Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

Aaron had ended up giving Grace a transfusion, which thankfully she tolerated well. Since she was doing better, he'd finally headed home, even though he'd had to forcibly turn around and stop himself from going up to the seventh floor to see Maggie.

He'd made rounds again on Sunday but then joined his family at church. Again, he'd managed to get in and out of Children's Memorial without stopping in to see Maggie.

His parents had brunch at their house. Andrea seemed to be doing better, as were her two kids, Bethany and Ben. Shannon was there, too, close in age to Bethany. He spent time with his nieces and nephew, keenly aware of what he was missing out on.

The family he'd always thought he'd have with Maggie.

"Hey, do you have a minute?" Alec asked in a low tone.

"Sure." He disentangled himself from the kids and followed Alec outside where they could talk in private. Aaron hadn't wanted his parents to learn Maggie was in town, fearing they'd anticipate a reconciliation.

"So I heard from Jack earlier this morning about that address you gave me for that guy, Oliver Chism."

"Jack is your cop friend, right?"

"Yeah, Jack Waldon. Anyway, he is very familiar with that address. The building houses low-income rental units, and while there are plenty of good people who live there, Jack said they've responded to multiple calls related to drug deals and prostitution."

Somehow, Aaron wasn't surprised by that. "But no arrests where Oliver Chism was involved?"

"No. But I told him to keep an eye out on the guy." Alec shrugged. "Maybe Chism will screw up."

"Yeah, maybe." He wasn't about to bank on it, though. Especially not when Chism is seeing dollar signs related to Joey's accident. He was cynical enough to think that the potential settlement along with governmental support were the main drivers behind Chism's actions regarding his son. "Thanks, Alec. I appreciate your buddy keeping an eye out for this guy."

"I can always follow him if needed," Alec said with a grin. "It might be fun. I enjoy my new role as being a detective, but I wouldn't mind getting back out on the street."

"No need," he said. "I'm sure you have plenty of other stuff to do."

"If you change your mind, let me know." Alec pinned him with a serious gaze. "How are you really? I'm surprised Maggie is here in town."

Aaron grimaced. "Yeah, her showing up was a shock. Seeing her is reopening old wounds." Thankfully, his pager went off. "I better take this."

"Yeah, sure." Alec turned to head back inside.

For the next couple of hours, Aaron fielded several calls. Nothing that required him to head back to the hospital, which was probably a good thing.

After brunch, he went home to pull his notes together on Dale Fullerton in preparation for the Monday morning meeting. By the time he'd finished, he felt confident he had more than enough proof of Fullerton's dereliction of duty.

The question remained, though, whether Chief of Staff Rob Kent would agree with his recommendation to take formal action against Fullerton. Obviously, that was not a step to be taken lightly. And physicians had to be offered due process according to the medical staff bylaws.

Yet Aaron kept coming back to the potential impact to patient care. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if one of their small patients suffered because Fullerton didn't bother to answer his pages.

And waiting until they had a medical malpractice case hanging over their heads was not an option.

The following morning, Aaron made sure to get to the hospital early. For one thing, he wanted to check on Grace, but he also suspected Fullerton would show up early for their meeting.

He was right. At six forty, there was a knock at his door. Steeling himself for the upcoming unpleasant discussion, Aaron stood and opened the door.

Dale Fullerton was freshly showered, shaved, and dressed to kill in an expensive suit.

"You're early," Aaron said. "Rob Kent isn't here yet."

"I was hoping we could talk first without him," Fullerton said. "I think you're blowing this incident way out of proportion."

It wasn't just once incident, but he planned to wait until Rob Kent was there to go through everything. "Sorry, I have a few calls to make. You'll need to wait here for Rob." Aaron gestured to the pair of chairs off to the side of the outer office area. Normally, his receptionist would be there to help manage things, but Hannah didn't come in until seven thirty.

He hoped the meeting with Fullerton and Rob was over by then.

Maggie was right, he did not like conflict.

"I only need a few minutes," Fullerton insisted.

"Have a seat," Aaron said. "If my calls finish early, I'll let you know."

"But—" He didn't give Fullerton a chance to finish. Instead, he stepped back into his office and closed the door.

Just so that he wasn't lying, he made a few calls. One was to the seventh-south nursing station to see if Kyle was up there making rounds. The other was to the nurse at Grace's bedside in the PICU. Even though he'd checked in on the little girl, she had been scheduled to have a chest X-ray done.

"Yes, Dr. Monroe, the radiology tech has been here to take the X-ray," the nurse confirmed. "I'm sure the results will be available soon."

"Thank you." He hung up the phone, then logged into the patient medical record system. He took a few minutes to look at the chest X-ray for himself, more to buy time than anything.

Grace's lungs looked clear, and that meant she could be transferred out of the PICU to a regular floor later that morning. Satisfied Grace was on the mend, he logged off.

There were still five minutes to go before the meeting time, but when he heard deep male voices, he rose and came around to open his office door. Seeing Rob Kent brought a sense of relief.

The sooner he could get this meeting over with, the better.

"Rob. Dale. Please come in." He opened his door so the two physicians could enter. Fullerton's expression was earnest, as if he couldn't imagine why he'd been called to the principal's office.

Aaron was annoyed that Dale had put him in this position. If people would just do their jobs, the world would be a much better place.

"Thanks for agreeing to meet on short notice," Aaron said. He handed each physician a copy of the document he'd put together last night. "We're here to discuss Dale Fullerton's lack of answering pages and overall dereliction of duty."

"This is outrageous," Dale sputtered. But his eyes widened when he read the document Aaron had provided.

"I agree, your behavior is completely outrageous," Aaron said. "And I'm not willing to continue to jeopardize patient care by ignoring it."

"This is definitely a pattern of unacceptable behavior," Rob Kent said. The chief of staff turned to face Fullerton. "What do you have to say in response?"

Fullerton scowled but then sat back in his chair as if realizing he wasn't getting out of this meeting unscathed. "I'm going through some personal issues. I promise it won't happen again."

Aaron wanted to point out that he'd been going through personal issues, too, but managed to refrain. He didn't want either of these men to know about how upset he'd been since his own divorce.

He held Fullerton's gaze. "I can buy that excuse for one weekend, not four."

"You don't know what I'm going through," Fullerton snapped back.

"Maybe not, but that doesn't change the fact that patient care has been negatively impacted by your behavior," Rob Kent said in a calm voice. "I'm going to suspend you from duty for two weeks and order you to undergo counseling. You will not be allowed to return to work until I receive a report from your psychologist saying you're cleared for duty. And this will be the first step in the disciplinary action process. If after you return to work there's another incident where you neglect to answer your pages, we'll be having another more serious conversation."

Aaron was impressed with Kent's firm, decisive action. Based on the dazed expression on Fullerton's face, it was clearly a wake-up call. The message was to shape up or ship out.

He almost hoped Fullerton would leave rather than suffer the indignity of medical staff sanctions.

Fullerton shot to his feet. "Fine. Excuse me so I can make the appointment."

As he watched Fullerton leave, Aaron sighed, hoping he wouldn't have to deal with another situation like this again.

* * *

Maggie awoke Monday morning with an overwhelming sense of dread. This was it. The day the department of Child Protective Services would decide Joey's fate.

Running her fingers through her hair, she debated darting back to the hotel room she hadn't used since checking in to shower and change. Then she sighed and decided there was no point. There was no reason to dress to impress.

The chance of being approved as Joey's foster mother was slim to none.

She bowed her head, silently praying for God to ensure that Krista Monroe be granted the honor of becoming Joey's foster mother. At least that way she would be able to hang around for a while to help Joey transition to his new life.

Please, Lord Jesus, protect this little boy! Give him the loving family he deserves!

"Maggie? I hav'ta go to the bafroom." Joey rubbed his eyes sleepily. She rose from the cot and hurried over.

"You remember where it is, right?" She helped him down from the bed.

"Yeah." He looked down at his arms as if he'd forgotten he was no longer connected to tubes or wires. Then he looked up at her. "I'm hungry."

"We'll order breakfast after you use the bathroom," she promised. He was on a regular diet now, and the menu boasted several breakfast choices specifically for kids. Including Mickey Mouse pancakes and Pluto waffles.

Joey was finishing in the bathroom when she heard a raised voice in the hallway. "Sir? Where are you going?"

Instantly, Maggie shot to the doorway. She wasn't surprised to see Oliver Chism standing there, but his outward appearance was worse than ever. He was wearing the same clothes, sporting more stains, and his greasy hair stood up on end. He staggered down the hall, making a beeline for Joey's room.

She quickly stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind her. No way was he getting past her.

"I wanna see my kid!" Oliver's tone was loud and the words slightly slurred. Had he been drinking? She was about to ask, but as he grew closer, she noticed his pupils were dilated.

Drugs? She shot a glance at the nurse standing next to her. Her name tag read Sonja. "I need you to call security."

Sonja nodded and lifted a hand to an earpiece. "Security needed on seven south outside room 712."

"I wanna…" Oliver Chism stumbled and fell against the wall. He slumped there for a long moment, then his legs crumpled beneath him, and he slowly slid to the floor.

"Mr. Chism? Oliver?" Maggie eased forward, unsure if he was smart enough to play some sort of trick, pretending to need help only to jump up and attack her. She didn't trust the guy as far as she could throw him. But up close, she noticed his eyelids slid closed, and his mouth went slack.

What in the world? Had he overdosed on drugs?

"Call a medical emergency," Maggie said urgently. "Do you have Narcan up here?"

"Yes, but in pediatric doses." Sonja came to kneel beside her, her expression grave. "You think he overdosed?"

"I have no idea other than his pupils are dilated." To prove her point, Maggie pried open one eyelid. Oliver's pupil was so large she could barely see the brown of his iris around it. "Get as much Narcan as you can find and hurry. I don't know what he's taken or how much."

Sonja jumped to her feet and rushed off.

"Maggie? What's going on?" Aaron strode quickly down the hall toward her. He looked surprised to see Oliver Chism lying on the floor. "What happened to him?"

"Suspected drug overdose." She felt for his pulse. "We may have to start CPR."

"What about Narcan?" Aaron dropped to his knees beside her. She was keenly aware of his spicy aftershave wafting toward her.

"Sonja the nurse is getting it. She says they only have pediatric doses, though."

"We're going to need more than that," Aaron said. "We'll start with what she has on hand, then tell her to go to the next unit over to get more."

It was comforting to have Aaron there to share the crisis. Then the faint thready beat of Oliver's pulse beneath her fingertips vanished.

"No pulse. Starting CPR." She didn't hesitate to begin chest compressions. Sonja arrived a minute later holding nasal injectors in one hand.

"I have two milligrams of Narcan," she announced.

"Thanks. But we may need more. I'll give him these while you run to the next unit for additional doses," Aaron said.

Maggie continued to provide chest compressions as Aaron administered Narcan through nasal injection. She'd hoped the two milligrams would be enough to bring Oliver's pulse back.

Aaron finished giving the medication, then felt for Oliver's pulse. "Compressions are good, stop CPR."

She sat back on her heels, drawing in deep breaths to steady herself. It had been a long time since she'd had to give CPR. As an anesthesiologist, the goal was to never let a patient suffer a cardiac arrest while they were in the operating room.

And kids in general didn't need compressions very often.

"No pulse. I'll take over CPR," Aaron said.

"Let me." She couldn't explain why she was so determined to save Oliver Chism's life, but as much as she didn't want this guy to have custody of Joey, she also didn't want him to die right outside his son's room.

"I have another two milligrams of Narcan," Sonja said breathlessly, dropping the nasal doses on the floor next to Aaron. "I've called down to the pharmacy for more."

Maggie continued giving chest compressions as Aaron administered the additional Narcan. Adults could sometimes need up to six or eight milligrams, and they'd only given Oliver a total of four.

He was relatively skinny, though, so Maggie prayed the second two-milligram dose of Narcan would be enough.

More hospital staff gathered around them, but she didn't allow herself to be distracted. She stayed focused on providing the best chest compressions possible, circulating the Narcan Aaron had given to help counteract the drugs Oliver must have taken.

"Good pulse with CPR," Aaron said again. "Stop compressions. Let's see where we're at."

"We have an AED here too," someone said, gesturing to the automatic external defibrillator sitting on top of a red crash cart, "in case you need to shock him."

Aaron nodded, then rested his fingers against Oliver's neck to feel for his carotid. Then he smiled up at her. "He has a pulse. You did it."

"We did it." She sat back on her heels again, feeling the fine trickle of sweat rolling down her spine. "Let's get him connected to the AED."

In less than five minutes, they had Oliver connected to the portable heart monitor/defibrillator and had lifted him onto a gurney. Oliver groaned but didn't quite wake up. Maggie knew it would take time for the Narcan to counteract the drugs in his system and that he would likely need additional doses of Narcan too.

"We need to get him down to the emergency department ASAP," one of the residents said, "before he crashes again."

"Do you have more Narcan on that crash cart?" Aaron asked. "If so, take it with you."

"We do." Sonja pulled the medication from the drawer and dropped it onto the gurney. Moments later, Oliver disappeared into the elevator.

"Well, that was interesting." Maggie glanced at Aaron. "Good timing in showing up when you did."

"I wanted to be here when Kyle made rounds," he said with a wry smile. "You had the situation under control."

"I don't suppose we're able to use this incident against him when it comes to his fighting for custody." She frowned. "We don't know where he was when he took the drugs and I doubt he'll be arrested for suffering an overdose in the hospital."

"I think CPS needs to hear about this, but I guess it's up to them what they choose to do with that information." Aaron put his arm around her shoulder. "It's going to work out, you'll see."

"Yes, I know." She allowed herself a moment to lean against him. Once, she would have turned into his arms and kissed him. But that was before their divorce. "I'm sure you heard about Krista Monroe."

"Adam's wife?" Aaron looked confused. "I know I mentioned her earlier, but I thought you you wanted to be Joey's foster mother."

She flushed. "I did. But Krista came by yesterday. I assumed that was because you reached out to her. Anyway, as you pointed out Krista is already a foster parent, so I'm hoping that whoever takes Joey's case will agree to placing him with Krista and Adam."

"I see." Aaron's green gaze held hers. "And how do you feel about that?"

She flushed, surprised that Krista had approached Maggie of her own accord. "I think it's the best option for Joey. Krista said I could stay with them for a few days to ease his transition to a new home."

His gaze narrowed. "So you've given up the idea of moving here to become Joey's permanent foster mother."

Why did he look disappointed with her? Hadn't he been the one to warn her off heading down this path in the first place? She blew out an exasperated breath. "I don't see how that's any of your concern. Thanks for helping with Oliver Chism. I need to get back to Joey."

"Maggie," he started to say, but she lifted her hand to stop him.

"I don't want to argue with you anymore," she said, feeling incredibly weary. Most of that was the adrenaline crash from handling the medical emergency, but these interactions with Aaron only proved why they'd gotten divorced in the first place. "Please, Aaron. While I appreciate the support you've given Joey, it's time for you to leave me alone."

He looked taken aback by her comment, but that didn't stop her from slipping into Joey's room. The little boy had climbed up into the bed and was watching cartoons, completely oblivious as to what had just transpired in the hallway outside his room.

Maggie washed her hands in the bathroom, then sat beside Joey to order him a breakfast tray. She had a feeling the social worker would be here very soon.

And she wasn't giving up another second of the precious time she had left with the little boy.