Anna Sugden - A Perfect Trade

Before Jenny could respond, Tru joined them.

“Jenny.” He nodded coolly.

“Tru.” Her acknowledgment was equally cool.

“Ma, your prescription will be ready in a few minutes. Mr. Jordan says you need to remember to take the tablets every day, otherwise they won’t do you much good.”

Karina waved a hand dismissively. “I’m only taking the medicine to keep Dr. Harris happy. I’m as fit as a violin.”

His mouth quirked at the corner. “Fit as a fiddle, Ma.”

“Fiddle, violin. It’s the same, no?”

“Close enough.” He shared an amused look with Jenny.

Though Karina had been in America for most of her adult life, she still mixed up phrases. Back when he was a teenager, Tru’d been embarrassed by his mother’s mistakes. But Jenny, who had missed her own mother terribly, had helped him see that it was cool to have a mother who was different.

The warmth of the shared memory made her pulse flutter again.

“Karina Jelinek,” the pharmacy assistant called out.

“I’ll get it, Ma. Be right back.” Tru strode back to the counter.

Jenny felt strangely disappointed at the interruption.

Then she saw Harry walking toward her, holding a white plastic bag. Perfect timing.

“Good to see you, Karina,” Jenny said.

“You should come by the house sometime. I’ll make those apple bars you used to love.”

“Yum. I’ll visit soon.” She turned toward Harry.

He was a few feet away, when he stopped suddenly. He looked confused. Then his right arm dropped limply by his side and the bag slipped from his fingers to the floor.

Jenny walked over and picked up the bag. “Harry, are you okay?”

He looked at her and opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

Worried, Jenny touched his shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

Again he tried to speak, but didn’t seem able to. His face was gray, his skin clammy.

“Is he having a heart attack?” Karina asked, behind her.

“I don’t think so. He doesn’t look in pain.” She pulled her boss over to the waiting area. “Sit down, Harry. You’ll be fine in a minute.”

He let her seat him, but looked at her as if he couldn’t understand what she was saying.

Panicking now, she called across to the counter. “We need help here.”

Tru’s head whipped round. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know. Something’s wrong with Harry.”

Everyone stood, staring. They seemed frozen in place.

Except for Tru.

He rushed over and crouched in front of Harry, studying him. “Does it hurt anywhere?”

Harry tried to speak again. This time his words came out garbled. Then he grabbed his head and moaned. As if in slow motion, the right side of his face began to droop.

Her gaze met Tru’s. She saw in the green depths that he’d come to the same terrifying conclusion as she had.

Panic clutched at her chest. “He’s having a stroke.”

“Call 911,” Tru ordered. “We need an ambulance. Now.”

Before she could move to get her phone, Harry’s eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped to the ground.

* * *

“BUT YOU HAVE to let me go with him.”

Jenny’s frantic words and stricken expression, as she watched the stretcher with her unconscious boss being loaded into the ambulance, tugged at Tru’s heart. She was normally so calm and in control, it was a shock to see her floundering.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but we’re prohibited from taking anyone in the ambulance.” The paramedic’s tone was sympathetic, but firm, as he closed the rear doors.

“Not even family?” She was clearly too upset to realize that arguing would only delay the ambulance.

“Jenny.” Tru touched her arm.

She whirled to face him, her body language angry and defensive. “What?”

His breath caught in his throat at the anguish in her blue eyes.

“Let them do their job.” He drew her away from the ambulance. “The sooner they get Harry to the hospital, the better.”

She glared at him for a few seconds, but gradually the frustration drained from her expression, leaving her pale and drawn. “He needs me there, with him.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “He shouldn’t be alone.”

The ambulance driver started the engine. Jenny flinched, then stepped forward, as if to stop the vehicle from leaving.

Tru put an arm around her shoulders. He tried not to notice that for a moment she leaned into him. “I’ll take you to the hospital. If we go now, we can follow the ambulance.”

She stiffened and pulled away. “I can manage.”

“I know you can. But you don’t need to. You’re worried about Harry. Let someone who...” He caught himself before he said cares. “Let me help.”

“I don’t want your help. I don’t need it.”

He ignored the sting of her words. “Really? You’re being stubborn about that now?”

Color filled her cheeks, but she crossed her arms. “I’ll be fine.”

“You’re too upset to drive. I’ll get you to the hospital quickly and in one piece.”

“You can’t. You have stuff to do.” Her protest would have been more effective if he hadn’t seen her hands tremble.

“The hospital’s on our way.”

“But what about Karina?”

“She...”

“Insists on taking you to the hospital.” His mom waggled a finger at Jenny. “You need friends with you.”

Jenny’s gaze flicked uncertainly between them. As the ambulance pulled out of the parking lot, she said, “Okay. Thanks.”

They got into his Range Rover; his mom in the back and Jenny alongside him up front. Then Tru pulled out, keeping the ambulance in sight as he drove through town toward the hospital. He forced himself to appear calm, while inside he hoped desperately that Sturridge would be all right. Jenny’d had enough bad news in her life.

She sat bolt upright, her eyes fixed firmly on the white-and-blue vehicle ahead. He wanted to touch her, reassure her, but she’d erected an invisible barrier around herself that he doubted he could breach.

Still, he had to try. “It’s a good sign they aren’t using the lights and siren.”

Jenny didn’t respond. Not even a muscle twitch.

His mom met his worried gaze in the rearview mirror.

“Does Harry have family, Jenny?” she asked.

“A daughter and a son.” Jenny started, as if waking from a dream. “I should call them.”

She pulled her cell from her purse. “Felicia is probably shopping or at a salon and Irving won’t be out of bed yet.”

“You could wait until we get to the hospital,” Tru suggested. “You’ll be able to give them a better idea of his status then.”

“Believe me, I’d like to delay, but I should let them know he’s been taken to the hospital. Just in case something ha-happens.” Her voice broke on the final word.

“Nothing will happen.” Tru regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. He couldn’t guarantee that and he didn’t need Jenny to blame him for anything else.

He tried to backtrack. “We got help to him fast and he’s in the best hands.”

“In their shoes, I’d want to know as soon as possible.” She grimaced as she dialed. “I should just get it done. The worst they can do is yell.”

Neither of Sturridge’s children picked up. Jenny left a message, then dropped her phone onto her lap and turned her attention back to the vehicle ahead.

A few minutes later, the ambulance pulled into the hospital’s emergency vehicle area. Tru dropped Jenny and his mom at the main entrance, while he looked for somewhere to park. Luckily, he found a space quickly.

After jogging back to the main building, Tru found Jenny and his mom in the far corner of the crowded E.R. waiting room. Jenny was perched on the edge of a hard, plastic chair, her attention focused on the double doors leading into the treatment area. His mom sat to her right, pretending to read a tattered magazine.