The first thing Russ became aware of was the stale smell of beer. Then he realized that he was lying on the floor next to the bar, looking up at the worried faces of Ethan and three waitresses. “What the hell happened?”
“You passed out,” Ethan said. “I was just about to call 911.” He frowned. “Maybe I still should.”
“Don’t you dare,” Russ said, rubbing his hand over his face and trying to orient himself. His mind felt as though he’d had too much to drink. Everything was a fog. “I passed out?”
“Fainted dead away,” the blonde said, sounding concerned.
Fainted? “No way.”
“’Fraid so, my friend.” Ethan extended his hand. “Let’s get you off that dirty floor.”
“Slowly,” the waitress cautioned. “You don’t want him to faint again.”
“I didn’t faint!” An absurd thing to say considering he was letting his friend help him to his feet from where he had been lying on the floor. The stares and speculative chatter of the people surrounding him made his temper rise.
Thankfully, Ethan dismissed everyone with a few words and took Russ’s elbow. “Let’s go to the office.”
Jerking his arm away, Russ snapped, “I’m fine.”
“C’mon, Russ. We can talk in the office.”
He decided to follow Ethan because at least he could have a little bit of privacy to figure things out.
When they reached the office, Ethan let Russ enter first, then closed the door. “What happened?”
Russ flopped on the couch. “It wasn’t my fault. That fuckin’ guy picked a fight.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about now, although we’ll definitely speak about it later. Why did you faint?”
When Russ’s anger at Ethan’s choice of words began to brew, the same things that had happened before he’d passed out started all over again. His breath came in gasps as his heart slammed against his rib cage. Fighting the feeling, he replied, “I didn’t faint. Women faint.”
Ethan dismissed Russ’s words with a flip of his hand. “Fine, you passed out. It’s just semantics.”
Russ tried to figure out what had happened as his body slowly calmed. He’d never felt as bad as he had back in the bar, and he worried for a moment that something was physically wrong with him.
Ethan leaned back against the desk and folded his arms over his chest. “I should take you to the ER.”
“Hell with that.” If he showed up at the hospital and told Josie what happened, he’d not only be embarrassed, but she’d worry.
As he continued to calm down, Russ began to wonder if perhaps Ethan was right. If there was something wrong…
Like he needed one more fucking thing to worry about.
“I can run you over,” Ethan said. “Look, I don’t think anything’s wrong. But you did fai—um…pass out. Least you can do is make sure you didn’t hit your head or something.”
Russ’s hand rose to the back of his head and rubbed a knot forming there. He’d had his bell rung enough times that he knew this wasn’t a bad injury. “I’m fine.”
“Go. For me.”
“Ethan…”
Ethan gave him a frown. “Joslynn will have a fit if you don’t.”
Russ rolled his eyes, but Ethan was winning the argument. In all honesty, he was a little worried.
But all the rigmarole that went along with an ER visit was beyond his patience tonight.
Pulling his phone from his pocket, Ethan began tapping at the screen.
“What are you doing?”
“Texting Joslynn.” The phone chimed a response. “She says they’re dead tonight and to bring you over.”
“I’m not up to all that paperwork,” Russ grumbled.
Ethan pecked at his screen again and was rewarded a few seconds later with a text chime. “She says she’ll look you over first. If everything’s fine, you won’t have to stay.” Another chime. “No need for paperwork that way.” Pushing away from the desk, Ethan put his phone back in his pocket. “C’mon, let’s go. I’ll drive.”
When rolling his eyes made him dizzy, Russ agreed with a grunt.
* * *
Joslynn had just finished charting her last patient when Russ walked through the ER double doors. She’d been on edge since Ethan texted. As the woman who cared for him, she was worried. That woman internally warred with the nurse practitioner, who had her suspicions about what happened.
But she needed more information.
Putting aside her tablet, she grabbed a pulse oximeter and went to meet him. “Hi, guys.” She gave Russ a good looking over, already beginning her assessment.
“Why don’t we head back to one of the rooms?” she suggested, resisting the urge to take Russ’s hand in hers.
“I thought you said no hospital nonsense,” Russ said, grumbling like an angry bear.
“I did. But I want to check a few things myself, okay? If everything looks fine, there will be no reason to do anything else.”
Instead of arguing, he complied and came to stand at her side.
She glanced to Ethan. “Are you staying?”
He nodded.
“Hopefully we’ll be back soon.”
As Ethan made himself comfortable in the empty waiting room, Joslynn held the ID card that always hung from her lab coat pocket up to the scanner. The doors to the treatment area opened. “Let’s see what’s up. Okay?”
“I’m fine, Josie.” At least he followed her, which meant he wanted answers too.
“You look fine, but indulge me so I won’t worry about you.”
That remark actually made his mouth twitch into a hesitant smile. “You’re worried about me?”
She wanted to reply with an emphatic, “Duh!” Instead, she said, “Of course I am.”
Even though all but one of the treatment rooms were empty, she led him past the first two halls and turned at the third. She entered the last room and shut the door after he joined her inside. “Hop up on the table for me.”
Russ took a seat on the gurney, looking like a child being forced to comply.
Clearing the oximeter, she said, “Please hold out your right hand.” When he did, she clipped it onto his index finger. Then she grabbed the blood pressure cuff. With practiced ease, she took his blood pressure and then let out a relaxed sigh. While it was slightly elevated, there was no danger. After putting away the cuff, she took off the oximeter and was relieved to see his oxygen level and pulse were both fine.
She set the oximeter aside and then slung her stethoscope back around her neck. “So what happened, Russ?”
“Not sure exactly.” He rubbed the back of his neck the way he always did when he was nervous. “There was this bachelor party…”
After waiting for him to expand, she finally realized he wasn’t going to. “And?”
“The best man was an asshole. I guess I lost my temper when he kept insulting me.”
“So you got in a fight.”
“No, not exactly.” His eyes found hers. “I didn’t hit him, okay?”
“Good.”
“I was…exchanging words with Ethan, and I couldn’t seem to catch my breath.”
She could easily paint a picture of what had happened. The best man had probably gotten mouthy. Russ had come close to roughing him up. Ethan had stopped him. Russ had unloaded that anger on Ethan in response.
A sigh slipped out. She’d been so proud of Russ and how he was finally getting a grip on his stress and anxiety.
What had changed tonight?
Instead of psychoanalyzing him, Joslynn focused on the fainting spell. “You said you couldn’t catch your breath?”
He nodded.
“Did you have any other symptoms?”
He thought it over a moment. “Something wasn’t right with my eyes. My vision got blurry. And…narrow.”
“How long were you out?” she asked.
“Ethan said it wasn’t long. He didn’t even have a chance to call 911. Thank God.” His hand rose to the back of his head. “I think I hit my head when I went down.”
Joslynn went behind the gurney to check for any injury. There was a small swelling, but she didn’t think he had a concussion. Just to be sure, she checked his pupils and had him do a few motor skills exercises.
“So what do you think happened, Josie?”
The healer in her responded to the thread of fear in his voice. “I think you’re fine, Russ. I can’t be positive, but I think you had a panic attack.”
“A what?”
“An anxiety attack. I think the fight—”
“I didn’t fight,” he insisted.
“Okay, the near fight set it off.” Normally, she’d try to talk to the patient about the stress in his life and perhaps suggest a trip to the family physician if the stress was chronic. She might even discuss anxiety illnesses or the possible need for some pharmaceutical intervention. But she knew Russ wouldn’t listen to any of that.
So she took his hand. “You’re fine. I think the stress just got the better of you tonight. I guess I’ll have to try a few new weapons to help you cope.”
“I’m okay, then?”
Joslynn squeezed his hand. “Yes, you are.”
When he didn’t immediately hop off the gurney, she wondered if she might be able to figure out exactly what had set off the attack. “Any problems tonight? Other than the obnoxious bachelor party?”
Russ shrugged and glanced away.
Which meant there was something else.
The knowledge came in a flash, and she was a bit angry at herself for not seeing the connection sooner. “Did your mom call?”
His head snapped up. “What?”
“It’s just…when something happens with your father, you get…upset. What happened?”
He let out a long, drawn-out sigh. “He accidentally locked Mom in the basement. I had to go let her out.”
Thankful that there hadn’t been a major incident, Joslynn wrapped her arms around Russ, feeling the need to comfort him. She could only imagine how difficult it had to be for Russ to watch Baron slowly mentally deteriorate. She was happy to feel him slide off the gurney and put his arms around her waist.
Russ was changing her views of how relationships worked. Whenever she’d previously been faced with adversity, she’d handled it with independence and strength. Yet now she was nearly overwhelmed with the need to comfort Russ, and in turn, it seemed as though he needed whatever comfort she could offer.
The phone to the ER rang, and she eased back and pulled it from her pocket. “Give me a second.” She answered the call and then slid the phone back in her pocket. “I need to go.”
“So I’m okay?”
“You’re fine.”
“What do I need to do to keep it from happening again?” he asked.
“We need to get a little more serious about lowering your stress,” she replied. “I have some ideas.”