Chapter 8 #2
Look, those guys were just assholes who wanted the best care they could get for their friend.
Anyone would want that for someone they cared about.
But that didn’t mean that they were going to come after me.
That didn’t mean that Dean’s empty need to somehow keep me safe meant something bigger was looming around the corner.
That was, until another gunshot wound pulled us out of our beds and back on the road at one in the morning.
The commotion and the chaos as we rolled back into La Jolla’s parking lot made my hands shake.
The guy on the gurney had been shot in the shoulder and was losing a hell of a lot of blood.
The bullet must’ve nicked a major artery going in, and I wondered if some asshole with a gun was going to be standing on the other side of the ambulance doors, ready to blow my brains out for something someone else did.
I watched as the doors flew open. I watched as doctors took over his care.
They rolled him through the automatic double doors that led into the E.R.
itself, and I braced myself. I waited for the sound of guns cocking.
I waited for the threats and the police and the security guard who had stuck his nose in between everything.
But, the second those doors slid closed, the chaos quickly died down.
“Nothing bad happened,” I said breathlessly as I climbed back into the ambulance, “nothing to be worried about.”
“What was that?” Chelsea asked as she climbed in behind me.
I sat down and buckled myself in. “Just thinking out loud. I always have to plan ahead when kids are involved.”
She giggled. “That’s why I never want to have kids. But, you do you. Let me know if you need anything.”
My lunch break came around at three in the morning and I found myself in the break room.
I couldn’t sleep, and a hot shower only got me so far.
So, as I stood in the dimly-lit kitchen of the building I called home during my EMT shifts, I pulled a sandwich and some chips out of the fridge before pouring myself a cup of terrible EMT coffee to help thread some energy back through my veins.
And after taking a few bites of my ice cold sandwich, I pulled out the latest graphic novel I’d been reading through.
About a superhero and his undying love for the villain in his life.
I lost myself within the pages of the book.
I loved using books as an escape from my world, especially when I could dive into a fantastical world of superheroes and comic book pictures.
It gave me moments in my life where I didn’t have to worry about my daughter, or her safety, or how we’d make rent, or the life and death of patients that rolled through those doors.
Hell, back when I was a doctor, they were an escape from the actual life and death scenarios I faced on a daily basis.
And at that moment, as I curled up on the break room couch against the far wall of the room, it helped me to get my mind off Dean.
Because I still didn’t know whether or not to tell Natty the truth about her father.
I mean, as angry as I was with how Dean treated me, deep down I truly felt that he would’ve been a good father figure for Natty.
When he and I were together, he always talked about having a house full of kids.
And while I always snickered at him and told him we’d revisit the notion whenever we were a bit more stable financially, I didn’t have any qualms with giving him two or three children.
I had no doubt that Dean would be a great father, if given the chance.
But I had shielded Natty from all things terrible for so long that I couldn’t reconcile magically telling her the truth about him.
“You ready to head home?”
Cap’s voice caught my ear and I looked up from my empty plate of food. The night had been such a blur of worry and reading in my downtime that I hadn’t once looked at the clock since I had finished stuffing my face. And holy hell, did time fly whenever I dove into those books.
“It’s already seven?” I asked.
He snickered. “Guess that book is good. Yeah, it’s a little before seven. Go ahead and clock out.”
And I sure as hell didn’t have to be asked twice.
I gathered my things and fist-bumped our trustworthy leader before I tucked my purse beneath my arm.
I gripped my book, ready to finish my chapter in the car before I headed to the house to help get Natty up and ready for school.
I drew in a deep breath as I started for my car out in the parking lot.
Another full day down, with me inching me closer to my first overtime paycheck where Natty and I would both be able to breathe again since we no longer had to worry about catching up on bills.
But I should’ve heeded the prickly feeling creeping down my neck as I headed for my car. I should’ve known that the saga of the other night wasn’t over. Because when a shadowy figure pushed off the driver’s side of my Jeep, I paused.
Only to find Dean’s eyes staring back at me with a look that could only be described as urgent.