Page 32 of Colorado Christmas Carol
“Or she could have had an attack when she was all alone, with nobody to help her. How about that?” he added gently.
She took a deep breath. “Thanks,” she said. “That makes it a little better.” She glanced at Mellie and smiled. “She’s a trouper,” she added. “I went all to pieces, but she was just so calm!”
“I taught her never to panic but to assess the situation,” he replied, smiling at his daughter. “She’s sharp.”
“She’s also asthmatic,” the doctor added, coming in behind them. “I gather that symptoms haven’t presented before this?” he asked as they shook hands.
“Never,” Duke said, letting go of Essa. “Of course, we’ve rarely been out of cities until now.”
The doctor nodded. “I’ve called in a prescription for a rescue inhaler, a nebulizer, and meds to use if she has an attack this bad again. I’d recommend allergy shots as well. You’ll need to get her to an allergist as soon as possible.”
“Is there one in town?” he asked, surprisingly.
“Yes. He has a branch office here, and he comes two days a week.” He gave Duke the doctor’s name and the phone number of his office. “Your daughter has a very adult attitude toward emergencies,” he added with a smile at Mellie. “Your wife, I daresay, may need sedation.”
Duke just chuckled. “We’ll take that under advisement,” he replied, not correcting the doctor.
Mellie was finished with the breathing treatment. Duke helped her down from the exam table.
“Get that rescue inhaler asap,” the doctor recommended. “The pollen count is pretty bad, even though it’s practically winter.”
“We’ll do that. Thanks.”
“My pleasure.”
* * *
“Now. Tell me all about it,” Duke said when they were in the car. He’d actually arranged with someone to pick up Essa’s car and deliver it to the hotel and leave the keys at the desk. And this time, Mellie was in the back seat and Essa was in the passenger seat.
“I started coughing and couldn’t stop,” Mellie explained. “Essa tried to call you, but your phone didn’t answer, so she drove me to the hospital.”
“No ambulance?” he asked Essa.
“It was ten minutes away, according to dispatch, and I was pretty sure we didn’t have ten minutes,” she replied. “I got her there very quickly. I’m just so sorry . . . !”
“Nobody knew she had asthma,” Duke interrupted. “And you very likely saved her life.”
“Yes, you did,” Mellie said. She beamed at the woman in the front seat. “You saved me.”
“I just did what anybody else would have done,” Essa said.
“You’d be amazed at how many people wouldn’t have done it,” Duke said somberly. “I’ve been in law enforcement most of my life. You can’t even imagine the things I’ve seen. Compassion in our modern society is a dying thing.”
“Not here,” Essa replied, feeling warm inside as Mellie laid a hand on her shoulder.
“Thanks for what you did,” Mellie told her.
Essa squeezed the little hand and smiled. “You’re most welcome.”
Half the hotel staff poured into the lobby when Duke came in with Essa and his daughter, all relieved that the child was all right.
* * *
Duke just shook his head as they all went back to work. “It’s not like this where we live,” he told Essa.
She grinned. “That’s why I live here,” she replied.
“I wish we did,” Mellie said on a sigh.
