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“I—uh...” She hesitated, glancing around for his partner. “I thought it would be best to get my interview done right away. To set an example for the rest of the staff. If you have time, that is.”
His smile dimmed and she couldn't help feeling her reason for being there had disappointed him. “I need Rafe to do your interview, since we've gotten to know each other on a personal basis.”
“Yes, that makes sense.” She swallowed, feeling awkward. “Is Rafe around? Or is he busy?”
Instead of answering her question, he stared at her for a long moment. His intense gaze made her all too aware of how impressive he looked in his dark blue uniform. It seemed as if he wanted to say something but wasn't sure how to say it.
“This is a bad time, isn't it?” She flashed a weak smile. “I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come unannounced. I'll wait to hear from you or Rafe on the interview.”
Before he could respond, a woman ran into the police station, crying hysterically. Alec jumped protectively in front of Jillian, facing the woman.
“Ma'am?” He put one hand out, the other hovering over his gun, as if anticipating an attack. “Calm down. Tell me what's wrong.”
“My son is missing. You have to find my son!” The woman was a wreck, sobbing and repeating herself over and over. Jillian couldn't blame her. She’d be out of control if her son was missing, too.
“Okay, try to remain calm. I promise to help you.” Alec stayed in front of Jillian. “All we need is a little more information. What's your son's name? How old is he?”
The woman took a very deep breath, then her eyes rolled backward in her head as she crumpled to the floor.
What in the world? She followed as Alec rushed forward. Without saying a word, they both took up a position on either side of the woman's supine body.
“Do you have a pulse?” Alec asked.
She shook her head. “We need to start CPR.”
As he had the other day, Alec immediately began doing chest compressions. She pulled a resuscitation mouthpiece out of her purse. Ever since the first time she'd had to do mouth to mouth on a victim, she'd carried one for her own personal protection. The protocol for CPR did not require mouth to mouth resuscitation any longer but since she had the device, she may as well use it.
The officer behind the desk hurried over. “I already called 911 for an ambulance. Is there anything else you need?”
“Do you have an automatic external defibrillator?” Jillian asked glancing up at him.
“Nah, we don't have anything like that.” The guy rubbed a hand over his bald head. “Stuff like this doesn't happen here.”
Clearly it did, but that didn’t matter. Jillian stared down at their patient. The woman was young, in her late forties. Too young to have had a heart attack.
Alec continued performing chest compressions. She kneeled across from him, watching and waiting for the exact moment to give a rescue breath.
“Excellent compressions, I feel a nice strong pulse.”
He grinned and nodded not interrupting his rhythm or his counting. She was impressed by how quickly he jumped into medical situations, as if he was a paramedic instead of a cop.
An ambulance siren shrilled loudly outside. In record time, Jillian thought. She stared down at the patient, giving required breaths and thinking the woman must have had some sort of underlying heart arrhythmia that had been exacerbated by stress. What else could have caused the abrupt change in her condition? Especially at her young age?
When the paramedics rushed through the door, Jillian gave orders. “I'm an emergency medicine physician. Connect her to the AED. We need to see if she requires a shock.”
Since she still wore her lab coat and name tag from Trinity, they didn't question her authority. Within moments Alec stopped compressions just long enough for the two wide defib patches to be placed on the front and back of the woman’s chest.
She watched the screen, noting the woman seemed to be in V-fib. The AED’s mechanical voice rang out. “No pulse detected. Deliver a shock.”
Jillian pushed the button herself, delivering the shock. It took a moment for the woman's heartbeat to return on the screen. The shock had brought the woman out of V-fib, although her rhythm was not regular. She felt for a pulse, finding a weak thready beat.
“Start a couple of IV’s and give a bolus of lidocaine. The way she went down, I suspect she has some underlying heart arrhythmia and went into V-fib as a result of her stress.”
Alec rifled through the woman's purse, pulling out her driver’s license as Jillian and the paramedics prepared the patient for transfer. When he caught her watching, he flushed.
“I'm sorry, but she said her son is missing. I have to go out and track down someone who can give us the information we need to find him.”
“I understand.” A missing boy was certainly a priority. She stood. “Can I do anything to help?”
