“Hey, anyone here?” he called out and that was when he heard a muffled sound above his head. He looked up and at that moment something sounding big and heavy and metallic clanged its way down the chute. Quick as a flash Ransom ducked his head but just as he was about to swing away to safety he felt a rush of wind and caught sight of a black mass flying toward him.
He glanced away just in time to avoid a full frontal slam to his face but his luck ran out when the missile crashed into the side of his head.
The last thing he felt was his head splitting open and then he crumpled to the floor.
CHAPTER THREE
“E.R.’s not my thing. They know that.” Solie was not a happy camper as she strode purposefully down the hallway, a fellow nurse in tow. “As if I haven’t been under enough stress…” She didn’t have to say more. Her colleague knew exactly what she meant.
“Yeah, well, welcome to my world.” Anita shrugged as if this sort of thing happened to her every day. “I’ve been shifted around this hospital so much it’s like I’m a rolling stone. As soon as I get in the groove at one department, poof! They wave the magic wand and I’m off again.”
“But you know me, ‘Nita. I hate change.”
Anita shook her head. “True. But it’s not like we have a say in where they send us.”
“But my patients in palliative-"
“Come off it, Soledad. They say they’re short in E.R. so we just have to go. It’s not what we want to do, it’s what we’ve got to do.” Anita clucked her tongue at Solie.
As they rounded the corner that led to E.R. Solie sighed. “I know, girl. It’s not like I don’t. I’m just letting off steam, that’s all.” She bit her lip. “I’ve got a patient…I don’t want to be too far away. He…needs me near right now.” She surprised herself when she felt the sharp prick of a tear. Come on, Solie. No breaking down on the job.
Anita threw her a sympathetic look. “He’s getting close, is he?”
Solie nodded. “Real close. I want to be there in case he calls for me.”
“No family?”
“His wife’s been here since yesterday but she left half an hour ago. Poor woman. She’s exhausted.”
The conversation came to an abrupt halt when they got to the triage desk. Immediately, a frazzled looking nurse grabbed Anita by the hand and pulled her over to a waiting chair. “Cover for me,” she said, her brows furrowed in a frown. “I haven’t eaten all day and I have a splitting headache. I’ve got to go.” She raised a hand to her forehead then glanced over at Solie. “Dr. Delgado needs you on the trauma team. Get yourself over there right now.”
The woman didn’t have to say another word. Solie swung around, pushed through the swinging doors behind Triage and hurried to the trauma center. Where lives were concerned, particularly in an emergency department, there was not a minute to spare.
When she walked in three pairs of eyes swung toward her. The doctor gave her a curt nod. “Nurse Felix. Bed twelve, concussion. Check all vital signs and administer Percocet. Intravenous. Medication in one liter of solution. Go.” Not sparing her more than a glance the doctor dropped her eyes again to the patient lying on the stretcher, an oxygen mask covering the lower half of his face.
“Yes, doctor.” She was heading for bed twelve before the doctor had even finished barking out her instructions. She’d worked in E.R. before and she knew that rapid action was critical. She headed down the passageway to bed twelve, threw back the pale blue curtain and stepped forward.
What she saw made Solie freeze in her tracks. Dios! She knew the man lying in the bed. Eyes closed, his breathing shallow, there was a real vulnerability to him but there was no mistaking the rugged jaw, the wide forehead and the furrowed brow of her neighbor.
In that instant Solie’s heart pitched forward and slammed into her ribs. The shock made her suck in her breath, her palms suddenly growing moist. When she hurried to his side and stared down at his pale face all she could think was, Oh God, make him be all right. For some reason, seeing him like this made her feel faint. Why she was having this reaction, only heaven knew, but there was no time to think about that now.
She grabbed his chart and skimmed it quickly. Ransom Kent. Head injury on the job. Construction site. Hit on the head by a wrench? What the hell? He could have been killed. Involuntarily Solie’s eyes flew to him again and that was when she saw that he was wide awake and staring right at her.
For a split second he seemed confused, his brows knitting as his dark eyes focused on her, then a spark of recognition appeared and he blinked. “What are you doing here?” His voice was hoarse and gravelly, little more than a whisper. He didn’t wait for an answer. His frown deepening, he turned his head to glance around. “Where am I?”
“Stay still.” Quickly, Solie reached out to lay a firm hand on his arm. “You’ve suffered a concussion. You need to lie absolutely still right now.”
“Concussion?” He frowned and raised a hand to his forehead then he was looking around again, at his curtained-off temporary hospital room, the medical equipment and then the machines to which he’d been hooked up, totally ignoring her instruction to stay still. “How…” He frowned again, as if trying hard to remember.
“Please, just relax,” she said gently, and as she was talking she pulled the blood pressure machine close and began strapping the thick blue band around his upper arm. “You were rushed in from a construction site,” she explained quickly. “Head injury. You were hit on the head by a …wrench.” She could hardly get the last word out.
Her patient groaned. “Oh, yeah. I remember now. Something fell out of the chute and brained me.” He gave a soft chuckle then sank back into the pillows. “A wrench, was it?”
Why was he even laughing? “My God, you could have been killed.” The words flew out before she could stop them. She hadn’t meant to be unprofessional but she couldn’t help it. Didn’t he realize how close he’d come?