Page 97 of Starting Back
“So, do you leave here today and go be a fireman tonight?”
I held in a laugh at the question I’d been asked what seemed like a thousand times every hospital shift I’d worked for the past month.
My per diem days ranged from one to two per week. I didn’t sacrifice days off in my new small-town life because I actuallyhada life here—a life with a woman I couldn’t get enough of and was always dying to see.
I spent as much time as I could with her and the girls, although having a conversation with Chloe was still hard work for a one-syllable reply or a nod—if I was lucky. But I was fine with that. I didn’t mind earning her trust, but it concerned me why it was so broken when it came to someone being with her mother.
“Not today, Mr. McCormick,” I said as I adjusted his position in the bed. He was a man in his early eighties, but no one could convince him of that. His panicked wife brought him in almost every week for a fall or deep cut he’d suffered from attempting something he shouldn’t have.
Kelly Lakes Hospital hadn’t seen a lot of action in the ER since I’d been here, at least compared to the hospitals I’d worked with as a firefighter in other places I’d lived. Some falls and broken bones and a few nasty viruses were all I’d seen here so far.
“Today, this is my only job. How’s the headache?” I nodded to where the ice pack lay across the bump on his forehead.
“Oh, fine.” He waved me off. “Joanie panics.”
I couldn’t help but laugh and shake my head.
“A fall off a ladder is enough to raise a little concern.”
“I always put the star on the tree. I just didn’t realize the one we picked up this year was so damn high.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’d like a shift or two without having to treat you for an injury.”
He chuckled as he held the ice pack against his head.
“That would be nice.”
“Leo, can you come over here when you have a minute?” Sonya, the attending doctor on call today, asked me as she peeked inside the curtain. “We have a sports injury from the high school.”
“Sure,” I said, checking Mr. McCormick’s ice pack for a moment. “I’ll be back.”
“Eh, help the ones who need it. I’m fine.”
He sat up and fell back again, holding on to the sheets to steady himself.
“We’ll see about that,” I said, easing him back on the bed. “Stay here.”
“What happened at the high school?” I asked, following her. She was new to Kelly Lakes like me—or at least wasn’t a lifer here, as was the case with most of the people I’d met in town.
She’d come here from New York City, and on our first shift together, we’d discussed the horror cases we’d seen compared to what we’d dealt with lately here. Being a firefighter, I’d had medical training, but I’d had a lot to learn when I entered the nursing program in Florida. My only advantage from the fire department was a stronger stomach for trauma during my clinical hours.
Nothing had tested that here yet, and I hoped that continued.
“We called her parents but haven’t been able to get in contact with them or anyone else on her emergency contact list. The coach showed us the waiver allowing us to treat her, but she’s a little shaken up.”
When Sonya pulled back the curtain, my eyes landed on Chloe. Her chest heaved up and down, her eyes clenched shut as she held the blood-soaked towel to her knee.
“Hey, Chloe,” I whispered and draped my hand over where she clutched the towel. “What happened?”
“Practice got a little intense.”
I turned my head to the man in the chair beside her with a red baseball cap on. Sympathy pulled at his features. “She tried to make a shot over her opponent’s head and crashed to the floor after she jumped. Her knee was torn up enough to get her here as fast as I could.”
“Mom’s at that tech conference,” she croaked out as she opened her tear-filled eyes. “That’s why she’s not answering. I guess my dad is at work, but I’m not sure.”
“I remember,” I said as I dug my phone out from my pocket and shot Kristina a text. “She’s probably on her way home, but let me try.”
Me:Hey, babe. I know the school called you, but I’m here with Chloe in the ER. I’ll stay with her until you get here.
