Page 120 of The Coppersmith Farmhouse (Jamison Valley 1)
We were sitting behind the ER counter where I was on rotation for the week. Everett had been avoiding Maisy since she’d called him on New Year’s Day to tell him that she was keeping the baby, but they’d finally run into each other today.
“He was, like, normal. It was weird. He acted like he had this summer before we’d even started dating. He was all business, but pleasant at least. He just asked me how work was going in the clinic and if we’d had any interesting patients this week. Weird, huh?” she asked.
“Yeah. Well, I guess it’s better than being uncomfortable and awkward around each other. Or him being a jerk. Whenever Rowen’s father saw me, he’d call me a slut and a cow—exactly what a pregnant woman wants to hear. If I were you, I would take the all-business Dr. Carlson,” I said.
“You totally need to tell me about Rowen’s father. I’ve gotten bits and pieces from you this last week but I think I need the whole thing.”
“Okay,” I giggled. “Though there isn’t too much to it. He’s a supreme asshole. I never plan to see his face again. The end. Have you heard from your parents at all this week since you told them you were pregnant?”
“Yeah. Mom’s called me every day since, asking how I was feeling and if I needed anything. She’s been great. You were right. After the shock subsided, I think she started to get excited about being a grandma,” Maisy said, smiling.
“Good. I’m glad.”
“I’ve got to get back to the clinic. Want to have lunch later this week?” she asked.
> “Yes, just let me know which day,” I said.
She hadn’t made it three feet from the desk when we heard screeching tires at the ER doors. In the middle of the ambulance entrance was a large, forest-green truck. On the driver’s side door was a shield with the words “US Forest Service.”
I lost sight of the shield when the driver’s side door flew open and Beau Holt jumped out of the truck.
Beau, who was supposed to be with Jess and Milo in the mountains looking for Wes’s meth cookhouse.
Beau, who was sprinting to the other side of the truck.
Beau, who saw Maisy and screamed at her to bring a couple of stretchers out.
I stood frozen behind the ER counter as Beau pulled two people out of his truck. Both unconscious. Both unmoving. Both covered in blood.
My eyes stayed locked on Beau as those two people were taken by Maisy and the other nurses to two different ER bays. I could hear Dr. Peterson and Everett starting emergency triage procedures in both ER rooms.
Beau walked to me, still standing frozen at the ER counter, with pain and sorrow on his face. His hands were covered in blood that was not his own.
I kept my focus completely on Beau. Because if I let myself look anywhere else, I knew that I’d see Milo in ER room one with Everett. And Jess in ER room two with Dr. Peterson, who was using EKG paddles on Jess’s bare chest to try and restart his lifeless heart.
So I kept looking at Beau until I couldn’t see him anymore. Until I couldn’t see anything anymore but the backs of my eyelids. Because I had screwed my eyes so tightly shut that all I saw was black.
Get it together.
Get it together.
Get it together.
About a minute after I had squeezed my eyes shut, I started chanting. And about a minute after I started chanting, I got it together.
Somehow I managed to detach my heart from my brain so I could get to work. The last thing Jess and Milo needed was to be in a hospital where one of the few nurses available was stuck frozen at the desk.
So I let years of practice and experience take over and I walked into Jess’s room completely on autopilot.
It was the hardest thing I’d ever done.
I stayed on autopilot until I was alone hours later, on one of the three worst days of my life.
“What happened?” I whispered to Beau.
We were sitting with our backs against a wall on the second floor of the hospital. My knees were bent and I had my arms wrapped around my shins. Beau was sitting next to me, his arms draped over the tops of his bent knees.
“I don’t know. We were all walking up to the shack together. All three of us. The smell was so strong my throat was burning. So I told Milo and Jess that I’d grab us some bandanas from my truck. I was bent digging in the back seat and I heard Jess yell, “Stop.” I stood up, then all I saw was the explosion. A big propane tank by the shack just blew. Shot straight up into the air, flames were everywhere. Next thing I knew, I was on my back. Just like that,” he said, snapping his fingers.
