Chapter Twenty-Nine
“S ee, with this whole Dr. Tipton situation, what you need to do is take that relationship bull by the horns, Mav.” Tuli stood behind the deli counter on Friday evening and made a ridiculous horn-grabbing motion with his hands.
Louise smirked and drank her Three Bears coffee. Their EMS shift had started an hour ago. No calls so far, which meant Mav and his partner could grab a snack before the store closed.
Unfortunately, no calls meant that Tuli, the area fire chief, remained at his post at the Three Bears deli, with an abundance of free time and opinions.
Tuli’s gregariousness had reached a whole new level of annoying tonight.
Mav’s mood? Not quite as good. He had texted Lee about getting together to talk, and she seemed to push it off until later this weekend. Since receiving her reply, a knot of dread had lodged in his gut.
Yesterday, Dee and the CEO had made an official offer from the hospital for Lee’s permanent employment here in Yukon Valley. Technically, it was a counteroffer to the proposed Utah locums gig. Unfortunately, Yukon Valley, while in need of good doctors, wasn’t flush with money. The way his sister explained it, the offer was heartfelt but not lucrative.
To his knowledge, Lee hadn’t signed anything yet. No word.
Which meant, no word on Mav and Lee’s future. He had given her space. Now he wanted to clear the air and make his own offer.
Mav smirked at Tuli’s antics. “What would you know about taking the relationship bull by the horns?”
His friend’s gaze flicked toward Louise and away, but not before a crimson flush crept up his neck. Huh, so it was like that, was it?
Tuli opened and closed his mouth.
Mav shrugged. “All I’m saying is, sometimes it’s better to give people the time they need, and—” His phone alarmed. Dispatch.
Louise silenced her phone that rang at the same time. Digging in her EMS coat pocket, she fished out the keys to the rig and silently raised her eyebrows at Tuli as they exited. In the passenger seat, Mav punched in the address while Louise pulled out of the parking lot and flipped on the flashing lightbar on top of the rig.
The location seemed familiar. Male, age sixty-eight, respiratory distress.
The address clicked. “Ah crap, it’s Bruce.”
“Not again.” Louise maneuvered out of town for several miles, then down the secondary gravel road. The snow still held up as a decent road base this first week in February, but in another month, they’d be fighting gray silty mud and massive potholes as an entire season of snow melted into one big sloppy mess.
In a flash, they arrived at Bruce and Aggie’s place. Aggie met them at the door and ushered them into the cozy cabin where Bruce sat in his recliner. He looked… stable. Comfortable. The house smelled of fresh baked goods.
“How’s it going?” Mav asked him.
“Little short of breath, little chest pain.” He scowled at Aggie. “The usual.”
Louise got a set of vitals while Mav listened to his heart and lungs. “Sounds okay.”
Bruce glared at the inflating blood pressure cuff. “And chest pain,” he reminded them, patting his chest.
Louise shrugged along with Mav and hooked up the oxygen tank. Given the health scare that Bruce had gone through last month, if the man felt he needed to be in the ED, no one would argue.
“Let’s get the gurney,” Mav said.
“Naw, I can walk.” Bruce tried to get out of the chair.
He made a swiping motion with his hand. “Rules are rules.”
“That’s not what I wanted. I just need to get to the hospital so that—” He clamped his mouth shut.
“So that what?” Mav said.
Aggie tapped Bruce on the shoulder. “So that he can make sure everything is going to be okay.”
“ Hmmph .”
She pinned him with a terrifying glower. “Go with them.” Aggie patted her gray curls. “I will be along shortly. Might bring cookies for everyone. You all work so hard at the hospital.”
“Ooh, chocolate chip?” Louise asked as she reentered the house and locked the brakes on the stretcher.
“Would you like one now?”
“Yes, ma’am. Thank you.” She removed her exam gloves, applied hand sanitizer, then took a cookie off the plate Aggie brought over and chewed in happiness.
Mav didn’t want to be rude. After cleaning his hands, he selected one as well. The chocolate was melted, so he ate it quickly.
From the recliner seat, Bruce waved his hands. “Hello? I could be having a heart attack, people. Let’s go.”
“Are you sure you’re feeling okay, Bruce?” Mav said. “At what point in your life have you ever willingly sought medical care?”
“Uh, today’s different.” He pressed on his sternum.
“Okay, okay. Let’s get you down the road.” Mav pulled on a fresh pair of gloves and motioned for Louise to position Bruce so they could move him safely. “Say, where’s Calvin? You literally have an ER doctor staying with you.”
Aggie frowned. “He ran over to Fairbanks this weekend for supplies.”
They quickly secured Bruce to the gurney, with monitors and oxygen all attached, and wheeled him out to the ambulance. Within minutes, they arrived at the ED ambulance entrance and rolled him down the hall.
“Which room?” Mav asked.
Amberlyn pointed at trauma bay two.
“Hey, Dee, working late tonight?” Mav waved at his sister, who walked into the department.
She didn’t meet his eyes. “Yep.”
As soon as they transferred Bruce to the hospital bed, he looked at Mav, Louise, and Amberlyn and hollered, “I want the doctor. I don’t feel good.”
Amberlyn’s eyes widened, and she shot out of the room. “Be right back.”
Wait. Wasn’t the nurse supposed to stay with her patient? Mav shook his head at Louise as he quickly transferred the pulse-ox and telemetry leads to the ED machines. Out in the hallway, the buzz of voices rose and fell.
He distinctly heard someone say, “Oh, cookies.” Aggie must have arrived.
A rap of knuckles against metal doorframe preceded a familiar voice. “Knock, knock, Bruce. What’s going on today?”
Lee skidded to a stop a few feet into the room, looked at Mav, and gave him a shy smile.
His heart flopped in his chest. Honest-to-God flopped. “Hi.”
“Hi, yourself. How are you?”
“Not bad. On shift tonight.”
“Um, I can see that.” She pursed her lips. “You doing okay?”
“Good. Real good.”
Louise coughed the word awkward and smirked before turning back to work on Bruce.
Suddenly, Lee reached out. “Bruce, stop! What are you doing? Get back up there.”
As Louise unattached the last EKG lead from Bruce, he high-fived Louise and they traded matching grins.
Mav’s brain had trouble keeping up.
“Took you two long enough. Now sort things out already. I went to a lot of trouble and lost more chest hair with those stupid sticky electrode things. Almost had to get in one of those air-conditioned gowns again,” Bruce said, tromping past and pulling the room curtain behind him. “What took you people so long? Aggie! I’d like my cookie now, dear.”
Louise slipped out as well, sliding the glass trauma bay door closed.
“Wait. What just happened?” Lee tilted her head, brow furrowed.
“It’s not April Fool’s Day,” Mav said once he closed his mouth.
That was when it hit him. They’d been set up by Bruce, Aggie, Louise, Dee, and the Yukon Valley ED night shift.