But suddenly, strong arms caught me mid-fall, and the world dissolved into disjointed fragments: the solid warmth of his broad chest, the steady thrum of his heartbeat against my flushed cheek, the gentle sway as he lifted me effortlessly, and the soft creak of the mattress as he laid me down gently.
“Tessa?” His voice cut through the encroaching darkness, urgent and achingly familiar.
Light crept back in, and when I finally managed to pry my eyelids open, I caught the exact moment his relief transformed into something fierce and furious and protective.
“That’s it,” Blake snapped. “You just earned yourself a full workup and an overnight stay for observation.” His jaw hardened. “With me.”
5
BLAKE
“I want a CBC, metabolic panel, thyroid panel, pregnancy test, EKG, and get that damn CT scan of her head already. Pending the results, I may add an MRI.” My voice was steady, practiced. Clinical. It had to be. The alternative was letting my control tremble. “Pull her recent labs.” Labs that you don’t run unless you suspect something is wrong with the patient, so what was Tessa hiding? “Page cardiology for a consult. Heart’s always a prime suspect with fainting.”
The intern’s fingers stopped typing. Even before he spoke, I could see the question forming. The same questioning look I’d given attending physicians a lifetime ago, back when I thought I knew everything. Funny how life beats that out of you.
“Dr. Morrison, if I may?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. Teaching future doctors was exhausting, and today of all days, I didn’t have the patience for it. Today, when my past was lying in a hospital bed down the hall.
“Go on,” I allowed, though every second spent explaining was a second not spent solving whatever Tessa was going through.
“Her symptoms could be explained by dehydration or low blood sugar. Is there a specific reason we’re running such an extensive workup?”
“I’m thorough,” I said defensively. Too defensively.Control yourself, Morrison. You’re not some green resident anymore.
“Right, but hospital leadership has been?—”
“Pushing back on unnecessary labs, I know.”
Insurance companies had become a thorn in the hospital’s side, declining to cover a chunk of services rendered. Doctors and patients were getting caught in the crossfire, but I wasn’t going to let Tessa suffer because of bureaucratic red tape. Not her. Never her.
And, yes, I was painfully aware this could damage my shot at chief of emergency medicine. The position I’d sacrificed everything to earn. The board was watching every move, every decision, every dollar spent. One wrong step now could derail years of careful planning. But even with my career hanging in the balance, I couldn’t stop myself from ordering these tests. Some things matter more than promotions.
“Our patient has fainted twice today. One of those episodes caused her to hit her head. Next time, she could be driving a car into oncoming traffic, risking her lifeandthe lives of everyone on the road. It’s imperative we get to the bottom of what’s going on here.”
I forced myself to look at her chart instead of the memory seared into my brain—the way she’d collapsed into my arms, pale as a ghost. The way her body had gone limp … I don’t think I’ve ever moved so fast in my life.
How long had Tessa been suffering? She’d lost weight since the last time I’d seen her … weight she didn’t have to lose. Her cheekbones were sharper, shoulder bones shooting out of her shirt like warning signs. Those dark circles under her eyes … how long had she been fighting this battle alone? The Tessa I knewnever fought alone. She was the one who’d sit with me during med school study sessions, forcing coffee and encouragement down my throat in equal measure.
My stomach clenched. I remembered her as that lively, bubbly girl who’d chase away everyone’s shadows with that ridiculous laugh. Even now, sick as she might be, she was trying to mask it, probably not wanting me to worry. Always taking care of everyone else.
“Add orthostatic vitals,” I added. “Let’s see if there’s a blood pressure drop with position changes. And check troponin levels to rule out cardiac ischemia.”
“You’re taking this one personally, Dr. Morrison.” The nurse’s chipper voice stabbed my eardrums.
Her knowing smirk said she thought this was some poignant moment, when the Grinch’s heart grew three sizes. If she only knew how many times I’d let my heart grow, only to have it carved out of my chest.
“She is my best friend’s sister. That’s all.”
And now she was my patient. I couldn’t get emotionally attached to a patient. Not again. But how could I stay detached when it was her? This was Tessa.
Tessa, who’d left cookies outside my door during high school finals week. Who’d never once looked at me with the pity I saw in everyone else’s eyes. Who somehow always knew when to push and when to let me be.
My anxiety began to wind down as the intern keyed in the last orders while I made fast work on another screen, trying to pull up any labs this hospital might already have in its system.
I wasn’t normally on edge like this, but when I’d walked into the room and seen her lying in my ER, my heart had dropped into my gut. The only thing that kept me calm was knowing the resident had already examined her without raising any red flags. Still, I’d scanned her body from head to toe, noticing every detailthat was slightly off. The way her hands twisted in the sheets—a nervous tell she’d had since high school. The exhaustion in her eyes that makeup couldn’t quite hide.
The intern was probably right. The fainting spell was probably related to dehydration or low blood sugar, and I was probably overreacting. Probably letting old ghosts cloud my judgment.
