Lauren stood gazing at Mrs. Conn. “This has been a rough one. Everyone knows and loves Mrs. Conn. She used to do a lot of volunteer work here. Her daughter Ivy has made several large contributions to the hospital in the five years since her husband died.”
The X-ray tech finished her work in the room, and Lauren took Mrs. Conn’s vitals once more. “Down again. BP is 95 over 55 with a 90 pulse.”
“Thanks, Lauren. I’ll go have a talk with her daughter as soon as I check the test results.”
“Okay, I’ll go see Frankie again.” Lauren gave Mrs. Conn another sad look and walked out of the room.
Had there been time, Lukas would have sat with the patient, but he had to return to reassure the mother with the sick baby, talk to the girl with the sprain, and check on Frankie. Where was Mrs. Conn’s daughter, Mrs. Richmond? Why wasn’t she in here? More than likely she was exhausted and had found a sofa or chair on which to sleep.
When Lukas finished his round of the patients, he returned to Mrs. Conn and read the test results. As expected, they looked normal for an elderly woman with late-stage cancer. She continued to rest peacefully, but her blood pressure and respiration were falling.
He found the E.R. secretary at the central desk. “Carol, would you please call Dr. Richmond’s office and advise her of her grandmother’s condition? I’m going—”
Carol raised a hand. “Wait a minute, Dr. Bower. We received permission to treat Cindy Hawkins with the injured wrist. Also, I have Dr. Simeon on the line. You wanted to talk with him about his patient, Mr. Verris?”
After a quick consultation with Dr. Simeon, Lukas made arrangements to have Franklin Verris, the possible suicide attempt, admitted to ICU, then went back to check on the seventy-three-year-old gentleman one more time.
Shelly kept her vigil at her neighbor’s bedside. Lauren stood at the other side of the bed, adjusting an IV line.
“Any change, Lauren?” Lukas asked.
“I’m not sure. There’s no difference in his vitals, but his breathing seemed to change a moment ago. It’s been twenty minutes, and I’m getting ready to give him the next dose. Do you want me to go ahead with it?”
Lukas bent over Mr. Verris and gently raised his right eyelid. He took out a penlight and shone a beam directly at the pupil. There was a faint reaction. The man didn’t look as pale as he had looked before. But according to Dr. Simeon an overdose was highly unlikely. He had disagreed with Lukas’s request for Romazicon. However, Lauren was prepared for another dose, and since Lukas had already given the order, he decided to carry it out.
“Go for it, Lauren. I need to stay and watch him, but I also need to talk to Mrs. Richmond. I’ll be back.”
Chapter Two
L ukas opened the door to the private waiting room and saw a tall, slender woman pacing the floor. Her casual attire of jeans, jogging shoes and a “Hiking is Life” T-shirt skewed the impression he’d formed in his mind of a wealthy, polished benefactress of the hospital.
Mrs. Richmond’s long, dark brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of her neck. She turned to face him, and he saw that the hair was liberally streaked with gray around the temples. Her large, dark eyes met his with deep gravity. She was at least sixty, and the gaunt face told him of recent weight loss. The prominent dark circles under her eyes told him she probably hadn’t slept well for weeks.
“Mrs. Richmond?”
“Yes.” Her voice held fear.
“I’m Dr. Bower, the emergency room physician on duty today. I need to speak with you about your mother.”
Mrs. Richmond nodded. “I should be in there with her, I know, but the moaning…I just couldn’t handle it, had to get away from it for a while.” She resumed her pacing. “She moaned all night. I gave her morphine suppositories twice as often as…” She turned back. “I’m sorry. I’m rambling. It’s just so hard to think straight these days.”
“I understand. Have you had an aide helping you with your mother at home?”
“No. I didn’t want my mother thinking I’d abandoned her to a stranger.”
“So you’ve been taking care of her yourself?”
“My daughter helps when she can.”
“I’m sure that’s very hard on you, Mrs. Richmond.”
“Call me Ivy. Is she still moaning?”
“She was peaceful when I left her a few minutes ago. We gave her an injection. We ran some tests to see if there might be a pneumonia or something else causing her deterioration.” He paused. “I’m sorry, Ivy, but none of the tests show a secondary problem. I’m afraid the cancer is taking her.”
Ivy nodded slowly. “Hard to believe a little mole on her cheek could do such damage. Melanoma, you know.”
“Yes. I’m sorry. Her oncologist is in Springfield?”
“Yes, but it’s no use calling him. He’ll just increase the morphine.” Fatigue sharpened her voice. “She’s not worth his time. She’s just an old woman.”
“We want to make her as comfortable as possible. I understand you have the DNR request she signed?”
Ivy grew still as her eyes flashed back to his face. Her chin lifted a fraction. “Why?”
“Would you like to sit down?”
“I’ll stand.”
“I know you must be tired. I want to honor your mother’s advance directive, and to do so, I need the DNR sheet. This is all just legalities, and I apologize for having to ask you for it at a time like this.”
“You mean to just let her die?”
Lukas flinched at the harsh tone of her voice and the sudden, angry-suspicious expression in her eyes.
“If her heart should stop,” he said gently, “we wish to honor her request not to restart it.”
“What’s this ‘we’ business? You’re the doctor. You call the shots. I don’t want my mother’s heart to stop, and if it does, I want you to start it again.”
He held her suddenly angry gaze for a moment. She couldn’t know what she was saying.
“Mrs. Richmond, I thought you understood about your mother’s request.”
“My mother is not capable of making that decision now. I have power of attorney, and I don’t want you to just let her die like some worthless old woman. She’s a living human being with a soul.”
“Of course she is.” He hadn’t foreseen this. How could he get through to her? “I’m not talking about euthanasia. I’m talking about allowing nature to take its course, allowing your mother to retain her dignity and keep her from unnecessary pain. I’ve asked a nurse to call your daughter, Dr. Richmond, and she should be here—”
“You did what?” Her dark eyes flashed, and fatigue tightened the tension in her voice.
Lukas blinked at her helplessly. This was not going well. She was clearly, and understandably, irrational from lack of sleep. There had to be some way to make her see, without becoming too graphic.
“I specifically delayed calling my daughter because I wanted to put her through as little heartache as possible,” Ivy said. “She’s been through enough. You had no right to call her.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way, but Mrs. Conn’s condition is getting worse. I felt family needed to be here.”
“Not