A Promise to Protect (Logan Point Book #2): A Novel (15 page)

He looked over his shoulder as Ian’s SUV screeched to a halt, and Leigh jumped out. In seconds she knelt beside the boy while Ian leaned over her shoulder.

“Has anyone called 911?” she asked.

“They’re on the way.”

Leigh examined Martin’s leg. “What happened?”

“Snake bit him. What TJ described sounded like a copperhead.” The look she gave him didn’t make him feel better.

“Those bites can be nasty,” Ian muttered.

Martin wailed, and Leigh’s eyes narrowed as she shot Ian a warning glare over her shoulder before she turned to Martin. “How are you feeling?”

“It hurts. Am I gonna die?”

“Look at me, Martin.” Leigh lifted the boy’s chin. “You’re going to be okay. Ben, do you have a first aid kit?”

He tossed Ian his keys. “Would you mind getting it? It’s in my truck, under the seat.”

“Passenger side?”

Ben nodded as his cell phone buzzed.

“Ben!” Andre’s voice sounded panicky. “You gotta get over here!”

Ben turned and scanned the field for his deputy. Andre stood with his back against the center field fence.

Leigh glanced up. “I don’t need you. Go.”

“Ben!” His deputy’s voice quivered. “I really need you, but keep the boys away.”

Ben glanced toward his truck. Ian had found the kit and hurried back toward them. “The ambulance should be here any second.”

He grabbed TJ’s hand and led him to the bleachers before jogging toward center field, where his deputy waited. “This better be—” Ben’s heart stilled. He tried to breathe, but icy fingers wrapped around his lungs, locking them down.

“Don’t come any closer,” Andre warned. “But I’d appreciate it if you’d get rid of these things.”

Five copperheads slithered on the ground between Ben and his deputy. “Don’t move,” Ben said.

“Don’t you worry.”

With the fence at Andre’s back, there was no way for the deputy to walk around the snakes. Ben was going to have to shoot them.

Two snakebites in three weeks? Leigh hoped it didn’t become a pattern. If only she’d stuck her medical bag in Ian’s SUV. She smoothed her hand over Martin’s forehead. His dark skin had a chalky tone to it. Sweat beaded his face. Signs of low blood pressure. Mentally, she hurried the ambulance.

A tear squeezed from Martin’s eye, and he brushed it away. “I don’t feel so good.”

“You’re going to be fine.” Leigh had found that if a patient knew what was going on, it kept them calmer. “You’re going to the hospital to get some medicine that will fix you up. Now, take a deep breath, and let it out slowly.”

Ian squatted beside her and opened the first aid kit. A man she didn’t recognize hovered behind Ian. “Shouldn’t you suction the venom out?” the stranger asked. “I use to drive an ambulance, and that’s what those guys did.”

“Must’ve been years ago,” she muttered, shooting him a quick glance before turning to Ian. “Do you see any alcohol wipes?”

Ian handed her a small, sealed packet, and the other man butted in again. “Look, there’s a surgical steel blade in this here kit if you need it.”

She’d gone through eight years of medical school, and this guy knew more than she did? “I think I know what I’m doing.”

His face turned red. “Just trying to help. Sorry, lady.”

He probably was, but she’d battled mentality like his her whole way through med school.

Ian turned to him with a frown. “Look, she’s a doctor, so if you don’t mind . . .”

“Oh.” He stepped back. “Guess you don’t need my help, then.”

“I think she has it under control.”

Leigh tore open the wipe packet and gave Martin a reassuring smile. “This will burn, but not for long.”

She gently cleaned the wound, noting the bruising and small puncture wounds that were turning dark. “Got another wipe?” she asked as the sharp
wawa
of the ambulance reached her ears. A minute later, two paramedics raced toward them. David, she recognized from the ER. His partner was new to her.

David set his bag on the ground. “Dr. Somerall? What do we have here?”

“We have Martin. And he’s been bitten by a snake.”

“And it hurts.” Martin’s voice cracked. “Real bad.”

“You’re being mighty brave.” The medic glanced over the boy’s head at Leigh. “Poisonous?” he mouthed
.

“Probably. Let’s get his vitals and then get him to the hospital where we can do blood work.” She turned to Ian. “Could you find out if anyone has called his parents?”

“Andre is his brother. He should be able to give permission for any procedure you need to do.”

“Ian, please. I’d rather have it from the parents. You seemed to know them. Would you please call for me?” She stepped out of the boy’s hearing range and dialed the hospital. “I have a nine-year-old black male with a witnessed copperhead snakebike to his right lower leg who will soon be en route to the ER. Prepare to draw a CBC and a PT and INR and have antivenom ready to administer. One more thing. He was a patient in the ER around the middle of June. Martin Stone. Would you pull his records?”

Ian stepped toward her. “Martin’s dad, Samuel Stone,” he said, holding out his phone.

“Thanks,” she said. “Mr. Stone, this is Dr. Leigh Somerall. I’m not sure if Ian informed you, but Martin has incurred a possible poisonous snakebite, and I need your permission to treat.”

“Doc, you do whatever you need to do. My wife and I will meet you at the hospital.”

“I know Martin’s tetanus shot is up-to-date from when I saw him in the ER a couple of weeks ago. I have to ask again if he’s allergic to anything.”

“Let me ask Adrian.”

Leigh waited as she heard Stone relay the question.

“My wife says he’s not. Is Andre there?”

“I think he’s trying to find the snake to ascertain what type we’re dealing with.”

“Thanks, Doc, glad you were there.”

She handed the phone to Ian and then turned to the paramedic who was helping to load the gurney. “How are his vitals?”

“BP is 85/40. Pulse is 120.”

Possible mild shock. “Let’s transport. I’ll ride in the back with the boy.”
TJ
. She jerked her head around, searching for her son. “Where’s TJ?”

“Ben took him to the bleachers where the other boys are,” Ian said. “I think he called in more deputies to help with them until their parents get here. Do you want me to take TJ and the twins to the Logans’?”

Leigh hesitated. If she took TJ with her, he’d have to hang around the ER waiting room until she was finished. Finally, she nodded. “Tell him . . . tell him Martin is going to be okay.” She started to climb into the ambulance but turned back to Ian. “Thanks.”

“Don’t worry about TJ. I’ll keep him safe. After I drop the boys off at the Logans’, I’ll pick you up at the hospital.”

Five shots rang out, and Leigh jumped. Frantically, she searched
for TJ, but the boys had deserted the bleachers. Finally she found them crowded near the dugout fence, staring in the direction of the shots. She followed their line of sight to Ben and Andre, and she grabbed the side of the ambulance to keep from falling. Ben held out a snake that reached from his waist to the ground.

Martin moaned, and Leigh motioned to the medic for them to leave. “Take care of TJ,” she called to Ian as the ambulance door closed.

Fifteen minutes after arriving at the hospital, Leigh studied the first lab report on Martin’s blood panel. A slightly elevated white count, but everything else looked normal. Antivenom or not? She had yet to decide. After speaking with Ben about the snakes that had been killed, she’d learned all five had been copperheads, females about to birth. Of all the poisonous snakes in their area, perhaps the copperhead was the least lethal. She turned to her RN, thankful that Cathy was on duty. “Would you accompany me to Martin’s room?”

When they stepped inside the room, Adrian Stone looked around. “I’m tired of meeting you this way, Dr. Somerall. But this boy can’t seem to keep out of trouble. Is he going to be okay?”

Leigh had met Martin’s mother the first time she saw the boy in the ER with the cut on his arm. She patted her shoulder, hoping to erase the worry lines around her mouth. “I think he’s going to be fine.”

Mr. Stone stood. “Did Andre and the sheriff find the snake and identify it?”

“They killed five female copperheads. Of course—”

“Five?” He rubbed his jaw. “I’ve never seen that many snakes in one place. Do they know why there were so many?”

Leigh shook her head. “Ben did say they were all full of baby snakes. However, we don’t know which one bit Martin, but all appear to be mature snakes.” She examined Martin’s leg. It had swollen only slightly more, but still, any additional swelling needed to be considered. “Does it still hurt?”

With round eyes he nodded.

Leigh tilted her head. “Let’s say that on a scale of one to ten, where one only hurts a little and ten hurts so bad you want to yell, which number is the pain closest to?”

Martin bit his lip. “If I don’t move it, maybe five, but if I move it—ten for sure.”

“That helps me a lot.” She turned to his parents. “I want to give him antivenom—Crofab. Again, is he allergic to anything? ”

Adrian laughed softly. “Doctor, that boy isn’t allergic to anything, especially food.”

“Good.” Leigh turned to Cathy. “Get his weight, then prepare four vials of Crofab.”

“You sure he’s going to be all right?” Mr. Stone asked.

“As sure as I can be about anything, Mr. Stone. We’ll admit him to ICU so we can monitor any reaction to the antivenom, but you can stay with him.”

“Thank you, and call me Sam. The way Andre talks about you, I feel I already know you.”

An hour later, Leigh paused from writing her report on Martin and worked the muscles in her neck. So far, there’d been no reaction to the Crofab, meaning he could be moved to a room in ICU where he would be closely monitored overnight. She’d called Marisa to see if TJ had made it home okay, but no one answered. She’d call back in a few minutes.

Her cell phone rang, and she glanced at it. Dr. Robert Meriwether? Her heart kicked into high gear. He was her contact at Johns Hopkins. Her finger shook as she slid the lock off and answered. “Hello?”

“Leigh. How are you?”

“Fine,” she answered cautiously.

“Are you still interested in getting your foot in the door at Johns Hopkins?”

“Yes sir!”

“Then I have a proposition for you. I have an opening at our free clinic beginning October 1st. Interested?”

She swallowed a gasp. The room seemed to stand still. The sounds of the ER faded into the background as she pressed the phone tightly against her ear. She thought about pinching herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

“Leigh, are you there?” Dr. Meriwether’s voice boomed in her ear.

“Yes, Doctor. I’m . . . yes, I’m definitely interested.” She tried not to sound breathless. “When do I need to be in Baltimore?”

“You’ll probably want to get settled in an apartment by the middle of September.”

She couldn’t believe her dream was coming true. Dad’s dream too. And she’d be able to fulfill the promise she’d just made to Emily to work at the clinic the four weeks in August.
The scholarship
repayment.
“Uh, what about the service contract I signed?”

“The clinic is in the program. I’ve talked with your adviser, and he’ll take care of the paperwork. You and I can work out the other details, like signing the contract, next month.”

She stared at the phone long after she’d hung up. She was going to Johns Hopkins. The words danced inside her head.
I can’
t wait to tell Tony.

Suddenly, the loss of her brother slammed her, and she blinked back the tears that seemed to come from nowhere.

“Leigh? Are you okay?”

She looked up into Ben’s concerned face. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Just got here, why? I brought TJ.”

“I didn’t hear you come up.” She looked past him for her son. TJ’s words of their first night at the Logans’ echoed in her head.
“
I like it here. I wish we could stay forever.”
How was she going to tell him they were moving again? “Where’s TJ? Is he all right?”

“He’s fine. Out in the waiting room with four other boys who want to know how Martin is. Emily is riding herd on them.”

Her shoulders relaxed, and she smiled. Visits from Martin’s friends would probably be better than medicine. “I think that can be arranged before he goes to ICU. But just two at a time.”

“ICU?”

“Mostly for observation. From the looks of the wound, Martin didn’t receive a full envenomation, but I’m not taking any chances with the snakebite or the antivenom.”

He turned to leave, and she stopped him. “Do you have any idea why there were five snakes on the ball field?”

Ben’s face hardened. “I think they were turned loose. On purpose.”