I dug through Liliana’s samples.
“Come on, Lil. Don’t let me down now. I need a fast-acting—aha. Here we go.”
I retrieved the injection pen of fast-acting insulin and lifted his shirt to administer it to his belly.
After that, there wasn’t much to do but monitor his vitals. He needed fluids, but he was unconscious and I didn’t have IV tubing or a bag. I found a blood-glucose test strip in thebag and checked his stats. His numbers were still too damn high.
The ambulance seemed to take an eternity. It was probably only six minutes. Still too long in an emergency.
I opened the door for the paramedics and gave them a quick rundown of Larry’s condition and the insulin I’d administered.
They got an IV set up, started more meds flowing, and loaded him onto a stretcher.
“Which hospital?” I asked.
“Elkhorn.”
“Okay, I’ll follow. What about his dog?”
They shrugged at me. Fair enough. They weren’t animal control. I looked at the little guy, still so worried for his owner. There wasn’t much more I could do for Larry. The ER docs would take care of him.
I’d check in and make sure he recovered. But something told me that Larry would want someone to take care of this little guy, too.
“Come on, buddy, let’s see if you have some dog food in the house. Then we’ll go for a nice car ride. That’ll be fun, won’t it?”
He whined.
“Yeah, I know. I’m worried too, but we’re doing the best we can.”
I crouched down to rub his head. He leaned into my touch, seeking comfort. My chest warmed.
“When your daddy wakes, you’re going to be so happy, huh? Good thing I decided to skip that surgery tonight.”
I’d made the right call. Maybe it meant something about my drive to be a surgeon. Maybe it didn’t.
All I knew was that if I hadn’t come, Larry would have died. And probably this little guy too.
Our health system was fucked. We all knew it. But the fact that a guy like Larry was so close to death when his condition could be easily managed by medication sent a hot rush of anger through me.
We should do better than this.
Larry shouldn’t have to drive so far to see a doctor or pick up medication. He shouldn’t be one bad battery or transmission away from death.
And he damn sure shouldn’t be surviving on only intermittent doses because he didn’t have health insurance and didn’t qualify for Medicaid.
Guys like Larry fell through the cracks in our system, and all the volunteer clinic shifts in the world wouldn’t change that.
But I wanted to.
Somehow.
CHAPTER 24
KNIGHT
Aiden pulledinto the driveway earlier than I expected. He was usually gone until seven on his nights at the clinic. I closed the refrigerator, where I’d been perusing leftovers. I wasn’t in the mood for anything we had to eat tonight.
I turned as the front door opened. “Hey, what do you think about getting Zacos?”