A Slice Of Heaven

“I’m her mother,” Dana Sue said, tightening her grip on Maddie’s hand.

“And I’m her father,” Ronnie announced, joining them, but avoiding Dana Sue’s gaze. “How is she?”

“I won’t lie to you,” the doctor said. “It’s been touch and go all night, but her age is on her side. I think she’s stable now. We’ve gotten her electrolytes balanced for the moment and her labs are improving, but she’s not out of the woods. If she holds her own for another twenty-four hours and we can start getting some nutrition into her, then she’s got a good chance at recovery.”

All the color had drained from Ronnie’s face as the doctor spoke. Dana Sue felt so shaky she could barely stand. She sank onto the hard, plastic chair, Maddie right beside her.

“What the hell happened?” Ronnie asked. “She’s sixteen. Kids that age don’t have…” His voice faltered. “What did she have?”

“A cardiac arrest,” the doctor said. “Quite a bad one. I imagine she’d been having incidents of arrhythmia for some time now, given her overall condition. Had she mentioned anything? Any odd sensations in her chest?”

Dana Sue shook her head. “Not a word.”

Sarah stepped up and said in a small voice, “I think she might have been having some trouble in gym class. She was getting winded real easy. And she didn’t say it, but I think her chest hurt. One time she admitted she felt kind of funny, like she might pass out, but then she sat down and a few minutes later she said she was okay.”

The doctor nodded. “That fits.”

Ronnie regarded all of them with confusion. “Why would she be having arrhythmia?” he asked. “This doesn’t make any sense. Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” Dr. Lane said. “I’m the cardiologist on call for this kind of thing. I have to tell you I haven’t seen a heart muscle in such bad shape in a while. It had gotten so weak it was barely pumping.” He looked from Dana Sue to Ronnie. “She was sleeping when this happened, right?”

“She was having a sleepover,” Dana Sue said. “I don’t know how much sleeping was going on.” She looked to Sarah and Raylene.

“Just before it happened, she said she was really tired and wanted to take a quick nap,” Sarah said. “But she wanted us to wake her when we were ready to watch the DVD.”

“But we couldn’t wake her up,” Raylene said.

“Because her heart rate had gone way down,” the doctor said, his expression grim. “Be thankful these girls were with her. If she’d been in her room alone and no one had checked on her before morning, we wouldn’t be having this conversation at all.”

Dana Sue sagged against Maddie. “You mean…”

“She could have died,” the doctor said bluntly.

Dana Sue gasped. Even though the possibility had crossed her mind, hearing the words was devastating.

Ronnie shook his head as if he couldn’t quite process the information. “I don’t understand. She’s sixteen,” he repeated. “She didn’t have any birth defects. Her heart’s always been just fine. The pediatrician would have said something if it wasn’t.”

The doctor regarded him with a sympathetic expression. “Obviously you’re not aware of her eating disorder.”

“Her what?” Ronnie said incredulously. He stared hard at Dana Sue. “Annie has an eating disorder?”

The doctor’s gaze was on Dana Sue, as well. “I’d guess she’s anorexic. Isn’t that right, Mrs. Sullivan?”

Numb, Dana Sue could only nod. There would be no denying the truth after tonight, even if she’d wanted to.

Ronnie looked as if he wanted to hit something. “How the hell did something like that happen?” he demanded. “I can’t say I know a lot about eating disorders, but to get to this point, it doesn’t happen overnight, does it?”

The doctor shook his head. “No. It takes time to put this much strain on the body’s organs.”

“Dammit, Dana Sue, I’ve been gone for two years. Where were you while this was happening?” Ronnie asked.

“Where were you?” Helen snapped back when Dana Sue couldn’t seem to think of a reply.

The doctor held up a hand. “That’s not the issue right now. I think we all need to focus on getting Annie through this crisis, getting her lab work back to normal. Then we’ll bring in a team of experts. Anorexia is a complicated disorder. There’s no quick, sure fix. Together we’ll decide what needs to be done to keep this from happening again. We may recommend that Annie go into a treatment facility where they can monitor her more closely. You should prepare yourselves for that possibility.”

Shattered, Dana Sue nodded.

“Sure,” Ronnie said, but his scowl remained firmly in place. “Will she have damage to her heart from this?”

“Not the same kind of damage she’d have if she’d had a heart attack caused by a blockage. That can destroy some of the heart tissue. Right now, the muscle’s simply weak and her electrolytes are all out of whack. Those are things that can be corrected, assuming she deals with the underlying cause—the anorexia.”

Ronnie seemed to be struggling to take it all in. “Can I see her now?”

“We’ve moved her to a room in ICU. You and Mrs. Sullivan can go in for five minutes. Not a second longer,” he told them firmly. “And whatever issues you two have with each other, leave them at the door, understood? She’s asleep right now, but even so, she might hear what you’re saying or be aware of any tension between you. She doesn’t need the added stress.”

Ronnie nodded. His gaze softened slightly as he turned to Dana Sue. “You ready?”

She hesitated for an instant, but then Ronnie held out his hand. Unable to resist, she took it, steeling herself for the jolt of awareness the contact was destined to bring.

Then all that mattered was the strength that seemed to flow through her as they followed the doctor to the elevator. For this one brief moment, it didn’t seem to matter that Ronnie had betrayed her, then left her. All that mattered was Annie and that the two of them were there for her…and for each other.

The instant she felt stronger, though, Dana Sue pulled away and strode on ahead. She could not allow herself to count on Ronnie’s support. The last time she’d trusted him, the last time she’d relied on him for anything, he’d cheated on her. If she needed to remind herself of that a thousand times a day, she would. She would never let herself be in a position to get her heart broken like that again.

After what he’d just learned in the E.R., Ronnie wished he’d been able to see Annie on his own, but he could hardly deny Dana Sue the right to be there when they’d both been waiting half the night for the chance to see their little girl. At the very least, he wished they’d been able to lean on each other for support, but aside from that one moment of weakness when he’d first arrived, and the brief contact she’d permitted in the elevator, Dana Sue had kept her distance. Even now, she was walking ahead of him as if determined to reach Annie’s side before he did, as if it was some sort of contest.

He had so many questions it took every ounce of restraint he possessed not to let them come pouring out. The doctor was right. There would be time enough for questions and accusations later, once he’d seen Annie and developed a real sense of just how bad things had gotten in his absence.

At the door to Annie’s ICU cubicle, Dr. Lane paused. “Remember what I told you both,” he said sternly. “Five minutes and no arguing.”

Ronnie nodded. “We understand.”

He held the door and Dana Sue walked in ahead of him, then swayed backward. He steadied her with a hand on her waist.

“You okay?” he asked, regarding her with concern.

She squared her shoulders and met his gaze. “Of course,” she said, then moved quickly to Annie’s bedside.

Ronnie was slower to approach. The room had the same antiseptic smell as the emergency room, which was disconcerting enough. But here there was an odd stillness, as well. Annie was never still, never quiet. The silence was broken only by the steady beeping of some monitor and Dana Sue’s barely contained sigh as she sat down beside the bed.

“Hi, sweetie,” she whispered, taking Annie’s hand in hers. “Mom’s here. So is your dad.”

Ronnie finally managed to propel himself forward, but when he caught sight of his daughter’s wan, gaunt face and the IV hooked up to her arm, the oxygen being fed through her nose, he almost stumbled.

“Oh, my God,” he gasped, horrified not just by all the tubes and monitors, but by the teenager who was so thin she barely made a ripple in the sheets.

Dana Sue cast a warning look in his direction and he managed to smother the damning accusations on the tip of his tongue. Instead he moved to the other side of the bed and sat. Since the IV was attached to that hand, he settled for stroking a finger along Annie’s thin, icy arm.

“Hey, angel. You’ve given your mom and me quite a scare, but you’re going to be fine. The doctor says you just need a little rest. Mom and I will be right here, okay? We’ll be in the waiting room right outside. If you need us, all you have to do is tell the nurse and she’ll get us. And we’ll be in to talk to you every time they let us.”