Read Online Powerless by Tim Washburn - Free Book Online Page B

hanging around her neck.
    Zeke waves, then takes his mother by the elbow to help her up from the chair and leads her across the lobby.
    â€œIf you’ll follow me, I’ll take you back to the ICU,” the nurse says.
    They fall in behind her as she ushers them down the hall.
    â€œWhat happened to my father?” Zeke asks.
    â€œThe doctor will explain, but I will tell you Mr. Marshall suffered a heart attack.”
    Barbara Marshall inhales an audible breath. Zeke slides his arm around her.
    The hallway is lit with green-tinged fluorescent lights that reflect on the polished linoleum. As they shuffle past other patients’ rooms, Zeke resists the urge to peek inside. The nurse stops at a door and ushers them into the room.
    Zeke pulls up short, struggling to contain his shock at the number of tubes and wires snaking toward his father. His father is awake and smiles weakly. His mother shrugs off Zeke’s arm and moves to his bedside.
    Zeke turns to find another man in the room. Dark haired with dark skin, the man is in his midthirties, short and diminutive, with a white coat draped over his narrow shoulders. Zeke offers his hand.
    â€œI’m Dr. Ahmed, and I’ll be taking care of your father.”
    For the second time in as many minutes, Zeke works to conceal his surprise. In Afghanistan, and all through the desert, he met many Ahmeds. And most weren’t pleasant encounters. The doctor’s name, along with the familiar accent, puts Zeke on edge. “I’m Zeke Marshall and that’s my mother, Barbara. Thanks for looking after my dad. Can you explain what happened?”
    â€œMr. Marshall has suffered a myocardial infarction, a heart attack. We are monitoring his heart through the use of an ECG machine, which measures the heart’s electrical activity—”
    â€œHow bad was the heart attack?”
    Anger flickers in the doctor’s eyes. “I’m waiting for the blood work, which should be completed anytime. But, from looking at the ECG, I believe your father is a lucky man, having suffered a non–ST segment elevation myocardial infarction—”
    â€œIn English, please.”
    â€œI’m sorry, sir. May I continue?”
    Zeke nods.
    â€œAs I was saying, not that any heart attack is good, mind you, but this type does less damage to the heart muscle.”
    â€œWhat could have caused the heart attack?” Zeke asks.
    â€œA blockage in the arteries leading to the heart muscle. I administered a thrombolysis immediately upon his arrival to the emergency room. It is a clot-dissolving agent which helps restore blood flow and prevent further damage to the heart.”
    Zeke says, “So what’s next? How do we treat the blockage?”
    â€œOnce your father is stabilized, I will send him for an arteriogram to discover how much blockage and in which coronary arteries. The doctors upstairs will be able to reduce the blockage using angioplasty and insertion of stents that will keep the arteries open.”
    â€œWhen are you scheduling the test?” Zeke says.
    â€œHopefully later this evening, if he has no more unusual ECG readings. I’ll be back soon to check on your father while the nurses schedule the arteriogram.” The doctor turns toward the door, then stops and turns back. “I understand you administered aspirin to your father at the scene.”
    Zeke nods.
    â€œProbably saved his life,” Ahmed says before exiting the room.
    Zeke steps up to his father’s bedside, not knowing how to express his feelings without it being awkward. “So much for all the jogging you used to do.”

C HAPTER 20
    TransJet Flight 62, south of Greenland
    Wednesday, September 29, 11:45 A.M .
    Â 
    C aptain Steve Henderson wipes the palm of his hand across his pant leg. Flight 62 is still some distance from landfall on the coast of Ireland. His copilot, Cheryl Wilson, is slowly dialing through the radio frequencies in search of