Chapter 2
Katherine picked up the ringing phone in Caleb’s office, and after a brief conversation, she rose and went to find her boss. At least he was her boss now in the office, once outside of the office he was her boyfriend. She found him sitting at his desk in his office.
“Dr. Lassiter,” she said firmly to get his attention, and when he whipped up his head to look at her, she grinned. “Erin called, she wants you to run up to her office.” She held up her hand to stop him from interrupting. “Your next appointment is in two hours, you have time.”
“Great, want me to swing by and get us lunch?”
“No, I brought it with us this morning, remember?”
“That’s right, sorry.” He tossed his pen on the papers on his desk, stood, and when he reached her, he leaned in and kissed the side of her head, then gathered her in a hug.
“I know we don’t normally show affection to each other here at work, but since it’s only the two of us, I wanted a hug.
” He grinned as he hugged her again, then he hurried out the door.
Katherine went back to her desk. Since Caleb’s work hadn’t taken off yet, the patients were trickling in, Katherine had been able to go through the applications from the website for Broken Wheel Rehabilitation and went back to working on those.
Caleb left his office at Broken Two, hopped into his truck, and instead of going through the property, he went out onto the road to go to Erin’s Way.
Twenty minutes later, he pulled in, parked, and waved at Duane as he made his way to the back door.
Knowing what was what, he immediately went to the coffee pot and smiled as it had just finished brewing.
He waited until it stopped dripping, then grabbed the carafe and walked down the hall toward Erin’s office.
He grinned when both Erin and Julie looked up and immediately grabbed their mugs and held them out.
He filled them, returned the pot to the kitchen, and instead of getting a cup for himself, he opened the spare refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water.
Once he returned to the office, he stood in the doorway, and then asked, “What’s up? ”
“Oh, when was the last time you spoke with Dr. Hardt?” Erin didn’t beat around the bush with her questions with any pleasantries. He liked that about her.
Caleb moved his head to the side as he thought, then shook it. “I forget, it’s been several days, why?”
“She called about an hour ago. She made it to Denver and was stopping off for some lunch before she finishes her journey here. I know you said that she gets distracted sometimes, but I thought I’d let you know.”
“Thank you, but couldn’t you have given that message to Katherine? Did I really have to come here in order for you to tell me that?” Caleb realized how he sounded, and quickly shook his head and held up his hands. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snipe at you.”
“You didn’t, and you’re right, I could have told you that, however, I received this in this morning’s mail, and I think you need to go over it.” She reached out and laid her hand on a box, and Caleb scowled at the size of it.
“It’s heavy, I only opened it and read the letter on the top, then I called you.”
“What is it?” Caleb started forward and when Erin opened the flaps to the box, he paused, but took the envelope she handed him. Before he opened it to read it, she explained.
“Staci Hardt isn’t the only new person that will be arriving sometime this week. While Dr. Hardt will be working with you over at Broken Two, this guy, Sergeant Anthony Jacobs, will be working over at New Double. Do you know Marcia’s story?”
“I do, I’ve been slowly working with her. She told me what happened, and the results of her collision with the side of that mountain.”
“Good, then you know she wasn’t alone when she hit?”
“That is correct.”
“These are the medical records of Sergeant Jacobs. He was the one with Marcia. I know he left Pennsylvania this morning, and he reassured me he’s healed, he’s taking his time driving out here.
He said something about three days, but I told him to take five if he has to.
I know you’re not a medical doctor, but now that you’re here permanently, one of the requirements of the new hires is to come to you to see if they are physically fit.
Not medically, physically, and you can get them physically fit enough to work here.
Marcia and Lloyd both told him what he would be doing here, and they recommended that he send his medical records ahead of time. ”
“Oh, wow, okay, I’ll take these and go over them so I can be ready when he arrives. I imagine you won’t be putting him to work right away?”
“No, I won’t, not until you give him a once over.
Based on your findings, then we can probably introduce him to work gradually.
I won’t expect him to clean out thirty horse stalls all by himself on his first day here.
Hell, I wouldn’t expect that of anyone. Like I said, he will be introduced to physical work gradually.
I’m hoping that if he works with you, he can continue to heal and be able to do the work over time. ”
“Can you tell me a short version of what he went through?”
“Shattered, not broken, but shattered, right shoulder, left hip, right knee, and left ankle.”
“Shit, so he couldn’t have used crutches if he wanted to. Not with those injuries opposite of one another.”
“Correct, and it’s my understanding that he went through several operations and he has several pins and plates during these operations. I’m not being cold or unfeeling, but I know nothing medically about the human body, that’s why I’m passing these records off to you.”
“Thank you,” Caleb said as he came forward and took the box from the corner of her desk. “Is there anything else?”
“Not at this time, I’ll reach out when Dr. Hardt arrives, and after I talk with her, I’ll hand her over to you to show her where she’s going to stay and work.”
“Thanks, Erin,” Caleb said with a salute, then with the box in his hands, he left the office.
Back at his office, he looked at Katherine, and used his head to indicate for her to follow him back to his office.
As soon as he was behind his desk, he looked at her, and used his hands to make the mind-blowing gesture.
“What?” Katherine asked in surprise.
“First, Staci is in Denver. She’s going to get something to eat, then when she arrives, after talking with Erin, I’m to go over to Erin’s Way to get her and bring her here to show her where she is going to live and work.”
“Okay, but couldn’t that have been said over the phone?”
“Yes, I asked the same thing. But, Erin gave me this.” He lifted the box from the corner of the desk, and set it in the middle on top of the papers he’d been going over before he had been interrupted.
“What’s all that?”
“Do you know Marcia Ramos’ story?”
“I do.”
“Okay, the guy she was in the accident with is on his way here to work at New Double. He left Pennsylvania this morning. These are his medical records that he sent ahead. Erin wants me to go over them, and before he starts work, she wants me to give him a physical assessment to see if he would need my services. I’m sure she’s going to want to make sure that he’s fit to work, and if he isn’t, then maybe I can work with him to get him in shape to do so. ”
“Oh, wow. That’s a good thing, right?” she asked as she pointed to the box of medical records Caleb had just opened.
“Yes, this way I’ll know what to look for once he’s here.
I know you probably know this, but nine times out of ten not all patients tell the doctors everything.
I’m going out on a limb here, but I think this Jacobs person might be the same way.
” He laid his hand on the box with a nod.
“With these, I’ll know if he’s bullshitting me or not. ”
“Good,” Katherine said with a nod. “I’m not getting off subject, but do you want to eat now, then I’ll let you know when your next patient arrives. That’s the only one you have for the rest of the day. You’ll have time to help Staci, and read those records.”
“Yes,” he said with a grin as his stomach grumbled and they both left his office and went to the end of the hall where the small break room was set up.
An hour later, Caleb worked with his patient, and after doing the paperwork for them, he settled in with a fresh cup of coffee, and opened the box Erin had given him.
Staci Hardt sat at her table and ate her lunch, looking around at the nearly empty restaurant.
She wondered if she was crazy for doing what she was.
She had packed up her entire life and moved from Seattle, Washington, and now she was heading to some small Podunk town called Fool’s Gold in the state of Colorado.
It was three hours south of where she was in Denver.