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After she’d taken the X-ray, she invited Thea and Rafe back into the room, then left to read the digital results.
When she returned, she moved close to Robert’s head. “Next, I’m drawing some blood, Dad. I’ll have to send it by courier to a lab, so we won’t know those results for a while. Then I’m starting an IV so I can give you a bolus of Lasix. You’ll feel a lot better with some of this fluid out of you.”
She’d been talking while she drew blood and he seemed unaware of the stick, but he winced as she started the IV—on the first try, thank goodness. “What meds are you taking now, Dad?”
Still breathing heavily, he closed his eyes.
Jolie looked up into Thea’s pale face. “Do you know?”
Her sister didn’t react for a moment, then seemed to shake herself into action. She reached into the pocket of her jacket. “I found these in his cabinet. I grabbed every prescription bottle in there.”
Jolie scanned the bottles.Imdur. Lasix. Atenolol. Lisinopril.“Did he have any bottles of baby aspirin on the shelf?”
“I—I don’t know for sure. Maybe. I wasn’t looking for over-the-counter stuff.”
“Probably not.” Jolie sighed. “And I’ll bet he was told to take one a day. He hasn’t been taking these other meds regularly at all. They were filled three months ago and the bottles are all half-full.” She turned back to Robert. “Why aren’t you taking your medication? You know better than this.”
“I—” He wheezed again, then his breathing seemed to ease. “Couldn’t. Too busy...calving.”
“Taking a few pills doesn’t take much time, Dad,” Thea retorted. “If you need help, I can start counting them out for you every day.”
“I suspect he quit the diuretic because he didn’t like the frequent urination. Am I right, Dad?”
He grunted an unintelligible response, a dull red flush creeping up his neck.
“But that’s why youneedit—to keep your fluids from building up. Without it, you end up like this.”
Thea moved closer and rested a hand on his shoulder. “Do we need to get him to a hospital?”
Robert coughed again. “Not...going. Don’t even try.”
“He never agreed to an echocardiogram or an angiogram, did he,” Jolie said flatly.
Thea grimaced. “You recommended those tests last Thanksgiving, but he refused. After his heart attack, the doctors wanted the same tests, but he checked out against medical advice and never went back for any follow-up.”
“I was hoping he had and that I just hadn’t heard about it.”
He didn’t open his eyes, but she continued talking to him anyway. “Iknowyou can hear me. The digital film shows an enlarged heart. You’ve already had one heart attack. I’ll do whatI can in this setting, but asmartman would go to a hospital for definitive tests.”
His silence and the sharp jerk of his shoulder gave her the answer she didn’t want to hear—that he was planning to be as stubborn as ever.
She softened her voice. “I know what it’s like for you, Dad, when you try to sleep at night. The sheer panic when you can’t breathe while you’re lying down. The total exhaustion after routine chores. The anxiety when you’re feeling worse and wondering if you’ll even pull out of it.”
“Jolie! This is cruel,” Thea cried.
“No, Thea. Heneedsto face this. Pulmonary edema can be diagnosed in a clinic setting, but I can’t determine the exact cause or best treatment without more information.”
Lifting a clipboard from the counter, Jolie started writing up her notes. Someday, she would have a software program for easily entering all patient records as she went through her day. When she could afford it, anyway.
“I’m documenting my recommendations—again—for an echocardiogram. It’s non-invasive and completely safe. I’m also listing the tests I mentioned before. You should be admitted to a hospital.”
Robert struggled to sit up, then fell back against the gurney, but this time he didn’t start coughing. “I’m fine...just have spells now and then.”
“Right. And every one of your Angus cows knows how to fly. Face the truth, Dad. For your own good.”
This time he did manage to sit up. The glare he directed at her could have melted steel. “I...don’t need anybody telling...me what to do.”
She took a deep breath, then said a silent prayer, asking that he would listen for once in his life.
