I pick up my phone to tell Luke about this development, and sure enough, he’s texted me his number. But before I can place the call, a man in scrubs strides into the room with Karli on his heels.
“I’m Dr. Atwell,” the man says crisply. He’s about Luke’s age, tall and dark, and he’s wearing the expression of a busy man who doesn’t suffer fools.
But as he approaches Claire, his face gentles. “You must be Claire. Dr. Carlton told me you weren’t feeling well, and asked me to check on you.”
“Thank you,” Claire says politely.
“I think she might be having an allergic reaction,” I tell him. “She had a dose of antibiotics an hour ago, and now she has a rash on her chest, stomach, and arms.”
Dr. Atwell looks at Claire’s arms and nods. “You were absolutely right to be concerned. Ms. Lawrence, right?”
“You didn’t tell me about the rash,” Karli puts in defensively. “If you’d told me?—”
Dr. Atwell shuts her up with a scathing look. “What are her most recent vital signs, Karli?”
“Uh, I’d have to check the chart,” she mumbles.
“You didn’t check them when she said she wasn’t feeling well?”
“Uh, no. I’m sorry.” Karli’s earlier bravado has deserted her, and she looks like she could burst into tears.
“No problem, Karli,” Dr. Atwell says calmly, although the look on his face makes it clear that he isn’t impressed. “Why don’t you go grab the vitals machine?”
Karli scuttles out of the room to grab the machine, and Dr. Atwell turns back to me. “Has Claire ever had an allergic reaction before?”
“No. And the antibiotics were started yesterday, and she seemed fine until about an hour ago.”
“It’s not a classic presentation, but it happens sometimes,” Dr. Atwell explains. “The initial doses prime the immune system, and you get a reaction after a day or two. Can I look at your tummy, Claire?”
Claire nods, and Dr. Atwell gently examines her. “Everything seems okay there,” he says with a reassuring smile. “I think you’re right that this is an allergic reaction.”
Karli returns with the vital signs machine, and Dr. Atwell takes it from her with a nod. “Thanks. Next I need you to bring me the crash cart.”
“Crash cart?” I ask anxiously as Karli hurries out. Even I recognize that term; on TV, it’s what the doctors ask for when a patient is, well, crashing. I take Claire’s hand again, and squeeze it tight.
But Dr. Atwell shrugs, as though it’s no big deal. “It’ll keep Karli busy,” he says with a wink.
He looks a little more concerned when he takes Claire’s blood pressure, which is apparently lower than it should be.
“All right, Claire,” he says, as Karli pushes the crash cart into the room. “I’m going to give you a medication called epinephrine, which is the same drug that’s in an Epi-Pen. It’ll be a needle in your thigh, and it should make you feel better. Okay?”
“Okay,” Claire says bravely.
Dr. Atwell takes a vial of medication from the cart and draws it up into a syringe. “Okay, Mom, you’re on,” he tells me. “Claire’s going to squeeze your hand.”
“You think this is anaphylaxis,” I murmur, as he injects the epinephrine into Claire’s thigh.
“Yeah,” he admits, as he puts the used needle in the sharps bin on the side of the crash cart. “But the good news is, it’s treatable.” He smiles at Claire. “You should start to feel better soon.”
I look at Karli, who looks as shaken as I feel. This could very easily have turned out differently. If I hadn’t called Luke, and if he hadn’t called Dr. Atwell . . .
But that line of thought won’t lead anywhere good, and I try not to let myself go there.
Luke rushes in then, wearing jeans and a leather jacket. He’s still got his car keys in his hand, as though he was too distracted to put them in his pocket. When he sees the crash cart, he looks at Claire in alarm.
“Relax, Carlton,” Dr. Atwell says calmly. “We think Claire had an anaphylactic reaction to the antibiotics. The crash cart was just a faster way to get the epinephrine. We gave the first dose a few minutes ago, and we’re about ready to check her blood pressure again.”
Luke quickly snaps into clinical mode. “Right. Should we run IV fluids? There should be saline in the crash cart.”
