Chapter 7
Staci shot her hand out and slapped it on the alarm clock, then swore, and fell out of bed when her legs became entangled in the sheets as she tried to grab the clock that she had knocked off the nightstand instead of shutting it off.
She finally got the offensive thing shut off, and back on the stand.
She sat there, with the sheet wrapped around her legs, and buried her face in her hand.
“Shit, why am I such a mess?” she mumbled to herself, and knowing there was no going back to bed now, or even hitting the snooze, she scowled when the clock indicated that it was only six thirty in the morning. Since she hadn’t gotten to bed until after two that morning, she was groggy and cranky.
The first thing she did after getting out of her sheets was stumble to the kitchen, and she grinned when she remembered she had made a pot of coffee the night before.
Knowing how forgetful she came if it didn’t pertain to her work, she double-checked the water and grounds were ready, then she turned it on.
As it brewed, she went back to her bedroom and right into the bathroom to shower.
By the time she finished with her morning routine of her shower, brushing her teeth, doing her hair, and only mascara and lip gloss, she dressed and was out in the kitchen enjoying her first cup of coffee.
She didn’t have to be at work until eight, and since it was only a two-minute drive, she looked around with a sigh, and shook her head.
“Maybe I’ll talk to Katherine today about learning how to cook.
” She rose from the table and went to the cupboard and looked over the boxes of cereal she had put on her grocery list. With her favorite kind in her hand, she fixed herself a bowl of cereal, and was able to make two slices of toast without burning it.
Thank goodness she’d also put TV dinners and meals for one on her grocery list. Her refrigerator was practically empty, but her freezer was packed full.
As she ate, she pulled her work from the night before toward her, but stopped because she knew if she started reading, she would never get to the office on time.
At least she knew herself well enough to know these things.
She had told both Caleb and Katherine in a joking matter that she needed a keeper, but she really did.
To the outside world, it was a joke, but deep in her soul, it was the truth.
“He’ll have to know how to cook, as well as keep me on a schedule,” she mumbled to herself as she rinsed out her bowl, and placed that along with the rest of the dishes in the dishwasher.
She looked around after cleaning up, saw it was about a quarter to eight, and decided to head to work.
She opened the door to her pantry reached in, and grabbed a can of soup.
She knew there were bowls and a can opener at work.
She stuffed that in her purse, grabbed her papers from the night before, and headed out, exclaiming shock at the three inches of snow on the ground.
“I can do this,” she said to herself as she started her van, turned the heater on, then hunted through several cubby holes before she found her snow brush.
By the time she got to the windshield to clean it off, the heater had melted it, and she knew it wasn’t practical, but she finished cleaning it off by turning on the wipers.
However, she did use the snow brush to wipe the snow off the side windows as well as the back ones.
As she made her way through the trees to the office, she laughed when she realized there wasn’t any snow on the road, but knew that later in the year, it wouldn’t be that way.
Gathering her things, she looked up when Caleb pulled in, and she allowed him to unlock the door, turn on the lights, and turn off the alarm before she entered.
She immediately headed to her work area in the back, but Caleb stopped her.
“What’s up?”
“Tony’s stopping by this morning.”
“The new guy?”
“Yes.”
“Can I sit in on the consultation?”
“I don’t see why not, you do know that he doesn’t need a prosthetic, right?”
“Yes, but I read his file, I’m curious to see if he has any x-rays. I can picture what the words say, but I’d like to see if there are films.”
“Ah, like a before, during, and after?”
“Exactly.” She nodded and it wasn’t long before she was settled at her desk with her head buried in her work. She gave a small shriek when someone touched her shoulder, and she looked up with a shake of her head.
“Caleb, you scared me.”
“Sorry, but I called you several times. Tony’s here.”
“Oh, I’ll be right there, where is he?”
“I left him getting a cup of coffee in the reception area.”
“Let me run to the ladies’ room and I’ll join you. Can you get me a cup of coffee?”
“We will be in my office.”
“I’ll be right there.” She rose and hurried out, and by the time she entered the office, she met Caleb in the hall carrying two mugs of steaming coffee.
She put her pad of paper beneath her arm, stuck her pen in her messy bun on top of her head, and turned toward his office.
She didn’t see Caleb look up and catch Tony’s eye, and they both shared a smirk when they saw several pens sticking out of her hair.
The three of them settled and Caleb started the conversation.
“Do you remember my colleague, Dr. Staci Hardt?” Caleb asked and Tony looked over at Staci and held out his hand to her.
“I do, Tony Jacobs.” They shook hands and Tony tightened his grip on hers after she did the same to his. They held hands for a good minute while staring at one another. Caleb had to clear his throat several times to get them to stop staring at each other.
“Sorry,” Staci whispered.
“I’m not,” Tony said, and smiled at her. He finally cleared his throat and turned his attention to Caleb. “Sorry, what were you saying.”
“I hadn’t started yet,” Caleb said with a smirk. “I received the medical records you sent to Erin, and thank you, not that it matters, but it was great to be able to know your case before you even arrived.”
“You can thank Ramos and Lloyd for that.”
“Ramos?” Staci asked. “I don’t know if I heard of someone with that name.”
“Me either,” Caleb said with a confused look.
“Marcia Ramos, she’s dating Lloyd Berry.
” He saw understanding in Caleb’s face. “If you read my medical records, then you know what happened, and what I went through. Ramos was right there beside me when I crashed. If it weren’t for her, I would never have been able to open my chute the little I did.
She was the one to get hers partway open, then was able to help me get mine the same way. ”
“Oh, wow,” Staci said. “I too read your file. I know you don’t need a prosthetic, that’s what I specialize in, but your case intrigued me. I haven’t discussed this with Caleb yet, but did you happen to send any x-rays along with the medical records?”
“No, but I brought them with me.” He stood, and went out into the hall, when he returned, he had a large flat box with him, that was at least four inches thick.
“Let’s go back to the exam room,” Caleb said and Tony followed Staci, with Caleb hot on their heels with his and Tony’s coffee cups in hand.
In the exam room, Staci turned on the lights to the box to put the x-rays on so they could read them.
Tony walked further into the room and placed the box he carried on the exam table.
He opened the box completely and pointed.
“The top set of films were when I first arrived at the hospital after the collision. From there down to the bottom is every set of x-rays before and after every operation I had to fix my injuries.”
“In your own words, what were your injuries?” Staci asked as she watched Caleb pull the first set of films and slap them up on the light board. The two doctors stood before them as Tony described the accident, and what he endured while waiting for help to arrive.
“How long from when you hit the mountain and help came?” Staci asked.
She looked around wildly, and Tony smirked as he reached up and took one of the pens out of her messy bun and handed it to her.
“Thanks,” she said and took it, then started taking notes.
She leaned in so that her nose almost touched the films, and as she looked at the damage he had sustained, she wrote on the pad in her hands.
For the next three hours, the three of them went through all the films, and when they were done, Caleb slipped the last set of films in their extra-large envelopes and looked up at the knock on the door.
Staci went to open it, and grinned when she saw Katherine standing there holding a bag.
“Lunch,” Katherine said and Caleb turned to Tony and invited him to join them. He had sent a text to her asking her to bring extra food for Tony. They went into the break room, and Staci ran out, and returned with her can of soup.
“What’s that?” Katherine asked.
“My lunch. You can’t keep providing for me.”
“It’s no bother,” Katherine said, and Tony spoke.
“Why don’t you make something at home to bring with you?”
“I don’t know how to cook. When I made my grocery list, I forgot to include lunch meat.
” She held up the soup can. “On my grocery list, I had a lot of cans of soup, and cereal, lots and lots of cereal.” She sighed as she eyed the sandwiches and gave in when Katherine set a roast beef and cheese sandwich in front of her.
“You don’t know how to cook anything?”
“If you consider making toast, pouring milk on cereal, and heating up a can of soup in the microwave cooking, then yeah, I can cook.” She grinned when Caleb snorted a laugh.
“Back in Seattle, Staci lived on Door Dash, Insta Cart, and the local restaurant delivery services.”