Read Online Missing Pieces by Heather Gudenkauf - Free Book Online

before. She stiffened as Celia leaned over Julia’s bed and adjusted her pillow.
    â€œHow was Julia’s night?” Sarah asked. The room was eerily quiet, and she sensed a palpable tension between Celia and Amy. She hoped Jack and Hal would arrive soon.
    Amy rubbed her eyes with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. “She hasn’t woken up yet, but the nurse said her vitals are stable.”
    â€œThat’s good news,” Celia said. “Now maybe you can go home and get some rest.”
    â€œI’m fine,” Amy said shortly. She stood and stretched. “Where are Hal and Jack?”
    â€œThey peeked in on Julia for a few minutes and then the doctor wanted to go over a few of Julia’s tests with them,” Celia explained. “When’s the last time you’ve eaten? Why don’t you go down to the cafeteria and get something?”
    â€œJesus, Celia, I said I’m fine,” Amy answered, crossing her arms in front of her just as a high-pitched beeping erupted from Julia’s heart monitor.
    â€œWhat’s happening?” Amy asked fearfully as all eyes swung toward Julia. Julia’s body went rigid, her face contorting into a tight grimace. The heavy hospital bed rocked with her spasms and Julia’s eyes opened and rolled back into her head so that only the whites showed.
    â€œGo get someone,” Sarah yelled, frantically reaching for the nurse’s call button. Celia hurried from the room in search of help.
    â€œDo something!” Amy beseeched, her eyes wide and panicked.
    Moments later, Celia raced into the room with two nurses. Jack, Hal and Dean were close behind. “What’s happening?” Hal shouted in horror as Julia convulsed in the bed. Jack reached for Sarah’s hand and squeezed it tightly.
    â€œShe’s having a seizure,” one of the nurses said as they expertly rolled Julia onto her side. She produced a syringe and injected it directly into Julia’s IV. Her body shuddered violently.
    â€œWhat is that? What did you do?” Amy cried.
    â€œLorazepam,” a nurse said, her voice caught in the frenzy of the beeping machines and Julia’s moans. “To stop the seizure.”
    â€œWhy is she making that noise?” Hal asked helplessly. “Is she in pain?”
    â€œIt isn’t working,” Amy yelled, pushing her way to Julia’s bedside. She bumped the vase of flowers and it cartwheeled and shattered as it struck the floor. Shards of glass flew everywhere and a puddle of water formed on the floor next to Sarah’s feet.
    Sarah sidled back into a corner, trying to stay out of the way as Jack tried to pull Amy from Julia’s bedside where she was grasping for Julia and getting in the way of the nurses. “Let them do their work,” he urged.
    â€œIt’s not working. The medicine isn’t helping,” Amy cried. “Please make it stop,” she begged as Julia continued to writhe in her bed, a foul odor rising from the sheets. Amy clapped a hand over her nose and mouth.
    The seconds ticked by like hours. The nurse grabbed another syringe and injected it into the IV. How long could this last? Sarah wondered.
    Slowly, Julia’s body relaxed, her face smoothed and her hands uncurled, but the heart machine continued to beep rapidly.
    â€œWhat’s wrong?” Amy asked the nurses who were standing over Julia, watching her carefully. “Why is it still making that sound? Don’t just stand there, do something!”
    â€œShe has a do-not-resuscitate order,” Dean said under his breath, so softly that Sarah was sure she was the only one who heard him.
    â€œ Do something,” Amy pressed, her voice rising as she spiraled into hysteria. She clutched onto the nurse’s sleeve violently, begging her not to let her aunt die.
    â€œShe’s DNR,” Dean repeated, this time more loudly.
    â€œWhat does that mean?” Amy cried as she leaned into Jack,