Chapter Ten
C al helped Deirdre and the waitress clean the floor, then he washed up in the restroom and met her back at the table. Her steady, blue gaze connected with him, and she gave a brief smile that triggered a warm thump in his chest.
Deirdre had jumped in without hesitation to help Gordy.
Any healthcare worker, Cal included, would do the same in a similar situation. But the way she soothed an unconscious, seizing Gordy while comforting the parents, triggered a memory of Deirdre, with a gentle and tired smile, taking steady care of Elijah while he was in hospice. More memories surfaced of Deirdre patching up Cal or Elijah when they screwed up on any number of youthful dares so many years ago.
The constant was Deirdre. She was always there.
At her heart she was a caregiver, ready to help. Never not on duty. Kindhearted, practical, and emotionally sturdy. Cal had never given it much thought. Her care was a given. She’d always been that way.
The reality hit harder now. He knew the nuts and bolts of the caregiver role from his medical experience. However, he had a much better idea of what it took to be a caregiver, since he was dipping toe into that job with his parents. Still, what he dealt with was nothing compared with what Deirdre had done on a daily basis.
What she continued to do on a daily basis.
His gut tightened as he studied her profile as she looked out of the diner window, one hand pressed to the tabletop. A line formed between her brows. He wanted to smooth it away with his finger. Share some of her burdens. Take them off her shoulders, at least for a time. He rocked back on his heels.
No way would he explore this new feeling, because that meant he would have to expose something new and uncomfortable about himself.
“Want a to-go box?” he said, voice coming out hoarse.
Brown eyebrows rose briefly, and she pulled her head back. “Oh. Yes, that’s probably the right thing to do.” She sighed.
“Sorry that dinner was interrupted.”
“Not your fault. I’m glad we were here to help.”
“Very true,” he mumbled. He held her coat as she slid her arms in, then went to the register.
“No charge for you two.” The waitress crossed her arms.
“We can pay for our dinner,” he insisted.
The waitress lifted her chin to the owner, who had been helping with other customers while EMS had attended to Gordy.
“Sorry, folks,” the owner said with a wide smile. “Your money’s no good here this evening.”
“Again, not necessary.” He glanced at the lifting corners of Deirdre’s mouth. “But thank you.”
Deirdre echoed her thanks as they exited.
They crunched in slushy snow to Melinda’s car, and he held the door open. “I’ll follow you to the hospital.”
“So much for a first date.” She stood on the other side of the door, shoulders sagged. Always on duty.
He gripped the bags of food he held, the movement preventing him from wrapping his arms around her. “At least we got our public appearance taken care of.”
“Appearance. That’s right.” Her gaze slid off of him and away. “Finally.”
After they parked both his vehicle and Melinda’s in front of the hospital, he and Deirdre badged through the emergency department entrance and stepped into the ED room the unit coordinator at the work area desk indicated.
“Melinda?” Deirdre said softly.
Gordy’s parents looked up from their seats at his bedside. He slept soundly, his normally tight limbs limp, a light gurgling snore coming with each breath. Cal couldn’t resist checking the vitals on the monitor. Sats were ninety-five percent on oxymask, pulse regular, blood pressure soft but probably okay given Gordy’s age around thirty and condition.
With a quick hug around the neck to both of them, Deirdre handed over the keys. “He’s sleeping hard, huh?”
Melinda nodded, lines of fatigue and age etching her kind face. “With the combination of a post-seizure state and the lorazepam, he’ll be out cold for many hours.”
“Anything I can do?”
Deirdre rested a hand on the woman’s shoulder. Suddenly, Cal felt like a real outsider. Like he needed to slip out of the room. He edged toward the door.
“Thank you, but we’re good. This is par for the course with our Gordy. Dr. Tipton said he should stay for observation. She wants to watch for more seizures in case this is a cluster. He also needs treatment with antibiotics for aspiration.”
“Yes, that was a long seizure,” Deirdre said in a soft voice, like she wanted to agree but didn’t want to say too much.
Steve and Melinda locked eyes. “Sure was,” he said with a grimace. “But Gordy keeps trucking along, right, hon?”
“What other option is there?” Melinda’s smile was sad. “Besides, we were due for another family health issue.”
Another issue? Cal racked his brain. He didn’t know Melinda and Steve well, as they were about thirteen years older than him. He hadn’t heard that they were ill. Their daughter Louise? She seemed healthy.
What did he know? No surprise there were things going on in town that he hadn’t been aware of. Why that bothered him, he couldn’t say.
Deirdre gave one more pat on the shoulder and stepped back. “Well, let me know what I can do to help.”
“You’re in great hands tonight,” Cal added. “Dr. Tipton is an excellent physician. And it looks like Gordy’s stabilized.”
“Of course,” Melinda said. “The joke in our family is that with all the health issues his entire life, Gordy must have nine lives.”
Steve snorted. “He might have nine lives, but I’m personally down to seven after tonight’s seizure.”
They all laughed softly. Cal and Deirdre exited the room.
Cal stopped at the work area next to Lee Tipton, family physician and newcomer to Yukon Valley. “Feeling good about Gordy?” he asked.
Dr. Tipton was an excellent physician, but she fully acknowledged that she hadn’t done inpatient or ED work in several years. When she asked him questions, it was obvious to Cal the exercise was for confirmation, not direction. She knew her stuff and only needed reinforcement that her decisions were sound.
“Thanks for checking. Seizure med levels are pending, and I’ll adjust the dose if need be. Ativan as needed overnight. Labs and cultures cooking. The chest x-ray had some infiltrates, so I’m covering for pneumonia. Not sure if he was getting ill and that’s what triggered the seizure or if he had the seizure and then aspirated.”
“Chicken and the egg, huh?”
“At this point, the treatment’s the same.”
“True.”
“Hey, you two scoot on out of here already. You’re off duty.” She waved. “Hi, Deirdre! It sounded like last weekend’s guests were really happy.”
Deirdre smiled, and it felt like sunshine indoors to Cal. “They booked another reservation to return this fall during the salmon run!”
“That’s great news!”
“More work, but that’s a fabulous problem to have!” Deirdre made an exhausted face complete with panting until they all chuckled.
“Better than having a problem with the land prospectors,” Lee frowned. “I hate folks who lie,” Lee said, her Georgia accent always surprising to hear in Alaska. “They faked an injury so that they could sue. They’re lower than a snake’s belly in a ditch.”
Cal clenched his hand. He hated that someone had threatened to take Deirdre and Maverick’s property. Hated that they posed a safety risk to people he cared about. Hated having those people anywhere near Yukon Valley. “How’d you expose them, Lee?”
Deirdre nodded. “She heard their plan while she treated the injured man in the ED.”
“Because they didn’t recognize me from when I helped Maverick out in the field, because la-de-da how could I be a doctor, right?” She batted her long lashes. “However, as the treating ED doc, it was fair game to document the pertinent history and patient statements right into the chart!” Lee laughed. “Their case hinged on medical notes. I simply made sure the notes were thorough and accurate. If not damning.”
Cal whistled low. “Never heard of weaponizing the medical record. As much as I hate documentation, I’m glad for once it was used for good not evil.”
“It was a real pleasure.” She waggled her fingers. “Hey, seriously, you kids get on out of here and finish your date. Have a great evening.”
Deirdre’s cheeks flushed red. Her mouth opened, then closed.
The nearby unit coordinator covered a snicker. There were literally no secrets in Yukon Valley.
Cal’s phone buzzed, and he glanced at the text, brows shooting up. His jaw tightened. “It’s Mom and Pop. Damn it, the timing is bad. This evening keeps getting better and better.” He paused to read the message again. “Mind if we swing by their place?”
“Sure thing,” Deirdre said.
The ER staff definitely watched them leave.