Sacred Trust Read Online Free PDF Page B

had promised to call when the time came, but she hadn’t done so. Instead, Lauren had been the one to break the news.
    Shoving open the glass doors into the emergency room reception area, Mercy barely slowed her stride. “Carol, where’s Grandma?”
    â€œShe was in exam room eight, but they called a code and moved her to trauma room one.”
    Mercy stopped and wheeled back. “What? There’s not supposed to be a code!”
    Carol shook her head in sympathy. “I’m sorry. Dr. Bower called it. He had to.”
    â€œWe’ll see about that.” Mercy swung back on course. First, administration had arbitrarily decided to bring in a full-time E.R. doc from Kansas City, and now this hotshot doc had decided to ignore a perfectly legal DNR request. Perhaps he’d never learned to read.
    She pushed through the swinging double doors thatpretended to lend privacy to the open emergency room. A secretary manned the central station. All other hands were gathered in the trauma room, six people altogether, including Grandma’s frail, still body on the bed. Others worked with quick efficiency, responding without question to the soft-spoken commands of a slender, brown-haired man in green scrubs. He knew the drill well.
    â€œGet me a blood gas…. Push the epi now, Lauren…. Any pulse…? Continue CPR.”
    Mercy stopped just inside the doorway as a nurse from upstairs pushed methodically against Grandma’s chest and another bagged her.
    â€œWhat’s going on here?” Mercy demanded. “Doctor, what are you doing to my grandmother?”
    He looked up, his blue eyes behind gray-framed spectacles holding her with gentle concern. “You must be Dr. Richmond. I’m sorry, but as per your mother’s request, we are attempting resuscitation.” He turned back to the table.
    â€œStand clear,” he called as he prepared the paddles to send a jolt of electricity through Grandma’s chest. He placed one paddle above her right breast, and the other paddle he placed to the side below her left breast.
    Mercy stood in stunned horror as the frail body jerked, arms flying out, legs up. Mercy had done the same procedure herself many times during her shifts in E.R. but not on someone she loved like Grandma.
    â€œCheck pulse,” Dr. Bower said.
    Lauren gently felt the carotid artery for a moment, then shook her head. “Nothing, Doctor.”
    â€œContinue CPR. Prepare more epi, and I need lidocaine, 1.5 milligrams per kilogram. What’s that blood gas?”
    â€œNot back yet, Doctor.”
    Mercy stepped toward him. “Dr. Bower, I’m her granddaughter. Stop this code.”
    He was barely taller than her five feet eight inches, but his expression held calm authority. “As I said, Dr. Richmond, your mother—”
    â€œI heard what you said, but my grandmother signed a DNR form weeks ago. Surely that has some bearing on this case.”
    â€œYou know that form does me no good. Believe me, I wish it did.” Dr. Bower’s voice betrayed frustration. He lowered his voice. “Your mother showed me her papers for legal power of attorney. Her order is to resuscitate.”
    â€œForget that order. As a fellow physician—”
    â€œI can’t break the law, Dr. Richmond.”
    â€œDon’t abuse this patient any more than she has already been abused!”
    Dr. Bower grimaced at her words, sighed and shook his head. “I’d love to comply, but I can’t. If you want to sway the decision, please talk to your mother. I tried.” He turned back to the table. “Stop CPR.”
    The monitor showed an irregular, sawtooth pattern. Grandma’s heart was in ventricular fibrillation. Mercy hoped it would not change back.
    â€œWhere is my mother?” she asked, her voice heavy with frustration.
    â€œShe was in the private waiting room when I left her.” Dr. Bower shook his head at the monitor.