Page 19 of Final Approach
He hesitated, then nodded. “I think there’s some left. Dad’s the coffee drinker. Mom can’t stand the stuff. If you’re wanting her to drink it to help wake her up, good luck.” He walked into the tiny kitchen and turned on the coffee maker.
“Well, we can try, right?”
“I guess.”
“You get it ready and I’ll wake her up.” The guys were still outside, and through the storm door she could see them talking. Waiting on her. Not wanting to push too hard and shut Mrs. Brown down completely. Assuming she could get her up and coherent. Kristine knocked on the closed door.
No answer.
The blessed smell of strong coffee reached her. She knocked again. “Mrs. Brown? It’s Kristine Duncan. I’m a federal agent. May I come in?”
Still no answer.
She tried the knob and it twisted beneath her palm. She opened the door and stuck her head inside. Mrs. Brown lay curled in a fetal position, eyes shut, face pale. Almost translucent. Her left shoulder rose and fell with each breath, but the delay between breaths worried Kristine. It seemed like her breathing was much too slow to be normal. She stepped to the bed and gave the woman a light shake. “Mrs. Brown?”
Nothing.
Kristine gave her a harder nudge.
Still nothing.
She felt her pulse, and while it was there, it was definitely too slow. She pulled out her phone and dialed 911.
“What’s your emergency?”
Kristine rattled off the situation and turned to find Jacob in the doorway staring at her, eyes wide with fear. “Go get the other two agents,” she told him.
“She OD’d?” His voice trembled.
She met his gaze. “I don’t know what happened, but the ambulanceis on the way. She’s breathing and she has a pulse. All good things. Do you know what she took?”
“I’ll get the bottle.” He went into the bathroom across the hall, returned with the bottle, then ran toward the kitchen, yelling over his shoulder, “I’ll get the other feds.”
“Tell them to bring Narcan!”
Nathan and Andrew joined her, matching frowns and concern on their faces while Jacob hovered in the background, tears tracking his cheeks.
“What’d she take?” Andrew asked, pressing the Narcan into her hand.
“Percocet. It’s an opioid-based drug.” She passed him the bottle and continued to monitor the woman’s breathing. It was still there—slow, but there. “The Narcan will help counteract that and I’m trained to administer it.” She did so and waited. Sometimes it took a couple of minutes for the person to regain consciousness.
“Come on,” Nathan whispered. “Wake up.”
“Call CPS,” she said, keeping her voice low. “They’re going to have to get involved in this.”
Andrew left the room.
“Suicide attempt?” Nathan asked, too low for Jacob to hear.
“Only she can tell us that.”
“Mom?” Jacob asked, coming closer. He looked at Kristine. “Is she going to be okay?”
She glanced at his hands twisting in front of him and walked over to take them in her own. “Your mom is getting the best help she can and you’ve done a great job assisting. In fact, can you grab me a cold wet washcloth?”
“Yeah.” He ran from the room.
Kristine heard the sirens in the distance and checked the woman’s pulse once more. It was still slow, but faster than before. Jacob was back with the dripping cloth, and she used it to touch various pulse points on the woman’s body.
