Maddy's Floor (23 page)

During the years of their friendship, Nancy had married and divorced and Maddy had gone through a couple of boyfriends. Through it all, they'd shared most things, especially their laughter and their tears.

"That's because they don't understand what goes on here." Maddy explained about the idea of blackmail. "John's arrival being the end result."

Nancy screwed up her face in exasperation, the words bursting out. "Unbelievable. If you don't get the results, then the donations dry up and not even the brass will have jobs. Yet, they let in the wrong people." Nancy sipped her coffee. "Good for John, I suppose,
if
you can help him. However, this shouldn't become healthcare available only to the rich and generous."

The coffee had cooled enough to drink. Maddy thought for a moment before answering. She took a long sip, reveling in the dark roasted flavor. "Gerard means well. But he likes the shine of gold." She refused to let the reminder of how John had arrived mar the peace and contentment coursing through her. "Anything going on while I was busy?"

"No, all's well." Nancy looked at Maddy over her cup. "That cute detective popped in, asking about you."

Startled, she almost spilled her coffee. "Drew?"

Nancy turned her full attention to Maddy's face. "Drew, is it? Interesting."

Heat rose on Maddy's cheeks. She hadn't meant to say Drew's name in quite that tone of voice. "We had coffee last night." And they were heading out for dinner tonight, only she didn't want to share that tidbit yet. "Did he leave a message?" she asked casually, shifting her legs. Perhaps a little too casually. She hoped Nancy wouldn't notice.

"Are you expecting one? Is there something going on here?" Nancy's grin widened. Her knowing gaze gave her a mischievous look.

Maddy didn't want to share her plans. She held the dinner date private, close to her heart. She couldn't imagine the relationship going anywhere, but there was nothing like the bloom of attraction in its initial stages.

"What was that look for?"

Maddy turned wide eyes to Nancy. "What?"

Nancy shifted so she could stare into Maddy's eyes. "Oh, wow." Nancy positively bounced. "You're really fascinated by the detective, aren't you?"

Maddy tried to appear interested in the garden. The sunlight danced on the bright white roses until they dominated the garden below. An unusual effect. She glanced at her friend. "I might be a little attracted. I mean, the guy's taller than me. You know how I feel about that."

"Yeah. For you, they're hot. For me, they're impossibly tall." Nancy stared down at her stubby legs. "You two can't get together. Your babies would be giraffes."

"Hah. Better than you and him. You'd have to use a stepladder to kiss him."

"Nah, I'd knock his knees out from under him. He's a good-looking hunk."

"Go find your own. He's mine."

"I knew it."

"Shit," Maddy groaned, caught by her own quick mouth. "Fine, okay. I'm interested." Maddy sipped her coffee, barely holding back her smirk.

"Yup, I thought so. So where are you going for dinner and are you taking him home afterwards?"

"Chinese. And I don't know." Maddy rolled her head back to study the sky. "Crap. Me and my big mouth."

Nancy howled. "You never were any good at keeping anything back."

Just then, the emergency alarms crashed through their peaceful idyll.

Cardiac arrest.

Both women raced down the hallway.

The nurses shouted out the bed number as they raced past. Number 364. Maddy's mind raced. Bed 364 was Adam Lenning. The code team converged ahead of Maddy, with two of her nurses already doing two-person CPR. Even as she joined them, the crash board went under him as the team efficiently went into action. Once monitors and IV were hooked up, Adam was bagged, and the first of the drugs administered. Maddy coordinated the resuscitation efforts, grateful that Gerard had followed through on her demands a couple years ago to updating the nurses' training – particularly on the AED units. For several frantic moments, they all worked on Adam.

Everyone watched for a heart rate. The irregular pulse was sweet. Now with any luck, they'd shock it into a regular beat. The defibrillator nurse stepped up. One shock. Nothing.

"Again."

A strong rhythmic pattern moved across the monitor. A sigh of relief swept the group.

"Okay, he's back." Maddy stepped back, surveying the organized chaos that always accompanied a code blue. Her document nurse was furiously writing everything up. She would need to contact Adam's family and let them know that he would be transferred to the hospital side for further tests. A warmed blanket was placed over his chilled flesh.

"I wonder what brought that on." Nancy stepped back over to Maddy's side. "How was he this morning?"

"He's one of the ones I didn't get to." And damned if she didn't feel guilty about that. There's no guarantee that she might have been able to hold off this attack even if she had reached him earlier. But that didn't stop her from her wondering.

"He doesn't have any history of heart problems."

Maddy looked up from the chart in her hand. "He does now." Glancing back, she examined Adam's energy level thoroughly. The orderlies had arrived and the cardiologist, who would order a battery of tests, had been notified. Adam was stabilized – for now.

Maddy wanted to know what had brought on the attack, and whether that black energy had anything to do with it.

It wasn't unusual for energy to build up to a critical point where the balance tipped in favor of mass development. There'd been no indication Maddy's floor had reached that point. In fact, with the renovations disturbing everyone, the energy humming throughout the floor had actually thinned. But was it thin enough to allow someone through? She'd kept the energy wall thick and strong so the healing energy could resonate, but the expansion of the new wing had changed that and the new patients had also affected it. Heart attacks were an all too possible result. She'd have to do a session on Dr. Lenning tonight or tomorrow. Who knew what she might find.

Her energy work was going deeper now, faster, and even more smoothly. She'd been surprised at the sheer enjoyment John had felt during his session. Often, patients had no awareness while she was working on them – especially new ones. His awareness had increased her enjoyment, which had thereby increased the power of the session. It had been a pleasure this morning.

Another oddity slipped back into her mind.

What she hadn't felt was evidence of any debilitating disease racing throughout his body. She frowned. Every person reacted differently to illnesses and in John's case, there'd certainly been a lot going on. She'd expected that, except his pain level had hit her hard and she'd gone straight into healing mode to help him feel better instead of analyzing the problems – like she had with Felicia. But she needed to find out what his health issues were, or she'd never be able to sort out the best ways to help him. She had to go back in as soon as possible. And she needed to check for that black thread.

***

The news filtered downstairs. Gerard was speaking with the nutritionist when one of the staff approached them with the news. Adam had worked at The Haven for years. Staff and patients knew him, although not everyone liked him.

Shock socked him in the gut.
Shit.

"He's pulled through, apparently. Dr. Maddy was on the spot."

"Good. He's a good man."

The nurse stared at him, one eyebrow raised. "I'm not one to speak ill of the dead and in his case, the almost dead; however, Dr. Lenning…a good man? That is debatable. He's damn lucky Dr. Maddy tried as hard as she did to revive him. Many in her position, with their history, wouldn't have."

And that's how the gossip would go. There'd be the critics that wondered why she'd brought him back after he'd been such a thorn in her side. Then there'd be others who knew that Maddy would do nothing but her best. And her best was pretty damn spectacular.

"Unless there's a no revive order, you know we have to try."

"And she did and it worked. I wonder how happy Adam will be when he wakes up."

Gerard listened quietly as various staff members discussed Adam Lenning's medical condition. Adam wasn't an easy person to begin with.

He excused himself from the now-raging discussion on life and death issues. In a place like The Haven, there was never an end to these discussions. They stormed one way, then the next, as fickle as the wind and the individuals that came and went.

Two hours later, he found Dr. Maddy at Adam's bedside. He appeared to be sleeping comfortably.

"Is he going to be okay?"

She nodded. "The cardiologist is running tests."

Just then, Adam's eyes opened, unfocused and with widened pupils. He stilled, and then searched for something that obviously disturbed him.

Maddy approached him, her hand on his shoulder. "Take it easy, Dr. Lenning. You've had a heart attack. Please stay calm."

His eyes locked on hers. "Where is it?" His voice trembled with the effort to speak. "I don't want it to get me."

Gerard exchanged glances with Maddy.

"What's after you, Adam?" Gerard stepped to the other side of the bed. "Did you see it? Can you describe it to me?"

"Yes." His voice dropped to a mere whisper. "It was a snake."

Dread filtered through Maddy. A snake. The black energy or a hallucination? Some drugs might cause hallucinations as side effect. She didn't see anything listed here that would do that. There'd been no change in his medication. Her frown deepened.

"When did you see the snake?"

Gerard frowned at her. "We don't have snakes loose in The Haven."

Maddy ignored him. "Adam, talk to me. Where and when did you see this snake?"

Calming down, as if realizing the snake must have been long gone or was no threat when they were there, Adam's eyes became less wild looking and more focused. He took a deep breath. "Gerard said it, didn't he? There are no snakes here."

"Still, I'd like to know what you saw." Maddy kept her voice gentle but firm.

He took another deep breath. "I thought I saw a black snake twisting around the end of my bed. It was thin and had no discernible markings. All I can say is I
seriously
thought it was there."

Gerard frowned, yet stayed quiet at Maddy's warning hand signal.

"How did the snake make you feel?" She ignored the questioning glance he sent her way. The answer was more important than either of them knew.

Adam's response was instantaneous. "Cold. Icy. Empty. As if it were the end. That snake represented death, I know it. I just never expected the grim reaper to be so small."

***

Maddy raced inside her front door, locked it behind her and started tugging her clothes off as fast as she could. Turning on her shower, she slipped off her underclothes and stepped into the hot spray. Her shoulders dropped three inches as the water washed away the tension and pressure she'd felt as she tried to get out of the office. She wanted to melt under this heat for hours.

Except she had less than an hour, probably half that now, before Drew arrived. She shut off the water and toweled dry. Clutching the towel to her chest, she scanned the walk-in closet for the perfect outfit.

Five minutes later, she stood on one foot, chewing her bottom lip, no further along in her decision process. In a fit of frustration, she snatched up black skin-tight slacks with a tiny path of butterflies flying up the outside of one leg. Dropping her towel, she slid into red lace bottoms and matching bra that had butterflies racing across the swell of her breast. Pulling on the pants, she topped it with a long red-hot sweater that hung to mid-thigh. After adding a black belt around her waist and black and red earrings for accessories, she stepped to the mirror to check her reflection. Yes, she was ready for anything – but her sopping hair wasn't.

Checking her watch, she grabbed the blow dryer and attacked her hair. With only minutes to spare, she slid her feet into four-inch red heels with tiny straps at the toes. She stood straight up and grinned. Now she felt more like herself.

The doorbell rang.

Opening the door, she watched Drew's face as he took in her outfit.

"Wow." He stopped in his tracks, blatant male appreciation obvious in his gaze.

Tingles rippled up and down her spine. Excited, nervous, she found herself attacked by shyness. To help cover up, she asked, "Is this appropriate? I didn't want to dress up too much."

He was wearing a suit. She didn't know whether it was an evening suit or he'd just come from work.

"You look great. Are you ready?"

She nodded. "Let me grab my purse." Leaving the door open, she walked into the living room where she'd tossed it in her mad dash to the shower earlier. "Okay, I'm ready."

She turned to find Drew wandering the room, stopping to look at the artifacts of her life. He studied a huge, complex oil painting on her wall, then stepped back a couple of feet and frowned. His head tilted.

Maddy suppressed a smirk. "Like it?"