Robin Cook - Toxin

Kim ignored the woman, who was joined by the security man. They trailed after Kim. "What should I do?" the security man asked Molly. "I mean, he is a doctor."

"I haven't the slightest idea," Molly said.

Kim ran out of cubicles on one side of the room and started on those on the opposite side. Finally he found David Washington suturing a laceration on a child's hand. A nurse was assisting him. David was wearing two-plus oculars, and he regarded Kim over the top of them.

"My daughter's on her way in," Kim announced. "Now she's apparently passing frank blood."

"I'm sorry to hear that," David said. "What's her blood pressure and pulse?"

"That I don't know," Kim said. "My ex-wife is bringing her in. I haven't seen her yet."

With his sterile, gloved hands raised in the air, David turned to Molly and asked her to get a mom ready with a crash cart and plasma expanders in case they were needed. Molly nodded and disappeared.

"I want my daughter seen immediately," Kim ordered. "And I want her to have an infectious-disease consult."

"Dr. Reggis," David said. "Let's try to be friends. It would help if you recognize I'm in charge here,"

"I've already talked with Dr. Claude Faraday," Kim said as if he'd not heard David. "He's on his way. I presume you know him?"

"Of course I know him," David said. "That's not the point. The usual protocol is for us to order the consults if the patient does not have an AmeriCare gatekeeper. AmeriCare is very clear on this issue."

"I want Dr. Faraday to see her," Kim averred.

"All right," David said. "But at least understand we are doing you a favor. This is not the way things are usually done here."

"Thank you," Kim said. He turned and walked back the length of the room. He scanned the reception area, and when he didn't see Tracy and Becky he went out onto the receiving platform. He stood waiting just as he'd done the evening before.

He didn't have long to wait. Within minutes Tracy 's station wagon appeared and drove practically up to the platform itself. Kim jumped down and was at the back door by the time Tracy was pulling on the emergency brake.

He opened the door and leaned in. Becky was lying on the backseat on her side. Kim could see her face with the help of the floodlights on the receiving platform. Although she appeared pale, she smiled at him, and he felt relieved.

"How do you feel, Pumpkin?" Kim asked.

"Better now," Becky said. "The cramp went away."

"I'm glad," Kim said. "Come on, let me carry you."

"I can walk," Becky said.

"I'll carry you just the same," Kim said.

He got his right arm under her knees and slid her out so that he could get his left arm under her upper body. He hoisted her up. She put her own arms around his neck and buried her face under his chin.

"Okay," Kim said soothingly. "Daddy has you."

"She's not too heavy, is she?" Tracy asked.

"Not at all," Kim said.

Kim led the way: first up the stairs and then bucking through the swinging doors. As he walked past reception with Tracy directly behind him, one of the clerks called out that they had to check-in. Kim ignored her. Although Tracy felt uncomfortable, she didn't say anything.

Monica was sitting at the nurses' desk when she heard the clerk call out. Looking up, she saw Kim approaching. Immediately she leaped to her feet and stepped into the hall to bar the way. But she was not Molly.

"No, you don't," Monica said. "You're not bringing that child in without a sign-in sheet."

Kim continued walking. Monica took several steps backward. "You can't do this," she protested.

Tracy tugged on Kim's arm. "Let's not have a scene," she said.

Relentless as a steamroller, Kim continued forward. Monica did not have Molly's bulk and was forced to the side.

"You can get the information from last night's sign-in sheet," Kim called over his shoulder.

Monica rushed back into the desk area to page David Washington.

Kim carried Becky into the first available cubicle. He laid her on the gurney. Tracy came in to stand on the opposite side and hold Becky's hand. Kim took the blood-pressure cuff and wrapped it around her other arm. Monica reappeared after putting in her page and tried to take over, but Kim would not hear of it. He put a stethoscope in his ears and started to inflate the cuff.

David Washington and Molly McFadden entered. David had a white jacket thrown over his scrubs. He nodded a greeting to Tracy and waited for Kim to finish taking the blood pressure. He also motioned to Monica that she could leave.

"You have no respect for protocol," David commented as Kim took the stethoscope from his ears.

"Her blood pressure is ninety over fifty," Kim said. "Let's get an IV going. I want her typed and cross-matched just in case. Also…"

"Hold up!" David yelled. raising his hand for emphasis. Then in a calm voice he added: "Dr. Reggis, with all due respect, you've already forgotten that you are not in charge here."

"I'm just covering the basics," Kim said. "Miss McFadden, how about getting me a twenty-one-gauge catheter, and I'll need a tourniquet and some tape."

David motioned for Molly to stay where she was, while he went up to Kim. He wrapped one of his sizable hands around Kim's forearm.

"I'm only going to ask you once," David said in his calm but commanding voice. "I want you to walk out of here and wait outside. It's in your daughter's best interest. I'm sure that if you just stop and think for a moment, you'll understand."

Kim's eyes narrowed as he stared at David. Slowly he looked down at David's hand clasped around his arm. For a moment no one said a word. The only sound came from a cardiac monitor in another cubicle.

Tracy sensed the electricity in the air. For her it was like the explosive calm just prior to a sudden summer thunderstorm. To avert an undoubtedly unpleasant scene, she dashed around the foot of the gurney and put her arm over Kim's shoulder and tugged on him. "Please, Kim!" she pleaded. "Let's let them do their thing."

Gradually Kim responded to Tracy 's urging, and he visibly relaxed a degree. David took his hand away.

Kim nodded to Tracy. "Okay," he said. Then, turning back to Becky, he gripped her tiny arm. "Daddy will be right outside, Pumpkin."

"I don't want any needles," Becky said plaintively.

"They want to give you some fluid," Kim said. "But it will be only one stick. It will be over in a second. I know it's no fun, but you've got to be strong so you can get back to normal. Okay?"

"Okay," Becky said reluctantly.

Tracy gave Becky's hand a squeeze and told her that she would be with Kim and that they would be back in to see her in a few moments. Becky nodded but she clearly wasn't happy. She looked scared.

Tracy followed Kim out through the curtain surrounding Becky's gurney. She could hear that he was breathing fast. She didn't say anything until they had passed the nurses desk.

"Kim, you have to calm down," Tracy said. She put her hand gently on his arm. "You're so tense."

"David Washington drives me up a wall," Kim snapped.

"He's doing his job," Tracy said. "If the situation were reversed and you were taking care of his child, I'm sure you'd act the same way he has. You wouldn't want him giving orders."

Kim pondered this as he pushed through the swinging doors to the outside. The blast of cold air felt good on his face. He stopped on the platform and took a deep breath. He slowly let it out. Tracy still had a hold of his arm.

"I guess you're right," he said finally. "It's hard for me to see Becky lying there and so vulnerable."

"I can imagine," Tracy said. "It must be very difficult."

Their eyes met.

"You can understand?" Kim asked. "Seriously?"

"Absolutely," Tracy said. "You're a surgeon. You are trained to act. And who would you want to take care of more than your own child. For you the hardest thing in the world is to see Becky in need and not do something."