Chapter 10
TEN
LEXIE
When they received word about the crash on the railroad tracks, Lexie felt her stomach sink.
She'd seen news coverage of similar accidents before and none of them were easy on the eyes.
Or her heart.
Even with the images cropped or worst of them covered by a bar censoring it, the story the image told was horrifying.
At least those news organizations didn't wantonly show blood or deceased bodies on the cover of their newspapers.
Unsure of how many survivors they would have, Doctors Kay Hata and Roan Ashley had deftly cleared the Emergency Room, shifting non-emergency patients to other departments.
It wasn't until they had radio communication with the one ambulance headed in their direction that the whole Emergency department had a moment to relax.
It wasn't a good moment.
On one hand, having a single ambulance headed their way meant that they could open to new patients coming into the E.R.
Some of the patients they'd assigned to other departments could easily come back if necessary.
The other side of the coin told the depressing story that those who could be saved were only what could fit in a single ambulance.
Quiet in an Emergency Room was a double-edged sword.
When Ambo Nineteen radioed in that they were approaching the Emergency Room with a child, Lexie was thrilled that Doctor Ashley asked her to go with him to assist with the incoming patient.
They reached the automatic doors early enough to see the ambulance climbing incline up to the receiving area.
Doctor Roan Ashley was one of the head surgeons at Cole Medical.
He and Doctor Hata traded off on the responsibilities of the job and Lexie was proud to be working with both of them during her shifts at Cole Medical Center.
"I've seen you with other children in the Emergency Room."
Lexie turned her head to look at the doctor, curious where he was going with his words.
"The child coming in from the accident is going to need someone calm. Someone who gets along with children."
She felt her cheeks warm at his words. "Everyone on shift is great. You can't go wrong with any of us."
He nodded. "If Thuy was on shift today, she'd be my first choice. She’s worked here in the Emergency Room for a few years, but since you started work here, I've seen the way children turn to you.
You have a calming influence with them. That's why I asked you to come and attend with me while we assess her condition. "
Lexie felt a kind of pride at his words.
She liked children.
Okay, she loved them, but feeling a certain way and having the other person feel the same way about you?
That was different.
She smiled remembering her insistence that she wanted a bear for a pet. Not a stuffed teddy bear, but a real furry creature of the forest.
Lexie had been absolutely sure that if she got one to raise, everything would be just fine.
Well, she'd learned after watching a few National Geographic videos that she might have overestimated how cuddly they were.
She'd never made the same mistake again.
Maybe that's why children seemed to like her.
She didn't expect them to like her because she liked them, but so far... so good.
As the ambulance pulled up, she saw Vega in the driver’s seat.
She really liked Vega and his partner Harmony. The two were like salt and pepper, matching with each other even though they were opposites in so many ways.
Ambulance Nineteen backed in and came to stop.
Roan reached forward and with Vega's help, they opened the back doors.
Harmony stepped down first and Lexie greeted her with a smile.
There might be time later for a conversation, but it was medicine first.
Lexie would follow Doctor Ashley's lead but also try to anticipate his efforts so he wouldn't have to wait unnecessarily for anything.
It wasn't hard with Doctor Ashley or Doctor Hata. Both trauma doctors were easy to get along with if you knew your stuff and Lexie?
She knew her stuff.
Harmony stepped aside with a smile for Lexie and started to give the rundown of the little girl's vitals as someone stepped down from the back of the ambulance.
At first, Lexie turned her head to see Vega moving back toward the driver's door.
That's when she turned to see who it was stepping down after Harmony.
The pants were unmistakable.
Bunker pants that firefighters wore on duty.
Above that was a pair of suspenders and a T-shirt that she'd been dying to steal and make her own.
"Lexie."
The warmth in his voice was enough to make her heat kick against her ribs, but when she saw the little girl in his arms turn and lock watery blue eyes onto her, Lexie completely melted.
Instead of reaching out to take the little girl into her arms, she put her hand on Kaleo's arm. "Let's get her inside, okay?"
He smiled at her and when she looked down at the little girl, her blue eyes were locked on Kaleo's face, reading his expression.
His smile was enough to reassure the toddler, and she relaxed in his arms.
Her fingers were still wrapped up in his T-shirt, but Lexie could see that the little girl's arms weren't as tense.
The automatic doors opened and they stepped inside.
The lights must have been a little too bright for the little girl. She turned her head into Kaleo's chest.
Lexie's steps slowed and she tilted her head a little, trying to catch the little girl's eyes. "Are the light bothering you, Sweetie?"
The little girl didn't answer, but Kaleo shrugged. "I don't think so. The lights inside the ambo are about the same brightness."
Lexie nodded, thinking.
"Was it the wind, maybe?" She looked back at Kaleo. "Maybe it dried out her eyes when you stepped out of the ambo and came inside?"
A brow lifted at that. "Maybe... I'm not sure."
Lexie jotted down a note. "I'll have Doctor Ashley check her eyes."
She reached out and opened the curtain a little wider. "Do we have a name?"
Kaleo shook his head. "Not yet."
Lifting his hand, he stoked her back. "Do you want to tell us your name?"
Instead of looking up, the little girl burrowed into his embrace.
"Sorry..." He shook his head but gave Lexie a smile. "She was in the back of the second car. We didn't see any injuries on scene. I covered her with my jacket before we pried open the door. The glass remaining in the window splintered even more, but she was covered."
"Mmmhmm." Lexie added the notes down on her clipboard. She leaned in and saw a few stickers on her dress. "Oh... looks like she has signs of sticker-itis."
The little girl turned her head toward Lexie, her eyes wider than before.
Lexie nodded. "Is that right? Do you have a case of sticker-itis?"
The little girl narrowed her eyes, a question plainly written in her expression.
"Have you heard of that before?"
A little head shake was her answer.
"Well," Lexie reached into the pocket of her scrubs on her left side and brought out the first sticker she touched, "it's when a little girl or boy is soooo good and helps us, they get a sticker every time they help. Do you think you have sticker-itis?"
There was a moment of thought where Lexie held her breath.
This could be a make it or break it moment.
If the little girl decided that she didn't want to play, it might make things difficult.
Kaleo spoke out of the blue.
"Can I help and get a sticker?"
Lexie barely held in her laughter. She didn't answer him directly.
She looked at the little girl, leaning in a little closer. "What do you think, sweetie? Should he get a sticker?"
Lexie bit into her lip as the little girl looked down and she could almost see the cogs turning in her head as she considered the question.
There were a few seconds when it looked like Kaleo was going to have to miss out on stickers, but then the little girl's eyes widened, and her mouth curved up at the corners.
"'kay."
It took everything inside of Lexie not to jump up with joy.
Nodding, she grinned back at the little girl. "Okay. Let's give him a sticker."
She held out the sticker, and the little girl took it from her fingers and handed it to Kaleo.
Kaleo took the sticker between his fingers and with one hand, separated the sticker from the backing.
Then he held it in front of the little girl.
Her gaze zeroed in on the sticker and then she released one hand from his T-shirt to pull the sticker free from the rest of the backing and with a surprisingly hearty amount of energy, she smacked it against his chest.
Kaleo didn't say anything, but he winced in pain.
"Wow, that sticker looks so pretty on him!"
The little girl grinned up at her like an imp. "Pretty."
Lexie smiled at that. "Very pretty."
The curtain slid to the side and Doctor Ashley stepped in.
The little girl in Kaleo's arms widened her eyes at the tall man wearing his teal set of scrubs.
She blinked a few times as he walked up, his hands holding his stethoscope.
Lexie smiled knowing that he was warming the metal just enough that it wouldn't startle the little girl too much.
"Hi there." He smiled at the little girl and like a good number of women who came in and out of the Emergency Room, she fell under the doctor's spell. "I'm Doctor Ashley. Who are you?"
The girl continued to blink, batting her eyelashes at the doctor in front of her.
She opened her mouth and then closed it again, her eyes started to fill with tears.
"It's okay, sweetie." Lexie leaned in and gently gave her back a gentle pat. "What if we give Doctor Ashley a little sticker so he doesn't feel bad?"
Her sweet little face brightened, and she nodded, her hair falling in and out of her face.
Lexie gave another sticker to Kaleo and then reached into her other pocket for a hair tie.
"We're going to have to tame your hair at least."
It was bit of chaos after that, but who said chaos couldn't be good.
Between Kaleo, Doctor Ashley, and herself. They managed to examine a little girl and have her almost laughing out loud by the time they were finished.
And that was when the bad kind of chaos rolled into the Emergency Room.
DUKE