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“I hope so,” he murmured, watching her walk away.
As Jillian headed over to meet her patient, he scanned the people working in the area, attempting to put names to faces from the list they'd compiled. He and Rafe had interviewed all the employees on the list and had four names that topped their list of suspects. There were three nurses had close ties to members of the Barclay Park football team. And one nurse had a sister who was in rehab for drug addiction.
Jillian would hate knowing a few of her coworkers were suspects. Especially because she worked with them every day.
He watched as Lacy wheeled Frank Albert back into his room. Jillian immediately stepped up to take over the patient's care, demanding a neurosurgery consult STAT.
“What's going on?” He edged closer.
“He has a major bleed into his brain.” Her face was tense as she ordered medications he'd never heard of, like lasix and mannitol. “If they don't get him to the operating room, he'll die.”
Stepping back, he gave Jillian and her staff plenty of room to work. He knew that if anyone could save this kid's life, it was Jillian Davis. He'd been impressed with her the first time he'd met her, and over these past few weeks he'd only grown more in awe of her talent and ability.
Once she'd finally gotten a hold of the neurosurgeon, he'd taken one look at the CT scan and then ordered the patient to be taken straight up to surgery.
Only after Frank Albert was taken away by the neurosurgery team did Jillian seem to remember he was there. She stepped back toward him. “They're going to operate. But his chances aren't great. The bleeding is really significant,” she cautioned.
“I know.” He didn't like the thought that this boy might be one of those kids they couldn't save. The ones he lost, haunted him. Now, and back when he’d been a medic, before they’d pulled him out to work as a sharpshooter. Being back here, he’d thought things would be better. Yet here he was, witnessing the loss of another young man.
With a grimace, glanced at his watch surprised to note it was barely eight o’clock PM. It seemed so much later. “I need to go. Rafe and I still have a long shift ahead of us.”
“Are you okay?” Her questioning gaze sought his. He wasn’t sure if she was referring to Frank’s turn for the worse, or the revelation of his daughter’s career concern.
“Yeah.” Once he'd gotten over the shock of what Jillian had told him, he realized it was good to know how Shannon really felt. And he appreciated she’d cared enough to let him know.
“Jillian? Do you mind if I stop by later?”
She stared at him for a second or two and he wished he knew what she was thinking behind those sparkling blue eyes. Finally, she gave him a small smile. “I'd like that.”
“Good. I'll see you later then.” He watched as she crossed the room to where a patient was waiting to be seen. He loved how she looked so serious when taking care of her patients.
It reminded him how he’d found Shannon playing doctor with her dolls, including the newest one. Trust his daughter to take an expensive doll and wrap gauze around her head, making the doll into a patient. He knew lots of kids played doctor or nurse, but he couldn't help hoping this was a sign his daughter really would pursue a career in medicine. Jillian was a great role model for his daughter.
No way did he want Shannon to follow in his footsteps to become a cop. Just imagining his daughter learning to shoot a gun was enough to make his skin crawl.
Maybe Jillian was right. Maybe he really did need to consider a more stable, less dangerous career.
And as he headed back outside to meet Rafe, he wondered just what it meant that his daughter had chosen to confide in Jillian, rather than one of his sisters.
* * *
Jillian sawseveral new patients and followed up on previous ones, but throughout the next few hours of her shift, Frank Albert dominated her thoughts.
When she couldn't stand not knowing how he was doing for a second longer, she logged into the computer and searched the operating room listing to see if Frank was still in surgery.
He was.
Reading further, she noted his blood pressure and his pulse remained sky high. He was getting plenty of medication to bring those levels down, which meant he would likely end up going to the neuro intensive care unit once the surgery was over.
She clicked out of his chart and sat for a moment battling despair. High blood pressure and pulse despite medications could be a sign of impending brain herniation. There was a very good chance Frank could die, despite the surgery he’d undergone. If only he'd sought medical treatment sooner, maybe his life wouldn't be hanging on by a frayed thread.
Pulling herself together, she stood and threw herself into work. There were plenty of other patients in the emergency department who were not hovering on the brink of death. Better for her to focus on helping those who needed her expertise rather than on those beyond her reach.
At least Alec hadn't been too upset about Shannon. He was the type of guy who would always put his daughter's needs first.
Not that she minded. His loving attitude toward his daughter was one of the things she admired most about him. Listening to Shannon describe her fears about her daddy being hurt had nearly made her cry.
The next few hours flew by. She made triage decisions, provided treatment and discharged patients to keep things moving.
