Elizabeth signaled for and took a long pull on the juice. Her temper flared. "Load the damn slurry. Warren, give him 0.4 milligrams nitroglycerine under his tongue, now. Marty, here comes that headache. Deep breath and hold." She shot more dye.
"I don't believe it. Jesus." Simms shook his head as the leaking aneurysm lit up the screen.
Elizabeth deployed gel foam into space. "How are you, Marty? More gel foam." Her breaths were coming faster, her eyes staying fixed on the screen. Eric put supportive hands on her waist.
"Hurting. Sunshine, you sound funny."
Elizabeth injected more gel. "Here comes some relief. Ten milligrams of morphine IV, Warren. Last heat sensation." She shot a set of post pictures. "Looks good. Everyone agree? Marty?" Elizabeth steadied herself. "Darwin, can you finish for me?"
"Better," Martin sighed.
Darwin Simms stepped in and started to back the catheter out. "Beth?"
Elizabeth backed up from the table and made it clear from the field and out of Martin's sightline before she leaned against Eric and fainted.
"Sunshine?" Martin asked.
"Martin, she has to use the facilities. Time to rest. Warren, give him 2.0 milligrams of midazolam over two minutes." The benefit of oversedation outweighed the stress of seeing Elizabeth faint.
"I'm going to push on your groin for a few minutes. Enjoy your nap, Martin," Simms said.
Eric fled the room with Elizabeth in his arms, Patrick fast on their heels.
Eric stood beside Elizabeth on a recovery room stretcher. "She's a stubborn woman." The recovery room nurses ran to help.
Patrick ripped off the heavy cape, gown and her gloves. Eric started an IV and drew blood while a nurse placed her on oxygen. Her pulse was high, and her blood pressure was low. “I need a STAT blood sugar." Patrick assessed her heart and lungs.
Eric waited for the meter to count down. "Blood sugar is normal."
"Temperature is 98.4,” a nurse read off the numbers. Another nurse returned with warm blankets.
Patrick blew out a breath. "I think she's exhausted. She hasn’t slept enough since Martin was jailed."
Eric applied a nasal cannula. "I'll stay with her. Go check on Martin."
In the recovery room, Elizabeth's eyes fluttered open. She realized she was in a hospital bed. "What happened? Is Marty okay?"
Eric smiled. "You saved his life. He’s in the ICU being monitored by Seth. You bottomed out from exhaustion and dehydration. We have a close eye on both of you. If you promise to behave, I'll wheel you upstairs, and you can nap with him."
Julian was beside her with his arms crossed, his expression stern.
Elizabeth squeaked, "Uh oh, I'm in trouble."
"Chère, you and Martin are two of the most mulish people I know. You deserve each other."
Martin tried to stretch, but the confining hand on his ankle confused him. At first, he thought he was shackled again. "Ugh."
"Martin, it's Seth. You’re in the hospital. Do not move that leg. Tell me what's wrong."
Martin tried to sit up. "Gut hurts."
Seth placed a hand on his shoulder. "Stay flat. You had a heavy-duty procedure. Scale of one to ten, describe the pain?"
"Eight. I need to bend my legs."
"Don't bend the right one. You need to let it rest."
Ian hugged him. "Welcome back to the living. If you want to stay that way, you need to listen—that word you don't seem to understand."
