Chapter Eleven
‘Brooke Walsh, eight years old, came in because her cold is impacting on her asthma and she was wheezing. We’ve had her on oxygen overnight and Estella started her on a short course of steroids but would like to keep her until lunch to make sure she can maintain her oxygen levels,’ Maddie said as she and Piper led Greta and Audrey past the bed in the main ward, completing handover to the new nurses coming on shift to relieve them.
Piper smiled at the little girl, who seemed happy enough watching cartoons on her mother’s phone.
Her mother looked barely awake as she sipped her coffee in the recliner chair they brought in for parents.
Not the best bed to sleep on by any means.
They’d offered to sit with Brooke so Clare could go home and get some rest, but she had politely declined, not wanting to let her little girl out of her sight.
‘We also have Mr Bernie Merveler in for monitoring after he mistakenly took his wife’s heart medication instead of his blood pressure tablets in the early hours of the morning.
So far there have been no negative side effects but Mrs Merveler has booked him in to get his eyes reviewed,’ Piper informed the nurses with a fond smile at the older man, who gave them a small wave before going back to his newspaper.
‘And finally Caleb Rifter, nineteen, who came in yesterday after a fall from his motorbike. Miraculously, he has no broken bones but there were concerns around a possible concussion. He has a small tear in the tendon in his left shoulder, which Estella has prescribed him some pain medication for but other than that, he is free to go home and rest.’ Maddie emphasised her last word, and Caleb gave a small chuckle.
‘I still have one good arm,’ he pointed out and Maddie shot him a withering glare that had Greta and Piper laughing. Caleb and Maddie were both long-term Rush Creek locals.
‘That’s it,’ Piper said when they made it back to the nurses’ station.
Greta nodded. ‘A busy night.’
‘Busier than usual,’ Maddie confirmed, winking at Piper, who had a different busy scale compared to the rest of them. They’d joked about the energy levels she’d been able to maintain, especially when Mr Nerveler had been wheeled in.
‘Go home, you two,’ Greta said, shooing them out from behind the desk. ‘Get some sleep before the big event!’
Butterflies danced in Piper’s stomach. Christmas Eve was here and the bonanza was tonight. She was no longer counting down to singing in front of hundreds of people by herself in days, but in hours.
She followed Maddie into the staff room and to the wall of lockers to grab her bag.
‘Remember Gloria wants us there early for a run-through of all the songs.’ Piper closed her locker harder than she meant to.
‘Seems a bit weird to sing through all of them only to sing them again moments later with an actual audience.’
‘We won’t really get a run-through in,’ Maddie said, hoisting her bag onto her back.
‘If the other years are any indicator, we’ll sing a maximum of three songs then Gloria will be called away because there’ll be a squabble over the tent for the sausage sizzle being too close to the face painting tent then two wise men will lose their beards and we’ll end up having to glue new ones together.
Oh, and there won’t be enough ice for the drinks eskies. There’s never enough ice.’
Piper laughed. ‘Sounds like I should bring whatever’s in the freezer at home. Keen to keep this interesting? I’m betting we make it through five songs.’
‘It definitely wouldn’t go astray and you’re dreaming. It’ll be no more than three.’
‘Loser buys the drinks?’
‘Deal. Better get your wallet ready.’
‘We’ll see about that.’ They waved to Audrey and Cara as they came into the staff room. ‘I’m aiming for eight hours of sleep when I get home so I don’t resemble a walking zombie tonight.’
‘I’ll bring my favourite concealer,’ Maddie said. ‘Could make any zombie look human.’
Footsteps came down the hall and Emmett glanced over his shoulder to find Piper freshly showered, dressed in a bright blue polo shirt with Rush Creek Community embroidered on the breast and a pair of black pants that cut off halfway down her calf, showing off her long, lean legs.
Emmett knew if she turned around, he’d see the words Christmas Bonanza wrapped around a couple of bells inside a wreath on her polo.
It was the same design every year, only the colour changed, and damn, the blue looked good on her.
Her dark hair was hanging down her back, with the front bits tied back like a braided crown, and candy cane earrings dangled from her ears.
The closer she got, the faster his heart raced.
She was wearing more makeup than usual and the gold sparkles on her eyelids made her dark eyes seem bigger and deeper, drawing him in, her perfume intoxicating him.
He whipped his head back when her eyes connected with his.
He was in trouble.
‘You’re leaving that a little late,’ she said.
Emmett had only been home for an hour after his shift this morning and Piper had still been sleeping off her all-nighter.
He hated that things were tense between them and that he was to blame for it.
Hopefully, what he had planned would make up for that.
‘I’m almost done but this has to be the final one!’ Frustration seeped into his voice as he smacked the sieve with icing sugar in it over the gingerbread house. ‘I’m out of time and kits for a redo.’
Piper tilted her head as she studied the new house. He knew what she was thinking. It wasn’t as good as the one Major knocked off the table, but it wasn’t one of the worst he’d done.
‘Maybe you’ll get extra points if you give it a name like the Leaning House of Ginger?’
‘I don’t even care anymore.’
She laughed. ‘The Smarties definitely look better in that pattern.’
He lit up like a glowworm’s butt. She’d noticed. ‘I’m not going to lie, it was painful. I only did it to make you happy, so I’m glad you approve.’
Her cheeks pinkened in a way that made him feel proud to have put the colour there.
‘I do approve. I think you even stand a chance of winning because of it.’
‘I better. I may have asked Mayor Briggs who the judge was so I could invest in some serious bribery, but he remained tight-lipped. Guess I’ll have to win off my own merit.’
‘I guess you will.’ She smacked him playfully on the shoulder before heading into the kitchen. ‘I can’t believe that you, Emmett Coleman, would attempt bribery.’
‘I learned from the best, remember? I grew up with your brother.’
Piper’s face turned thoughtful as she headed for the fridge. ‘You don’t need to remind me.’
‘What does that mean?’ He peered out the window to check that Major was still tied up outside—the dog had no self-control around gingerbread—then moved from the table to stand at the bench.
She whirled around. ‘What do you see when you look at me? Who am I to you?’
Emmett rested his hands on the bench, leaning forward as sweat trickled down the back of his neck into his shirt.
‘You’re Piper,’ he said, slowly. ‘You’re one of the people who has known me the longest. I mean, there’s not much I wouldn’t do for Carter, I still consider him my best friend and you’re his sister so—’
Piper groaned loudly, cutting him off. ‘There it is. I’m Carter’s little sister.’
Emmett’s eyes widened and he froze. ‘You’re more than that.’
‘Forget it, Emmett.’
She spun around and wrenched open the freezer door, pulling out a bag of ice. Surprise that she’d fitted that in added to the mix of emotions swirling inside of him.
‘I’m heading up to the hall. We’ve got an early run-through, although Maddie reckons we won’t make it through all the songs before chaos erupts. I’m just going to walk down …’
‘I’m not needed until later, so I was going to drive down in a bit with this house.
Why don’t you leave the ice and I’ll take it in the car, then I can drive you back when it’s all done?
’ Did she want to be more to him? Was he making up this chemistry between them?
Had he absolutely stuck his foot in his mouth by bringing Carter up?
He needed to find words for all these questions, and he needed to find them now.
She whirled around and quickly stuffed the bag back in the freezer with surprising ease. ‘Sounds good. See you later.’
Move! Speak! Say something that matters! He pried his feet from the floor and followed her to the front door, where she was looping her shoulder bag over her head.
‘Piper, can we talk?’
‘I’m Carter’s little sister. Not much else to talk about.’
Her use of his words from the icing incident shot through him like an arrow from a hunter instead of Cupid. And then she left. Just like he had. Which was no less than what he deserved.
He let her go, ignoring the little voice that told him to chase after her. She obviously didn’t want to talk now but maybe when she saw what he was going to do for her, it would help.
Going back into the kitchen, he settled the tray with his finished gingerbread house on the bench and wiped down the table. The house wasn’t perfect but it was standing and colourful. It would do.
Heading down the long hallway to his bedroom, Emmett went straight for his walk-in wardrobe.
He loved his bedroom. It was the first room he’d renovated, polishing the floors, ripping out and redoing the bathroom and installing block-out blinds and an air-conditioning unit to make sure he could sleep whenever he needed to.
Glancing around it now, he was struck by how empty it was compared to Piper’s, a few doors down the hall.
Reaching up to the top shelf above the rod that held his hanging clothes, he pulled down the two bags of Christmas decorations then balanced the three neatly wrapped presents he’d bought for Piper—and the fourth for Major—on top.
He walked carefully back down the hall and spread out everything he’d purchased on the kitchen table before running back to grab the box with the Christmas tree he’d stashed behind his suit bag.
He knew exactly where he wanted to put everything. But he’d have to hurry to make it happen and get to the hall on time with the gingerbread house and the bag of ice.