The Baby Doctor's Bride

She glanced at Ethan, and was surprised by his stone-faced demeanor and grim expression, but she couldn’t ponder the reasons for it now.

Before the vehicle edged to a complete stop, she drew a bracing breath and yanked open the doors. Inside were two babies strapped into their infant seats, kicking and screaming in stereo, two older children—girls about five and six—who were doing their best to console the inconsolable babies, and a sandy-haired boy about seven years old, strapped to a backboard and sporting a c-spine collar, an IV line, a mask and a tank of oxygen between his legs.

“Packed house,” Ivy commented to the paramedic over the frightened wail of the babies. “What do you have?”

“One with abdominal injuries and four ambulatory—if you consider a car seat being ambulatory,” Ben Kovacs, the paramedic, reported. “I gave those two a preliminary once-over.” He motioned to the little noise-makers. “From their volume, I think they’re more scared than hurt, so I left them in their car seats for easy transport.”

“Crying is good. I’d be more worried if they weren’t making a sound.” Ethan had stationed himself near the boy’s gurney, but Ivy knew they couldn’t move the stretcher until the littlest ones were out of the way. Ben had truly packed the victims inside.

“They’ve only stopped long enough to take a breath and catch their second wind,” Ben said wryly. “I figured you could check them out more thoroughly to make sure they were OK.”

Ivy handed one carrier to Ethan before she reached for the other, noticing the huge tears clinging to soggy eyelashes, the red screwed-up faces and runny noses. By the time she’d handed the other infant to waiting nurses Ethan had already passed his bundle to someone else. He’d obviously hadn’t taken time to give the baby more than a passing glance, if that.

“Put them in Room One and I’ll be there in a minute,” Ivy directed, and she waved the older girls forward out of the corner where Ben had squeezed them.

“Suzy and Emma only have bumps and bruises,” Ben reported, his attention focused on the boy in front of him. “They could have waited, but I thought they should get away from the scene as soon as possible. Some things a kid shouldn’t see,” he finished in a low voice.

Ivy’s imagination filled in the blanks. “Come on, girls. Let’s go where I can make sure you’re okay, too.” Grabbing their hands, she helped them hop off the back bumper into the care of a young certified nurses’ aide, Robyn.

With the extraneous people out of the way, Ben released the latch holding the gurney in place. Between the three of them they pulled the stretcher out of the emergency vehicle and snapped the wheels in place before rolling their patient inside. Through it all, Ben gave his report.

“Tommy, here, is the worst. He was sitting behind the driver on the same side of the van where the truck plowed into them. BP is low, pulse is rapid.” Ben rattled off the numbers.

“I’ll look after him,” Ethan told Ivy as he helped guide the gurney into the trauma room. “You take care of the rest.”

Ivy hesitated. “Are you sure?”

“You’re the one in charge of babies,” he reminded her.

“OK.” Yet she found herself unable to leave. Not because she didn’t trust him—OK, maybe she had a few doubts—but mainly because she felt as if she were throwing him to the wolves by asking him to handle a trauma in a place where he’d never stepped foot until now.

For the first time since she’d accepted his offer she wondered if she’d made the right decision to bring in a relative unknown.

“Do you know how old he is?” she heard Ethan ask Ben.

“He’s seven.”

One advantage to a small community was that everyone knew everyone, which worked out nicely during times like these. Someday she’d know everyone in town by sight, too, but she’d been gone for years and hadn’t been back nearly long enough to have that ability today.

Ethan leaned over the moving gurney as he lightly gripped the boy’s hand. “Hi, Tommy. I’m Ethan, and we’re going to make you feel better soon.”

He sniffled. “I want…my mommy,” he sobbed.

“I know,” Ethan soothed. “We’re going to get your parents here as soon as we can. Can you tell me where you hurt?”

One hand fluttered to his abdomen. “Stomach. My chest.”

They rolled the gurney into the trauma room, and an instant later they’d moved Tommy, still strapped to the backboard with his head immobilized, to a hospital bed.

“Just hang on a little bit longer while we run some tests and take a few pictures,” Ethan told the youngster kindly. “Can you do that for me, sport?”

Tommy’s lower lip trembled. “I’ll…I’ll try.”

Ethan stroked a wayward lock of hair out of Tommy’s eyes. “Fair enough.”

Ivy had been afraid Ethan didn’t have a compassionate cell in his body, but his simple, kindly actions blasted away her lingering doubts. He might be gruff, but he cared about his patients.

What in the world was he doing in Danton? Even if he wanted an extended vacation, she would have guessed a more exotic, touristy place would have been his choice.

“If you don’t need me anymore, Doc,” Ben said to Ethan, “I gotta go back. They were using the Jaws of Life to extricate the driver of the van when we left, and because they aren’t back yet…”

“Marybeth?”

Ben looked surprised. “Do you know her?”

“Only what Nancy told us before you arrived. And if Nancy says we can manage on our own, then we’ll see you later.”

The nurse looked surprised, but pleased he’d consulted her. “We’ll be OK. See you later, Ben.”

“Thanks for your help,” Ethan seconded, before he addressed Nancy. “Start another IV, large bore needle with lactated Ringer’s.”

An instant later he patted the boy’s hand and began examining his abdomen and chest. Suddenly he cocked his head and frowned, as if he’d heard something he didn’t like.

Ivy listened, too, and recognized the distinctive wail of babies—the same noise she’d blocked out earlier.

“Still here, Dr. Harris?” Ethan mentioned idly.

Caught in the act! But it had been worth it, because she’d seen enough to rest easier in the abilities of her temporary partner. “I’m leaving now,” she promised, doing just that.

Yet as she examined the twins, ordered a few precautionary X-rays and lab tests, as well as a bottle of formula for each, she found herself impatient to return.

Funny thing how Ethan’s training and previous experience as a general pediatrician seemed to surface from out of nowhere as he examined his young patient. Apparently it was true that some things, like riding a bike, just weren’t forgotten, because from the moment Ethan saw the bruises on Tommy’s torso, the abdominal rigidity, cool clammy skin and shocky vital signs, he knew what to do. Grateful that he wasn’t in over his head as much as he’d feared, he relaxed a bit and mentally ran through the diagnostic protocol.

“I want cervical and lumbar spine X-rays, as well as chest and abdominal films,” he told Nancy, guessing that the two people lingering in the background were the lab and X-ray techs. “A CBC, basic chemistries, liver enzymes, renal function, amylase, type and cross-match for two units, coag studies, and a urinalysis. Stat. Any chance we can get a CT scan?”

Nancy shook her head. “Sorry. We’ve been trying to raise money for a scanner, but haven’t yet.”

The scan would have ruled out intra-abdominal or peritoneal bleeding, but if one wasn’t available then he’d have to depend on other tests to make his diagnosis. For the first time since he’d left St. Louis he realized how fortunate he’d been to have every resource available.

He stepped aside to allow the techs to work, remaining nearby to watch Tommy’s monitors, guess at his weight and double-check his mental calculations for the amount of fluid replacement.

By the time Ivy rematerialized he’d run a nasogastric tube and ruled out a stomach injury, gotten a baseline hemoglobin level from the lab, studied the films and decided the spine immobilization could be discontinued—although he’d feel better if a radiologist had given his seal of approval.

“Reinforcements have arrived,” she said cheerfully. “What can I do?”

“Find a surgeon in the next thirty minutes.”

“I wish. What’s the problem? Internal bleeding?”