How to Survive Your Sisters by Campbell Ellie

Author:Campbell, Ellie [Campbell, Ellie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: amazon, Romance
ISBN: 9780991538126
Google: ZF6moAEACAAJ
Amazon: 0991538129
Publisher: Across the Pond
Published: 2013-03-14T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 25

“He’s not going to die, is he, doctor?” Peggy addressed the cardiologist who was perched on a desk, stethoscope around his neck, and clipboard in hand. He was a young-faced man with steely-grey hair and soulful eyes that radiated concern as he looked at the small audience gathered in front of him. He scribbled some quick notes onto a sheet of paper then cleared his throat.

“Well, of course, there are no guarantees, but I’m quite sure he’s going to be fine. Just fine. You got him here fast.” He put the clipboard down and wiped the lenses on his round wire-rimmed glasses. He was over six foot three, Peggy was pleased to notice. She’d always had more faith in tall men. “The blood tests have confirmed the ECG’s findings. It was definitely a heart attack. We’re giving him an intravenous injection of a drug called thrombolytic which in layman’s terms is…”

“A clot buster,” Peggy sniffed. She blew her nose with a trumpet roar on the dinner napkin she’d inadvertently swiped from the hotel.

“That’s right.” He gave her a gentle smile.

“Matt here is a doctor too and I’m a nursing sister,” she said, her voice determinedly bright. “Retired now, of course. I volunteered for years at the local hospital but they finally put me out to pasture.”

“Well then, I’m dealing with experts. And I hear your quick response might have saved his life,” he looked over at Matt. “Well done.”

Silently, Matt nodded in response.

“But what caused it?” Avril asked.

He smiled at her. “We can’t be certain. Most heart attacks are due to a number of factors. Obesity, diabetes, smoking…” He counted out three fingers.

“He loves his pipe,” Hazel looked stricken, her hand gripping Matt’s arm. On his other side Milly was sitting like a statue, tears running down her face.

“Inactivity…”

“I’ve tried to get him to go for walks with me.” Despite her attempt to keep it together, Peggy’s face was lined with worry. “Sometimes I think he’s cemented into that old armchair.”

“Is there a history of heart disease in the family?”

“Not that I know of. But then he is a bastard.”

“Mum!” Natalie scolded.

“In the biblical sense, I mean,” Peggy corrected. “It was a terrible burden, growing up with that in the Hebrides, his own father living on the same island and refusing to acknowledge him. Mind you, he was a drinker too, just like Callum.”

“Quite,” the cardiologist nodded. “Well, of course alcohol is another strong factor, as is high blood pressure.” He gave a quick glance at his watch and automatically Natalie looked too at the clock on the wall. Eleven-thirty. Less than an hour ago they were all writhing under disco lights, bombed out of their minds and yet she had never felt so sober. From the corner of her eye she saw Matt reach to cover Milly’s clasped fingers in a reassuring grasp, his other arm around Hazel’s shoulders. He looked like the rock that was keeping them both from being swept away.

“There are many root causes,” the cardiologist was saying.

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