To read from the beginning, click the photos on the right.
Vivian heard the shouting from the other room and pretended to be asleep. Lately Alex’s behavior frightened her. He hardly slept at all. And when he did nod off, he always woke up screaming or shaking in terror.
She’d tried talking to him, but Alex wouldn’t tell her any of this. She just chalked it up to the weight of leadership, and figured it was the sacrifice that Alex made to keep his country free.
Chapter XXXVI
Dr. Heckleweit had increased Johanna’s medication. Her pulse was weak, her breathing almost non-existent. But inside of her motionless body, Johanna’s dreams were vivid, full of the life that her body lacked. “We’ll save them all, me and my Daddy. We’ll save the all.” The dream came back from childhood.
“Here I am, your servant, she said in her dream. What should I do?” Her mind stilled, waiting for an answer. She had so few options, so little opportunity to serve. She was like someone in a nursing home, like someone confined to a wheelchair with nothing to do but pray morning and night. “Okay, so I’ll pray,” Johanna said in her dream.
When Maria walked in Johanna was scarcely breathing. Alarmed by Johanna’s weak vital signs, Maria popped a capsule of smelling salts under her nose. Johanna reacted with a faint sputter.
With Johanna mumbling, Maria put in a call to Dr. Heckleweit. “She almost died,” said Maria. The dosage is too high.”
“I told you when I hired you, never question your orders. She looks placid enough while she’s medicated, but Johanna’s a serious danger to our country. Her conversations with me leave no doubt that, given the opportunity, she’d blow us all up for fun. And she’s an accomplished con artist. Don’t let her fool you.”
“But her vitals are so low! She’s barely conscious. Can you at least look in on her?”
“Fine.” Dr. Heckleweit dropped his voice to a reassuring murmur. “Keep monitoring her vitals and I’ll take a look at her before I leave tonight.”
Johanna felt like she was under water. Nothing made sense. She shivered with cold, and with the sensation of something sinister and slimy crawling along her back. “Please, God, help me. Come back to me. Don’t leave me.” She thrashed and muttered. Most of the words were unintelligible, but Maria could make out “God,” and “leave.” So Maria did the only thing she could think of. “Mary, Mother of God, have mercy on your servant Johanna. Protect her, and save her soul. This I ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.” It felt unsettling praying for a Muslim. But if Johanna were indeed a Muslim, why did she call on God and not Allah?
Two hours later, Johanna dropped into an uneasy sleep. “God … mercy,” she mumbled. With some misgiving, Maria took a final check of Johanna’s pulse and breathing, and left to catch up on her other duties.
Dr. Heckleweit pulled Johanna’s chart, and wherever his hand-written directions had said two milligrams he inserted a decimal point in front of the two. When he was certain that he’d made every change – caught every two – he walked down the hallway into Johanna’s room and checked her vitals. Instantly, he punched the button summoning Johanna’s nurse.
“Maria, what’s going on here? How much sedative have you administered to this patient?”
“”Two milligrams,” she answered.
“Read the orders. Does that look like two milligrams?”
“Maria’s heart stopped then and there. “Two tenths of a milligram, Doctor.” She looked up confused. For certain there had been no decimal there before. She’d checked the orders a dozen times, making sure she had it right, puzzled because the dose was so high. But there it was. “I’d read it as two milligrams,” she said, not even considering the possibility of questioning a doctor’s orders. The mistake had to be hers, although logic told her that she couldn’t have read and reread the orders as often and as carefully as she had and still gotten them wrong. “I thought it seemed high.”
“Start a new IV with saline, and… here give me that.” He grabbed the chart out of Maria’s hands and began scribbling a long list of medications, then scratched through it. “Never mind, just give her saline and glucose tonight. I’ll stay with her a while until her vitals grow stronger. And Maria…”
“Yes, Doctor?”
“If she dies you’ll be brought up on charges. Consider yourself extremely lucky that I caught this when I did.”
Vivian heard the shouting from the other room and pretended to be asleep. Lately Alex’s behavior frightened her. He hardly slept at all. And when he did nod off, he always woke up screaming or shaking in terror.
She’d tried talking to him, but Alex wouldn’t tell her any of this. She just chalked it up to the weight of leadership, and figured it was the sacrifice that Alex made to keep his country free.
Chapter XXXVI
Dr. Heckleweit had increased Johanna’s medication. Her pulse was weak, her breathing almost non-existent. But inside of her motionless body, Johanna’s dreams were vivid, full of the life that her body lacked. “We’ll save them all, me and my Daddy. We’ll save the all.” The dream came back from childhood.
“Here I am, your servant, she said in her dream. What should I do?” Her mind stilled, waiting for an answer. She had so few options, so little opportunity to serve. She was like someone in a nursing home, like someone confined to a wheelchair with nothing to do but pray morning and night. “Okay, so I’ll pray,” Johanna said in her dream.
When Maria walked in Johanna was scarcely breathing. Alarmed by Johanna’s weak vital signs, Maria popped a capsule of smelling salts under her nose. Johanna reacted with a faint sputter.
With Johanna mumbling, Maria put in a call to Dr. Heckleweit. “She almost died,” said Maria. The dosage is too high.”
“I told you when I hired you, never question your orders. She looks placid enough while she’s medicated, but Johanna’s a serious danger to our country. Her conversations with me leave no doubt that, given the opportunity, she’d blow us all up for fun. And she’s an accomplished con artist. Don’t let her fool you.”
“But her vitals are so low! She’s barely conscious. Can you at least look in on her?”
“Fine.” Dr. Heckleweit dropped his voice to a reassuring murmur. “Keep monitoring her vitals and I’ll take a look at her before I leave tonight.”
Johanna felt like she was under water. Nothing made sense. She shivered with cold, and with the sensation of something sinister and slimy crawling along her back. “Please, God, help me. Come back to me. Don’t leave me.” She thrashed and muttered. Most of the words were unintelligible, but Maria could make out “God,” and “leave.” So Maria did the only thing she could think of. “Mary, Mother of God, have mercy on your servant Johanna. Protect her, and save her soul. This I ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.” It felt unsettling praying for a Muslim. But if Johanna were indeed a Muslim, why did she call on God and not Allah?
Two hours later, Johanna dropped into an uneasy sleep. “God … mercy,” she mumbled. With some misgiving, Maria took a final check of Johanna’s pulse and breathing, and left to catch up on her other duties.
Dr. Heckleweit pulled Johanna’s chart, and wherever his hand-written directions had said two milligrams he inserted a decimal point in front of the two. When he was certain that he’d made every change – caught every two – he walked down the hallway into Johanna’s room and checked her vitals. Instantly, he punched the button summoning Johanna’s nurse.
“Maria, what’s going on here? How much sedative have you administered to this patient?”
“”Two milligrams,” she answered.
“Read the orders. Does that look like two milligrams?”
“Maria’s heart stopped then and there. “Two tenths of a milligram, Doctor.” She looked up confused. For certain there had been no decimal there before. She’d checked the orders a dozen times, making sure she had it right, puzzled because the dose was so high. But there it was. “I’d read it as two milligrams,” she said, not even considering the possibility of questioning a doctor’s orders. The mistake had to be hers, although logic told her that she couldn’t have read and reread the orders as often and as carefully as she had and still gotten them wrong. “I thought it seemed high.”
“Start a new IV with saline, and… here give me that.” He grabbed the chart out of Maria’s hands and began scribbling a long list of medications, then scratched through it. “Never mind, just give her saline and glucose tonight. I’ll stay with her a while until her vitals grow stronger. And Maria…”
“Yes, Doctor?”
“If she dies you’ll be brought up on charges. Consider yourself extremely lucky that I caught this when I did.”
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