Thinking of Carrie and Jim and little Tyler put a lump in Ellie’s throat. But the outpouring of love reminded her why she’d moved back here after Dan’s death. No, Scarlet wasn’t a big town. It didn’t have a shopping mall or a Starbucks or even a McDonald’s. But it had a big heart.
She parked, walked in through the hospital’s employee entrance, and clocked in. She’d gotten a text from Pauline this morning so she knew she’d be working in the pediatric unit, where every bed was full with children injured in the crash. She’d worn her special bunny scrubs and had brought a set of bunny ears to wear—anything to make the kids’ stay in the hospital less scary and more fun.
She was one of two RNs on duty—the others were LPNs—which meant she was responsible for ten patients. Sebastian, 5, Room 201, had a broken arm that needed surgery. Ryder, 7, also in Room 201, was stable after surgery for a ruptured spleen. Ava, 9, in Room 202 had been kept overnight for observation for a concussion and would be discharged soon. Ava’s little sister Emma, 7, had a broken femur and needed surgery, too, so she would be staying.
Ellie took as much time as she could with each little patient, making sure their pain was under control, letting them talk about what had happened, assuring them and their parents that they were getting good care and would be going home soon. She gave lots of hugs and held a lot of hands. Nursing wasn’t just about giving meds, checking vitals, and treating the body. It was about healing the heart and mind, too.
She worked through her scheduled lunch break,finallygetting a bathroom break and a few bites of her sandwich while charting at about one. Then her mother texted to tell her that Claire was out of surgery.
That was a relief.
By the middle of the afternoon, Ava had been discharged, Emma was out of surgery and in recovery, and little Sebastian was on his way to the OR.
Ellie was hanging a second bag of antibiotics for Ryder, who was sleeping, when her father walked into the room. “Hey.”
She’d been expecting to see him. Most of the kids here were his patients, children he’d known since the day they were born. Though the children were in the care of hospitalists for the moment, he wanted to see them and keep up on what was happening with their treatment. He was just that kind of doctor.
He gave Ellie a side hug and walked over to Ryder’s mother. “It looks like Ryder’s in good hands. How are you holding up, Marie?”
Marie stood and accepted a hug, her voice quavering. “How could something like this happen? I feel terrible for the Kirbys.”
“Sometimes there’s no ‘how’ or ‘why’ in life. Bad things just happen.”
Ellie got the antibiotics flowing into Ryder’s IV, then went to check on Emma, who had just been wheeled back into her room. She and her father went room to room separately, each doing their job. They’d run into each other at the hospital many times before, but never under such awful circumstances.
Ellie was finishing the uneaten half of her sandwich when her father came up behind her, bent down, and kissed her cheek.
“I’m heading into my office. Keep me posted, okay?”
Ellie, caught with her mouth full, nodded.
“Have I ever told you what a damned good nurse you are?”
Ellie turned in her seat to look up at him. “Thanks. I guess the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.”
A moment after her father left, Kathy, one of the younger LPNs, hurried over to her. “Was that old goat hitting on you? He was totally hitting on you.”
Ellie had just taken her last bite of sandwich and almost choked to death laughing. “That oldgoatis my father.”
* * *
Jesse drovestraight from the slopes to the rock gym, where he changed into climbing clothes and climbed laps up the wall, going for speed, building up a sweat. He told himself that he was working on endurance, but he really just wanted to get his heart pumping, burn off the frustration that had been eating at him all day, get his head straight.
He’d had his shit together until he’d let himself get distracted by a pair of pretty green eyes. Now he was having nightmares again. Why?
Hell, he didn’t know. Because he enjoyed being with Ellie? Because he had feelings for her? Because he liked her kids? Because they’d talked about yesterday’s bus crash and the little boy she’d lost?
For fuck’s sake. None of that made any sense.
He self-belayed and took a breather, shaking out his arms. His cell phone buzzed in the pocket of his climbing pants. He pulled it out.
Megs.
“Moretti.”
“Knockers is holding a fundraiser tonight to raise money for the Kirby boy’s funeral. Hawke’s having a pretty rough time of it today. He’s the one who pulled the boy out of the wreckage. I thought you might want to stop by, do your part for the Kirby family, and maybe hang with Hawke. You know what he’s going through.”
Shit. Yeah. He did.