Page 22 of Code Trauma

“Sure.”

She hesitated and glanced at Andy, then back to the doctor. “I didn’t put this in my report because it’s an opinion, not fact, but I think I’d like to run it by you.”

The man raised a brow. “Okay.”

Holly sat back down and walked him through the scenario on the helicopter. “I agree with your anonymous caller. I don’t know what happened, but I don’t think Liza Hollister should be dead, either.”

Dr. Kirkpatrick frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve been thinking about this, and I believe, before the chopper is used again, it needs a thorough inventory with everything checked. Including the meds. And—in light of the current accusations—it can’t be me who goes through it.”

He hesitated. “If we ground that chopper and someone needs it...”

“I know. I’ve thought of that, trust me, but I just keep going over and over everything that happened with Ms. Hollister and I can’t help it. I don’t understand why she died. Something’s ... not right. I don’t know what, but ... something.”

He studied her a moment, and Andy thought he was going to refuse, then he gave a slow nod. “All right. I’ve never known you to overreact to anything. If you say something’s off, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.” His phone pinged and he glanced at the screen. “Autopsy’s in progress. We should know something shortly. I’ll have someone start going over the chopper, but if we get a call, you’ll have to go.”

She nodded. “Okay. Thank you. I’m just going to head back to base.”

“I’ll be in touch as soon as I hear something.”

Holly stood, and Andy led her out of the office. “That went well,” he said.”

“Better than I expected.” She bit her lip. “Someone’s out to get me, Andy. Someone wants me out of this hospital, and I don’t know why.”

8

Holly returned to base, her heart heavy with the current status of their relationship, while Andy said he was going to talk to the sheriff and see if the man had made any progress in the case.

What was she going to do?

Pray he’d learned something from the situation and that she could trust him again?

Or keep her heart under lock and key and possibly miss finding joy again in being with Andy?

“Ugh. Lord, tell me what to do, please,” she whispered. “And if Andy and I are supposed to build a life together, give me the strength to overcome my doubts and hurt.”

When she got no clear answer to her plea, she sighed. She’d just have to keep praying about it and listening. God would let her know. For now, though, she turned her focus back to the other thing that wouldn’t stop bugging her.

Knowing a call could come in at any moment, Holly kept herself busy going back over every medical detail of what she’d done in flight. She even called the paramedics who’d worked on Liza Hollister and got their feedback and impressions of the woman’s physical state. They were both shocked to learn she’d died.

“So, it’s not just me,” she muttered, hanging up.

“What’s not just you?” Raina asked from her spot behind the stove.

So deep in her own musings, Holly hadn’t noticed her enter. “I talked to Carl and Nadine. They both thought Liza Hollister would make it.”

Raina stirred the spaghetti sauce then set the spoon aside. “Ever since you brought it up, I’ve been thinking about it. You’re right. We gave her the meds. We got the bleeding stopped. She woke up and was lucid. You ordered the Decadron. Seconds later, she went into cardiac arrest. Could it be as simple as she was allergic?”

“Her husband said she didn’t have any allergies.”

“So, it was a new one.”

“Yes. It’s possible.” Holly pursed her lips and shook her head. “It could have been anything, I guess. Maybe you and Penny are right and I just don’t want to accept the loss.”

“We’ve lost patients before,” Raina said. “And it’s hard, and we’re always sad about it, but you’re taking this harder than usual.”

“Yeah. I am.” She paused. “Well, going over and over it isn’t helping, so I guess I just need to wait until we get the results of the autopsy.”

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