The Perfect Son by Barbara Claypole White Read Free Book Online

bag, and blood pressure cuff. The orderlies disappeared with the gurney; the nurse transferred Ella’s oxygen tank and began messing with leads, hooking up everything to the large monitor on the wall. Felix stared up at the words until he’d memorized them: heart rhythm, MAP, and O 2 saturation.
    “Are you having any chest pain, dear?” the nurse asked Ella.
    Ella shook her head so slowly it barely moved. The nurse took Ella’s vital signs, listened to her lungs, and then checked the sandbag on the groin.
    “What’s she doing?” Harry whispered.
    “This is the arterial insertion site,” the nurse said. “It’s where they inserted the catheter that went into your mother’s heart. We keep the sandbag in place for a few hours to apply pressure and prevent a hematoma from forming. You must be Harry.” She turned with a smile. “Your mother told us all about you.”
    Harry glanced at Felix, his lips almost as pale as his cheeks.
    “Are you comfortable, dear?” The nurse turned back to Ella.
    Ella nodded, grabbed at her oxygen mask, and missed.
    “You can talk to your family for a minute.” The nurse slid the mask off. “Then we need to put this back on.”
    “Hey, baby.” Ella smiled a lazy smile and reached for Harry. He shot toward her, rubbing his left eye with the heel of his hand. “Don’t be scared. Everything’s fine. I’ll be home soon. So proud of you for coming to the hospital.”
    They threaded their fingers together, and Felix stood frozen in place. An outsider watching through an invisible window.
    Finally, her eyes settled on Felix; she squinted as if staring directly into the sun. “Take Harry home. Doesn’t need to see this.”
    “I had to come.” Harry tugged on his shirt—hard enough to rip it. “I had to. What did they say? Are you going to be okay? Are you, Mom?”
    Harry’s breath sped up; he pounded his chest. Any minute now he could explode into a tornado of tics. Ella gave another punch-drunk smile. How much sedative had they given her? Was she too looped to calm Harry?
    “ Shhh. I’m fine. No pain.” She gave an odd laugh. “Treat this as an excuse to skip school. Stay home tomorrow, play video games.”
    “No.” Harry clucked. Again and again. “I have a calculus test. And I don’t want to stay home.” Harry glanced at Felix. His look clearly said, With you.
    Felix fixed his attention on the top line of the monitor, the heart rhythm line. “Why don’t all the heartbeats look the same?” he asked the nurse. “Is that something bad?”
    Harry started twitching. His left elbow flapped in several short, sharp bursts.
    “Certainly not, sir,” the nurse said as she slid the oxygen mask back into place. “You’re seeing skipped beats, or what we call premature ventricular contractions. They look a bit different than normal beats, but I can assure you they’re very common in this setting. Nothing to worry about.” She fussed with Ella’s sheets.
    “What does MAP mean?” Felix said, still staring at the monitor.
    “Mean arterial pressure.” The nurse puffed up a pillow. “And the bottom one is oxygen saturation.”
    “Yes. I figured that out.” Felix paused. “What do you know about the cardiologist, Ella? Do we need to get a second opinion?”
    Ella closed her eyes briefly. She loosened the oxygen mask. “Take Harry home. I’m fine.”
    No. For once, could she need him as much as he needed her?
    “Not until I’ve talked with the doctor.” Felix turned to the nurse. “Why isn’t he here? Where is he? Is he the best? What are his credentials?”
    The nurse’s head jerked back, creating a stack of double chins. “You need to be patient.” She spoke as if addressing a non-English speaker. “He’ll be in shortly.”
    Felix clenched his fist. Shortly was not good enough; shortly was not a call to action. “I’ll phone your father while we’re waiting for the cardiologist.”
    Ella shook her head.
    “No? But what should I do if he calls the