Chapter 5
Not even if he was the last man on earth. Eleven hours later, Jayna was still seething. Where did Derek Brennan get off acting like she was the troublemaker instead of him? He was the biggest hell-raiser this town had ever seen.
Forcing her mind off him, she tried to concentrate on the charting for her chest pain patient. Her blue ombre nails tapped rhythmically on the keyboard as she typed in her nursing notes. But as she stared at the monitor, all she could see was Derek’s stupid face.
He had stood there, arms crossed over his chest, looking down his nose at her like she was about to corrupt his grandfather and Earl. Like the pair needed any help. They were the original hell-raisers of Blythe Landing.
Derek had even ruined the enjoyment of messing with Ophelia Meddler. When she walked into City Hall to pay Shamus’s noise violation fine, Jayna had still been angry.
“You can’t pay someone else’s ticket,” Ophelia stated in that nails-on-the-chalkboard voice.
“Where does it say that?” Jayna had shot back. “I see ‘issued to’ and ‘payable to,’ but I don’t see anywhere that it states the ticket can only be paid by the person it was issued to.”
Ophelia had let out a loud harrumph before handing over the debit machine. And if Derek’s high and mighty expression hadn’t still filled Jayna’s mind, she would have been able to enjoy the pissed-off expression that had taken over Ophelia’s.
The sliding doors opened from the ambulance bay. Lance and his partner, Sonny, wheeled in a teenager. Jayna closed out the patient’s chart and stood, a sudden smile replacing the frown. Lance was the perfect distraction to rid her of images of the Neanderthal. The paramedic was just simply perfection.
But he’s taken, she reminded herself. With great effort, she contained the eye roll as she watched Lance make goo-goo eyes at Greta across the room.
Lance and Sonny carefully transferred the injured boy onto the hospital bed, and Jayna grabbed a blank chart.
“What do we have here?”
Sonny grinned. “Meet our future Olympian. Once, of course, barn-roof skiing becomes a recognized sport.”
Jayna raised an eyebrow. “Barn-roof skiing?”
“He tried skiing off the Fraser barn roof. If he hadn’t caught so much air, he would have landed in the hay bales at the bottom,” Lance explained.
Jayna knew the farm. The barn had a steeply sloped roof that did kind of resemble a ski jump.
“What’s your name?” Jayna asked the teenager.
“Derek Ainsley.” The teen grimaced in pain when she touched his swollen and bruised left leg.
Jayna grimaced at the name. It figured that Blythe Landing’s latest daredevil would be named Derek. “Well, Eddie the Eagle, let’s get you to X-ray.” No way was she saying his name out loud.
“Eddie the Eagle?” The teen scrunched up his face in confusion.
“Seriously?” Jayna glanced up from the clipboard where she marked off triage items one by one. She ticked off an X-ray that nurses had the authority to order. “I would have thought that movie would be one of your favorites.”
“It’s one of mine,” Sonny chimed in.
“Never heard of it,” Lance added.
Jayna’s head snapped up again. The hot medic just lost half a point. Now he was a solid 9.5.
“You’ll have lots of time to catch up on movies while your bones are healing.” Sonny gave a gentle squeeze to the boy’s shoulder as the porter wheeled the stretcher to the diagnostic department. “Not sure about my partner, though. I may need to add movie education to his orientation list. ”
Sonny turned, staring at Lance, shaking his head. “How have you never seen that movie?”
“Not much of a movie buff,” Lance shrugged again and dropped another half point.
Not a movie buff? Movies were one of Jayna’s passions. Lance met her eyes with his thick-lashed hazel ones. Wow, the man was dreamy. The fact that he wasn’t a movie watcher was not a deal breaker. She still had her best friends for Sunday movie night. He’s taken, she reminded herself yet again. She had no business rating or dreaming about the dreamy paramedic.
“Congratulations, Sonny. Hear you’re a grandfather.” She turned her attention back to the older medic.
Sonny smiled proudly and whipped out his phone. Jayna barely contained another eye roll. She’d only mentioned it to be polite. Now she would have to gush over pictures of a newborn who most likely resembled an old man. But she really liked Sonny. He suited his name. Every time he entered the ER, he brought in positivity. He was a ray of sunshine.
Lance walked over to Greta and this time her eyes did roll.
“The kid is lucky that he didn’t break more than just a leg,” Sonny pulled her attention back.
“Let’s hope the X-ray agrees.” Jayna ordered not only bilateral leg X-ray but spine and neck as well.
Hopefully, the teen learned his lesson and outgrew his daredevil tendencies. She prayed that was the only trait he shared with his namesake. That he wouldn’t become an adult who fearlessly risked his life while terrified to show emotion—a man who bailed when life got real or complicated.