2. Jett
2
JETT
I t had been a few days since an eleven-year-old girl was rushed to the Emergency Room after getting the bike handlebar stuck into her chest, and Jett Thompson couldn’t stop thinking about that day. It was one of the most stressful and frustrating days in recent memory.
Jett was off today, like she was every Sunday. It could be hard to get a weekend day off, especially in a career such as hers, but it was fairly easy for her given her experience in the field—and her legacy. Jett’s father had had Sundays off as well, and Jett had fond memories of him spending time with her, Brody, and their mother. Now, even though her father was no longer around, Jett continued the tradition.
When Jett was a little girl, her parents would have her go to church with them. Jett never really hated it, and their church was rather progressive compared to others, but as she got older, she stopped going, much preferring to sleep in instead of praying.
However, Jett’s mother still went to church and required her children to come to her house every Sunday at one o’clock for a family dinner. While Jett did have one sibling, Brody, their family dinners were never just the three of them. Jett had always known a close, tight-knit family, and her home growing up had an open-door policy. Aunts, uncles, and cousins often Josephineined for food on Sunday.
Jett lived close to her mom, just a few blocks away in the same suburb, so today she decided to take her homemade sweet tea and walk with the pitcher to her mom’s house.
When she got there, a few cars were parked in the driveway and Jett smiled when she saw Brody’s among them. Last week, he’d been too sick to make it, but he must have been feeling better and Jett was happy about that. Even though Brody was her older brother, she worried about him a lot.
When Jett got to the door, she walked inside without knocking. Her mom never minded. Again, she had always had an open-door policy.
Jett set the pitcher of sweet tea on the kitchen island before she looked around to see what all was for lunch today. Jett’s mom was the best cook on the planet, and Jett always looked forward to Sunday lunches for that exact reason. Jett wasn’t a half-bad cook, but no one could compete with her mom.
While looking at the food, Jett saw broccoli casserole, baked macaroni and cheese, cajun chicken, and many other dishes that made her belly grumble. But her mom was nowhere in sight. Jett looked around before she finally found her and Brody on the back porch, talking.
“Hey Momma,” Jett said, giving her mom a big hug.
“Hey bro,” Brody said, and Jett laughed. She always found it funny that Brody called her bro even though she was a girl. When Jett was studying to be a paramedic, she went to the same college as Brody, and he would introduce her to his friends as his little bro, confusing all of them, but Brody had always maintained that bro is a gender-neutral term.
“Hey,” Jett said, “is Hannah here?”
“Yeah,” Brody said. “She went to the bathroom. She’s been there a while actually.”
“Do you want me to go check on her?” Jett asked.
Brody shook his head and then paused. “Yeah, actually. It’s probably nothing. The closer she gets to her due date, the longer she takes in the bathroom. But just in case…”
“Of course,” Jett said. “I’ll be right back.”
Jett walked back inside and to the ground floor bathroom where she knocked on the door.
“Give me a minute,” Hannah called behind the closed door.
“No, you’re fine,” Jett said. “Brody just wanted me to check on you and make sure you’re all good.”
“Thanks,” Hannah said, “but I’m okay, besides this pipsqueak laying directly on my bladder and making me need to pee constantly.”
Jett laughed. “Okay, well I’ll leave you to it,” she said and walked away. She was heading toward the back porch again when someone put their arms around her from behind.
Jett turned around and smiled once she saw who it was.
“Aunt Becky!” she said. Even though she saw her aunt regularly at work- Becky Thompson was the legendary Fire Chief of Phoenix Ridge, it was always nice to see her on her off times.
“Hey, peanut,” Becky said, using Jett’s dad’s nickname for her. Apparently when Jett was born, the nurse told her dad that she looked like a peanut and Jett’s dad called her that until he died. Jett used to hate when people called her peanut because it reminded her of her dad, but now she loved it for the same reason.
“Where is everyone?” Becky asked.
“Momma and Brody are outside, and Hannah is in the bathroom,” Jett said. “Where’s Ember? I’m guessing she couldn’t make it.”
Ember was Becky’s daughter and Jett’s cousin.
Becky shook her head. “She’s working on a project right now, but she said she might come over later.”
“I’ll be crossing my fingers then,” Jett said.
Becky laughed. “If she does come, I’m sure she’ll be bringing Natalie. I know how much you love that little girl.”
“Yes,” Jett said, “I’m extra excited now. You know I can’t wait until Brody and Hannah have their baby so I can spoil that little one as well.” Jett adored Ember’s daughter, Natalie.
Becky laughed. “You definitely fit the stereotype of the fun lesbian aunt.”
“Good,” Jett said, “because that’s all I want in life.”
Becky gave Jett another hug. “Let’s go find the rest of the family.”
Becky and Jett walked outside and found Brody with a cigarette in his hand. Both Becky and Jett frowned.
Brody raised his hand. “Before you say anything, I only smoke outside and away from Hannah. Plus I’m working on quitting.”
“I hate those things,” Jett said.
“And I’ve experienced too many fires because of them,” Becky added.
“I know,” Brody said, “which is why I’m down to about one cigarette a day and I’m going to try to quit completely by the time the baby’s born.”
Jett nodded. She still hated that her brother smoked, but she knew that he was trying and it meant a lot to her. “I’m proud of you,” she said, deciding to focus on the positive instead of the negative.
Brody smiled. “So how have you all been?”
“Good,” Becky said.
“Josephine couldn’t make it?” Jett’s mom asked.
“No,” Becky said. “Apparently yesterday was a full moon and she has a lot of paperwork to catch up on.”
“Is that really a thing? The full moon thing, I mean,” Brody asked.
“Yes,” Becky said.
“No,” Jett said at the same time, and Becky gave her a playful glare.
“Look here, you,” Becky said.
“Hey,” Jett said, “I’m just saying. There have been studies that show there is no correlation between a full moon and births or deaths.”
“You sound like a textbook,” Becky said.
“And you sound like a superstitious witch,” Jett countered.
Becky laughed. “Well when you have been in the emergency services as long as me, you’ll start to twitch when the full moon comes! Anyway, regardless, the hospital was especially busy yesterday, so Josephine has a lot to catch up on.”
Dr. Josephine Mars was Ember’s wife, Becky’s best friend and the Head of Phoenix Ridge Hospital. Their family was big and complicated and full of strong women and Jett loved that about it.
“You know, as cool as it would be to be the head of something, I’m kind of glad I’m not,” Jett said. “It seems like too much work.”
“It’s definitely not for everyone,” Becky said, “and as long as you’re happy where you are, it doesn’t really matter what you do.”
“Tell that to my boss,” Brody said. “He’s trying to get me to take a promotion I don’t want.”
“You don’t want the promotion?” their mom asked.
Brody shook his head. “It means more money, sure, but it also means more hours and travel, and I’m about to be a dad.”
Jett nodded. That made sense. Even though she didn’t have children—she didn’t even know if she wanted any—but if she did, she’d want to be around them and their mother.
Some of the best memories she had were when her dad was still alive, and even though her mom was still amazing, she was never the same after he passed.
Brody finished his cigarette and soon after, everyone else decided to go back inside. When they got there, Hannah was sitting at the kitchen table with a glass of sweet tea in front of her.
“I know I just used the bathroom, but I am so thirsty,” Hannah said.
Jett and Brody’s mom laughed. “I remember that feeling,” she said. “Drink as much as you want and take good care of my grandbaby.”
Hannah smiled and took a large gulp of the tea. “I’m also starving,” she said. “Is it alright if we get food now?”
“Oh, absolutely,” Jett’s mom said. “You just sit there, and I’ll grab a plate for you.”
After everyone grabbed their food and sat around the table, the conversation started. Food in the Thompson household had always been a social event, with conversation and jokes. Jett always tried to keep her mouth closed when she was eating, but sometimes it was hard and no one really cared. Everything was all laughs, smiles, and love.
After a while, the conversation turned to work. Since Becky was the fire chief of Phoenix Ridge’s fire department, she started with giving a lecture on fire safety.
“And you,” Becky said, turning to Hannah, “when it comes to winter, don’t put a space heater in that baby’s nursery. If you’re worried about them getting cold, get a bassinet and put them in your room or something.”
“I know,” Hannah said. “Brody is anal when it comes to fire safety.”
Becky turned to Brody. “And you’ve checked all the fire alarms?”
“Regularly,” Brody promised. “I might not be a firefighter like you, or dad, or even Jett, but I’m very safe, I promise.”
“Except when it comes to smoking,” Becky teased.
“I’m quitting,” Brody said.
“I know, and we’re all proud of you,” Becky said.
“Technically though, I’m not just a firefighter,” Jett said. “I’m a firefighter paramedic.”
Brody groaned and laughed. “We get it,” he said. “You’re cool and definitely better than me.”
“I’m just saying, it’s better than being a financial advisor,” Jett teased.
“Tell me that when you’re saving for retirement.” Brody stuck his tongue out at his little sister and everyone laughed.
“So.” Becky broke up the conversation and turned to Jett. “How are things with you? I haven’t been able to talk to you much at work lately. Been so busy with other things, but I heard you helped save an eleven-year-old girl from an unusual bike accident?”
Jett smiled—but a picture of that abrasive new trauma surgeon- Dr. Riley Parker- flashed into her mind. The surgeon was slightly shorter than her with piercing green eyes and a messy ponytail, lots of masculine energy, and well, undeniably hot, but also an arrogant pain in the ass. She frowned slightly at the memory, but then went back to smiling.
“Yeah,” she said. “She left the hospital the other day, but she’s expected to make a full recovery.”
“What happened?” Jett’s mom asked.
“She fell while riding her bike down a hill and somehow, the bike twisted and the handlebar managed to pierce through her chest,” Jett said.
Her mom covered her mouth in shock. “Oh my God,” she said. “That’s horrible.”
“Yeah,” Jett said, knowing that her mom gets upset about things like that. “But don’t worry. She’s good, and I have her foster family’s number so that I can check up on her often.”
“That’s good,” her mom said.
“Yeah,” Jett agreed, but she couldn’t get the image of Dr. Riley Parker and those fierce green eyes out of her head. She was so aggravating and had she been wrong, Jett would be telling her mom a different story.
Jett tried to push it out of her head, but occasionally, throughout the lunch, Dr. Parker’s face would pop right back up in her mind as if to taunt her. She was so aggravating, not listening to anything Jett had to say, and putting a small child through a risky operation.
But a small part of Jett also felt bad. The surgeon had been right. And Jett did tell her to go to hell.
After lunch, Jett and Becky volunteered to do the dishes, and Jett couldn’t help but think Aunt Becky wanted to talk to her, especially considering as soon as Jett offered to do the dishes, Becky said that she would help her.
When they got into the kitchen, Becky put the plates she was carrying into the sink and turned the water on before she turned to Jett.
“So,” Becky said, squinting at Jett, “what’s going on?”
“What do you mean?” Jett asked, playing dumb.
Becky gave Jett her infamous look, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes so that it looked like she was staring into her soul.
“You kept zoning off during lunch,” Becky said, “and it all started when we were talking about that girl who wrecked her bike, so what the hell is going on? Is there something I need to know about?”
“No, it’s nothing like that,” Jett said, and she sighed. “It’s just that one of the doctors that day kind of pissed me off.”
“What do you mean?” Becky asked.
“A surgeon named Dr. Parker just really pissed me off,” Jett said. “She didn’t even stabilize the patient or get a good look at her before she was wheeling the little girl to an operating room. And when I tried to talk sense into her, she just completely blew me off.”
Becky nodded and gave Jett a little hum, allowing her to continue.
“And she’s lucky that the girl survived, but she could have died,” Jett said. “And she was just rude to me the entire time, pulling rank and all of that nonsense.”
“But the girl did live,” Becky said.
“Yeah,” Jett said, “but if the doctor was wrong about what she needed in her three-second glance, she wouldn’t have. She was too reckless. I’ve met surgeons like her before, all she wants to do is to cut into people and receive recognition, and if a patient dies, it’s no big deal.”
“I think you’re being too harsh.” Becky frowned. “And you’re letting other experiences cloud your judgement when you don’t know that doctor. I don’t know her very well, but I can say that Phoenix Ridge Hospital has one of the best trauma departments around, and Dr. Parker has been responsible for saving many lives that people didn’t think would live.”