The Courage Tree - Diane Chamberlain [142]
The road was filled with vehicles—sheriff’s cars, a fire truck and an ambulance—and people in a variety of uniforms rushed toward the stretcher as it rose above the cliff. It was disorienting, seeing all those people, all that activity, after spending a couple of months alone in the woods, and Zoe hung back at the edge of the cliff.
“We’ll just carry her to the chopper,” one of the rescuers said, waving away the medic from the ambulance.
Zoe turned to see a helicopter sitting at the edge of the dirt road, precariously balanced on an outcropping of land that looked like it might be used as a place to turn around or as a scenic overlook. She felt frozen in place. Where should she go? Should she turn herself in to the sheriff right now? But before she could decide, Janine surprised her by grabbing her arm, and Zoe willingly ran with her toward the helicopter.
“Are you a paramedic?” Janine asked the young woman who helped them climb inside the helicopter.
The woman nodded. She’d pulled a stethoscope from around her neck and was listening to Sophie’s chest. “She has kidney failure, right?” she asked.
Janine nodded. “Yes, and I have medication with me that needs to be administered to her intravenously.” She opened the soft-sided case and pulled out a plastic bag filled with liquid.
“What is it?” the paramedic asked.
“It’s called P.R.E.-5,” Janine said. “She’s taking it as part of a study.” She reached into the bottom of the case and drew out a page from a prescription pad, handing it to the paramedic, who scanned it quickly.
“Okay,” the young woman said. “Let’s get her hooked up.”
Zoe watched as they found a vein in Sophie’s puffy arm and inserted the IV.
Once the infusion was running and the helicopter was in the air, she looked across the stretcher at Janine.
“Will this work quickly?” she asked.
Janine shook her head. “Right now, she needs dialysis. I’m just hoping this can give her a chance.”
“It’s Herbalina, right?” Zoe asked.
Janine looked surprised. “How did you know? Did Sophie tell you about it?”
Zoe nodded.
Janine smiled at her, then cocked her head to the side, and Zoe knew that the younger woman was seeing her—truly seeing her—for the first time. Janine’s eyes widened.
“My God, you’re Zoe,” she said.
Zoe leaned across the stretcher to touch Janine’s wrist. “Right now,” she said, “I’m just a mom like you, trying the only way I know how to save my daughter.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Sophie was going to sleep through the dialysis, that much was clear. Janine sat at her bedside in the hospital in Martinsburg, West Virginia, praying that she would survive the myriad problems her failed kidneys had brought upon her. She was hooked up to a respirator and attached to monitors of all sorts. The attending physician said it was a miracle that she was alive at all, and he became an instant believer in the power of Herbalina.
She gave him Dr. Schaefer’s number so that they could discuss the treatment for Sophie’s condition. And once she was certain that Sophie was getting the best care possible, she went into the lounge outside the intensive care unit to call Joe.
There was no answer at his home phone, and no answer on his cell phone, either. If he had the cell turned off, she knew he was probably in the middle of a tennis game with Paula, and it both amazed and irked her that he could play tennis with Sophie still missing. But then, he thought Sophie was dead and that there was nothing more he could do. She left a message for him, then called information for Paula’s number. But, of course, there was no answer at Paula’s house, either. Paula had left her cell phone number in her answering machine message, though, and Janine jotted it down.
Then she called Lucas at Fairfax Hospital.
“He’s in surgery,” the nurse who answered the phone told her.
“Surgery!” Janine said, alarmed. “What for?”
“They found a transplant for him,” the nurse said. “He’s getting a kidney.”
“Oh, my God, how wonderful!