Chapter Nine
Reese sat on the back edge of one of the forensics vans with an oxygen mask rubber banded to his face. Every time he inhaled, it would catch the hair at his temples.
He repositioned it only to have the mask slide lower.
“Can I please take this thing off now?”
“No.” Colonel Harrington glared at Reese from where he stood at the corner of the bumper.
Reese slumped. “How many times do I have to tell you, I’m fine? It was a panic attack. They happen. They used to happen all the time.”
“Shut up and breathe, Reese.”
Barnaby returned. “I packed up the blood samples; they should be here to pick them up at any time.”
“Did you find anything when you looked?”
“The mobile lab is pretty limited.” She kicked the footstool sitting on the ground closer to Reese and stepped up on it. “But from what I can tell, everything is normal.”
“And what’s normal?”
“White cell count is normal, red blood cells are normal in shape and count.” She looked at Reese. “You need to have an EKG and MRI, Dr. Dante.”
Reese furrowed his brow. “What?”
“You have an abnormal heartbeat.”
“It’s a PVC; I’ve had it my whole life.”
Her expression softened. “This isn’t a premature ventricular contraction.”
“What is it?” Harrington said.
She raised her eyebrows at Reese.
He nodded. “Yeah, go ahead; he already has his nose in every corner of my business.”
The man glared harder.
“I’m fairly certain your collapse was due to arrhythmia,” Barnaby said.
“Yeah, PVC, like I said.”
“No, Reese, this isn’t the same thing, the sound is different, and then there’s the extended amount of time.”
Reese laughed a little. “Okay, what do I need to do?”
“I told you. You need to start with an EKG, then have an MRI.”
“We don’t have time for an MRI,” Harrington said.
Barnaby’s expression sharpened. “Well, you better make time, because if you don’t, he could very well go into cardiac arrest and die.”
The colonel unfolded his arms.
“Surely, it’s not that serious.” It couldn’t be. Other than a little lightheadedness, Reese felt fine. “I just had a physical six months ago. They would have caught it.”
Her expression softened. “It doesn’t work that way, Dr. Dante. You need to make time to see a cardiologist. If you take care of this before you damage your heart, it may never be an issue. But if you wait…” She shook her head. “Call someone, get examined. Not next week or tomorrow but now.”