Angels on the Night Shift by M.D. Robert D. Lesslie Read Free Book Online Page A

his lights and siren, he made a U-turn in the middle of Ebenezer, scattering startled drivers out of thenarrow road, and sped back to the hospital. Repeatedly blasting his horn as he approached the ambulance entrance, he got the attention of some of the staff.
    Within another minute or so, Rob Freeman was on a stretcher in the cardiac room with Dr. Johnny Gee standing over him.
    “Flatline,” Angie Weathers told Gee. She was one of the nurses on duty this morning, and was trying to maintain her composure. Like everyone else in the department, the man dying in front of her was a friend, someone special.
    Gee went to work, barking orders, securing Freeman’s airway, and doing everything he was trained to do to save this man. What could have caused him to collapse so suddenly? He doesn’t have any history of heart disease and he doesn’t smoke. He doesn’t take any medications. It must be his heart. But what about a pulmonary embolus?
    Greg Hartley stood in the doorway of cardiac, trying to stay out of the way. He felt helpless, not wanting to watch this but unable to make himself leave.
    For over an hour they worked feverishly. Every once in a while, an irregular complex or two would appear on the monitor and then quickly disappear. And then once again there was that awful flatline.
    Everyone in the room knew it was time to stop. Johnny Gee, flushed and sweating, knew it too. He was about to call the code and pronounce the death of Rob Freeman, when suddenly the cardiac monitor erupted with activity. Freeman’s failing heart was making one last attempt to keep him alive. The irregular complexes were coming more frequently, and then they became less irregular. In another minute or two he had a normal rhythm of about a hundred, and he had a pulse!
    Gee stood back from the stretcher as Rob began to breathe on his own through the endotracheal tube taped to the side of his face. The doctor looked over at Angie Weathers and they just stared at each other.
    Then Rob’s right hand went up in the air as he reached for his face and the aggravating tube. Angie quickly grabbed his hand and happily secured it to the side of the stretcher.
    An hour later, Rob Freeman was sitting up in his bed and talking. Amazingly, he seemed to be completely normal. Over the next few days,his cardiologists would determine that he had a rare and usually fatal electrical problem in his heart. He had successful surgery and never had any more trouble with it.
    “Wow, that’s a great story!” Amy interrupted me. “Maybe even a miracle. I’ve never met Rob Freeman but I’ve heard some of the guys talk about him. But it really doesn’t have anything to do with what we’re talkin’ about, does it?”
    “Well, just hold on, Amy,” I said patiently. “I’m not finished yet. The real miracle might be what happened next.”
    After all the excitement, Johnny Gee found himself alone in the cardiac room with Freeman. He was writing on Rob’s chart, hesitant to leave the room for fear that something might happen to undo what had just transpired.
    “Doc, I gotta tell you something,” Rob said quietly.
    Johnny looked over at the paramedic. “Sure, Rob. I’m right here.”
    Freeman cleared his throat, trying to collect his thoughts. He was obviously struggling with something—some difficult emotion.
    “I need to tell you what just happened,” he said finally.
    This surprised Johnny. He hadn’t left the room since Rob’s arrival in the ER, and he knew everything that had happened. He pulled over a stool, sat down, and waited patiently for his patient to continue.
    Freeman took a deep breath and began.
    “I’ve heard people talk about ‘near death’ experiences, but never paid them much attention. I always thought those people were crazy. But Doc…well, I know it’s true now. I just don’t know any other way to explain this.”
    He paused and glanced over at Johnny Gee, hoping for some sign of understanding. Or at least some sign that Johnny