Caleb

Chapter Thirty Three

Caleb ~

Caleb pulled Lainey's meter from his pocket once he had her settled in his lap in the car and pricked her finger. He cursed under his breath before taking another reading just to be sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

"Fucking shit." Caleb muttered under his breath as he read the second reading that confirmed Lainey's dangerously low levels

"How low?" James asked.

Caleb didn't respond, he simply turned the face of the meter toward James who lost all the color in his face at the sight.

"Oh my God," James whispered to himself.

James and Caleb both knew that with potassium numbers that low, Lainey was at risk for life threatening heart arrhythmias. She needed and IV and she needed an IV as fast as possible.

Caleb toyed with the idea of giving her the meds that were in his pocket, or the ones he had given Pierce to hold for emergencies, but he was worried they had been tampered with as well. He had no clue when or where the medication had been swapped and was terrified of the possibility that all of Lainey's meds had been altered.  Even if they had identifiers on the side, pills could easily be coated or injected with harmful substances and he didn't know for sure which medication bottles had been tampered with and which ones hadn't.

If I can just get Lainey an IV. That's what she needs.

Having to decide between the house and the hospital in a split second, Caleb chose the house because they could get there thirty minutes faster than the nearest hospital and Lainey didn't have an extra thirty minutes.

As soon as the car came to a stop in front of the house, James flew out of the car and started running to get Lainey's medical supplies. Pierce was the next to get out of the car, motioning with his hands for Caleb to hand Lainey over to him.

"Give her to me." Pierce instructed, holding his arms out for Lainey.

Lifting her up out of his lap, Caleb passed a nearly unconscious Lainey over to Pierce who took off for the house with her cradled in his arms.

Caleb's mind was racing, trying to figure out exactly how Lainey's medication had been swapped and what on earth she had taken in its place.  He was furious, scared and confused as he sprinted up the steps, trying to get a hold of himself before he had to start working on Lainey.

Lock your shit down Caleb. She doesn't need you to be a panicked mess. She needs you to do your job and fix her. Calm your ass down and fix her.

Taking in a deep breath, Caleb held it there in his chest for a few seconds before blowing it out slowly as he and James got Lainey's IVs set up. He battle breathed his way to calmness, taking his adrenaline rush and using it as fuel instead of panic as his hands worked furiously to ready the fluids that Lainey's body so desperately needed.

Lainey groaned and reached for her legs and feet that were fully cramped and contorted into hard knots which had to be excruciating.

I hate that you're feeling pain Lainey girl, but I love that you're responding to it.

Her body hadn't shut down yet and response to pain signals was a good thing despite being unbearable for Caleb to watch.

"I'm gonna take care of that for you Darlin', just give me a minute and I'm gonna get you all fixed up." Caleb soothed once he and James had everything in place.

"Small stick Lainey girl." Caleb said as he inserted the IV, sending up a silent prayer that he wasn't too late.

"Hollywood I need you to get that small portable EKG out of my med bag." Caleb said over his shoulder, prompting Pierce to start rummaging through the bag.