Chapter Fourteen

Gonzo Gates straightened after removing a blood pressure cuff from Leah's arm. "It's still too high."

"I'll bet it wasn't high down in the basement," said Leah, smirking. "What are you writing?"

"A prescription."

She glared at Trapper who was sitting behind his desk, looking back over his glasses. "If my blood pressure is high, it's your fault."

Smiling, Trapper asked, "Gonzo, what is it?"

"One thirty-two over eighty-two."

Trapper removed his glasses and leaned forward over his desk, clasping his hands in front of him. "Leah, this may well be because some painful things have come to the surface, but that's not necessarily bad. I'm sure at some point your blood pressure will drop back down to normal, but for the time being you need to take this medicine to avoid the strain on your heart."

Sitting with her legs crossed, her foot started tapping the air as she looked away.

Gonzo sat back on the edge of Trapper's desk and crossed his arms. "Leah, do you want to die? Is that why you're fighting us?"

Her eyes shot up to his, and then moved over to Trapper before she looked down at her hands, remaining silent. When Gonzo handed her the prescription, she shot up out of the chair, wadded the prescription into a tight ball and threw it on Trapper's desk. "Gentlemen, I have two weeks to get my project to a point where Mark can take over for awhile. I agreed to have an echocardiogram every other day. Now, if you two will just leave me alone, I will live up to my end of the agreement." She stormed out of Trapper's office.

Turning to Trapper, Gonzo held his hands out helplessly. "What is it going to take? A rupture?"

Trapper shook his head. "Let her go. She's probably right, you know…her blood pressure could very well be normal in the basement."

"Trapper, she has to come out of the basement. What did you do that had her crying all day yesterday?"

Taking a deep breath, Trapper leaned back in his chair. "She won't see Matthews, so…I spoke to him to get his thoughts, and he suggested that if I could get her to talk about the accident and how she felt, maybe it would start some momentum."

"Well, it seems you did just that. Only, I'm not sure this was the right time to do it."

Both men jumped at the sound of metal trays crashing out in the hall. Looking at each other for an instant before they rushed out of the office, their first thoughts were of Leah.

Leah had stopped and leaned against the wall just outside of Trapper's office. Her blurry vision and a sudden dizziness caused her to close her eyes and wait. This had happened once before and had cleared up on its own, but this time it wasn't going away. In fact, this time, it became harder and harder to catch her breath. Determined to make it to her office without anyone noticing, she pushed herself away from the wall and began walking slowly toward the elevator. Just as she turned the corner toward the nurse's station, she moved her hand to her chest, struggling to breathe, and tried to catch herself on a surgical cart as she collapsed to the floor.

"Move the screen over," were the first words Leah heard. Confused, she lay still with her eyes closed until she could make out the voices. Cold air flowed over her, and what felt like a wet ball was rolling over her chest. When she felt a hand on her breast, her hands flew up to push it away, and before she could do anything else, she was being pushed down.

"Leah, its Dr. Gates and Dr. McIntyre. Open your eyes." Her eyelids fluttered. "Ernie, dim the lights a little, please."

She opened them and closed them quickly, grimacing. "The room is spinning," she whispered. "What happened?"

Passing the wand to Ernie, Gonzo leaned over her. "Leah, this is Dr. Gates. We just did another echo, and we're about to take a look at it, so I need you to lie still for a few minutes."

"Where's McIntyre?"

Leaning over from the other side, Trapper said, "I'm right here, Leah. Nurse Shoop is going to get you cleaned up while Dr. Gates and I take a look at your echo."

"I'm so cold," Leah whispered.

"I'll get you a warm blanket just as soon as I get you cleaned up," said Ernie as she smiled and brushed Leah's hair back from her forehead.

Pointing to a dark spot on the screen, Trapper said, "It seems she's sprung a leak."

"At least it's a slow one," said Gonzo, looking closer at the picture on the screen. "But it's sure to get bigger unless we fix it now."

By the time Ernie had gotten Leah into a hospital gown and covered her with a blanket, Gonzo and Trapper where at her side. "Leah, the reason you were short of breath and dizzy is because your blood pressured dropped too quickly," said Gonzo, leaning over her with his hand resting at the top of her head.

She smiled weakly. "I told you it would come down on its own," she whispered.

Gonzo glanced at Trapper, and then looked back down at her. "Your blood pressure dropped because the weak spot we've been watching has started leaking. We can't wait any longer. We have to go in and repair it."

"When?"

"Today."

"No."

Taking her hand, Gonzo looked at Trapper nervously before he bent closer to see her eyes. "Listen to me. This isn't 'if' anymore. If we don't repair it, you will die."

"Understood," she whispered calmly.

Looking back up at Trapper, Gonzo asked, "You want to try?"

Trapper looked into her eyes and smiled, receiving a smile in return. "Let's get her comfortable in a room and stabilized."

She held his eyes as she searched for his hand, and when she found it, he squeezed. "I need time to think," she whispered.

He whispered back, "I know."