The Secret Doctor by Joanna Neil

Author:Joanna Neil [Neil, Joanna]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2010-10-01T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

‘YOU saved Martin’s life, and yet you look as though you’ve gone into shock.’ Lacey watched Jake as he eased himself away from the patient and checked the man’s vital signs. ‘I know something’s wrong. Can you tell me about it? What’s troubling you, Jake?’

‘Nothing. And we can’t waste time talking about it now.’ He kept his voice low. ‘We have to get Martin off this boat and on his way to Key Largo.’ He looked at his watch. Every movement he made was stiff, as though it took a great effort. ‘The launch should have been here by now…every second counts. The sooner he goes into decompression, the better his chances.’

‘It’s only been a few minutes,’ Lacey said in a soothing tone. ‘He’s stable for the moment, and he’ll be at the hospital within the hour. That’s all anyone can ask. Don’t beat yourself up about it.’

‘I’m not.’ He made a ragged sigh. ‘I just can’t get used to the way life can be snatched away from people in a sudden accident or by a freak of nature. It’s unfair. There’s no coming to terms with it.’ He gazed at her. ‘But you already know that. You’ve been through it.’

‘Yes, but you do come to terms with it in the end. You look back on the way people lived their lives and you celebrate the good times that live on in your memory.’

She watched his expression, but his features were still frozen into a taut mask. ‘Are you feeling this way because of what happened to your parents? You said they had passed on…is that what troubles you?’

He shook his head. ‘No. Obviously, yes, in part, it’s unbearably sad, but they each had illnesses that gave them time to say their goodbyes. They loved one another to the end and shared a good life together. There were no regrets, no things left undone or words not said… In a way, they made it easier for my brother and me.’

‘Then what—?’ Lacey broke off as the engine of a motor launch sounded in the distance. It was coming nearer at speed.

Jake straightened up and checked his patient once more. ‘His vital signs are holding steady,’ he said.

‘That’s something, at least.’ Lacey stood up. Much as she wanted to talk to Jake, she realised that he was right, and this was not the time to pursue things any further. Their priority had to be the patient, and so she went to talk to the anxious group of divers who were waiting to hear what was happening.

‘He’ll be given hyperbaric oxygen therapy,’ she told them. ‘That means oxygen will get to any damaged tissue and help with the healing process. Any bubbles of gas will be eliminated from his system, and he should slowly begin to recover.’

‘How long will he be in there?’

‘I don’t know the answer to that, I’m afraid. You’ll have to ask the doctor doing the hyperbaric treatment for his opinion…but usually treatment takes between several hours and a few days.

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