Chapter 7

Debra had everything packed that she was going to take with her. The rest was going to go to a charity place, and even that wasn’t very much. Looking around the room once more, she was almost giddy with the change in her life. Her uncle had given her an easy way out of her debt as well as clearing up all the student debt that she still had from law school. It wasn’t going to be all bread and honey, as her grandma used to say.

Working with her uncle was going to be difficult. He may well have offered her the law firm, but he was the type of man who didn’t care for a working woman and, especially, one who was as educated as she was. But he’d offered, and now—

The phone ringing had her taking in a deep breath and rubbing her chest for the hundredth time today. Picking up her cell phone, her number not known to that many people, showed a recent picture of her uncle and she made herself have a bright smile when she said hello.

“Who is this?” She told the man on the other end of the line her name and then did the same for him. “I’m your cousin, Phillip Author.” He paused long enough for her to no doubt be impressed that he’d taken the time to call her. “My grandda passed away two days ago. Getting into his phone was the only way that I knew of to contact you. There isn’t any reason for you to come home for the funeral or will reading. You’re not mentioned in it, and I’m having the old bastard cremated.”

“I know for a fact that I’m mentioned in the will, Phil.” He told her that his name was Phillip. “So? Also, you might want to remember that he’s my uncle as well. He and I had an arrangement.”

“Yeah, about that. I’m taking it. And everything else the old bastard had.” She asked him if he suddenly had a law degree. “I don’t need to have a law degree to run the firm. I just need money. And I’m also getting all of that, too. You know how he was about you working. And if you call me Phil once more, I’m going to sue your ass for defining my character.”

“It’s defamation, you idiot. And you do need a law degree to own a law firm. Also be a licensed attorney in order to run one. Don’t you ever look things up before you go spouting off things you are wrong about? And I will be there. Seeing you get your comeuppance will make it worthwhile.” She disliked Phil with as much passion as he did her, apparently.

She felt her panic get the better of her and had to sit down. Lucky for her, there was a chair close by or there was no telling where she might have ended up. Lying her head on her table, she groaned when someone knocked—more like they pounded on her door to her apartment. She opened the door to see not just one of the Hathaway men but three of them. They sat on the couch that was going out to wait on her and her call.

Her hand gripped the phone tighter. He was getting on her last nerve. “Phil, you can’t just think that I’m going to make your word for not being in the will. Uncle promised me that I could take over his firm when he retired. And I would assume that the same thing holds true because he’s passed on.” She was handed a phone that had a message on it to tell him what the firm was that her uncle used. After typing it on the little screen, she remembered that this brother was Axel, the attorney. “I’m going to be there as soon as I make a few calls. And if you’re trying to keep me from showing up when I’m mentioned in the will, they won’t be able to execute anything without all parties there.”

Debra wanted to hang up on her cousin, but she was afraid that he was telling her the truth. It would be just like her uncle to say one thing and then do something entirely different. But she did remember just then that she had it in writing from him, she just needed to remember where she’d put it. Going through the few law books that she had, she found it and handed it to Axel. Nodding his thanks, she decided that she was going to be sick if she didn’t get off the phone with her fucking bastard of a cousin.

Putting the phone on her table, she asked the doctor one…she couldn’t remember his name for the life of herself, why they were there. He looked at Axel but didn’t answer her.

“Well, if you don’t know, then I think that it’s time that you moved on. I have a sort of crisis going on here, and I have nothing to entertain anyone with.” She’d not cared for this brother.

She found him to be arrogant and sort of selfish. When going to the door to shoo them out, he smiled at her, and she wanted to bash his head in. Taking a step back, she hoped that they’d just leave on their own so that she could think. She needed to know what this was going to mean for her if she wasn’t in the will.

“Mac sent us to help you move some of your things out to your car or whatever you’re going home in.” She liked Mac very much but couldn’t think over the now-pounding headache that she was getting. “Mac seemed to think that you weren’t taking all that much, but we should be nice to you because she said she’d beat our asses if we weren’t. I’d like to think that I’m—what’s the matter with you? Are you sick?”

Instead of answering him, she put her hand over her mouth and ran to the bathroom. There was only a small amount of things in the little room, but it was enough for her to rinse out her mouth after throwing up everything that she had for breakfast. She came out of her bathroom to find Kahana, that was his name, standing near the door. Glaring at him, the best that she could do with her stomach churning up, she asked him again when he was leaving.

“You’re stressed out.” She just glared at him. “Listen, I’m trying to be helpful to you.” She told him that she wouldn’t tell Mac about his bedside manner if she ever talked to her again. “I don’t think she got that memo. The way she’s talking—come sit down before you pass out. You’re as white as a ghost.”

This time, she didn’t argue with him about how she looked or felt. That feeling in her chest, like she was being squeezed to death, was back. Putting her hand over her chest, she nearly fell over the back of the couch to sit down when she simply blacked out.

When she woke up, she was not just in her home but she was on a gurney that had somehow appeared while she was out. Trying to sit up, it was Kahana who told her to lie still. No, please. No, will you lie down? Just stay the hell down. She tried once more when he put his hand on her chest and got into her face.

“You’re having a heart attack. How long have you been feeling this way?” She told him that it was stress and that the hospital told her that she wasn’t to take up their time when indigestion was what she had. “It’s not indigestion. You are having a heart attack. Just lie still and let us take you to—do you know who told you that you weren’t ill?”

“The head nurse from the third shift. Why? Are you going to yell at her as well?” When he growled at her like he was some damned dog, she started feeling the pressure again. “She told me that I was wasting resources in the emergency department and that I should just stay home. They wouldn’t even check me out the last time I was there but told me to go home and take an antacid.” She looked up at him. “Am I really having a heart attack?”

“Yes, you really are. It’s a small one but enough to cause some damage to your heart if not treated properly. Now, hush.” When she felt something pinch at her arm, the pain in her chest eased up. It didn’t go away, not entirely, but she did feel less in pain than before. “I know that nurse. I’m assuming that you were in there at the end of her shift. Other people have complained about her before. How many times in the last week have you been to the emergency department?”

“Ten times in five days. It was making me sick; it was so bad.” An IV was in her arm, and she looked at it like she’d never seen one before. “My uncle is a bastard, and now I have no home, no place to sleep, and I won’t be able to ever pay off my student loans. I was…I don’t remember what I was doing.” She could barely understand herself. Her words were like she’d been on a long drunk.

Even though she’d felt better a few minutes ago, she wasn’t now. The pressure was building up, and before she could complain, she heard a loud beeping noise. Not caring all that much about what was going off, Debra passed out again.

~*~

Kahana kept up with the compressions while doing CPR on the woman. He was about as pissed as he’d been in a while and had to make sure that he wasn’t pushing too hard on her small chest. Trading off with one of the medics that had come on the ambulances, he watched as the paddles were being warmed up to shock Debra again. They’d lost her three times already.

The very fact that she could speak made him think that she was in better health than he was. When he’d been in college, they had simulated a heart attack for the med students so that he’d know what they were dealing with. After the first trial, he was ready to give in. She had had three yet terribly small heart failures in a row and still had the energy to speak to him.

As soon as the ambulance pulled up in front of the ED doors, he was off the thing and barking orders. His temper over Debra being mistreated pissed him off, and he knew that he was taking it out on the others around him. As soon as she was hooked up to a monitor, he knew that if he’d not been there when she’d fallen, Debra Author would be dead. As it was now, it was touch and go.

With the right type of meds and someone monitoring her, she was going to be all right if she could make it past the next twenty-four hours. His head was hurting with his anger, and he had to take several deep breaths before he could call Mac and then his parents. Dad would calm him like no one else did, and he needed him nearby. Pulling Debra’s hand up to feel her pulse, he kept holding onto her hand when she seemed to have the same effect on him that his father did. Calming of his mind and stress.

After telling his dad and mom what was going on, he was glad that Axel had told his wife. Mom was upset more than he thought necessary for a woman they barely knew, but he knew enough to keep his mouth shut when she asked him if there was any family.

“I don’t know, to be honest. When we got to the apartment, she was already speaking to someone. She made it sound as if someone had died and that her cousin, I didn’t catch his name, was telling her that she had nothing to do with the person who had passed on.” Stretching his neck now that he was calmer, he told them what had happened in the ED when she’d come in the last time. “She actually told a person having a heart attack to go home and not return. I know we’re only getting one side of the story, but Christ, even if she came in and they sent her on her way without checking her, the hospital would be looking at a big lawsuit. And if she had died…I don’t even want to think about the repercussions of what that might have done.”

“What do you have planned for this? You said that you know the nurse. Are you planning to report her?” Kahana told him that he was. If for no other reason than for her to learn what the consequences of her actions had happened. “You’re right. And I’ll back you as a board member. But I will tell you that this is not the first time her name has run across my desk as a board member. I hate to say this but I’m betting that they fire her for this one. And more than likely serve some serious jail time. Not to mention her losing her nurse status.”

“Good.” He didn’t like to see anyone lose their job, but this woman could have killed Debra by being tired at the end of her shift or even, as he thought, thinking that Debra was faking her symptoms. “I’m going to be here awhile to make sure that she’s treated. I think that Axel is looking into something for her about the death I was telling you about. Dad, I just don’t understand people. Do you?”

“Not for a very long time, son. I’ll come by later and bring you something to eat. You take good care of that girl. Your mom and Mac got along great with her.” He told his dad that he would and thanked him for bringing him in something to eat. It was going to be a long night, and once Debra was put in the cardiac unit, he did rest a bit better.

Pulling up Debra’s file told him several things at once. She’d been in the ED six times, but when she’d been told to go home, the nurse on duty said that she’d left against medical advice. An AMA was a way for her to get out of not treating her. And he no more believed that she’d left that way on her own. He was still looking over the files in Debra’s room when she woke up.

“How are you doing?” She looked at him, confused. “It’s Doctor Hathaway, Kahana. I was the one that brought you in here by ambulance.” She struggled to speak, and he told her not to stress herself out.

“Where?” He told her where she was and why. After having the nurse check her blood pressure, he wasn’t happy with how high it was. “Hurt.”

“I’m sure you do.” He checked her for numbness as well as a droopy left side. When she seemed to be better than she was at her home, he sat down in the chair that was next to her bed. “Do you remember talking to me at your apartment?”

She started to shake her head and stopped when it was obvious that it hurt too badly. He again told her to rest and that there wasn’t anything she could do right now that would help her. Just for her to relax.

“I have a headache.” He told her that was more than likely a side effect of the meds that she’d been given. Mostly the nitroglycerin. “You said that I’d had a heart attack. How do you know?”

He didn’t care to be questioned about what he’d said or done while working but he did tell her that he’d seen her type of symptoms before. Then he told her about her dying several times, and without having a crash cart nearby, she wouldn’t have made it. Nodding, Debra closed her eyes.

Kahana knew that the next time she woke up, he’d have to tell her again what had happened. This was the second time that she’d woke, and he’d had to remember everything that he needed to tell her without getting her upset again. She was doing much better than he thought that someone might have been doing while in the condition that she was currently in.

After pulling up the file on Ronda West, acting head nurse for the third shift ED department, he was also able to pull up her disciplinary file as well thanks to his dad for giving him access. As early as five days ago, she’d been written up for mishandling of medications. It was the fifth such one in her file. There were others, too, that were fairly new. One that she’d been very rude to a staff member and also once to someone who had come in for help. She’d sent that person home as well. It worried him that she was getting away with so much until he got to the back of her file. The personal file. He called his dad back.

“Ronda West is Ben Wests wife.” Dad told him that he’d not known that. “I’m betting that a great many people didn’t know that. Her wage isn’t in here, but she is being paid as much as a surgeon tier two it says here in her file. That’s about as much as I make now. Something is fishy with this, and I don’t know who to turn to about it.”

“It’s a bet that Ben knows what’s going on. It is his wife…hang on a moment, son. I want to ask your mom something.” He looked over at Debra and watched as the machine took her blood pressure. It was down a great deal than what it had been when she’d been at her home. Even coming into the hospital, it was down. He was glad for it. He didn’t want anything to happen to her when she’d been a victim of someone in the medical field. “They’re divorced. Ben and Ronda divorced about a year ago now, your mom told me. Tell me how far those disciplinary write-ups are.”

He told his dad. “I thought so. About the time he started having an affair with his secretary, and Ronda found out. I’m betting that he’s going to stay married to her so that there isn’t this huge mess of a scandal about his job being head of surgery. He’s keeping her quiet by letting her get by with…do you suppose he’s keeping track of things hoping that someone else gets into her records and he’s off the hook?” He told his dad that it made sense. “Yes, I’m betting that’s just what is going on. Christ, son, the shit is going to hit the fan for all of them once this gets out. And I know just the place to let it happen, too. I have a buddy at the newspaper who would love a scandal like this one to add his name to.”

He loved the way his father’s mind worked. No one in his family would be in the article, and the woman and her ex-husband would get what they had coming to them. As soon as he was able to tell his dad about the other things in the file, he hung up and felt better about it.

Still going through the file, he found other things that he’d bet would help the man that his dad knew. He’d never been as proud of his parents as he was right now. And the great part of it was, it wouldn’t come back to bite any of them in the ass. That he loved more than anything.

He was glad that he was with Debra all night. It made him feel better knowing firsthand that she hadn’t had any more episodes like the one she’d had at home. Every time he thought about it, if she’d been alone, it made him all the more angry about the way that West, both of them, had gotten away with things.

When she looked at him, he decided to wait until she spoke. Her speech wasn’t slurred, and her facial muscles seemed to be intact. Telling her for the fourth time what had happened, she didn’t fall asleep right away but asked if she could have a drink of water. Her mouth was dry.

“I can give you some ice chips. You’ll like them better anyway. Also, as I said before, don’t let your pain overwhelm you. If you hurt then take something now rather than letting it get the better of you.” She nodded and closed her eyes. He thought that she’d gone back to sleep when she spoke again.

“I had a heart attack. What happens to me now?” He asked her what she meant. “I mean, do I have something that I’m going to have to deal with for the rest of my life? Will I have to, I don’t know, learn some things that I’ve known most of my life. To be honest with her, I don’t feel too bad right now, and I think this is the first time in longer than I can remember that I didn’t feel like my head was going to explode and my heart to be pounding out of my chest. What happens to me now?”

“You’ve had two mild heart attacks. Not to say they weren’t serious, but they were mild enough to not have you have paralysis to your body. You seem to have your memories intact as well.” She asked him about medications. “Yes, you’ll be on a few that I would like for you to take for the rest of your life. But you’re young and healthy, so I don’t see you having any more ill effects from this. You will have to deal with stress a little better. Other than that, I think you’ll have a long life so long, as I said, you take care of yourself.”

She looked at him. “I had to go home. I mean, I have nothing here, and since I more than likely didn’t get to go home, I’ve lost everything.” Kahana told her that his brother and father took care of things for her. “I don’t know what that means. How did they take care of me not being there for the reading of the will.”

“I don’t know all the particulars but Axel has your phone and has been to Tennessee and back for you. The will that was being read isn’t the original, it was figured out but a forged one that Phillip Author made taking you out of the will. Apparently, he showed up with his will and expected since he was the one who was getting everything in his will, no one would question him. By the way, he’s in jail right now.”

She closed her eyes again before speaking. “Thank him for that. I don’t know what I’m going to do with it. I’m thinking that being an attorney will be more stress than I can handle anytime soon. And I’d still have to deal with Phil—a name he hates, by the way.” Kahana laughed. “He’s worse than you are when it comes to arrogancy. You are, you know that, don’t you?”

“I do. It’s saved me a great deal of time and energy when I’m dealing with idiots. Speaking of which, while you were getting some beauty rest, not that you need it, it’s coming out soon about Ronda West and her ex-husband.” He filled her in on what he knew. “There is going to be a huge article written in the newspaper which will more than likely be picked up all over the country if not the world. It’s a small wonder that you survived on what happened to you. Axel is hoping that you’ll press charges since you nearly died because of the woman.”

“She did make me feel stupid. That’s why I didn’t go back after that but tried to deal with it on my own. It didn’t work all that well…if they thought that I was faking my heart issues, then why did I get some nitro to use at home. It helped, by the way, but didn’t take all the pain away.” He told her what he knew about that. “So they were trying to cover their asses by giving me something so that I’d not come back. That’s pretty shitty if you ask me.”

“Yes, I agree with you.” He took her blood pressure when he realized that she’d not been hooked back up to it when she’d been brought back from her CAT scan. So far, he told her she didn’t show any signs of a lot of damage, and he hoped for the best outcome for her. “As I said, you’ll need to watch some things. You’ll have a list before you go home. Also, medications as well. There are a few that you’ll need to take just to keep this from happening again. And you’ll also need to get you one of those bracelets to tell that you have…never mind. We’ll go over that later. Do you still want something to drink? I have some crushed ice for you if you wish.”

He fed her several spoons of the cold ice and watched the monitor while she sat up better in the bed. So far, she was looking good, but he also knew that things could turn for her in a second’s notice. He kept telling himself that he should just let the doctors who knew more than he did about heart issues take over as he was only a general practitioner.

By the time he was ready to go home, she was sitting in a chair enjoying the sunlight. He’d never met anyone that loved the sun shining as much as he did and was glad to be able to leave her in the capable hands of the intensive care unit or ICU. He was about as exhausted as he’d been when doing rounds in college.

Like his brothers, he didn’t have a house. Axel did, but he didn’t want all that space bogging him down. The condo that he’d been living in since they’d been kicked out of their home by their parents—he loved that they did that too—he’d been staying in a condo that was close to the hospital. Now, he didn’t want that. He wanted to be able to have a little distance between him and his place of work.

Taking a shower, something that he’d not been able to get while staying with Debra, he fell into his bed after tossing his towel near to the laundry basket. Being clean and feeling relaxed, he fell into bed nude and closed his eyes. Getting up one more time, he called the service and took himself off of being on call but did tell the woman that if Debra Author were to call for him, then to put her through. He didn’t know why he’d done that and was trying his best not to look too deeply into it.

Sleep wasn’t coming on as well as he hoped it would. Finally, after tossing and turning for about an hour, he got up and dressed. That damned woman was on his mind, and he didn’t care for Debra invading his rest time. After several more tries to get her out of his head, he finally went to his office to have a little bit of filing and paperwork done that he’d been putting off since he’d met the woman.

Kahana was on his second cup of tea when he was just finishing up his last file. It felt really good to have his desk cleaned away and even more satisfying to be able to have all the backlog of notes in files finished off as well. He even had time to run a vacuum and a duster over the furniture in the lobby.

He didn’t exactly care for the office he was working in, he just realized. He’d been working out of it since he graduated from college. It was a place that he took so he’d have a place to work. It turned into, quite by accident, the place that he saw his patients in as well. It was old and had crappy furniture in it that he was ashamed to now realize that people might judge him by what they saw in the room. Getting back on his computer, it took him nearly five hours to not just arrange to have the carpets pulled up but the entire building revamped so that he could be proud of working here. And his new sister-in-law was going to give him a great discount on the job too.

His phone ringing startled him, and he nearly didn’t answer it. It was his dad, and he said that he was going to see Debra about the lawsuit that was coming up against the hospital.

“I wanted to make sure that she’s up for it. I don’t want her to have a relapse when I’m there. I’m to understand that she’s doing much better.” He told his dad to go slow and that she was doing better than he could have imagined. “Good deal then. I’m so happy that you were there when you guys were set to help her. Thank goodness for Mac, too.”

“Yes, there is no telling how long she might have been there without the proper care before she died. I hate to think about that, but that’s exactly what would have happened. And with her moving away, there is no telling how long before anyone would have found her. That scares me, too.”

After hanging up with his dad, Kahana made his way home again. He was exhausted; however, this time, he was physically drained rather than just mentally. As soon as his head hit the pillow this time, he was out.