Waves of Passion

To give him privacy, Gabrielle got up and wandered back to the balcony door.

“Cabin 1063, right away,” he assured the caller, his brow furrowed with concern.

He put his phone away and walked over to her. “Gabrielle, there’s an emergency. Chest pains. I need you to assist me. Please get the crash cart and portable EKG machine from the clinic and meet me in cabin 1063, tenth deck, starboard side. Bring supplies for blood and urine samples and also bring several nitroglycerine tabs.”

“Right away,” Gabrielle responded.

Glad she had transferred the clinic keys to her evening purse, Gabrielle rushed from Cameron’s cabin and headed for the elevators. This was her first shipboard emergency and she hoped it’d go well.

* * *

Gabrielle arrived at cabin 1063 in mere minutes. As a precautionary measure, the first thing Cameron had the patient do was place a nitroglycerine tablet under his tongue. For the third time, he put his stethoscope to the passenger’s bare chest and listened intently to his heart. He then rechecked his lungs. Both organs sounded distress free.

Gabrielle administered the EKG. Once the test was completed, Cameron read the results.

“Mr. Gates, what did you have for dinner?” Cameron asked. The man’s heart was healthy and Cameron had determined it wasn’t responsible for his chest discomfort.

The older man rattled off what he’d eaten in the dining room. Without any prompting from Cameron, he went on to say what he’d had for breakfast, lunch and snacks.

“I’m not a spring chicken, but I live an extremely active lifestyle. Overeating at every meal is pretty much the norm for me. I’m a big guy with a voracious appetite,” Mr. Gates said.

Mrs. Gates hadn’t said a word since she’d said hello at the door. Cameron noticed how pinched her face looked. She appeared worried, anxious and tired. He wished he could reassure her about her husband’s health, but he couldn’t, not until he had final results.

Cameron frowned. “Your fatty diet tells me a lot, sir. This problem may very well be a bad case of indigestion, but we can’t be certain. Gastritis can produce severe chest pains, mimicking signs of a heart attack. I’d like to take blood and urine samples to complete testing. We must err on the side of caution. Think you can give us a urine sample?”

Mr. Gates shrugged. “I can.”

Gabrielle stepped forth and handed him a plastic bag with a sample urine kit. “We’ll draw your blood when you return.”

Mr. Gates looked closely at Gabrielle. “You look mighty young. In fact, you both do. But I hear that young doctors are up on the latest in medical research, so I don’t mind.”

Cameron and Gabrielle smiled with understanding. They knew that young doctors were often questioned and challenged by older patients. Some elderly people preferred a well-seasoned physician, the older the better. Nevertheless, Cameron and Gabrielle were relieved that this patient felt comfortable.

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