Broken Heart on Valentine's Day

© 2024 by the author using the pen name UpperNorthLeft.

This story was submitted for the Valentine's Day Story Contest 2024, and features characters from one of my previous longer stories, "Cyrano de BOTgerac", which has also been submitted to this site. This is a new short story which is contemporaneous with the longer story, and takes place in February of that same timeline. The current story stands on its own, but will make more sense if one reads the longer story first.

All sexual activity is between adults 18 years of age or older.

* * *

I was waltzing with my fiancée when the screams began.

Roxanne and I had flown to Iowa to spend a few days at her family farm in her home town, Coon Rapids. I love her parents and brothers, but tonight was going to be a special night for just the two of us at a nearby B & B. After a light supper, we dropped by the Valentine's Day dance at the local VFW Hall. After a line dance and a few swing numbers, we were about ready to head back to the B & B for a soak in the hot tub, followed by an evening of high quality canoodling. However, we couldn't resist one last waltz before we headed out.

The waltz is a dance that can accommodate many different moods and many different partners. If you're dancing with your 10-year-old niece, it can be playful and athletic. If you're dancing with your mom, it can be sedate, with plenty of space in the dance to chat and catch up on family intrigues. But, when dancing closely with the love of your life, chest to chest and cheek to cheek, inhaling the heady scent of a lovely woman, it can be extremely sensuous. Roxanne and I were jolted out of our own private world when someone next to us screamed.

A woman in her 50's stared down at her partner, who lay unmoving at her feet. "Baby, what's wrong? Oh my god!"

She dropped to her knees, and began shaking the man. "Baby, wake up! Wake up! Can you hear me?!"

Roxanne immediately dropped down beside her, and said, "Jessie, what happened?"

The woman sobbed. "We were dancing... he just collapsed! What's wrong with him?!"

Roxanne said, "Let me take a look." She rubbed her knuckles over the man's sternum and called, "Dub! Dub! Can you hear me?!"

She put her hand to his neck, and after a few moments, she looked up at me. "He's not breathing, and I can't find a pulse -- I'm going to start CPR."

I turned to the man next to me and said, "Call 911! Tell them that CPR is in progress!"

I then turned to the crowd around us and asked, "Is there a defibrillator in the building?"

A woman said, "There's one by the front door. I'll go get it!"

Roxanne had started cardiac compressions, so I knelt by Dub's head. I tilted his head back, lifted his chin and opened his mouth. I said, "Nothing in his airway."

I pinched his nostrils and put my mouth on his. Roxanne paused chest compressions, and I gave him a single rescue breath. I was happy to see his chest rise, and gave him another one.

We continued several cycles of chest compressions and rescue breaths for about a minute before a woman rushed over with the automatic external defibrillator.

Roxanne continued her compressions while I opened up the AED and pushed the power button.

This might be a good time to mention that Roxanne and I are both physicians, and this was not our first CPR rodeo. Each of us had performed CPR dozens of times in the hospital, but this was our first time out in the wild.

The nice thing about modern AEDs is that you don't have to have any medical training to use one. Once you hit the power button, the AED will tell you exactly what to do in a very loud voice. It had been a few years since I had been part of a live hospital code, so I was grateful for any reminders.

The AED walked me through pulling off Dub's shirt and hooking up the electrodes, and then commanded, "PAUSE CARDIAC COMPRESSIONS."

Roxanne paused while the machine analyzed Dub's ECG signal. It had been a few years since I had read an ECG, but the signal on the AED screen was classic ventricular fibrillation. The AED agreed with my diagnosis, and said, "SHOCK ADVISED."

We stood clear of Dub and I pushed the shock button. Dub's chest convulsed briefly, but the screen continued to show v-fib. The AED charged up and advised another shock, so I pushed the button again.

After the second shock, the AED screen showed normal sinus rhythm, which was the finest thing I'd seen all day. A few seconds later, Dub took a gasping breath, and then started breathing on his own.

Roxanne and I were greatly relieved. She stood up and took Dub's wife in her arms and said, "It's OK, Jessie. We got his heart started again." Jessie clutched Roxanne and sobbed.

We were delighted to hear the paramedics enter the hall a few minutes later. We introduced ourselves as physicians, and gave them a quick recap of the events. They got an IV line started, switched Dub over to their own set of monitors, and loaded him on a gurney. As they started to roll him out, Roxanne came over to me. "Jessie asked me if I would ride along with Dub to the hospital up in Carroll. One of her friends is going to drive her there. Do you mind following the ambulance in our car?"

"Happy to. Great job tonight, Rox! You were amazing."

She snorted. "If I seemed that way, it's only because you were right there with me at every step. We make a pretty good team, don't we?" She slowly shook her head. "Not the Valentine's Day you were expecting, was it?"

"No, it wasn't. But, I can't think of a single thing we could have done tonight more important than that. See you at the hospital."

I kissed her and she got in the ambulance.

It was about 30 minutes before I was able to leave the VFW Hall. Almost everyone at the dance wanted to shake my hand or buy me a drink. So many kind things were said to me that I can't remember them all. However, one woman's words stuck with me. "So, you're Roxanne Robinson's fellah? Heard she was seein' a Texas boy livin' up in Seattle."

"That's me."

She nodded. "You two did a great thing for Dub and Jessie." She then quirked her lip and said, "You'll do, Texas boy. You'll do."

I finally pulled free of all the well-wishers and headed up to Carroll.

* * *

The Carroll emergency department was much as I remembered it. I took a seat in the waiting room, and sent Roxanne a text.

> Just got to ED. How's Dub?

> He's stable, but still pretty groggy. They just transferred him up to the cardiac care unit. CU in a few.

A few minutes later, Roxanne walked out of one of the ED patient bays with Allison Sanderson. Allison went to med school with Roxanne, and now worked in the Carroll ED. I had met her during a trip out here over Thanksgiving.

Allison gave me a hug and said, "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, you walk into mine."

I kissed her cheek. "Great to see you again. Sorry we keep running into you here at work."

She smiled. "You guys did a great job on Dub Wilson. For a pair of radiologists, you still act like real doctors from time to time."

I rasped, "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!"

She laughed. "Sure, call my Casablanca and raise me a Godfather. Well played."

"Any updates on Dub?"

"He was awake by the time he got here, but he's still pretty confused -- par for the course after a resuscitation. His 12-lead ECG and cardiac enzymes look OK, so no apparent cause yet for his arrhythmia. But he's in Cardiology's hands now. They may know more tomorrow."

She turned back to Roxanne. "I need to get back to work now. Let's have dinner before you guys have to fly home."

* * *

We got back to our B & B in Coon Rapids well after midnight. We were still a bit wired from doing CPR and not quite ready for sleep. We spent a few moments gazing out of our window at the Raccoon River flowing by. As we regarded this scene, we spied a puff of steam coming from under the lid of the insulated hot tub on our porch.

Roxanne slipped her blouse off and said, "That tub looks amazing."

I nodded and pulled off my pants. "Oh, hell yes!"

We padded out on the deck in our fluffy bathrobes and slippers. We took the lid off the tub, doffed our robes and slid nude into the water. Absolute heaven.

It was a clear winter night, with a thin crescent moon casting soft shadows on the snowy ground. Overhead, the bright, blue stars looked colder still. This made for a most pleasant form of cognitive dissonance. Our eyes cried, "Dude, it's fucking cold!", while our skin murmured, "Dude, it's fucking perfect!"

We basked, utterly comfortable, with just our heads above the water. Whenever we got too warm, we would expose a few inches of wet skin above the water until we felt just right. Below the water, hands began to roam and caress each other's body parts. Kissing and caressing escalated into nibbling and groping. Soon, it was all I could do to keep from mounting her on the edge of the tub and howling at the moon.

Instead, my fingers drifted over Roxanne's mons and launched her over the edge into her first, fiery finish of the evening. As she erupted, she clamped her mouth to mine, and muffled her moans until the wave passed her by.

Speaking of waves, our foray into foreplay had sent several small, steaming tsunamis crashing onto the porch. Oops. So much for a quiet soak.

Roxanne grabbed my head, gave me another searing kiss and said, "Inside! Now!" She stepped out of the tub, grabbed her towel and strode starkers toward our room.

"What about your robe?"

"Fuck the robe! Inside! Now!"

I stepped out and quickly slid the cover back over the tub. I grabbed my own towel and tiptoed across the frigid floor to our room.

I had just enough time to wipe the worst of the water off my body before Roxanne grabbed me and pulled me into bed.

"INSIDE ME! NOW!!" she growled.

She reached down and guided me into what felt like her own personal pool of molten lava. Then we were off to the races. We ground and thrust, boinked and pounded, screwed and shagged. Finally she pulled me down tightly, put her mouth on my shoulder and screamed as she came and came and came. I wasn't far behind her. A few more strokes and I felt my own rockets begin to fire. I thrust up into her as far as I could in a shattering orgasm that went on and on until there was no more.

I collapsed beside her and lay utterly spent, and quickly dropped into a deep and peaceful sleep. Somehow, someone pulled the covers over our exhausted bodies sometime during the night.

* * *

We slept in the next morning, but woke up in time for breakfast -- eggs Benedict, served with thick slabs of ham. All of this goodness arrived on top of house-baked English muffins the size of Roxanne's head. Ambrosia.

As we were having a final cup of coffee, the B & B owner came out of the kitchen and headed to our table. Roxanne stood up and gave her a mighty hug, and then said, "Lois, this is Chris Newton, my fiancé. Chris, this is Lois Hansen, our hostess. She was also my favorite English teacher in high school."

I stood up to shake her hand, but she pulled me into a warm embrace, and said, "It's a great pleasure to meet you, Chris. Roxanne was my favorite student. I've always wondered who she would end up with."

I said, "I'm very glad to meet you, Lois. Thanks so much for hosting us here. The room is great, and the breakfast was amazing."

"I'm glad to have you here." She then arched one eyebrow and said, "You two had quite a time last night."

Roxanne blushed. "I'm so sorry! We tried to be quiet last night."

Lois raised both eyebrows and then burst out laughing. "Oh, Honey, I wasn't talking about your wild night in the hot tub. I was talking about your evening at the VFW Hall."

If possible, Roxanne's face got even redder. She put her hands over her face and groaned. "Oh, god. Kill me now..."

Lois pulled her into another hug. "No need to be embarrassed, Honey. Sex is a wonder and a blessing, especially with someone you love."

Lois turned to me. "She's so cute. I remember when I asked her class to read Chaucer. You should have seen her face when she finally realized what the Wife of Bath was talking about."

She saw the blank look on my face, and stage whispered, "Fucking, Honey, lots and lots of swiving and fucking." It was my turn to blush.

She turned back to Roxanne. "Sweetie, I've tried most of the things on the Wife's list. They are fun as hell, and nothing to be ashamed of."

I made a mental note to read me some Chaucer. Lois seemed to read my mind, and said, "After the Wife of Bath, Chris, you might also enjoy the Miller's Tale."

"Yes, ma'am!"

I looked at Roxanne. Her eyes finally rose up to meet mine. We both burst out laughing.

Lois laughed with us, and then said, "By the way, I've filled up the hot tub again. It should be nice and warm for you again tonight. And don't be so restrained this time. I'll be personally offended if you guys don't splash at least half the water out of the tub tonight!"

Roxanne just shook her head and said, 'You evil, evil woman. Will the mortification never cease?"

"Just a tiny bit more, Dear Heart. I'm comping your room for tonight."

"What?!"

"I'm comping your room. You two did a wonderful thing last night for Dub and Jessie. Consider this a bit of early karmic payback for a very good deed."

Roxanne said, "There's no need for that. We were just doing our job. We'd do that for anybody."

"I know you would. So does everyone in town. But, I'll bet it'll be quite a while before anyone in Coon Rapids lets you buy your own drinks or pay for your own lunch. It's our way of saying, 'Thank you.' And what do YOU say when someone thanks you for something?"

In unison, we said, "You're welcome."

"That's right! And if you don't say that, it demeans our thanks. By refusing our thanks, you are implying that the thing we are thanking you for is not that important, and that our opinions are not important."

Roxanne nodded. "I'm sorry. I was definitely not trying to imply that."

"OK, Honey. You're forgiven. One more thing: you're the only guests tonight, and I'll be having a sleepover of my own elsewhere tonight. You'll have the place to yourselves, so make some real noise tonight!!"

Rox and I said, "Ma'am! Yes, ma'am!"

"OK, you've got your orders. Now, shoo! Go visit your friends, and then come back here for another big night!"

* * *

We called the Carroll hospital to check on Dub. The operator put us through to his room, and his wife answered the phone.

"Roxanne? Oh, Honey, thank you so much for calling."

"Morning, Jessie. How's Dub doing today?"

"Really well, Honey. The cardiologist took him down this morning for a bunch of tests. He should be back in the room after lunch. We'd love to have you come by and visit."

We drove to the hospital in the early afternoon. When we got to Dub's room, he was sound asleep, but Jessie jumped up and embraced Roxanne. She gave Roxanne some rather strenuous thanks for several minutes, and then pounced on me for the same treatment. We were spared from further gratitude only when the cardiologist came in on her rounds.

With Jessie's permission, Dr. Felson gave us a more complete picture of Dub's condition. "The paramedics brought in the AED you guys used on Dub last night. We interrogated its memory this morning in our lab, and it confirmed that he was in ventricular fibrillation when you shocked him. He sure was lucky to have you guys on the scene."

Roxanne said, "I'm glad we were able to help him. Any idea why he arrested?"

"No. His coronary vessels looked clean this morning, and his labs and ECG have all been normal. No evidence of a myocardial infarction. He probably had some irritable focus in his heart that fired off at the wrong time and sent him into v-fib."

"How do you treat that these days?"

"I put in an implantable cardioverter defibrillator this morning. If the ICD detects any abnormal rhythms, it will automatically shock his heart back into normal sinus rhythm."

We thanked her, and she left to see another patient.

We told Jessie that we were thankful to Dub for the chance to do some actual face-to-face patient care. We radiologists don't get to do that very often. It feels great to help another human being -- especially when you can actually save their life.

Another round of visitors came in, so we gave Jessie another hug and said goodbye.

Dub continued to do well, and was discharged home to their farm by the end of the week. His confusion gradually cleared up. We later learned that he really enjoyed being a poster child for CPR and AEDs. He and Jessie have since donated AEDs to other local venues, including their church and the Coon Rapids library.

* * *

The rest of our visit was fairly anticlimactic. Roxanne and I had another wild rumpus at the B & B, and did, indeed, splash a lot of water out of that tub. And, as Lois predicted, more rounds of drinks had been offered to us in town than our livers could ever metabolize. We appreciated everyone's gratitude, but were ready to get out of the limelight.

We were also feeling a tiny bit of PTSD from Valentine's Day. It's one thing to handle a cardiac arrest in a hospital, when you're treating a stranger and surrounded by lots of gear and expert medical staff. It's a whole different animal doing CPR on a family friend out in the wild and with limited support.

Fortunately, we had good friends to help bring us back down to earth in our time of need. The night before we flew home, Allison and her boyfriend Tommy Lee jerked our chains over drinks. Their good-natured ribbing was refreshing after all of the endless praise.

TL said, "I think you guys went a little overboard on this whole heart theme on Valentine's Day. Normal people would just send a card and some chocolate. But noooo... too mundane for you drama queens. You had to make Dub into a living human valentine in front of all his friends. That's a V-day the VFW will never forget."

We laughed, but TL wasn't finished with us. "Also, I'm a little concerned about all the disasters that seem to happen every time you two come to town."

I said, "What are you talking about?"

TL said, "Did you forget about your Thanksgiving twofer? You saved Roxanne's Aunt Marcy from freezing to death the first night and me from a spiked drink the next night."

Roxanne said, "What's your point?"

TL said, "If it was just Thanksgiving, I wouldn't worry. But here you are in town again, and bam! Another disaster. As Al Capone said, 'Once is coincidence but twice is enemy action.'"

TL was relentless. "Not only that, but those were fairly generic disasters in November. What worries me now is that you're becoming disturbingly thematic. C'mon, a heart on Valentine's Day?"

Allison said, "Yeah, that is oddly appropriate. What new disasters will follow you guys here on your next visit? E coli eggs and rabid rabbits on Easter?"

Roxanne joined in. "Toppling trees on Arbor Day!"

Allison said, "An Alzheimer's outbreak on Memorial Day!"

TL said, "Mass casualty fireworks flambée on July 4th!"

I couldn't resist. "A pregnancy pandemic on Labor Day!"

After a few more similar absurdities, we laughed it off, finished our drinks and had a great dinner together.

However, the next time we come to Coon Rapids, we'll bring duct tape, a Swiss army knife, current CPR cards and the rest of our MacGyver toolkit.

Just in case.

THE END

* * *

Afterword from the Author: