Chasing the Wind Page 5

  “Okay then.” She grinned and headed for the door. “I’ll have Genna come back in. Just promise you’ll behave yourself.”

  “Aye, aye, captain.”

  Anabelle headed for the nurses’ desk to check in with her staff for any new orders or pertinent changes before making rounds again. Becky, Olga Pederson’s nurse, stepped out of the elderly woman’s room and smiled when she saw Anabelle approaching. They started for the nurses’ station together.

  “Did Dr. Hildebrand ever order the sedative for Mrs. Pederson?” Anabelle asked.

  Becky nodded. “I gave it to her a few minutes ago.”

  “Good. Hopefully she’ll be able to relax for a while.”

  “She has a visitor. Not family, but it’s the neighbor who brought her in.”

  “Oh, good. Maybe she can fill in some blanks about Olga’s history.”

  As Anabelle was doing her rounds, Olga stirred when she came into the room but didn’t open her eyes. A young woman sitting in the recliner near the bed rose when Anabelle entered. She wore jeans and a fitted print top. “I’m Christina Godwin, Olga’s neighbor.”

  “Nice to meet you. I was hoping someone could be with her.” They walked out into the hall so as not to disturb Olga.

  “I’ve been trying to find out more about her condition; but since I’m not family, no one can tell me anything.” Christina crossed her arms.

  “I know. The confidentiality thing can seem frustrating, but it’s important. I can tell you that she’s stable.”

  “I understand. The information on the Internet says atrial fibrillation is pretty serious.”

  “If not treated, yes.” Anabelle wrote Christina’s name and phone number down as a contact person on her clipboard.

  “I called her daughter Carla in Oregon.” Christina glanced into the room. “I thought she should know.”

  “I’m glad you did. Olga asked us not to.”

  Christina smiled. “I was afraid she’d do something like that. She’s so independent. Carla doesn’t know if she can get away, but she’ll be calling the hospital to get a report.”

  Anabelle made a note about Carla on her sheet. “I understand Olga lives alone. Does she take care of the house by herself?”

  “She does,” Christina said. “I swear she has more energy than I do. She gardens and I have never seen anyone over there helping her. Well, except for my husband and me. We’ve sort of adopted her as grandma. She even came over to help me clean after my baby was born.” Christina laughed. “Not only that, Olga is active in church, she knits and crochets. Seems like she’s always busy. She knit the cutest sweater for my little guy for Christmas this year.”

  Anabelle chuckled. “She told me she likes staying busy. Looks like she meant it.”

  Christina frowned. “It would be really hard on her to have to give up her home.”

  Anabelle sighed. “Like I told her, there’s no reason to think she’ll have to leave her home. There are ways to get around that.”

  “I’ve told her she should think about moving out to her daughter’s place, but she’s so stubborn.” Christina turned to look at her friend. “The thing is, I think she really wants to be closer to her family. You should see how excited she is when she goes to visit.”

  “It’s hard to have family living so far away.” Anabelle was thankful her children lived in town. Her pager vibrated. “That’s Carla now. If you’ll excuse me.”

  “Oh, right.” Christina grinned. “I need to go anyway. Thanks.”

  “Thank you for being such a good friend to her.” Anabelle ducked into her office to take the call. “Anabelle Scott speaking.”

  “Oh, thank goodness.” The woman sounded agitated.

  “You must be Carla.” Anabelle settled into her chair. “How can I help you?”

  “The operator put me through to Mama’s room, but no one answered.”

  “I’m sorry. The ringer must be off. She’s asleep right now, but I’ll make sure she gets the message that you called.”

  “Thank you. When I called back, someone said I should talk to you. Is Mama—I mean do you think I should fly out there?”

  Anabelle hesitated. She wanted to say, “Yes, you should. She needs her family right now.” But it wasn’t her place. Instead she said, “Your mother seems to be stable right now. Her doctor plans to run some tests to determine what the next steps will be.”

  “What’s her prognosis?”

  “Carla, I feel really terrible about this, but your mother doesn’t want us to release information.”

  “But I’m her daughter.”

  “I know.” Anabelle sighed. “But we have to respect a patient’s wishes. Did Christina tell you what your mother was admitted for?”

  “Yes, atrial fibrillation.”

  “Good. Here’s what I’d like you to do. Go online to a reputable site like the Mayo Clinic and read about the condition. That might help you determine what to do.”

  “Thanks, Anabelle. I will. Tell my mother that we love her and are praying for her.”

  “I’ll do that.” Anabelle hung up feeling frustrated. She’d like to call Carla back and encourage her to come.

  Anabelle then called the recovery room to get the status on Dillon Blake, the patient who’d had the open-heart surgery that morning. “He’s doing great,” the recovery nurse reported. “We’re sending him up to you in a few minutes.”

  “Thanks.” She whispered a brief prayer for him. Mr. Blake would be in the room across from Dr. Hamilton. Anabelle wondered how Mr. Blake would react when he discovered his doctor had suffered a heart attack—during surgery.

  The rest of their patients were doing well. Two would be going home tomorrow. She visited them, answering any questions or concerns they had. Anabelle always made it a point to check on all of the Cardiac Care Unit’s patients at least twice a day. She felt they appreciated the extra attention and having a supervisor caring about them made them feel like a priority and well cared for. Plus, it helped her discover staff problems as well as being able to give compliments to nurses and aides who made that little extra effort to comfort their patients.

  She stayed through the shift change and report, adding comments as necessary, and then headed back to her office. Ordinarily she’d be going home about now, but she needed to catch up on some extra paperwork from the weekend.

  Before tackling her stack of files, she paused to look out the window. Dark, metal-gray clouds covered a distant sky and the darkness swept to the ground. The rain had let up some, softer now than this morning. But a nasty-looking storm appeared to be headed their way.

  She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and called Cameron to tell him about Dr. Hamilton and her workday. “Looks like I’ll be staying at the hospital until around five.”

  “I’ll put potatoes in the oven then go to work grilling the salmon,” he said. “Be careful. Weather forecast is predicting tornadoes across our area later tonight.”

  Anabelle looked out the window again as a pang of anxiety struck her. Tornado warnings would put anyone on edge.

  She’d just ended the call when she heard a tap on her door. “Come in.”

  The door opened and Winona Stouffer poked her head in. “Got a minute?”

  “For you? Certainly.” Winona was one of her favorite nurses. She stood all of four foot ten and usually wore colorful scrubs. Today, she had on a pink and black set with a Betty Boop theme. In fact, the black-haired cartoon character reminded Anabelle of Winona. Cameron jokingly called Winona an attitude in a small package.

  “I like your top.”

  “Thanks. Got it on clearance for three bucks.” Winona perched her hip on Anabelle’s desk.

  “Did you need something or did you just want to visit?”

  Winona grinned. “Would that we had time to just visit. Actually, I have two things on my agenda. First, since school is about ready to start, we need to have a meeting of the Bike Smarts committee to decide who’s going to present the programs and w
hen.”

  Winona and Anabelle both served on the committee geared toward helping kids and adults stay safe when riding their bikes. After Kirstie’s accident, Anabelle had been instrumental in beginning a bike safety program called I’ve Got Bike Smarts. The program was established with a grant from the town council that the entire community contributed to. Thanks to them, the program reached every child in the fourth grade in the district’s four elementary schools, and each child received a bike helmet. Anabelle still served as an adviser, program presenter and member of the committee.

  Anabelle nodded. “I can’t believe summer is almost over.”

  “Tell me about it. I’m taking the kids out to buy school supplies this weekend.” Winona shuddered. “There goes the budget.”

  Anabelle nodded. “How well I remember.” She would need to shop for supplies as well. Her and Cameron’s church, Church of the Good Shepherd, had a program for which parishioners either donated supplies or money to help parents and kids who couldn’t afford them. “When are you thinking we should meet?”

  “How about Wednesday night at your place?”

  “I could do that.” Anabelle picked up a pen and jotted a reminder on her calendar.

  She sighed. “Good, now for the tough one.”

  Anabelle raised an eyebrow. “Tough one? Uh-oh, something tells me this isn’t good.”

  “It isn’t. You know the new aide we hired last month?”

  “Seri?”

  Winona folded her arms. “That’s the one. She seems very sweet and is nice to the patients; but according to Michelle, Seri isn’t getting her work done. The girls from evening shift are complaining about the work your day girls are leaving. Personally, I think she’s more interested in socializing than working.”

  Anabelle pinched her lips together. “Thanks for telling me. She’s been fine with me.”

  “Me too, but we’re her superiors.”

  “True, but I’d like to give her a chance.” She recalled Seri’s comment about Dr. Hamilton and added, “She seems intuitive and caring. I’ll keep an eye on her and talk with her in the next few days.”

  “Okay.” She set her hands on her knees and pushed herself away from the desk. She grinned and gave Anabelle a little wave. “I better get back to work before the others decide I’m shirking my responsibilities.”

  When Winona had gone, Anabelle jotted a note about talking to Seri on her to-do list. “Just what I need.”

  Truth be told, Anabelle had suspected she might have some trouble with Seri, but she saw promise there as well. Maybe the girl just needed a firm hand. After a thoughtful moment or two, Anabelle pulled the top memo from her stack and got to work.

  Chapter Six

  JAMES CLOCKED OUT AT THREE, THANKFUL TO BE leaving. Once he’d come off the adrenaline high, he’d gone into a slump. He wished now he’d said something to Anabelle and Elena about Gideon. They might have been able to offer some sage advice. Unfortunately, he’d taken an even later lunch than they had.

  James had reservations about his son’s going into the military; especially knowing what combat could do to a soldier. He remembered all too clearly arguing with his parents about the same thing. His dad, a Vietnam War vet, still suffered effects of post-traumatic stress. His mother had cried every time James mentioned joining up.

  But James was young and headstrong, not all that different from his son, and signed up anyway. He’d trained as a medic and saw enough action to know he didn’t want that kind of life for his son. Neither did he want to argue with Fern. James didn’t suffer from debilitating flashbacks like some vets did, but he had the memories. One scene in particular came to mind. He’d been choppered in with another medic to take care of children who were in school when a bomb hit. James closed his mind to what he had seen. No, Gideon should never have to experience the ravages of war.

  James noticed the dark clouds moving toward them and hoped it didn’t mean another heavy rainstorm. In the locker room, he shed his work shoes and scrubs and donned the still-damp clothes from this morning. Nothing like getting into wet jeans and tennis shoes. One good thing about it, though, was he wouldn’t have to worry about getting rained on again.

  James headed home, hoping Fern’s mood had improved. Gideon’s as well. Though he didn’t feel responsible for the arguments this morning, he planned to apologize and to patch things up with Fern.

  He wished he had an answer for Gideon, but he still needed time to think and pray on the subject. His son deserved to be rewarded for his good grades. So far he’d managed to stay out of trouble and James couldn’t have been more grateful.

  On the way home, James stopped at the grocery store to pick up some pink roses. While there he shopped for items they might need for dinner like prewashed baby spinach leaves and raspberry sherbet.

  Once home, James parked in the garage, collected his purchases and went in via the kitchen door.

  “Hey, sweetheart.” James set the bag of groceries on the counter.

  “I’m in here.”

  He carried his peace offering into the living room. The walker beside Fern told him she’d had a rough day. On good days, she managed with a cane.

  “For me?” Fern’s grin lit up her face. “I should be the one bringing you flowers.”

  He placed the bouquet in her arms and bent down to kiss her. While he was bent over, he greeted Sapphire, Fern’s four-year-old Maine Coon cat and constant companion. The cat meowed a greeting of her own, stretching up to keep the chin scratches coming.

  “I’m sorry I snapped at you this morning. It’s just that Gideon is still a boy. He’s too young to be thinking about the military.” Her speech came slower than it had that morning, but he still managed to understand most of what she said.

  “I tend to agree; but he is thinking military, and we’ll have to address that.” He smiled. “But not right now. We’ll talk with him as soon as the opportunity presents itself. At the moment, I need to find a vase for the roses and take a shower before I start dinner.”

  James kissed her again and started for the laundry room off the kitchen. Finding a suitable vase, he removed the plastic wrap around the flowers and filled the vase with water. He sprinkled in the packet of food that was supposed to keep cut flowers fresh and arranged the roses and greenery. He then carried the bouquet in and set it on the coffee table with a flourish.

  “You missed your calling.” Fern grinned up at him. “You would have made a great florist.”

  He chuckled. “I don’t think so. I barely know the difference between a rose and a carnation.”

  He sat down on the couch next to her pausing to admire Fern’s cute face, framed in a pixielike hairstyle that she kept short so it was easier for her to handle. Her cocoa brown eyes met his. “What are you looking at?”

  “You. Just thinking about how beautiful you are.”

  She closed her eyes for a moment, her smile gone. “Don’t you mean were?”

  “No.” He pulled her into his arms. “I mean are.”

  They snuggled for a few minutes before being interrupted by their thirteen-year-old barreling through the front door.

  Nelson dropped his backpack where he stood. “Sheesh, I can’t believe my parents are kissing and stuff in the front room. What if I’d brought a friend home?”

  “Oh, the horror of it all.” James rose from the couch to meet Nelson as he crossed the room. Giving his son a hug, he said, “I’d think you’d be used to us by now.”

  “Yeah, well I guess it’s better than fighting.” Nelson maneuvered around the coffee table and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek and endured another hug.

  “How was the swimming?” Fern asked. Nelson had spent the afternoon with his Scout group at the community pool.

  He straightened. “Good. I’m close to getting my badge.” Nelson hadn’t taken much interest in sports—preferring books and computers. James often shot hoops with the boys but could tell Nelson wasn’t exactly crazy about the game. Still, James insisted h
is sons get some exercise every day, so hoops and Scouts seemed just the thing.

  “Where is your brother?” James asked.

  Nelson shrugged. “I have no idea. I didn’t want to wait, so Cody’s mother brought me home.”

  “Ah. Listen, why don’t you shower and get dressed. Then I will attempt to feed you.”

  “Then can I play my computer game afterward?”

  “We’ll see.”

  Nelson hooked the strap of his backpack over his shoulder and headed for the stairs.

  James rested his hands on the sofa arm and leaned over to kiss Fern on her forehead. “Do you need anything before I take a shower?”

  She shook her head. “I’m fine.”

  James took his time in the shower, mentally scrolling through his long list of things to do that evening. With Fern growing weaker and less able to handle household chores, he had to take on more.

  He hoped the MS would go into remission again. This summer he’d had the boys pitch in, but with school starting soon, he might need some outside help. Fern had family nearby. Her parents and sister, Beth, were always willing to help out. As much as he hated asking for assistance, he might not have much choice.

  Feeling normal again, James dressed in a Miami Beach T-shirt and khaki shorts and hurried downstairs. He paused at the bottom when he saw Fern reading her large-print book. She held it close to her face to compensate for her worsening vision.

  “Blurry vision again?”

  “I’m not good for anything anymore. I can’t even read.”

  “Honey, don’t do this to yourself. Try not to get so down.”

  “I know, it’s just that days like this, I have to work very hard to keep from…” Tears gathered in her eyes.

  James caught them on his forefinger and kissed her on the nose. “Well, Princess Cries-a-lot. Pity party is over. I need your assistance in the kitchen.”

  “Oh.” She squealed in surprise as James swooped her into his arms. He carried her into the large kitchen/dining room area then set her on a special safety chair at the counter where she was elevated and could coach him while he worked. He made a quick trip back into the living room for the flowers and set them on the counter. Sapphire protested with a chirpy whine and jumped off the couch. Seconds later she had settled in the kitchen near Fern’s feet.