Rich Waters (Jason Rich) by Robert Bailey

Author:Robert Bailey [Bailey, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Published: 2023-06-19T16:00:00+00:00

48

Two hours later, Jason was sitting in a plastic chair in the emergency room lobby of Marshall Medical Center North, his clothes still damp. Next to him, Satch Tonidandel sat with his arms crossed tight across his chest. Jason had ridden with the police car to the hospital and borrowed a phone to call the colonel as soon as they arrived. Now, Mickey was watching the house, and Chuck was patrolling the hospital parking lot.

When Jason and Nola had arrived at the hospital, the emergency room staff had insisted on checking Jason out. He’d had his vitals taken and been given an IV. When everything came back normal, he was discharged.

Now he waited on news about Nola. She’d been unconscious for the whole ride from Buck Island, which had been about ten minutes. He hadn’t been allowed back to see her.

Finally, a nurse emerged from the double doors and walked toward him. “We’ve got her in a room now. You can come back.”

Jason nodded at Satch, who remained in the lobby. Then he followed the nurse through the maze of hallways to a small room with a full-length glass window. When he saw Nola hooked to a monitor with a long tube poked down her throat, his knees gave, and he leaned into the glass.

“Are you OK?” the nurse asked.

“Yes . . . what’s that tube?”

“We had to intubate her,” a strong voice said from behind him.

Jason turned to see a woman with blondish-gray hair wearing a white coat. “I’m Dr. Squire. Your daughter swallowed a lot of lake water and was suffering from alcohol and drug poisoning. We had to pump her stomach, and we were forced to intubate her when she began to aspirate.”

Jason wrinkled his eyebrows.

“She was choking, so we intubated her to clear the airway.”

“OK,” he managed. “She’s my niece.”

“I assumed daughter. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. Dr. Squire . . .” Jason gritted his teeth to keep his emotions under control. “. . . is she gonna—”

“She was on the verge of an overdose when you brought her in, and she’s still unconscious. The next few hours are critical, but I think she’s going to pull through.” She paused. “Her blood test revealed almost three times the normal limit of alcohol along with a good deal of methamphetamine and alprazolam. Once she regains consciousness, we’ll need to move her to the detoxification unit.”

“I understand,” Jason said, breathing a deep sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

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