An I.O.U. from a Billionaire Read online

  “Just a minute.”

  Joan quickly changed into a t-shirt and jeans. Her hair was a tangled mess, but she didn’t want to monopolize the bathroom. She decided to do her hair at her seat. At least that was the plan until the next knock.

  Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock. “Joan. Get out. I need the bathroom.”

  Joan bit her lip as her eyes widened.

  The Exlax!

  “You okay, Earl?” she asked through the door trying not to laugh.

  “No. Hurry up.”

  Laughing with her hand pressed over her mouth, she leaned on the door.

  “Dammit, Joan. Get out now. I mean it.”

  “Coming.” She laughed, no longer trying to hide it. Turning back to the mirror, she finger-combed her tangled golden brown hair and braided it into a single thick braid ending just below her shoulder blades.

  Knock. Knock.

  “I will have you working as a candy striper if you don’t open this door right now.” He growled through the door.

  Joan was tempted to keep him waiting, knowing he was about to lose it if he was stooping to threats. She opened the door and immediately felt a twinge of guilt at his sweaty, sallow complexion. When he reached in and yanked her forcefully out of the bathroom, she no longer felt quite so bad for him.

  “Passengers, we are expecting some mild to moderate turbulence ahead. Please notice that the captain has turned on the fasten your seatbelt sign.”

  Returning to her seat, she tucked her purse under and fastened her seatbelt as the plane began to jerk like it was running over speed bumps at high speeds.

  “Moderate my ass,” Joan said gripping the armrests.

  “Passengers, please be advised that we are going to reroute to avoid dangerous weather conditions ahead.”

  It was times like this that Joan felt helpless. Drop her in an emergency room or situation and she was good on her feet. Here in the sky, not so much.

  The plane made a sharp turn that was deep to the left and long, the whole time the plane shaking like a boxcar on rough tracks.

  I hope it isn’t a mortal sin to find pleasure in the fact that Earl is in the bathroom with volatile diarrhea during all this shaking and plummeting. Because Lord at the moment, it’s the only thing keeping me from freaking out.

  A huge drop, the kind that sends your stomach straight up your throat had everyone screaming like they were on a rollercoaster. Once the screaming started, they didn’t stop. Men were demanding the plane land, others telling them to shut up, while women were crying, soothing or white knuckling the armrests.

  Joan was among the white knucklers. She couldn’t quite bring herself to repent for finding pleasure in Earl’s pain. He was cutting her right and left every chance he got trying to run her out of her job.

  When the plane started climbing and the shaking began to ease, the yelling quieted except one voice. A voice so filled with fear Joan forgot all about her own.

  “Somebody help me!”

  ***

  “Everything is fine, Cole. I’ve been on a lot of plane rides. Just a good shake and it’s over,” Liam said forcing what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

  I am ten seconds from vomiting all over myself.

  There was no way he was leaving Cole so he could go and throw up in private, so he choked it down and put the tray up to try to stop some of the shaking.

  Cole gripped his arm.

  When Liam looked at him this time, he saw what he’d failed to see before. He was taking tiny, ragged gasps of air. His already swollen face was burning hot and red.

  No. No. No!

  The plane dove and people started screaming. Liam dug into his brother’s pocket searching for the inhaler. “It’s okay, Cole. I’ll find it. Focus on your breathing.” He found the inhaler. Cole’s eyes were bulging at Liam in panic, the gasps were nearly gone.

  Liam put the inhaler in his mouth and pumped it twice. Cole’s eyes glazed over. His lips, a bluish-purple hue, were moving but he looked like a fish out of water. No air was getting in.

  “Cole, come on. Breathe.” He pumped the inhaler again. People were yelling all around him, arguing, as he called out for a doctor. No one was listening to him.

  Cole’s eyes rolled back in his head as his body convulsed from lack of oxygen. “Cole!”

  All the money in the world at his disposal and he could do nothing to save Cole.

  God, please don’t take him. We need him.

  He felt for a pulse.

  Nothing.

  “Help me!”

  Everyone quieted finally turning in his direction.

  “Somebody help me!”

  God don’t take him! Please!

  He didn’t know how to do CPR but he knew Cole wasn’t breathing. Leaning over, he plugged his nose and tried to blow a breath into Cole’s lungs but his chest didn’t rise.

  “Move out of the way, Liam.” Joan pulled him back and unbuckled Cole. “Help me move him to the floor in the aisle. I’ve got his feet, you take his shoulders. On three. One. Two. Three.”

  Liam blindly obeyed.

  As soon as he was on the floor she checked his pulse. “Faint but it’s there.” She positioned his head as she bent over Cole. Her face was solemn, the sharp-tongued female gone, replaced by a calm, no-nonsense, confident woman.

  Nothing. I can’t do one damn thing to help him. I’m going to lose him.

  “Get the first aid kit,” she told the flight attendant when he approached. He dashed back behind the curtain and emerged with a red and white box. Joan plugged Cole’s nose and breathed two breaths into him but just as he’d seen Cole’s chest was hardly moving.

  “Did he use his inhaler?” Joan asked him.

  “Yes, but he wasn’t getting any air. I don’t think he got any in his lungs.”

  Joan looked at Cole feeling his pulse again. “Defibrillator?” she asked the flight attendant.

  “Yes.” He unpacked the machine from the box. Joan began attaching electrodes onto Cole.

  “Breathe for him. He’s not breathing,” Liam yelled, losing what was left of his composure.

  Joan went on working like she hadn’t heard him at all. She bent forward and breathed again for Cole. One. Two breaths. “I’m not getting in. His lungs are constricted.”

  Leaning forward she breathed with more force and his chest moved a bit more. “It’s not enough. I need to get his lungs to open up and accept the air.” She breathed again for him.

  The defibrillator beeped with the words no shock advised on the screen. Joan didn’t say anything but he could see she didn’t like that response.

  “Is that his inhaler?” she asked Liam.

  He looked down at his hand, the object seeming foreign in his sweaty hand. He thrust it out toward her, not sure what she wanted. Joan took the inhaler and started pumping it into her own lungs. She was almost fifteen pumps in. Liam didn’t know what she was doing, he just watched her through the all-consuming fear.

  Never had he been so helpless. Never had it been so important that he do something.

  She breathed for Cole again.

  And again.

  Then she had the inhaler back in her mouth another ten pumps and she breathed for him again. Breathing with force to push the medicated air into his lungs.

  “Come on, Cole. Breathe,” Liam said squeezing a hand that now seemed so small even though he was nearly a man.

  The next breath she blew into Cole had his chest rising higher than the last time.

  It’s working. God, please let it be working.

  Turning her head to the side she listened right next to his mouth. Her face was full of concentration. She breathed for him again. When she drew back this time, a ragged wheezing inhalation cut through the air like the trumpet of an angel.

  “Cole!” Liam yelled, squeezing his hand harder.

  Joan checked his pulse again.

  Cole sucked in another ragged, whistling breath. His eyes were popped open. They were wide and full of f
ear. “Do you have oxygen?” Joan asked the flight attendant.

  “Um. Yes, we can use the overhead oxygen mask.”

  “Help me get him into the seat,” Joan told Liam. She hooked her hands under his arms and Liam took hold of his middle and set him into the seat. The oxygen mask dropped. Joan strapped the mask onto Cole. She checked his eyes and was smiling at him. “Nice and easy breaths. Okay?”

  Liam swallowed, staring at his brother in disbelief. He was sure he’d lost him and yet here he was, breathing and responding to the questions Joan was asking him.

  She turned toward him. “He’s going to be okay but you need to take him to a hospital and have a full workup done. His heart beat was erratic for a little while there but it seems to have leveled out.”

  “The pilot is going to make an emergency landing,” the flight attendant told them. “As soon as we know where it will be announced.”

  Liam knelt down next to his brother to see up close that he was alive and breathing.

  “Liam? I’m sorry I was being such a jerk.”

  “I was the jerk.” Liam hugged Cole not caring who saw the tears that fell. It was the first time he’d cried since he was thirteen, but if ever there was a time for grateful tears, this was it.

  He stood as the reality of Cole’s survival finally registered. Turning to Joan he embraced her. “Thank you. You saved his life.”

  Joan gave his back a light pat and pulled back, but he wasn’t ready to let go. “You have no idea how grateful I am.”

  “You’re welcome. It’s fine. I’m a nurse. This is what I do.” She unpeeled herself from his grasp. Her smile was beautiful, her right dimple a little deeper than the dimple on her left cheek.

  “I want to reward you. How much do you want? Name your price.”

  Joan’s smile faded. “Your thanks are enough. I don’t need your money, Mr. Wainwright.” She turned to Cole. “I’m glad I could help you.”

  Liam followed her as she began helping the flight attendant pack up the defibrillator. “Please, I was a jerk to you before and you still stepped up and saved Cole. You are a hero. You have to let me show you my appreciation.”

  “Your thanks are enough. Okay?”

  “I am not taking no for an answer. I owe you, Joan.”

  Joan exhaled with an impatient smile. “Why don’t you give me your seat so I can keep an eye on Cole until we land. Okay?”

  “Sure. Of course.”

  Why won’t she let me thank her?

  He followed her back to his seat. She slid past Cole sitting next to the window. “Where did you learn how to do that with the inhaler? Nursing school?”

  “No. Actually I just thought of it. I knew we needed the albuterol to get his lungs to open up and that was the only way I could think to get it into his lungs.” The excitement in her eyes hitched as she looked at him. “Don’t sue me for that okay? We were going to lose him if I didn’t do something, and I couldn’t let him die.”

  “Sue you? Woman, I’m ready to sign over my fortune to you and make you the mother of my future children. I’m not going to sue you.”

  “Not suing me is enough.”

  “I’m so sorry I cut you off in front of the car rental place.”

  Joan held her hand up. “We’ve had a few run-ins today. I’ll take the blanket apology. Just go ahead and take my seat up front, and I’ll watch over Cole. Okay?”

  “Ladies and gentleman, we are making an emergency landing to get medical assistance for one of our passengers. We will be landing in Key Largo, Florida.”

  “The Keys? That’s quite a ways off our flight path, isn’t it?” Joan asked. “The storm he’s avoiding must be huge.”

  “Can I pay for your stay in Key Largo? All expenses paid vacation to anywhere in the world you’d like?” Liam smiled sure that she would at least allow him this.

  Joan exhaled. “Listen, I am an ER nurse. It would be unethical for me to accept anything from you in exchange for me doing my job. I took an oath.”

  “You aren’t on the clock.” Liam opened his jacket and pulled out his notepad. He quickly scrolled out the note he had in mind and handed it to her. “When you change your mind, I will be happy to help you with anything I can.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  I.O.U.

  Joan looked at the note again smiling. It was an I.O.U. with Liam’s signature and phone number.

  An I.O.U. from a billionaire? I can’t wait to show this to Amanda.

  Joan slipped the note into her jeans pocket. Her hands were shaky from adrenaline and albuterol.

  Arguing with the Liam wasn’t getting her anywhere. “Okay. Thanks.” She gave him a nod hoping he would nod back and then go sit down at the front of the plane. Instead, he sat down across the aisle from Cole. He was being less of a dick so she didn’t mention her seat to him again. He is a billionaire. He would sit wherever he wanted to sit.

  When the bathroom door opened and Earl came out, his knees were shaking. She wasn’t sure if that was from the Exlax or severe turbulence, and even though she knew she shouldn’t laugh, Joan couldn’t help but smile.

  The plane landed. The pilot insisted upon taking off again right away, only the ambulance wasn’t there yet. Leaving Cole would be irresponsible. She’d get him to the hospital and then catch a flight to Phoenix.

  Earl smiled a triumphant, albeit sweaty, smile at her as she exited the plane with her patient Cole and Liam.

  I am calling and talking to Connie. Why is he so bent on getting me transferred? Asshole!

  “Thank you so much for coming with us. I apologize that you had to miss your flight. I will personally see to it that you get the very next flight out of here.” Liam assured her.

  “It’s fine. The flight attendant said my information has been passed on and I will have a seat on the next flight.”

  Liam frowned but didn’t say anything else. They caught a cab outside the Ocean Reef Airport in lieu of waiting for an ambulance to arrive. Cole sat in the middle of the back seat between Joan and Liam.

  Earl’s triumphant smile was burning into her gut like she’d swallowed a firecracker. Exhaling, she drummed her fingertips on her knees.

  “I stepped on your phone earlier, by accident. I know you wish to replace it yourself, but I’d be happy to allow you to use my phone if you need to let people know you’ll be delayed,” Liam said. His gaze locked on her tapping fingers.

  “Yes, thank you. I would really appreciate that. Thank you, Mr. Wainwright.”

  Liam held out the phone. “Please call me Liam. No need to be formal now. My family is in great debt to you Miss—?”

  “Joan is fine. Like you said, no need to get formal now.” She slipped the phone from his fingers ignoring the curious look he was giving her.

  Yes. I’m avoiding giving you my last name, Mr. Billionaire. Call me crazy, but I’ve had my fill of powerful men. Earl is the biggest mistake I’ve ever made.

  “Thank you.” The cab pulled in front of the Mariner Hospital. Liam paid the driver as they exited the vehicle. Joan chose to wait to call Director Wheatley. Instead, she helped get Cole registered knowing she could ease Liam and Cole’s stress if she related what was going on to the nurses so the information could be passed on to the doctor.

  “You’re welcome to come back with us,” Cole said. “I haven’t had the chance to thank you for saving my life.”

  “I’ll be in soon. I need to make a call. Okay?”

  Cole gave her a smile. “Thank you.”

  Liam watched her from behind his brother. His appraisal of her jeans and t-shirt seemed more appreciative than her bridesmaid gown. Joan was sure that had more to do with the fact that she’d just saved his brother than his love for jeans from Old Navy.

  Luckily, she had the hospital phone number committed to memory along with Connie’s direct extension. She dialed it quickly on Liam’s cell.

  The phone rang twice before she answered. “Director Constance Wheatley, how can I help you?”

  �
�Connie, it’s Joan.”

  “I thought you’d be calling me. I just got off the phone with Dr. Grayson. There are reasons we advise against relationships in the workplace and this is one of them. He wants you transferred.”

  Joan swallowed. “I have learned my lesson, Connie. There is no reason to transfer me. I am a damn good nurse and I would never, ever let my personal life interfere with my job.”

  “I’m going to tell you the same thing I told Dr. Grayson. I’m not doing this over the phone. I will meet with both of you on Monday at seven a.m. in my office.”

  Since she was using her authoritative tone, Joan knew calling her by her first name, Connie, had been a mistake. “Yes. Thank you, Director Wheatley.”

  “See you then, Nurse Taylor.”

  The call disconnected.

  Her hopes that Joan would dismiss the absurd idea straight off were gone. Now she’d have to prove she deserved to keep her job.

  Damn Earl! How could I have been so stupid? Date a doctor on the board? What was I thinking?

  Joan dialed the hospital again with the extension to the nurse’s station. Amanda and Mae, her go-to-girls, always had her back and Joan knew they were scheduled to work. “Emergency room-”

  Recognizing Mae’s voice, she jumped in. “Mae, it’s Joan.”

  “Where have you been? Amanda and I have been trying to get you on the phone for the past two hours.”

  “A billionaire smashed my phone. What’s the buzz?”

  “A billionaire smashed your phone? Um, okay. The word is that Earl is railroading you out of here. He was on the phone with the director and two other members of the board already.”

  Great.

  “That doesn’t sound good.” Joan chewed her lip. “Why did you let me date Earl, Mae?”

  “We are not letting him just shove you out the door. Amanda and I are not about to lose you. You’re the best nurse on the ER floor. We’re going to fight this. Just get back here already.”

  Joan glanced around the lobby. “Right, about that. I had a medical situation arise on the plane with one of the passengers. We had to make an emergency landing and there was no medical personnel to receive my patient so I’m at a hospital in Key Largo.”