035 Bad Medicine (2 page)

“Penicillin,” the patient wheezed out.

Nancy realized that Trevor had been hesitating because he was diagnosing what was wrong. Apparently this was serious.

The nurse turned on her heel, going for help. Before Nancy could move, she was nearly
knocked over by a distinguished-looking doctor. “What’s wrong?” he demanded tensely, rushing past her into the room.

“Dr. Callahan’s ordered an intubation, Dr. Rayburn,” the nurse called over her shoulder. She was already hurrying toward a hospital paging phone posted in the hallway.

“Call a code ninety-nine!” Trevor yelled after the nurse.

Rayburn took matters into his own hands. He snatched up the phone in the room. “Code ninety-nine, stat. This patient’s suffering from penicillin poisoning!”

Nancy and Ned stepped away from the door of 755. “What’s an intubation?” Ned asked Nancy. She shook her head.

When Nancy posed the same question to April, she said, “They’re going to insert a tube into the patient’s windpipe because she can’t breathe on her own.”

“Is that what code ninety-nine means?” Ned asked.

April looked grim. “No, that means cardiac arrest.”

The hospital staff that had responded to the code finally began to disperse. Nancy, Ned, and April stayed back from the action, not wanting to get in the way. Finally only Trevor and Dr. Rayburn
remained inside the room. The patient’s lungs were being artificially filled with oxygen. Nancy could see the little blips on the screen, which she assumed indicated the woman’s heartbeat.

Trevor slowly walked out of the room. Now it was he who seemed to be in shock. The look he sent April was dazed and bleak. Dr. Rayburn shook his head and studied the patient’s chart as he slowly walked out of the room. “Something’s wrong,” he said, as if to himself. “There’s got to be a mistake here.”

Trevor glanced over Dr. Rayburn’s shoulder at the chart. The blood drained from his face and he turned chalky white.

“I don’t know how this happened,” Dr. Rayburn said seriously. “This patient should never have been given penicillin!”

Trevor nodded dumbly.

“Trevor, what’s wrong?” April asked anxiously after Dr. Rayburn left.

“Nothing.” He seemed to shake himself, focusing on Nancy and Ned for the first time. “I’m—uh—almost finished. I’ll change and meet you out front in fifteen minutes.”

“Are you all right?” April was obviously very worried.

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

As they headed down the elevator, Ned whispered in Nancy’s ear, “Now what was that all about?”

Nancy shook her head. She didn’t know, but she’d gained the distinct impression that something was seriously wrong.

• • •

“How’s Dad?” April asked Trevor as soon as the four of them were seated around a table at one of River Heights’s most popular Mexican restaurants. A basket of corn chips sat in the center of the hand-painted blue- and gold-tiled tabletop.

Nancy studied Trevor for the first time. He was quite handsome, with blond hair and gray eyes that had sunbursts of laugh lines at the outer corners. Ned had assured her he was fun-loving and casual, yet he seemed so serious that Nancy couldn’t imagine his having a sense of humor.

Trevor looked blankly at April for several seconds. “Oh, your father was okay when I checked in on him. The same as when you left.”

“He’s no better, then?”

Trevor moved his hand over to cover April’s. “Give him time.”

April looked so downcast that Nancy decided to try to change the subject. “How did you two meet?” she asked Trevor. “At medical school?”

He nodded. “April was in her first year and I
was in my fourth. I’d already decided to specialize in cardiology, so I’d geared my studies in that direction. When April was assigned to Dr. Rayburn for cardiology we bumped into each other.”

“Dr. Rayburn’s a cardiologist?” Ned asked.

“The chief of cardiology,” April corrected him. “He’s got quite a reputation at W.U.”

“He’s one of the main reasons I decided to take my residency here at W.U. rather than apply to another hospital,” Trevor admitted.

Nancy smiled, glancing at April. “I can guess the other reason.”

Trevor smiled back, and Nancy caught her first real glimpse of the man who was Ned’s friend. Once he was relaxed, Trevor wasn’t so intimidating and serious. It was clear he adored April.

“How long is a residency?” Ned asked.

“Six years in cardiology,” said Trevor.

“Wow. You’ll be an old man before you finish!”

“I want to be the best cardiologist around. That takes time. By the time April is through with med school, we’ll be ready to get married.”

April and Trevor looked at each other and smiled. Ned slipped his arm around Nancy’s shoulders. Nancy felt warm and happy. Someday she’d like to make plans as April and Trevor were. From the sweet glance Ned sent her, she could tell he was thinking the same thing.

After they finished eating, April and Trevor ordered coffee and seemed to be content to linger. “I wish my dad had stayed in Saint Louis,” April said, revealing what was uppermost on her mind.

“That’s where you’re from?” Nancy asked.

She nodded. “My father was on staff at one of the most respected medical school hospitals in the country. He was head of cardiology there until his heart condition prevented him from working.” She smiled wistfully. “But he’s a consultant to the state medical board of examiners, so I guess he’s still a pretty important guy.”

“Do you have any other family?” Ned asked.

“My mother died when I was little,” she said. “I don’t have any brothers or sisters.”

“Neither do I,” said Nancy. “And my father’s a widower, too.”

April asked about Nancy’s father, and Nancy explained that he was a lawyer in River Heights.

“Does your father want you to become a lawyer, too?” April inquired.

“Oh, I don’t know. I’m pretty happy with what I’m doing.”

“What’s that?”

“Didn’t I tell you?” Trevor broke in. “Nancy’s a detective. According to Ned, she’s solved more cases than most detectives twice her age.”

Nancy laughed. “Well, I wouldn’t go that far.”

“A detective?” April perked up. “That’s great! Tell us about some of your cases.”

Nancy entertained them with several of her more fascinating investigations, and as they listened, April and Trevor both seemed to forget their problems at the hospital. “And then there was the time that Ned got engaged to another girl just so he could find out what she was into,” Nancy finished, giving Ned a friendly jab in the ribs. “And she ended up trying to push me out of the picture—permanently.”

“What do you mean?”

“We went skydiving, and she sabotaged my parachute so it wouldn’t open!”

April shivered. “Luckily, you survived!”

“Well, she actually saved me at the last minute. She was just trying to scare me.”

“Detective work is so dangerous,” said April. “You could get killed.”

“Don’t I know it,” Ned said with feeling.

Then slowly Trevor’s good mood evaporated as he became distracted and quiet, staring off into space.

As they drove back to the medical school, Nancy turned to Trevor. “Do you have to live at the school when you’re in residency?” she asked.

“No, I have my own apartment. But sometimes it’s easier just to stay in a dorm. I’ve had to work double shifts when we’re understaffed.”

“Double shifts. You mean sixteen hours? Don’t you get tired?”

“You bet.” As if to emphasize the point he stretched and yawned. “Last week was a real stress test. I’m exhausted.”

“What happened in Room seven fifty-five tonight?” April asked Trevor quietly as Ned pulled up in front of her dorm.

Trevor stiffened. “What do you mean?”

“Why did Dr. Rayburn say there’d been a mistake?”

Nancy tried not to appear to be too interested, but she was curious. All evening she’d wanted to ask him about the patient who had nearly strangled to death.

Trevor took his time answering. “That patient was allergic to penicillin. There was red tape across the chart warning against prescribing it.”

April looked puzzled. “So?”

“So apparently I prescribed penicillin anyway. The order was right on the patient’s file in my handwriting! The patient was given the medicine orally. Her throat swelled up instantly. Her windpipe closed off. If I hadn’t arrived when I did, she would have died. And it would have been
my fault!”

B
UT HOW DID THAT HAPPEN
?” April protested. “You must have seen the red tape!”

Trevor looked baffled and miserable. “I don’t know how it happened. Mrs. Deverly, the patient, was admitted because of chest pains. She also had a slight infection, so an antibiotic was prescribed. I don’t remember prescribing penicillin. But I know my own handwriting when I see it. And Dr. Rayburn saw it, too.”

Nancy’s mind was racing. She turned around to look at Trevor. “You were paged to Room seven fifty-five. By whom?”

“By one of the nurses.” Trevor’s eyes met
Nancy’s. “I suppose Mrs. Deverly recognized her symptoms and called a nurse.”

“Maybe the nurse or Mrs. Deverly can help explain the mix-up,” Nancy suggested.

“And that’s just what it is. A terrible mix-up,” April declared. “No wonder you were upset.”

Trevor shook his head soberly. “Mrs. Deverly was in shock and her heart stopped. Another couple of minutes and she could have died.”

Nancy didn’t blame Trevor for being shaken up. It was a serious mistake, and it appeared to have been Trevor’s fault.

Ned dropped April and Trevor at the dorm. Both were quiet as they said good night to Nancy and Ned. April insisted that they all get together again while Ned was in town.

Afterward, while Ned was driving her home, Nancy was quiet and thoughtful. “What are you thinking?” he asked as they pulled into the Drews’ driveway.

“That scene at the hospital was really scary tonight. Being a doctor sure means taking on a lot of responsibility.”

Ned agreed. “What do you think about that prescription mix-up?”

“I think doctors can’t afford to make that kind of mistake. It could be fatal.”

“For what it’s worth, Nancy, Trevor’s not
irresponsible. I mean, I’ve known him a long time. All he’s ever wanted is to be a good doctor. The best. He wouldn’t prescribe the wrong medication. He would double-check.”

Nancy nodded. Her impression of Trevor had been the same. He seemed conscientious, concerned, and caring. But there was always an element of human error in anything.

“Will I see you tomorrow?” Ned asked as he walked Nancy to the door.

Nancy laughed, gave him a quick kiss, and slipped inside the house. “How about noon at the hospital cafeteria? Maybe I’ll treat you!” she threw over her shoulder.

“Some treat.” Ned laughed, grimacing.

• • •

The sun was shining as Nancy drove up the winding road to Westmoor University Medical School. She pulled into the parking lot, searching for a spot near the main hospital entrance. The lot was nearly full, so she had to circle around toward the back entrance and squeeze into a narrow slot near the emergency room.

Once inside the hospital, Nancy found her way to the cafeteria with the help of red lines painted on the floor.

Nancy didn’t see Ned, but she was hungry and decided to go ahead and order. “I’ll take a
cheeseburger and fries,” she told the girl behind the glass case.

Nancy was heading for a small table near a window when she saw April. She was standing and talking to a young man in a white lab coat. Nancy walked up behind the older girl.

“Hey, it’s not my fault,” the guy in the lab coat was saying. “Your old man got sick all on his own!”

Nancy had been about to speak, but the man’s rudeness stopped her cold. She stared over April’s shoulder at him.

“You had no business in CCU!” April replied in a shaky voice. “What were you trying to do?”

Nancy read the man’s name tag: David Baines. He had no title so she assumed he was a volunteer or an orderly. He glared at Nancy through dark, angry eyes. “I was called in by the nurse, okay?” he snarled. “I was just doing my job.”

“After that last incident, I told the nurse on duty to keep you away from my father. Don’t you ever go near him again!”

“Fine,
Doctor
Shaw.” He shouldered past April, knocking her into Nancy. Nancy scrambled to balance her tray, but some of her french fries tumbled to the floor anyway.

“Oh, Nancy,” April said, flushing when she saw the damage. “I’m sorry. Let me help.”

“No problem. I could do with a few less fries, anyway.” She set the tray down on an unoccupied table, picked up the scattered fries, and disposed of them. Glancing at April, she asked, “Are you all right?”

April sighed and sank down into the seat opposite Nancy’s. “You heard, huh?”

“Most of it.”

“David Baines is a troublemaker,” April declared angrily. “He’s got a thing against doctors. You heard how he spoke to me! I don’t know what his problem is, but I heard that he flunked out of med school and he resents anyone who’s still in.”

“I couldn’t help overhearing you say something about ‘that last incident,’ ” Nancy said, probing tentatively. “Do you mind my asking what happened?”