Part 13 (1/2)

”I do hear something a little strange, so we'll have the doctor evaluate her, okay? You did the right thing by bringing her in.” The mother nodded, seemingly glad to have her concerns confirmed. ”We can do a couple tests to make sure everything pa.s.ses appropriately. Maybe do an ultrasound of her tummy.”

”Oh, no. Will that hurt her?” The mother's voice wavered.

”No, it won't. It's a scan like the one you had when you were pregnant with her. Nothing invasive. We will know more about the plan of care after Dr. Peterson looks at her. He'll be here soon. Is there someone we can call for you? Your husband?” Her hand went to her forehead, and I felt bad for her having to go through this alone.

”No. It's just me. Kelsey's dad left when she was three months old. Couldn't handle being tied down to one woman with a baby,” she said in a sour tone.

”I'm sorry.” I didn't know what else to say, and I hated awkward situations. I looked up as Carrie finished with her admission process, calibrating the monitors and inputting the patient's information into the computer chart. ”We'll be right back, okay?”

Carrie followed me out and leaned in to whisper conspiratorially. ”I bet she'll never leave that baby alone for a second after this experience.”

”It was an accident that could've happened to anyone. I'm a little concerned about that sound, though.”

”Want me to move her up on the list?” she asked, moving toward the acuity board behind the nurses' station.

A huge widescreen television listed each ER patient, color-coding them to the level of seriousness based on presentation after the a.s.sessment.

Kelsey's predicament proved to be a hard one to determine. She didn't appear to be in any distress. Her vital signs were stable and she didn't seem like she was experiencing pain or difficulty breathing. Yet, when it came to kids, I always played it safe.

”Yeah. If there isn't anyone critical, move her up to a high acuity. I have a hunch something's wrong.”

”I'll let him know.”

”Thanks.” I grabbed the next chart out of the slot and began breezing through my next patient's triage report.

”Are you okay?” Carrie asked, and I barely managed to keep a growl from rumbling in my chest.

”Why is everyone asking me that today?” In an attempt at nonchalance, I let out a playful chuckle, but I probably ended up sounding like a wounded animal.

”You seemed a little upset this morning.”

d.a.m.n it! Did anyone miss my dramatics this morning?

”Got some, uh . . . bad news.”

”Does that news have anything to do with someone tall, dark, and s.e.xy?” Carrie asked, leaning on the countertop and nearly spilling her ample cleavage out of her tight-as-h.e.l.l scrub top. ”And currently staring longingly at you from across the unit?”

Staring . . . what?

Following Carrie's gaze, I saw Mitch glaring at me from the other side of the room. His arms were folded defensively across his chest, and he had that hot-as-h.e.l.l eff-you look on his face. Lovingly? If looks could kill, I'd be dead on this nasty hospital floor.

Suddenly I felt a bit slighted. I should be the one giving him looks of death. After all, wasn't I the one who'd caught his a.s.s in a lie?

”I can't deal with this right now.” I gave Mitch my back, ma.s.saging my temples with my fingertips to ward off the oncoming headache. At almost noon, I had yet to have my first cup of coffee. The ER buzzed with its common fast-paced commotion, and the stress of my love life didn't help any.

”This time last month you two were sneaking off the floor every chance you could get. What happened between you two?” Carrie asked low enough to keep the conversation between the two of us.

”Oh my G.o.d, you knew about that?”

Images of heated moments in the darkened janitor's closet and whispered words of pa.s.sion with the brush of warm lips flooded through my mind. My heart quickened from just remembering how he'd felt. The rustle of our clothes as we stripped each other bare, the sighs of serenity when he entered me, the barest touch of fingertips on my b.r.e.a.s.t.s that kept me crazed in that unending demand. Things between us had been so raw back in the beginning, as if we were almost desperate for each other. The excitement of new feelings drew me in, but the discovery of how his body fed the most basic needs of mine fueled us into a fevered hunger neither one of us could ignore. Sometimes we couldn't even make it through a s.h.i.+ft without succ.u.mbing.

Perhaps I'd been foolish to think we'd had something special based on how attuned we were to one another s.e.xually. To him, maybe that's all it turned out to be-just good times in bed. In the end, it didn't appear to be hard for him to start something new. It didn't seem difficult for him to lie to me after our last amazing night together.

Still, to know that our actions hadn't gone unnoticed by at least one of our coworkers was embarra.s.sing, especially now that things were over between us.

”It wasn't hard to put the pieces together.” Carrie smiled at me in the way of a woman who wants the details of her friend's hot night with the equally hot boy toy. I opted to ignore her outright and stick with the important points.

”Does anyone else know about it?”

”I don't know.” Carrie shrugged. Suddenly, she let out a gasp, catching the attention of a couple people standing nearby. ”He's not married, is he?”

”No!” I grabbed her arm to pull her away from the main traffic by the nurses' station.

”Well then, why does it matter that I know or if anyone else does?” She pulled her arm away from me, causing me to stop mid-step.

”Because it's over. It never should've started to begin with,” I said, feeling the sting of tears forming in my eyes.

”Oh, honey . . . I'm sorry.” Carrie went to hug me, but I took a step back.

”It's okay,” I told her as I fiddled with the pens in my pocket. ”I really don't want to talk about it anymore.”

”Sure, I understand, sweetie,” she said with another effing pitiful expression.

Before she could say anything else, I jetted into the nearby staff bathroom. By that time, my tears were in a full on torrential downpour, and I hurriedly swiped my finger underneath my eyes to save at least some of my mascara from clumping into sodden tangles. Bad enough that I'd apparently made a scene this morning, but to actually appear to be upset for the rest of my s.h.i.+ft day would just add more to the gossip mill.

Lady Luck didn't seem to favor me very much this morning because as soon as I poked my head outside the bathroom door, I saw Grace waiting for me with a sympathetic, concerned expression.

”Are you okay, sweet pea?”

”Yeah, I'm fine,” I said with a sigh. ”Just received some tough news this morning.”

”You're not pregnant, are you?”

”No, nothing like that.” I may have sounded a bit harsh, but I needed to stop that thought process dead in its tracks. Besides being too young to contemplate that scenario, I didn't want that kind of rumor floating around the halls. My attempts at steering the ma.s.ses away from speculation had left me batting for zero.

”Good. I don't think you and Mitch are ready for a step that big just yet.”

Great.

Instead of commenting, I decided to refocus. I did happen to be at work, after all.

”Anything coming in?”

”Just got off the radio. That's why I was looking for you, but Carrie said you were a little upset. Do you need to go home for the day?” Grace paused to a.s.sess my response.

”No, I'm good.”

”Okay.” She handed me a short report from the arriving ambulance. ”EMS is bringing in a sixty-four-year-old male experiencing dizziness and epigastric pain. The bus reported he'd taken aspirin at the onset of symptoms. Guess he was a medic in the war or something.”

”Smart man.” I nodded, glancing over the basic information.