“She lied.”
“Admit it. This morning went a lot smoother with me here.”
“I’d have managed.” She refused to admit anything. She stared at Bob’s X-ray, trying to ignore the man behind her. Difficult to do when her five senses went into overdrive at his nearness.
“No doubt. No matter if it compromises your health. Or our baby’s.”
“Our baby is fine.”
“For the moment, but you’
re determined to do everything you can to change that, aren’t you?”
She spun, glared at him. “You have no right to come in here and say anything to me.” She spat the words out, shaking with emotion. “I didn’t get pregnant on purpose, but I want our baby and am glad I’m pregnant. You’re the one who’s probably hoping I’ll miscarry so you won’t have to deal with a baby and can be done with me for good.”
She winced the moment the words left her mouth. She knew they weren’t true, that James would never wish her to miscarry, regardless of how he felt about having a baby. Feelings that she felt certain had softened on the day of her ultrasound.
He paled, grabbed her arms, and pulled her to him. Never had she felt such anger course through him, seen his eyes darken to the stormy shade of blue glaring at her. And the worst part was that she deserved his anger.
Debbie poked her head into the room. “Bob is asking for you, Melissa. His pain is worse.”
Oh, God. How could she have forgotten she still had a patient? A very sick one at that.
James’s hold on her arm tightened. “We’re not finished.”
“It’ll have to wait.”
“I grew tired of waiting for you months ago.”
Her gaze shot to his. “Fine. Let me go.”
His lips thinned to a white line, but his fingers loosened. “Go, but I’m not leaving. We’re going to finish this conversation.”
Melissa ran from the room and into Bob’s exam room. Sure enough, he was doubled over. His forehead glistened with sweat, and he held his abdomen much lower than where the stone resided.
Referred pain? Some people did experience pain in places other than where the actual problem was, but her gut instinct said that wasn’t the case.
“The pain’s worse?”
“I’m dying.”
Melissa made a fast decision. She couldn’t convince herself that a kidney stone was causing his pain. “I’m going to call for an ambulance to take you to Dekalb. I’ll send you through the emergency room for testing.”
She expected the older man to argue, but he nodded, further upping her suspicions. She turned, planning to call for the ambulance, and practically bumped into James, who carried the X-ray film.
“Melissa, take another look at this. There’s a shadow. I’m not sure it’s anything, but have a look.” James held the film up, letting the ceiling light illuminate the film. “Right there.”
A shadow? She looked closely at the area he indicated near the distal portion of the abdominal aorta, close to where the right iliac artery branched. Very subtle, but there could be a shadow. Or it could be incidental.
“I’m sending him to Dekalb by ambulance.” In full doctor mode, James nodded. “Good idea. It’s exactly what I was thinking.”
She rushed out to make the call. When she stepped back into the exam room, she saw James gently talking to Bob. The older man had a ghastly hue to his dark skin.
“They’re on their way.”
A loud pop had Bob crying out, grabbing his stomach. James and Melissa’s eyes met. A chill ran over her spine. Oh, God. There had been a shadow.
An aortic aneurysm shadow. A weakness in the vascular wall of the largest blood vessel in the body that caused a bulge. That bulge had just ruptured.