Twins on Her Doorstep by Alison Roberts

Author:Alison Roberts
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2018-10-11T12:41:24+00:00

* * *

It was taking too long.

The ambulance arrived but there was nothing more that the crew could do for Ethan than was already being done and, as doctors, Sophie and Finn were in charge of this scene, anyway.

Or Finn was, to be more accurate. It felt as though she was assisting him rather than the other way around. He knew what he was doing. He’d even come up with the brilliant idea of attempting to extricate Ethan instead of waiting for further help to arrive.

No. It didn’t quite feel like that, either.

It felt like they were a team. Totally synchronised, to the point that they could anticipate what each other was thinking. And together they had a very real chance of saving young Ethan.

The crunch came as Mitch finally hooked his tractor up to the stricken boat with a chain, and enough of a channel through the stones had been dug to mean that the movement of the hull had far less chance of causing any further damage to Ethan’s body. A fire engine was on the scene now as well, which meant that she and Finn could focus completely on their patient.

And they needed to.

As a successful conclusion to the extrication drew near, they were administering various drugs, including nebulised salbutamol and IV glucose to counteract the effect of toxins being released from crushed tissue as the weight was removed.

But Ethan’s condition was deteriorating rapidly, even as the cheer of the men was fading as he was finally pulled clear. He was pale and sweating and his level of consciousness was dropping.

‘Sodium bicarbonate.’ Finn handed Sophie a syringe. ‘Slow push over one minute. I’ve got the calcium chloride to go next but we need a good flush between them.’

Maybe the protection of the tourniquet had been too late to prevent the release of enough toxins to be dangerous or the action of the drugs to protect cardiac cells from the effect of too much potassium hadn’t kicked in enough yet. They both saw the rhythm on the screen of the life-pack change.

‘QRS complexes are widening,’ Finn said quietly. ‘At this rate, we’re not far away from getting a sine wave.’

Which meant that ventricular fibrillation and asystole were imminent. Had they succeeded in getting Ethan free only to have him die in front of his father and the whole fishing community?

Had Finn seen the flash of fear in her eyes? His gaze held hers for only a split second but she could read his determination. He wasn’t going to let that happen if there was anything he could do about it.

‘Draw up another dose of sodium bicarbonate.’ His voice was terse. ‘And calcium chloride.’ He nodded at one of the paramedics. ‘We need to make sure that salbutamol is continuous. And we need to transport him as soon as possible.’

They did. Dialysis was the best and quickest way to remove excess potassium from the blood. And a well-equipped emergency department was where they needed to be to manage cardiac or renal failure, as well as the injuries to Ethan’s legs.

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