Page 47 of Broken Dreams

Leaving Nick behind?

A loud crash from the open door of a restaurant diverted her attention from her thoughts. “Help! This man needs help!”

Without hesitation, she scurried inside. She blinked, forcing her eyes to adjust to the dimly lit room. “What is it? What's wrong?”

“I think he's having a heart attack!” A skinny guy with long gray hair pulled back in a ponytail and wearing a chocolate smeared apron wrung his hands in dismay.

She dropped to her knees beside a large, chalky faced man who looked too young to be suffering from a heart attack. He sat on the floor in a daze, surrounded by remnants of broken plates and saucers.

“Sir? Can you tell me what happened?” She checked his pulse, not surprised to find it was clipping along at a rapid pace. His skin was clammy and diaphoretic. Regardless of how young he appeared to be, she suspected he really was having a myocardial infarction.

“Feels like... I can't get... my breath. My chest…is too tight.”

“Call 911 and get me a baby aspirin.” Too bad she didn't have any nitroglycerin tablets with her. Or an oxygen tank. Or even her stethoscope. The skinny man in the apron dug out his cell phone.

“I want you to sit here and try to relax.” Not an easy task, she certainly understood. She tried to calm her own racing heart. “I'm a nurse. You'll find it easier to get your breath if you just close your eyes for a minute and try to relax.” She hoped her smile was reassuring. “What's your name?”

“Darrin.”

“My name is Amber. I'm going to stay here with you until the ambulance arrives.”

Darrin's hopeful expression crumbled. “Ambulance? Am I that sick?”

“I don't have any baby aspirin.” The guy with the ponytail had finished his 911 call and now returned from the kitchen. “I have regular aspirin.”

“That will work fine. We'll cut it in half.” She tried to reassure him, too. If ponytail guy fell apart, she'd have two patients on her hands. “Will you please get a glass of water?”

He nodded and darted back to the kitchen.

She managed to maintain control of the situation until the screeching of sirens filled the air. As the noise grew louder, Darrin's heart rate shot up dramatically.

“Relax, Darrin, slow your breathing. The faster you breathe, the more oxygen your body needs. And that means less oxygen for your heart.” She couldn't lose him now when help was near. “Look at me, Darrin. I'm right here. I won't leave you. You’re doing fine.”

Darrin's eyes clung to hers, as he struggled to slow his breathing.

She repeated soothing words while the sirens halted outside the open door. Laden with equipment, the EMT 's rushed in.

Thankful for the additional help, she held on to Darrin’s hand and explained what had happened. “His pulse is tacky at 126 and his respirations are 30 and shallow. He's been extremely diaphoretic and I've given him half a regular aspirin.”

“Good work.” The EMT closest to her was about her age and extremely handsome with his beach blonde looks and dark tan. She didn’t feel one iota of attraction when he flashed her a very interested smile while looping oxygen tubing over Darrin’s ears and inserting the prongs in his nose. “Why don't you come along with us during the rest of our shift? We could use the help.”

She gave him a tense smile. “No, thanks, I just started a new job at Lee County hospital.” She took the leads from the other EMT 's and placed them on Darrin’s chest. “These are so that we can see what's going on with your heart,” she explained.

“Okay.” Darrin clutched her hand as soon as she'd finished.

The beach blonde paramedic deftly started an IV in Darrin’s arm. Once he had the fluid running, he pretended to sigh. “Lee County, huh? Tell me your name and I'll look you up. We make runs there fairly often.”

She didn't answer, her brief moment of humor fading into annoyance with his persistence in flirting with her when they had a patient to take care of. She held her patient’s gaze. “Darrin, listen, can you hear your heartbeat on the monitor? Hear how strong the beats are?”

He nodded, his eyes wide.

“You're doing just fine,” she reassured him.

Moments later, the EMT’s had Darrin safely tucked onto the gurney. She held the man’s hand until the point where they slid him into the back of the ambulance. The beach blonde EMT shot her one last sexy smile before closing the doors behind him.

“Is he gonna be alright?” The ponytailed man asked from behind her.

“I'm sure he'll be fine. You can call the hospital in a little while to check on him.” She glanced at the mess on the floor. “Looks like you will need someone to cover the rest of his shift.

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