Solemn Oath Read online

  “Yes. That makes three times in two months.”

  Mercy sighed and picked up the phone, but Josie shook her head.

  “I just did that. Clarence told me he tried to get his sis to come in, but that she’s stopped wheezing, and she says she’s too busy. She’s promised him she’s doing her inhalers and drugs.”

  “Just great.” Mercy slumped back in her chair. “I’m not going to have a chance to visit them for a few days, and I doubt if Lukas will. We’re both teaching classes at the health seminar this week, and there’s a weekend conference in Springfield that we’re scheduled to attend.”

  Josie sat down in the straight-backed chair across the desk from Mercy. “Then maybe you should just stop playing superdoc and let Darlene take care of herself for once.”

  Mercy blinked and straightened. “Is this my nurse talking? The one who gives free blood pressure checks to every person over the age of fifty in her church? The woman who has been known to pay patient bills when she knows they can’t pay?”

  Josie didn’t smile. “You and Dr. Bower have been treating Clarence and Darlene free of charge for the past summer. Clarence is losing weight as a direct result of your bullying, but what about Darlene? She is totally noncompliant. Maybe pushing her just makes her more stubborn.”

  Mercy thought about that for a moment, then shook her head. “I don’t think so. I think she is afraid to let up on the work she’s doing at home because they’re struggling financially.”

  “But she should realize for herself that she’s sick. She needs help.”

  “She’s like a lot of patients who think they can push themselves past the limits, and then the doctor will make everything okay.”

  “So what are you going to do about her?” Josie asked.

  Mercy picked up the chart, thumbed through it and placed it back on her desk. “I guess I’ll just try to be there for her when she needs me. Call them back, Josie, and try hard to set up an appointment for Darlene as soon as possible.”

  A timid knock sounded at Mercy’s open office door, and both women looked up to see Shannon Becker slumped there in her jeans and T-shirt, her straight, light brown hair combed as much over her face as possible to hide the slight decorations of acne scattered across pale skin. She still would not make eye contact with Mercy.

  Josie jumped up. “Come on in, Shannon, I was just leaving. I’ve got temperatures to take, shots to give and patients to placate.”

  The ambulance was running hot, and Lukas heard the echo of its siren long before it pulled into the bay and stopped. He looked around at his assembled team to get their attention.

  “As you already know, this patient is coming in as a full code, and you know how to handle a code. Remember, however, that this case is complicated by hypothermia, so to give her any chance at all we’ve got to get her warmed up.”

  He turned to Lauren. “I want a rectal temp as soon as possible, and then you can assist me in placing a central line. Claudia, heat the IV fluids and switch them out from the fluids she’s getting in the ambulance.”

  He turned to the respiratory therapist. “Mary, we need a heated aerosol generator hooked up to the ET tube. I also want a blood gas.”

  He turned to the E.R. tech. “Buck, get me a central line kit, and then you can take over on the compressions. Carol, I want basic blood work and alcohol level. I’ll also want a chest X-ray and c-spine series, but we won’t break CPR to get it, so that’ll have to wait.”

  The door opened with an ambulance team guiding a cot with a young woman on board. One EMT walked alongside the cot pushing against the patient’s chest, one pulled the cot and squeezed the ambu bag to breathe for the patient and another pushed from behind. They wheeled her into the cardiac-trauma room and transferred her to the bed.

  “Okay,” Lukas said, “let’s get to work.”

  “So, Shannon, tell me what’s been going on in your life.” Mercy sat back in her chair and tried not to see this young, innocent girl as just an older version of Tedi. Don’t condescend. Don’t lecture.

  Shannon tangled her fingers together in her lap, a flush creeping up her neck.

  “I gather there’s a special person in your life now?” Mercy prompted, trying to sound matter-of-fact and ignore the sound of Josie ushering a patient into an exam room.

  Shannon shook her head jerkily, then hesitated and nodded. “I guess.”

  “It’s a wonderful feeling to be falling in love. I’m not surprised someone noticed a beautiful young woman like you. What’s he like? Are you going steady?” She would not ask “parent” questions—Zach and Lee could do that.

  The flush deepened. “No, we’re not going steady or anything.”

  Mercy stifled a sigh and waited for this suddenly silent girl—who used to be such a talker—to give her some hint about what was going on in her life. The burden of professional responsibility weighed heavily. Mercy couldn’t help noticing, once again, that Shannon’s young body had developed dramatically in the past year—and that her body language screamed out her feelings of awkwardness at this development.

  “I met him while we were cruising the square this summer,” Shannon said softly. “One of my girlfriends is sixteen and can drive.”

  “So you met him a month or so ago?” Finally she was talking.

  “A couple of months ago. He’s from another town, and he’s seventeen, so Mom and Dad wouldn’t let me go out with him even if I asked.” She shot Mercy another glance, and this time held it longer. “You said you wouldn’t tell Mom and Dad.”

  “That’s right.” Much as she wanted to warn them to protect their daughter, Mercy was prevented from doing so by the laws heaped more and more often on physicians.

  “Well, I keep running into him on Friday and Saturday nights, and lately he’s been taking me out driving.” Shannon continued to tangle her fingers around each other. She glanced again at Mercy, this time more bravely.

  Mercy kept her expression composed, serene. “You really like him, do you?”

  Shannon nodded. “A couple of weeks ago he drove me out onto this logging road in the forest, and we parked and kissed for a while. Then he asked me if I wanted to…you know…go further.”

  Mercy did not allow herself to react like a parent but like a logical family doc. “Did you discuss birth control and VD histories?”

  Shannon shook her head. “I just said no. It would be too embarrassing to…you know. Anyway, he kept looking at me…that way…like he liked what he saw.”

  Mercy bit her tongue for a moment. She wanted to ask if this kid even knew what Shannon’s face looked like, or appreciated her sense of humor, or knew how many brothers and sisters she had. “Why don’t you tell me what you like about this guy.”

  Shannon grinned and rolled her eyes, then shrugged. “He’s cute, and he’s older. He’s got a great car. The guys at school don’t even know I exist, but he’s started looking for me in town on Fridays.”

  “Has he taken you out to dinner?”

  Shannon looked down at her hands. “It’s not like that. We just kind of hang out.”

  And for this she was thinking about sacrificing her body?

  Shannon shrugged. “My girlfriend says it’s just sex. No big deal.”

  The phrase irritated Mercy. She knew she hadn’t intended to lecture, but she couldn’t help herself. “Shannon Becker, I’ve watched you grow from a sweet little five-year-old to a beautiful young woman, and I must tell you that you are very special to me.”

  Shannon looked up at her. “I am?”

  “Yes, and because of that I hate to see you give something precious away to somebody who probably doesn’t even see the beautiful flecks of gold in your gray eyes, or hear the lilt in your laugh when you’re not too self-conscious to let loose.”

  “But he’s always telling me I’m pretty.”

  “Do you laugh with this boy? Do you share your thoughts and dreams with him? Does he share his with you? Shannon, the physical intimacies between a man and
a woman are life changing and beautiful—or they can be with the right person. It’s never ‘just sex.’ It’s always a ‘big deal,’ something to be anticipated and cherished.”

  Shannon looked down at her hands, her face reddening again. “He thought I was weird because I’m still a virgin. Some of my friends do, too.”

  “A lot of people will say or do anything to convince you that you’re weird if you don’t live the way they do. Don’t listen to them. Your virginity makes you special.”

  Shannon stared down at her hands as she thought about that for a moment. “Mom said something like that a long time ago, when she told me all the stuff about the facts of life. But kids at school say—”

  “Not everybody at school has discarded their virginity. Those who have will try to convince you to join them because they know they’ve lost something valuable, and they don’t want to feel they’re the only ones.”

  Shannon hesitated. She sighed deeply, slowly. “I really think this guy likes me. He says he does.”

  “Lots of people like you, Shannon. It takes a lot more than that to share the most intimate part of yourself.” This girl was already beautiful, with a look of joyful anticipation that often came into her eyes when she talked. And in spite of her awkward adolescence, she had a graceful way of moving. Zach and Lee would have their hands full with her the next few years, starting now.

  “Shannon, sex is more than just physical, but it affects you physically. You can get pregnant even if you do use birth control. There are diseases out there now that can dramatically change your life or even end it. They’re right here in Knolls, and teenagers are one of the highest-risk groups.”

  Shannon’s eyes widened. Okay, so fear was the best tactic with her.

  “Your friends won’t tell you about that even if they’ve got it,” Mercy continued. “Nobody talks about it, but it happens all the time. I know because I see it all the time, even with first-timers. And even if you talk to this boy about it and he tells you he’s clean, he doesn’t know for sure, not if he’s been with anybody else.”

  Shannon sighed and leaned back in her chair. “You’re not going to give me birth control pills, are you, Dr. Mercy?”

  Wasn’t the kid listening? But then, what if she didn’t get the pills, and then she got pregnant? “Okay, let me give you some information about oral contraceptives. You have to take them faithfully, every day, or they aren’t reliable. They do not protect from venereal disease of any kind. Also, there have been studies lately linking breast cancer later in life to an extra surge of estrogen now. Remember the lump your mother had last year? Breast disorders run in your family.” Mercy reached toward her prescription pad. “However, if you still feel you must have this medication in order to prevent pregnancy, I’ll write this out for you—”

  “Um, well, Dr. Mercy, wait.”

  Mercy paused and looked at Shannon across the desk.

  Shannon bit her lip, thinking. “Maybe I could have another talk with Mom about this. You know, before I decide for sure. Maybe I can get Mom to herself for a few minutes away from my brothers and sister, and when she’s not working, or not cooking. Maybe.” She made a face. “Or maybe I could even corner Dad.”

  Mercy nodded, relieved. “That’s good, Shannon. If you want me to talk to them, I’ll be happy—”

  Shannon gasped. “No! I don’t want them to know it’s me I’m talking to them about. I mean, I’ve got great parents, but get real. They’d spaz.”

  Mercy thought again of her own daughter. Was it possible Tedi could have a future relationship with her own father?

  And then as she said goodbye to Shannon and watched her walk out the door, thoughts of Lukas came bursting through. She thought about last Thursday night and the sudden, powerful awareness that had caught them both. She smiled and allowed the warmth to seep back through her, allowed the hope to lift her. They were more than just buddies—a lot more. She even appreciated Lukas moving cautiously, because it meant their relationship was something very important to him, too.

  She would give him more time.

  “Temperature is going back down from 93 to 92.4,” Lauren said sadly.

  “Stop CPR.” Lukas placed his stethoscope once more on the young woman’s chest. He heard nothing. No heartbeat, no breath sounds. He looked at the monitor. The rhythm was asystole, flatline, as it had been for the past fifteen minutes. He checked the pupils. Fixed and dilated. He felt that old specter of grief catch him. “Claudia, what time is it?”

  Claudia, the official recorder for the code, looked at her watch. “Nine-thirty a.m.”

  “Time of death 9:30 a.m. Sorry, everyone. This one wasn’t meant to be.”

  A collective aura of disappointment echoed through the room. Slowly, as if in shock, code team members removed gloves and other gear and gathered up scattered plastic and paper containers that had held the equipment they’d used.

  Lukas stood looking at the wreckage of the body that had belonged to a young girl with a future just a few hours ago. He knew that technically she was dead long before she reached the E.R., but he couldn’t help wondering, as he always did in cases like this, if there was something he could have done to change the outcome. Her temperature had been only 86 when she came in. It looked as if she’d fallen into the lake and probably hit her head against some rocks and inhaled water.

  The three fishermen who had found her were now back at the lake with the police, scouring the shoreline for some kind of ID so they could locate and inform the girl’s family.

  A gasping sigh registered behind Lukas, and he turned to find Buck standing by the doorway, his hands clasped in front of him, his face drenched with tears as he stared at the dead girl’s white face.

  “Buck?” Lukas took a step toward him. “Are you okay?”

  He nodded, but the tears continued, his face reddening with the effort to control his emotions.

  Lukas looked again at the face of the dead patient. Of course. Why hadn’t he noticed? She looked like Buck’s wife.

  “Kendra’s father was a fireman,” Buck said at last, sniffing and wiping his face with the back of his hand. “Year before last he was killed in the line of duty down in Mountain Home, Arkansas. He was pulling a little kid out of a burning house, and a wall fell in on him.”

  Lukas watched Buck continue to struggle with his emotions. “I didn’t know about that, Buck. I kind of picked up on some of the things you said, but I didn’t realize—”

  “He got the kid out, though. Fred’s death kind of sent Kendra off the deep end for a while. She was upset one night after I came in from a big fire, and she said she might as well just kill herself now, because she didn’t want to live if the same thing happened to me.” Buck shook his head. “She almost succeeded, too, before I caught her with an empty bottle of sleeping pills her doctor had prescribed for her after Fred’s death. She looked as dead as this gal.” He reached over and grabbed some tissues, blew his nose with a loud honk and then wiped his face. He jerked his head in the direction of the patient. “What happened here, Doc?”

  “I don’t know.” Lukas patted his friend on his broad, muscular shoulder. “But I know this isn’t Kendra. You still have a chance to try to convince her how good life can be. You obviously love her. Make sure she knows it.”

  The evening sun still peered over the rolling Ozark hills in the western horizon when Lukas stepped out of the hospital for the first time in thirteen hours. The clouds that had begun on the ground this morning were now far to the east, just visible enough to reflect a brilliance of peach and mauve from one of the Missouri sunsets that were famous for their beauty and variety. Lukas wished he’d been out in the forest today, taking a long, much-needed hike on one of his favorite trails. Instead, he’d been busy here misdiagnosing a young E.R. employee. He had also filled out a death certificate on the drowning victim, young Julie Walters. The three rescuers had found ID at the scene of the accident at the lake. And that was before lunch.

  On the upside,
Lukas had discovered that the new full-time physician they had just hired would be worth the wait. Not only had Cherra Garcias caught Amanda’s thyroid storm—which Lukas himself had missed—but she had covered most of the patients in E.R. for the rest of the day while Lukas plowed through hours of paperwork and committee meetings. Amanda was going to be fine and would improve quickly with proper treatment.

  Which reminded him that even though tomorrow was covered and no one had canceled yet, he still had to come in for another meeting and a stack of—

  “Lukas?”

  The sound of Theodore’s voice came from behind him. He turned to find the man walking across the empty ambulance bay toward him.

  “I just got off work, and I thought I’d walk over and try to catch you before you left the hospital.” Theo fell into step with Lukas. “Whew! That’s quite a walk.”

  “Working late?”

  “We had an extra order that needed to get out tonight, and since I’m the newest employee, I got to stay and help.” Theo reached into the right back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a small book. It was a New Testament. “Jack gave me this today.”

  Lukas couldn’t miss the sound of excitement in Theo’s voice. They reached the Jeep, and he unlocked the passenger side. “Sounds like you’ve got a generous boss. Hop in, Theodore, and I’ll drive you home.”

  Theo stood at the open door, the glow from a nearby security light pole illuminating a smile on his face. “I found a Bible at work and read all the verses you told me to read, and everything fell into place. No wonder I’ve never been able to do anything right in my whole life. I’ve always tried to do it myself. I don’t want to do that anymore.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m giving it all to Christ.” Emotion broke his voice, and the whiteness of his teeth showed in the glow of the light. “I believe.”

  Chapter Twelve