"Specialist?" I feared the cost of this would break me and I'd end up having to return to Akron and live in my parents' house. Another sharp stabbing of pain lit through my chest and I raised up off the bed with a cry.
Amy hurried back to my side. "Are you okay? What's the matter? Where does it hurt?"
"S-stab—" was all I could get out as I pressed my fingers to my chest.
She rubbed my back, soothingly. "Breath slowly, think calming thoughts… relax… Dr. Chilikuri thinks this might partially be stress related somehow. That's why we've got you in the intensive care unit. He wants Dr. Chase to look at you."
I took a slow breath in through my nose and closed my eyes. Could that be it? Could all this just be stress? If that was true, then why was I in intensive care? Wasn't that supposed to be for the people close to dying? Was I that close to death? Had all the stress of my break-up with Aaron, the move, dealing with my mother and her fears, and everything caused this? What was I supposed to do about that? Never take a call from my mother again? Find a less expensive place to live? Maybe there was a cardboard box I could rent on a street corner…
"I'm going to guess what brought this on was the imagined expense of the room and specialist? Am I right?" she asked quietly.
I didn't open my eyes, but I whispered, "Maybe."
"Well, you shouldn't worry about that right now. You have surprisingly good insurance, it will cover most of this, and the hospital will work with you on the rest… okay? So just relax… we're going to take exceptionally good care of you."
I nodded, but her words didn't really help. I was still worried.
Amy set up an IV and attached it to my left arm, taping it in place. "Now, I'm going to leave you to rest for a little bit, but before I go, do you want the tv on?"
I shook my head. "No."
"Alright, I'll just leave the remote right here in case you change your mind." She set the remote next to my hand on the bed. "Are you hungry? I could have them send up something light for you."
"No." The thought of food made me nauseous, but maybe that was still just the pain.
"Remember, think peaceful thoughts, and I'll be back to help Dr. Chase when he arrives."
She left the room and I lay there thinking about how I was supposed to relax when everything happening was just causing me more and more stress. Was the stress going to kill me? That only served to make the intense stabbing pain return and I mewled, muffling the painful cry that wanted to burst from my mouth.
I decided I would turn on the tv. Maybe something on there would distract me enough to ease the pain. I picked up the remote and started scrolling through the channels. Finally, I happened upon a show called The Ten Best Beach Vacations, which served to relax me somewhat as they showed the rolling waves and gorgeous sandy beaches. I could picture myself there, lying on a lounge chair, sipping a Pina Colada, or a Mai Tai, the sun on my skin, the waves rolling up onto the beach…
Maybe my next book could be set in Tahiti? I thought with a smile. I wonder if Martin will pay my research expenses on that? I laughed softly to myself as my eyes closed and I drifted in that half-awake, half-asleep drowsy state as the show moved from beach vacations, to one about mountain resort vacations. After the mountains it was waterparks, and then Christmas destinations. I guessed they showed those in the hopes that people would start booking their vacations now for the holidays at the end of the year.
The door to my room opened, and back-lit from the light of the hallway, stood the most gorgeous man I had ever laid eyes on. "Ms. Adams? I'm Dr. Brian Chase."
Chapter 3
Jane
The Greek god who called himself Dr. Brian Chase came into the room and held a hand out for me to shake. His touch was firm, but gentle as he shook my hand. "Hello," I whispered, my voice was getting weaker and shakier.
He sat down on the edge of the bed near my hip. "I understand you've been experiencing severe chest pain?"
I nodded.
"Can you show me exactly where you're feeling the pains?" he asked.
I drew my hand across my chest, down my breast bone, and then murmured, "And my upper back, shoulders, and neck. It hurts to take deep breaths." My voice was so soft, barely a whisper.
"May I?" he asked, holding up a stethoscope. Seeing my confirmation, he proceeded to listen to my heart. "Yes, I think there is definitely something going on. I want to run a few more blood tests and check your potassium levels. In the meantime, I'm going to prescribe some anti-inflammatory medication, which should help with the pain. And get you hooked up to a heart monitor."
"Do you know what this is? What's wrong with me?" I asked softly as Amy prepped my right arm to take some more blood from me.
"This will just pinch a moment," she murmured and pressed the needle in, then took the blood.
Dr. Chase waited until she finished before answering. "I'm pretty certain it's pericarditis."
"What's that?" I asked as Amy pressed a cotton ball to my arm and put tape over it.
"It's an inflammation of the pericardium, which is the membrane that surrounds the heart. If I am correct, then I believe your doctor misdiagnosed you with the gastric reflux, which is why the medication wasn't working for you."
"But… I don't understand…" I frowned. "What causes it?"
"Well, I believe we can rule out heart attack, and you haven't had heart surgery. Your doctor of record hasn't diagnosed you with Lupus or Rheumatoid Arthritis, and as far as I can tell from your medical records which your doctor sent over from Akron, you haven't been in an accident. So, I am fairly certain the viral infection you had back in mid-October brought it on and that is when your doctor diagnosed you with the gastric reflux. I believe you actually experienced an acute attack of pericarditis, and you have been having recurrent attacks of it since then, which are just getting progressively worse. Your symptoms mimicked the gastric reflux at the time, and if a GP doesn't know to look for it, they wouldn't have known from your symptoms that it was pericarditis."
"What… what can I do?"
"First of all, you need to stay calm, stress can make the pains sharpen and send you into a stroke, which we'd like to avoid. Second, if I am correct about the potassium, then we'll get that fixed and it will help with the pain as well." He took a syringe from Amy and added it to the IV flowing into my left arm. "This is the anti-inflammatory medicine. You should start to feel a little bit better with it. I want to keep you here for a few days, make sure you are recovering. How are you sleeping?" he asked.
"It's been intermittent," I replied softly. I could already feel the medicine beginning to work as my chest felt less tight and I could breathe a little deeper.
He looked over at Amy, and said, "I think we can give her something that will help her rest." He turned back to me and added, "Sleep will do you wonders as the anti-inflammatory meds continue to loosen the tightness in your chest."
"Okay," I agreed.
He pushed another syringe of medicine into the IV and I slowly started to drift away. "I'll be back to check on you in a few hours, once we have the results from the new batch of bloodwork. Amy is going to get the heart monitor set up and then we'll leave you alone."