did you know they were going to come talk to me this morning?”

“I knew they might,” he admitted. “I didn't want to warn you, though, because I wanted them to get a true reaction from you, nothing rehearsed.”

“Well, they got that, I'm sure.”

“You didn't have any problems, did you?”

“No. I just didn't like what they were saying about you, and I let them know that.”

“Did you tell them we're going out after you're released?”

“No. I didn't think that was any of their business.”

“Neither do I,” he agreed, as he took her hand and squeezed it.

“So,” she said a bit hesitantly, “I get the impression she's a real busybody. Am I right about that?”

He paused, looking at her. “I understand why you'd ask me that, but let me warn you, I don't like gossip. It doesn't help anyone, but it certainly can hurt people. I don't allow it around me. Like I said, I understand why you'd ask me that now, and this one time I will answer that and say that yes, in my opinion she needs a husband that would take her over his knee for gossiping.”

Kara laughed, but soon noticed Nick wasn't laughing, but had a serious look on his face. “Like I said,” he reiterated, “I don't like gossiping.”

“Neither do I,” she said, “so we should get along well. I got the impression she was a real busybody, and I wasn't impressed. That's why I asked you.”

“Now, enough about all that. Eat your lunch. Your body needs good nutrition to heal.”