“Nothing like tossing me in with the big guns.”
After that, the rest of the day is an absolute blur. I cleaned more infected wounds out than I ever did as a travel nurse, and I’m glad to see my stitches are still nice and neat. By the time the next shift takes over, I’m about to drop where I stand, but instead, Ella leads me over to the employee tent, where the local firefighters are set up with hot, tasty food.
“Okay, I may need to marry the person who made this beef stew,” I mumble around a mouthful of the best thing I’ve ever eaten.
“Honey, I’ve been married to him for going on twelve years now and he can cook, but trust me, he never hits the laundry basket. Be careful what you wish for,” a redheaded woman says as she sits down next to me. “Polly Martens, I know you’re Phoebe Cortez because both Ella and Thelma have been singing your praises ever since you told them you were coming.”
I notice she’s wearing a neon yellow shirt as well and ask, “Which tent were you in today?”
“The yellow tent, but that’s only because Mr. Overprotective is worried since we found out I’m pregnant. Before that, I was in the red tent, until he put his foot down. If he could wrap me in bubble wrap, he would,” Polly says. “And to answer your unasked question, his name is Bubba.”
Ella giggles because Polly hasn’t stopped chattering since she sat down, not letting me get in a word other than my initial question. “Be fair, Polly, y’all have been trying for a really long time,” she chides.
“I know, Ella, but we’re wearing the appropriate PPE given the circumstances,” Polly retorts. “Me not being in the red tent with y’all means y’all have to work even harder.”
“Seems like we’re gonna be doing that anyhow,” I remark. “So maybe you should let him have this tiny win, Polly, because if this baby is already so cherished before he or she is even born, think of how over the moon he’s going to be once they’re here.”
Polly sighs then says, “Okay, fine, I’ll try not to grumble too much. I just don’t want my skills to be wasted.”
“Yeah, you know that’s not gonna happen around here,” Ella teases. “We’re all gonna be pushing our abilities to the max to ensure we’re able to help everyone.”
“What happens if it’s more than we’re able to do here?” I ask.
Because no matter how many patients I personally took care of, every time I glanced up, the line seemed like it never moved. I’m actually impressed at how well-behaved folks have been, especially since they’re having to wait for hours and hours to be seen. At least the local high school, which was practically demolished, still had their ballfield bleachers that were usable. The men brought them over, so people have somewhere to sit, especially since many are elderly. In fact, even though every single person I’ve met today looks exhausted all the way to the marrow of their bones, they’ve all been exceedingly kind.
“We get them stabilized at the temporary operating room that is set up in the fire department then they get transported to the closest hospital for further care, with all the pertinent information we have on them,” Thelma says, having walked over to our table. “Cortez, I know you’re probably exhausted, but Iwanted to tell you that if you ever decide to travel again, I want you permanently.”
“Thelma, I love my home,” I reply, which is the same thing I tell her every time I take an assignment for her agency.
“I can only hope that fact changes someday,” she glumly replies, making Ella giggle.
“Maybe tomorrow, ask her about the man in her life. Right now, we’re bugging out for our dugout so we can get some sleep and be back bright and early in the morning,” Ella says, pulling on my arm.
After my shower and just before I fall asleep, I remember to text Eli to let him know I arrived safe and sound. Then it’s lights out.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Prophet
Two weeks later
She’s been gone for two weeks, and other than her initial text telling me she arrived safely, it’s been radio silence. Oh, she’s sent me thumbs up emojis when I told her that Cami’s birthday party was well underway as far as the planning, or hearted a picture I took of my girl, but there’s been no messages, no phone calls, nothing, nada, zilch.
Well, that’s not quite true. She did send me a message asking if I could go by her house to check on a notification she received, giving me the information to get inside and disarm the alarm. Apparently, she forgot to suspend a regular subscription service, so I brought it inside and put it away for her. Only to find a letter she left for me. Whether or not she ever intended for me to read it is anyone’s guess, but I’m not ashamed to admit that after I made sure her house was locked up once again, I took it with me and then sat in my room while my daughter slept and read it. Multiple times. In fact, so many times, I have parts memorized.
Dear Eli,
I’m not sure if I’ll ever even give this to you, but since I tried and failed to sleep, I figured I would write it all down to try and make sense of the stuff I spewed the other night when you came by.
When I was in college for the second time, working on my bachelor’s degree, I met a man and we hit it off rather well. At the time, I was still spiraling from the deaths of both of my parents and had realized I was completely alone in life. Yes, I had a handful of cousins, Rosa being one of them, but at the end of the day, I didn’t have anyone to share the highs and lows of life with outside of my best friend, Ella. It wasn’t long before we were living together and one day, we decided to go to the courthouse and get married. Looking back, I’m not sure we were ever in love the way a couple should be if they’re going to commit their lives to one another, but again, I was alone and suddenly, I was part of a couple. He was doing his undergrad work to become a doctor, I was working as a nurse and completing my degree courses mostly online, so when the call came in for a traveling nurse assignment and it fit in with something on my syllabus, we made the decision that I would go, since it would put me that much closer to graduating.
Unfortunately, the weather sent me back home sooner than I was expected, and I walked into our apartment excited about being back to find him sleeping naked in bed next to a former friend. He claimed it was a one-time thing, but after Ella and I did a little bit of sleuthing, I found out that it had been going on for most of our marriage. Needless to say, I divorced him and was once again alone, only this time, my trust in men was decimated.
After graduating with my bachelor’s, I poured myself into my career, taking every available certification course I could to enhance my skills, going on occasional travel assignments through the hospital, and working to make my house into a home. I had even contemplated getting a few pets, but then realized that it wouldn’t be fair to them since I was hardly ever home.
Then Rosa moved in, and you know how all of that went, so I won’t rehash it. Suffice it to say, Cami is and was the one bright spot in my day-to-day routine. Despite my best efforts, I wasn’t able to find out who you were before Rosa died, but I hope you believe me when I say that I tried everything so that you’d know you were a father.
The day I came into your clubhouse set things in motion inside of me that I thought didn’t exist. Meetingyou, spending time with you, seeing how you were as not only a daddy to that precious little girl, but with your club made me realize that maybe I was too hasty when I swore off men for the rest of my life.