Page 23 of The Lies That Shatter
“Don’t you raise your voice at me. I’m still your boss, and you will treat me with the respect I deserve,” Mel yells, raising her voice far more than the situation requires. I get the impression that the conversation wouldn’t have gone this way with anyone except Mac, since Mel clearly has insecurities around her.
Mac’s face tinges red, and it’s obvious she’s becoming angrier. “I will treat you with respect when you earn it. To do that, you need to stop speaking to me like this.”
Even though Mac’s upset, she’s still trying to remain as professional as she can. This might be an undercover job forher, but the work still means something to her, and she loves what she does. Which is why she’s behaving with nothing but professionalism, even if Mel does deserve a good slap right about now.
“I am so sick of you and your bullshit. I think we need to have a serious conversation about your job here. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t just fire your ass on the spot,” Mel yells, and that’s when I hear a gasp coming from the male nurse who is in the room beside Mel’s dad. He’s looking at McKenna with wide eyes, clearly worried she’s about to be fired.
Before Mac has a chance to respond, alarms ring from the medical equipment surrounding Mr Ingold. His eyes are wide open, and there’s a fear there that’s so hard to describe. His gaze keeps flickering around the room, and it’s clear he doesn’t recognise where he is. His hands fly to cover his ears, when the noise from all the machines and the yelling finally becomes too much for him.
He starts to shout, mumbling incoherently in a way that’s hard to watch. Then, with the hands that were pressed firmly against his ears, he starts to aggressively hit himself over the head, frustration evident in the awful sounds he makes.
Mel takes a hesitant step back, while the male nurse—who I think is called Aleandro—tries to grab the man’s hands to stop him from hurting himself. McKenna doesn’t hesitate. She steps up to the monitors and begins adjusting buttons on the pump that is feeding into the needle in his arm. But she doesn’t stop there. As the alarms grow more frantic, and Mel’s dad continues to become more distressed, Mac runs over to one of the cabinets on the side of the room and begins gathering medical equipment.
Mac gathers together the things she needs and starts drawing liquid into a syringe. Remaining totally calm in a sea of chaos, Mac walks back to the machines beside her patient, checkinghis observations again. She looks over at Aleandro. “He’s hypertensive and tachycardic, with his anxiety rising. If we don’t get it under control now, he might end up having a seizure like last time. I’m going to administer a sedative and an anti-hypertensive. Agree?”
She doesn’t even wait for him to respond before she injects the first syringe into his IV line, followed quickly by a second. As she’s doing it, her eyes are constantly flicking between the monitor and her patient.
“Mr Ingold, it’s me, McKenna. I’ve given you some medication to help calm you down, okay? I’m sorry things got a little loud in here. We shouldn’t have scared you, but you’re alright now. I’m here, and Aleandro is here, too. We’re both going to keep an eye on you. And your daughter, Melanie, is here also.”
Mac’s voice is calm and soothing, although it’s clear he isn’t listening to her as he continues to cry and shout, thrashing around in Aleandro’s hold. McKenna motions for Mel to step forward, to join her next to her dad’s bed, but she appears to be frozen to the spot, her grip on my hand firmer than ever.
McKenna rolls her eyes as she turns back and continues to comfort her patient. It’s not long before the medication kicks in and he begins to settle down. He quickly goes from being in a very agitated state, to being so drowsy he looks seconds away from falling asleep. As he calms down, so do the machines that are monitoring him. The bleeping alarm discontinues, and all that remains is the steady beat of his heart, that is such a constant you almost don’t even hear it anymore.
Once things have calmed down and Mr Ingold is asleep, Aleandro releases his hold and begins rearranging him so he’s laying more comfortably in the bed. When he was thrashing around, his sheets and pillows shifted all over the place, so Aleandro straightens them.
If I weren’t standing right beside her, I may not have heard Mel speak as her voice is so small. “Is he okay?”
Both McKenna and Aleandro turn to face her, but he quickly looks away and continues on with his job, while McKenna takes a step forward. Mel, obviously unsure how to take the fierce look on Mac’s face, moves a small step backwards until her back hits my chest, preventing her from retreating further. With her hand that’s not laced with mine, she reaches back and holds onto my hip, using me for comfort. It takes so much effort not to push her away, particularly when I see the hurt etched on Mac’s beautiful face.
“He will be fine. Like I’ve explained to you in the past, your father is triggered by loud noises and unsettling situations. It makes him aware of the fact he has no idea where he is or who the people around him are. That’s a terrifying situation for anybody to be in. We also have no idea what mental age he will be when he wakes up in this state, or how he will cope. It looked to me like he was back in his childhood this time, which is why he behaved in such a child-like way. The panic caused his blood pressure and his heart rate to rise to dangerous levels.
“Last time that happened, because of his other medical conditions, it resulted in a seizure, which is something I was determined to avoid this time around. So I gave him some medication to sedate him and help him sleep, as well as something to bring down his blood pressure,” Mac explains, sounding like the complete professional that she is.
I can’t keep the smirk off my face, and when a blush spreads across her cheeks and she flicks her eyes down to look at the floor, I know she caught me.
Mel clears her throat, pulling McKenna’s attention back to her. “Will he be okay?”
“He will be fine. He’ll need to be monitored closely overnight. He shouldn’t wake for a few hours, but if he does, he may be verydisoriented and scared. So it’s best if someone is with him,” Mac replies, as she picks up a ring binder and pulls a pen out of her messy blonde bun. She always wears a pen in her hair when she’s working. She says it’s the only way to make sure she doesn’t lose it.
While McKenna updates Mr Ingold’s notes, Mel turns to face me. Letting go of my hand, she places both her palms on my cheeks and her gaze fixes on mine. Genuine emotion flickers in her silver eyes, as they become misted with unshed tears. It’s clear she cares a lot about her dad.
“I’m so sorry, Finn. I know this isn’t how we planned for our night to go, but after what just happened, I think I need to stay with my father,” she says, her thumb tracing lightly across my cheeks.
I’m torn because there’s a part of me that’s so fucking relieved I don’t have to go through with anything tonight, but the other part of me knows we need to get moving if this job is ever going to fucking end.
I give her a small smile, making sure she can see just how disappointed I am. “I understand. I can’t say I’m not disappointed, but we can do this another time. Family comes first.”
Mel stands on her tiptoes and presses a kiss against my cheek before she turns back to McKenna. “I will stay with my father, and Aleandro will be here if I need him. You can go home now, McKenna. When you are back in on Monday, we will have a meeting to discuss what happened tonight.”
“I can come in over the weekend if I’m needed,” Mac replies, showing a lot more kindness than Mel deserves, given the tone she used on her. But we both know McKenna isn’t showing any kindness to Mel. It’s all for her father, who I think she actually cares about. I’m not surprised though, as that’s just the type of person she is.
“That won’t be necessary. Aleandro and the weekend nurse can handle it, and if they can’t, I’m sure they will contact you. I think you need to take the weekend and remember who you work for. You proved to me just now that you’re good at your job, and that’s the only reason I’m not firing you on the spot. Make sure I don’t regret it,” Mel snaps, a look of disdain spreading across her face as she stares at Mac like she’s dog shit on the bottom of her shoe.
I have to count my breaths as my anger begins to bubble again. Luckily, Mac doesn’t have the same temper I do, so she just rolls her eyes and walks over to collect her bag and coat.
I don’t know what the hell possesses me to open my mouth, but the words are out before I can stop them. “It’s almost midnight. Let me drive you home.”
Both Mel and McKenna turn to me, matching stunned expressions on their faces, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I look the same. This is what happens when I’m around Mac. All good fucking sense flies out of the window.
