Page 28 of Paging Dr. Breakup
Melinda added, “The pattern has been changing lately. More frequent and severe seizures. Dr. Burmeister and the tele-neurologist were adjusting his medications over the last few weeks.”
Gordy continued the tonic-clonic seizure for another twenty seconds, without abating.
Deirdre called to the waitress from where she knelt on the floor. “Could you get EMS here, please? He may need to go to the ED.” The bluish tinge to his lips worried her. Transient drops in oxygen were normal in seizures but could become dangerous if the seizure didn’t stop.
Calvin swiped some napkins from an empty table and gently wiped saliva and food from Gordy’s mouth. The diner owner rushed out with clean towels to use. Calvin kept a loose, protective hand beneath Gordy’s head so he wouldn’t hurt himself. Fishing out his phone from his pants pocket, he hit a number. “Hi, Lee, it’s Cal. Gordy Wright is headed your way with what looks like a grand mal seizure. Intractable. No vitals at this time. I’ll direct EMS to give some lorazepam when they get here. Yeah. Okay, we’ll see you in a bit.”
Deirdre tried to reassure Steve and Melinda while keeping Gordy on his side. There was Calvin, calling in report to the on-call doc, making sure the ED was prepared for the patient.
The front door clanked and EMTs Hilda and Moose rolled in, quickly applied oxygen and EKG leads while Deirdre placed an IV. Hilda then gave a dose of lorazepam at Calvin’s direction. Once the seizure subsided, they carefully transferred Gordy onto the lowered gurney. His respirations had a gurgling quality to them, alarming to hear but typical in a post-seizure state.
Melinda and Steve collected their coats and followed the gurney to the front door.
“Hey, Melinda,” Deirdre called out. “Leave me your keys. You two go with him. I’ll drop your car off at the hospital in a little bit.”
Chapter Ten
Cal helped Deirdreand 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.”
