Chapter 56
My feet are aching, and I haven’t stopped since I got here. Offering to take Bonnie’s ER shift has been a flashback to my Seattle days. The ER here is a far cry from Seattle and the slower pace of the burn unit. Working in the ER reminds me why I like doing what I do now. But I work with Bonnie frequently on my floor so when she asked if I would swap with her, and in turn she’d take my Saturday shift I jumped at the chance. I’m not working at Shifty’s this weekend and a whole Saturday off with Hollie is rare.
I’m not even regretting it now as I wolf down a turkey sandwich from the vending machine on my first break seven hours into my shift, but I will have had my fill of the ER by the end of the night, I’m sure.
I plop myself down in the breakroom and pull my phone out only to find it’s dead. The charger I use at work is sitting comfortably at the nurses’ station on the 5th floor which is just too far for my aching feet. I decide to go the old-fashioned route, picking up the receiver in the break room, I call my mother’s cell only to find out that Troy brought Hollie back early, saying he had to head back to Seattle. I shake my head and make a mental note to call that lawyer on Monday and get the ball rolling on custody.
“That ex-husband of yours is a real piece of work,” my mom says.
I sigh and rub my temples.
“I thought after we talked yesterday that maybe he was actually going to make it through today’s visit without bringing her back early,” I tell her, taking another bite of my dry sandwich.
My mom scoffs. “Leopards don’t change their spots, honey. My thoughts? He wants something from either you or Hollie. Best thing you did was come back home,” she says.
“I know,” I say as one of my colleagues pokes her head into the break room.
“Sorry, Vi, I know you just sat down.”
“Mom, I gotta go,” I tell her, then hang up.
“We need you, MVA off Yarmouth coming in any second,” she says.
I stuff the rest of my sandwich into my mouth and rise on my aching feet before heading back out into the busy ER. But the moment those doors open I stop dead in my tracks and feel like I might pass out. The face on that gurney, bloody and battered, is Troy’s.
My eyes meet his from across the room but I don’t have time to talk to him because I’m being told to assist the girl who came in with him. Her right arm is going to need surgery for the deep lacerations.
I get one glimpse of Troy’s eyes as he’s pushed to the opposite side of the ER, and I go through the double doors with his passenger wondering why the hell he’s still in Sky Ridge.