With a shake of her head, she drove to work as fast as she could.
Frantic beeping signaled an unnaturally high heartbeat. Some of her colleagues would mute the alarm in order to concentrate, but Jess flourished under the pressure. The monitor displaying the patient’s vital signs was probably flashing with all kinds of alarms as the blood pressure fell. She didn’t need to see it to know she had to act fast and finish the angioplasty to restore the oxygen supply to the heart.
Her vision stayed fixed on the X-ray monitor showing her attempts to place the catheter in the correct position. Just a millimeter more. That’s it. She exhaled and gave the signal to inflate the balloon.
Scott pressed the device and counted to five. He had been hovering behind her shoulder all day. Now that he had finished his regular cardiology fellowship and started the interventional cardiology one, Jess should have let him perform the procedure. But she was too damn happy to be back in the cath lab to care.
As soon as he finished, Jess held out her hand.
Wordlessly, Kayla offered her the right stent without being asked.
With a grateful smile, Jess finished the procedure. She had missed working in perfect synchronicity with colleagues who read her mind.
The patient’s heart rate dropped to normal levels, and the blood pressure rose again as blood flow in the most important coronary vessel was restored. Jess grinned. No matter how often she witnessed or performed the procedure, and no matter how well she understood the mechanism, this part still retained some of the magic she had felt the first time she’d seen it as a student. She had instantly decided that it would be her future.
The most important work was done, and the rest was routine: closing the puncture wound and applying a pressure bandage. That was Scott’s job.
With the knowledge of a job well done, Jess relaxed and her adrenaline level plummeted.
Stars danced in her vision, and she blinked to remove them. She didn’t need clear vision to pull at a catheter, but steady hands would be nice. Hers shook like a student’s when they first drew blood. She attempted to take a deep breath but sucked the paper mask against her lips.
“Everything okay? Jess?” Kayla’s voice was muffled as if through a thick wall.
Jess nodded, unable to speak as her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. She stepped away from the table and ripped the mask from her face to gulp in some air. Her heart raced as if she was the patient on the table. What the fuck was happening?
Maybe it had been a mistake to put on her prepregnancy lead vest that was too tight now. But she had been too proud and vain to ask for a larger size, and now she was paying the price for all those shallow breaths over the last few hours. Her breasts hurt like hell, especially her much-too-sensitive nipples.
Sweat ran down her temples, along her neck, and under the lead vest and the sterile paper gown covering it. It stung her eyes like acid. She was cold and hot at the same time, and an uncontrollable tremor ran through her. She took a breath—not a deep one since her movement was still restricted as if a boa constrictor held her in its grasp.
Out. I need to get out of this dammed vest.
She dug deep inside her training to project calmness and confidence. “Scott, finish here, please. I’ll start on the report.”
With her last shred of strength, she tore off her gloves and gown, then opened her vest. Each step was a struggle, but she held her head high, not losing sight of her destination, the door where she would be able to pull off the constricting vest and sit.
Only the door swayed from side to side until it vanished from her view. “Not again,” she mumbled as the floor rushed up to meet her.
The reassuring beep-beep-beep of a heartbeat monitor drifted in and out of her consciousness. Something grabbed her shoulder and shook her. A hand.
“Dr. Riley, wake up!” The woman’s voice was warm and low but held so much authority that she wanted to comply.
But why? The heartbeat was steady. No reason for her to get up and look at it. She was as tired as if she’d run a marathon.
Marathon? No, she had been at work. Cath lab. But why was she lying somewhere in the hospital? Jess blinked, then squeezed her eyes shut as a glaring light blinded her. But the glimpse had been enough to recognize the room as part of the emergency department. Why am I in the ED? Again? Is this a joke? She tried to get up for a better view of her surroundings, but strong hands stopped her.
“Hey, Dr. Riley. Good to have you back. Stay down for a sec, okay?”
That voice. “Rock Chick?” She opened her eyes again, and this time the light wasn’t unbearable. It was indeed the resident who had delivered Ella.
“Haven’t we been over this already?” She chuckled. “It’s Dr. Rock Chick or even Dr. Petrell, but you might as well call me Diana, as we’ve already seen each other half-naked.”
Jess nodded. She would never admit this out loud, but Diana’s presence alleviated her uneasiness. Jess trusted her, even though she barely knew her. “What happened?”
“What do you remember?” The mirth vanished from Diana’s voice.
Jess considered the question for a moment. “I had finished an intervention and was a bit dizzy and sweating. I guess I got dehydrated wearing the lead apron and fainted.”
“Mmh. That might be possible. But you didn’t just faint.” Diana rolled a stool from the side
