Page 34 of Fractured Reunion

“I wanna see my kid!” Oliver’s tone was loud and the words slightly slurred. Had he been drinking? She was about to ask, but as he grew closer, she noticed his pupils were dilated.

Drugs? She shot a glance at the nurse standing next to her. Her name tag read Sonja. “I need you to call security.”

Sonja nodded and lifted a hand to an earpiece. “Security needed on seven south outside room 712.”

“I wanna…” Oliver Chism stumbled and fell against the wall. He slumped there for a long moment, then his legs crumpled beneath him, and he slowly slid to the floor.

“Mr. Chism? Oliver?” Maggie eased forward, unsure if he was smart enough to play some sort of trick, pretending to need help only to jump up and attack her. She didn’t trust the guy as far as she could throw him. But up close, she noticed his eyelids slid closed, and his mouth went slack.

What in the world? Had he overdosed on drugs?

“Call a medical emergency,” Maggie said urgently. “Do you have Narcan up here?”

“Yes, but in pediatric doses.” Sonja came to kneel beside her, her expression grave. “You think he overdosed?”

“I have no idea other than his pupils are dilated.” To prove her point, Maggie pried open one eyelid. Oliver’s pupil was so large she could barely see the brown of his iris around it. “Get as much Narcan as you can find and hurry. I don’t know what he’s taken or how much.”

Sonja jumped to her feet and rushed off.

“Maggie? What’s going on?” Aaron strode quickly down the hall toward her. He looked surprised to see Oliver Chism lying on the floor. “What happened to him?”

“Suspected drug overdose.” She felt for his pulse. “We may have to start CPR.”

“What about Narcan?” Aaron dropped to his knees beside her. She was keenly aware of his spicy aftershave wafting toward her.

“Sonja the nurse is getting it. She says they only have pediatric doses, though.”

“We’re going to need more than that,” Aaron said. “We’ll start with what she has on hand, then tell her to go to the next unit over to get more.”

It was comforting to have Aaron there to share the crisis. Then the faint thready beat of Oliver’s pulse beneath her fingertips vanished.

“No pulse. Starting CPR.” She didn’t hesitate to begin chest compressions. Sonja arrived a minute later holding nasal injectors in one hand.

“I have two milligrams of Narcan,” she announced.

“Thanks. But we may need more. I’ll give him these while you run to the next unit for additional doses,” Aaron said.

Maggie continued to provide chest compressions as Aaron administered Narcan through nasal injection. She’d hoped the two milligrams would be enough to bring Oliver’s pulse back.

Aaron finished giving the medication, then felt for Oliver’s pulse. “Compressions are good, stop CPR.”

She sat back on her heels, drawing in deep breaths to steady herself. It had been a long time since she’d had to give CPR. As an anesthesiologist, the goal was to never let a patient suffer a cardiac arrest while they were in the operating room.

And kids in general didn’t need compressions very often.

“No pulse. I’ll take over CPR,” Aaron said.

“Let me.” She couldn’t explain why she was so determined to save Oliver Chism’s life, but as much as she didn’t want this guy to have custody of Joey, she also didn’t want him to die right outside his son’s room.

“I have another two milligrams of Narcan,” Sonja said breathlessly, dropping the nasal doses on the floor next to Aaron. “I’ve called down to the pharmacy for more.”

Maggie continued giving chest compressions as Aaron administered the additional Narcan. Adults could sometimes need up to six or eight milligrams, and they’d only given Oliver a total of four.

He was relatively skinny, though, so Maggie prayed the second two-milligram dose of Narcan would be enough.

More hospital staff gathered around them, but she didn’t allow herself to be distracted. She stayed focused on providing the best chest compressions possible, circulating the Narcan Aaron had given to help counteract the drugs Oliver must have taken.

“Good pulse with CPR,” Aaron said again. “Stop compressions. Let’s see where we’re at.”

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