Sacred Trust Read Online Free PDF Page A

checked the printouts. Nothing. Everything was normal. Even the drug screen was not helpful, because all it showed were benzodiazepines, and that was to be expected for someone who occasionally took them to sleep. Lukas could have done a quantitative drug screen, but that would have taken too long.
    â€œBP’s gone up just a little, but not much,” Lauren continued. “Pulse and respiration are the same. They’ve called from upstairs to let us know they’re coming to take him to ICU.”
    â€œLet’s make sure they know he still needs a CT scan.” Lukas did his own assessment. Was it his imagination, or was the man breathing more deeply? As he watched, Frankie’s head moved a fraction of an inch.
    Lukas looked up to see if Lauren had noticed. “Has he moved like that before?”
    â€œI don’t think so.”
    He watched a moment longer. It was probably just a stimulation of the limbic system, a common event in a coma patient.
    Lukas did an auscultation of Frankie’s chest one more time, then shook his head. With a nod at Shelly, he leftthe room. He was feeling more and more frustrated as the day progressed.
    Lauren stepped out of the room behind him. “Dr. Bower? Some of the staff are getting together after this shift over at the cantina across the street. Want to join us?”
    â€œUh…sure. Yes, I’ll be there. Thank you for asking.” Lukas nodded and continued down the hall, knowing he would be kicking himself tonight when it came time to show up at the cantina. He would be starving when he got off, as usual, and since he always ate out anyway, this would be a good way to get better acquainted with the people who worked here. Unfortunately, he knew that by the time he arrived at the restaurant, he would be feeling so awkward about meeting with a group of near strangers, he would have lost his appetite. Almost.
    Moving to a new place was lonely business, especially for him. Funny, he could face patients and coworkers all day long with no problem, but when his time was not regimented, he had trouble forcing himself to reach out to others. It wasn’t that he didn’t like people, because he did. The youngest of three boys in a loving Christian family, Lukas was the only shy one in the bunch, and he had often been teased about it. The teasing had only made him more self-conscious, turning him inward, and now his family despaired of ever seeing him married. But this was a new place, and no one here knew about his shyness. It was time to dig himself out of the rut—or pray that God would move him out.
    He took Mrs. Richmond’s papers to the secretary. “We’ll need copies of these, Carol. Please call Dr. Richmond back and tell her that she needs to be on standby. Her grandmother is holding her own at the moment, but she could deteriorate fast, and she’s now a full code.”
    â€œYes, sir.” Carol grabbed the papers from him, dark eyes glowering as she spun around to the copier. She muttered something under her breath.
    Lukas watched the characteristically cheerful secretary in surprise. “Carol, are you okay?”
    She put the first sheet into the copier and pressed the button. “Fine, just fine,” she mumbled. “We’re swamped, we’ve got patients dying back there, and all I hear are complaints that we’re not seeing people fast enough.” She indicated the waiting room. “Griping because you haven’t looked at their scalps yet. They’d be in here right now, except one of them had to step outside for a smoke. I get so tired—”
    â€œHave they been signed in?”
    â€œNo, I’ve been too busy with these other—”
    â€œI’ll take care of them.” Lukas glanced out the door, where one of the women he’d seen earlier stood smoking, talking to the other. He strolled out to join them.
    â€œHello, ladies, I’m Dr. Bower. I hear you’re