“Y-yes. A little.”
“All right. Try to breath naturally. I hear the ambulance approaching. You’ll be at the hospital soon and we can get you all patched up. You’re going to be fine, okay?”
“Thank you, Dr. Baker,” Nina whispered. She had always called her Meagan within Seth’s hearing before, obviously on invitation to do so, but she seemed to take comfort from the more formal title now. “You’re welcome.”
Seth glanced at Alice, who crouched nearby, rocking slightly to calm herself as they waited for help. She didn’t look at all surprised to hear Nina call Meagan doctor. Apparently, he was the only one who hadn’t known.
The wail of the distant, but approaching siren was growing louder when he regained his voice. “You’re a doctor,” he said rather stupidly, his mind reeling from the series of shocks.
Glancing up from her ongoing examination of his injured housekeeper, Meagan returned his look with a slight frown of confusion. “I’m a surgeon. I thought—surely you knew that?”
“No, I—” He pushed a hand through his hair, trying to get a grip on his rattled emotions. “I didn’t know. Alice told me you worked at RCMC, but I thought—well, I guess I assumed you worked in the administrative offices.”
“Oh.”
He couldn’t tell from either her tone or her expression whether she was insulted by his assumption. Had it been a sexist conjecture on his part? He didn’t believe that. He had simply misinterpreted the few bits of information he’d been given about her. Apparently his daughter had known Meagan was a doctor, since she’d called her to come assist Nina. He could think of no reason for Alice to deliberately withhold the information, so she must have assumed, like Meagan, that he had already known somehow.
He was hazily aware that his perception of Meagan had just shifted, but he didn’t allow himself to analyze the change just then. He had to make sure Nina was tended to, and he heard the ambulance pulling into the driveway at that moment. Alice had the front door open and was out on the porch, waving frantically at the paramedics.
After greeting the EMTs—both of whom seemed to recognize her, Seth realized—Meagan pulled Seth aside while the medics stabilized their patient for the ride to the hospital.
“I’ll ride in the ambulance with Nina,” Meagan offered. “She seems to be doing fairly well, but I’m a little concerned about her blood pressure. I’m sure she’ll be fine,” she added q
uickly in response to whatever she saw in his expression. “And these guys certainly know what they’re doing. I just want to monitor her during the ride.”
He nodded. “Alice and I will follow in my car.”
“Drive safely,” she warned him. “It will take a while for her to be processed and admitted. I’ll find you in the emergency waiting room as soon as I have news for you. Is there someone you should call for her? A family member?”
“Her daughter lives in Mississippi. I’ll call her now. Nina doesn’t have any other family in this area that I’m aware of.”
“Her purse!” Alice dashed out of the entryway, returning moments later with a big, red leather bag. “I bet her insurance cards and everything are in here.”
“Good thinking, Alice. We’ll need those.”
A little color returned to his daughter’s pale cheeks in response to Meagan’s praise, Seth noted before he turned to Meagan again. “Get her the best help available,” he urged. “Don’t worry about costs, we’ll take care of that.”
Meagan nodded. “Don’t worry, Nina will get the best of care.”
“We’re going to move her to the gurney, Dr. Baker,” one of the paramedics announced, having secured the housekeeper to a backboard.
Slinging the strap of Nina’s bag over her shoulder and tucking her own beneath the same arm, Meagan nodded and moved toward them, patting Alice’s shoulder with her free hand as she passed the girl. “You’ve been very helpful, Alice. I’m proud of you for staying so calm.”
“I don’t feel calm,” Alice said to Seth, leaning against him for a moment. “I’m so scared for Nina.”
He wrapped his arms around her in a bracing hug, needing the contact, himself. “Me, too, honey. But she’s getting help now. She’ll be okay.”
Alice nodded against his chest. “Meagan will take care of her.”
“Yes,” Seth murmured, watching Meagan follow the others out the front door toward the waiting ambulance. “She will.”
He had a lot to do in the next few minutes, he reminded himself, sending Alice to quickly fetch whatever she wanted to take to the hospital to pass the time while they sat in the waiting room. He still wore the dress shirt and suit pants he’d had on earlier, but he didn’t want to take time to change. He loosened the top buttons of his shirt and turned back the sleeves as he hurried into the kitchen.
Hastily, he stashed away the food Nina had prepared for them, swallowing hard in response to the painful awareness that this would be the last meal she would cook for them at least for the foreseeable future. And then he picked up his phone and located the contact number for Nina’s daughter Lisa, written in the back of the calendar by his always-prepared housekeeper. He knew Lisa would want to be notified immediately, and would probably be on her way to Little Rock as soon as she could make travel arrangements.
There wasn’t time to think about Meagan now. About why he’d assumed she was an office worker, and why he’d been so stunned to find out she wasn’t. Once he was certain Nina would be all right, then he would take time to ask himself why he was so shaken to discover that Meagan was a surgeon, and not the efficient clerical worker he’d naively envisioned.
Almost an hour after Nina had been wheeled into the hospital, Meagan joined Seth and Alice in the emergency department waiting area. They looked tired and worried. The expressions were familiar to her; she saw them all the time on the faces of her patients’ family members. She responded by switching automatically into doctor mode, keeping her voice soothing and professional.