Joseph and George had been at the hospital for a total of four days. She checked on them every chance she got, but she’d been careful to avoid Austin. It hadn’t been easy, but so far, so good. She’d also been able to see Cassie often, and lend a shoulder for her grief filled friend.
With each passing day, the stress lifted a bit, though. Every time the men made it through another night, they each got stronger.
“Thank you,” Kinsey mumbled.
“George Anderson is showing signs of improvement. At the family’s request we’ve moved him to a room where his brother can be placed with him. We’re going to bring George out of his coma tonight. Joseph is stable now, enough to be moved. The family believes it will help the twin brothers heal faster, if they are next to each other.”
“That’s wonderful news,” Kinsey replied. She didn’t know why her supervisor was telling her this, though. She knew some of the news already, because Cassie had told her, but there was no need for her to tell her supervisor that.
“You look confused. I understand. We don’t normally share this information with the staff, but the family has insisted on you being the charge nurse for Joseph and George, since you have experience in both the ED and ICU, and of course, since you saved Joseph’s life. With the amount of money they’ve provided this hospital, they can make a request for the moon and we’re going to try our best to get it for them. Asking for you to be their charge nurse is an easy request to fill.”
Kinsey felt both honored and yet terrified at the same time. What if something happened to either of the men while on her watch? She was confident in herself, knowing she was great at her job, but these weren’t regular patients. Both men were loved by so many people. It was a huge weight on her chest to be the primary nurse in charge of their care.
Then, there was Austin. How could she possibly avoid him if she was caring for his father and uncle each day? She had no choice but to accept the offer, though.
“Joseph and George will be your main priority during this time. You’ll work twelve hour shifts, six days a week. I know you’ve been asking for all the overtime you can get. Well, you’ve now gotten it. The family knows you need to sleep, but they’ve requested for you to stay nearby so if anything goes wrong, you can be on-call. They’ve been very generous with supporting the extra funding to pay for the added expense.”
“I’m honored,” Kinsey finally replied.
“Your shift starts tomorrow at seven. Go home, get some rest, and pack what you need. It’s going to be a long week. I have a feeling this assignment won’t be a short one. Although George is recovering well, Joseph…” she trailed off. No one on staff liked to jinx a patient, even if the situation looked hopeless.
“Thank you,” Kinsey said before she made her way from the room. She’d just have to do the best she could for both of her patients and herself. Austin was just a guy, right? He didn’t hold control over her. She could handle being around him in a professional environment. She wouldn’t be affected by him. She didn’t even like him.
As she gave herself a little pep talk, her stomach clenched. She knew she was lying to herself. She wanted to see him, to be near him. She just didn’t want to want that.
A few hours later, Kinsey stood by as the doctors carefully removed his breathing tube, then weaned off the medicine to bring George out of his coma. As he slowly came to, his family crowded the room, worried looks on each of their faces.
“Dad?” Bree questioned as his eyes fluttered open.
“Bree?” he muttered, his voice raspy.
“Dad! Thank goodness,” Bree cried as she pushed past a nurse and knelt beside her father’s bed. The largest tears of gratitude, relief and thanks fell from her rounded doe eyes as a delighted smile turned up the corners of her mouth. “I’ve been so worried. You have got to quit scaring me like that,” she demanded.
“Joseph?” he croaked.
“He’s right next to you, Dad. Look to your left. See, right there,” she answered while pointing to his bed.
“Okay?” he asked.
“He’s stable, Dad. He’s doing really well. They got the problem fixed, but he’s in a coma right now. I don’t want you to worry. The hospital’s taking excellent care of him. He’s just worked too hard for too long, and this is his body’s way of telling him he needs a nice long nap,” Bree said.
George had a tear in his eye, but the corners of his mouth lifted at his daughter’s positive attitude. He finally looked up, and smiled more when he saw that all of his family was there.
“We’ve missed you, Dad. I agree with Bree. You need to start taking better care of yourself,” Trenton said as he stepped forward.
“Yeah. Aunt Katherine said there are no more joy rides for you two,” Max added as he came and squeezed his father’s hand.
“Not unless you want to face her wrath, that is,” Austin added.
“That’s right, George Anderson. You certainly won’t be getting any more joy rides. I can’t handle seeing you in a hospital bed twice in such a short amount of time,” Katherine said as she sat in the chair next to his bed. “I’ve missed you, my friend. Your brother is strong. Bree’s right, he’s simply catching up on some much needed rest. What I need from you is to not worry about him. I need you to get better, so you can help me bring Joseph back.”
George’s eyes filled and spilled over at Katherine’s words.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered.
“You will not do that, George. I won’t allow you to take any of the blame. It wasn’t Joseph’s or your fault. It was that disgusting man who made a conscious decision to drink too much, and then decide to get behind the wheel of a vehicle. Sadly, for his family, he won’t be coming home. He was selfish and now his poor children have to bury their father. I am thanking God daily that you and Joseph are still with me. Now, I better not hear even one more apology from you,” she scolded, looking him in the eye.
“I love you.”
“I love you too, George. You know you’ll always be one of my best friend’s. For some reason, seeing you in the checkered hospital gown reminds me of when we were in our twenties, dancing all night and laughing until dawn. You must have had a button up shirt with a similar pattern. But enough of the past. We need to focus on now and getting you out of here. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” he said, a small but genuine smile appearing.
“George!” Esther cried as she walked into the room, her face lit up. “You’re awake,” she finished as she quickly moved to sit next to Katherine.
She and George stared into each other’s eyes, before Esther seemed to realize everyone in the room was watching them.
“I’m so happy to see you talking,” she said as she quickly sat back, looking uncomfortable.
“Thanks for coming,” George whispered, looking at Esther, then his eyes roamed across the room, including everyone in his heartfelt appreciation.
Kinsey stepped outside the doors so they could speak privately. What a beautiful family they made.
Chapter Four
An entire week and he’d been on his best behavior. In and out. Out and in. More in than out.
Torture!
Austin watched as Kinsey walked into the room for the fourth time that day, and felt his muscles tense. He’d tried talking to her several times, but she was great at giving him her most professional smile before turning her back to him. He was getting sick of playing Mr. Nice Guy.
“Kinsey, I need to discuss a few things about my father with you. I haven’t had a chance to eat yet so let’s do it over lunch,” Austin said, knowing he was putting her on the spot.
Her supervisor was in the room and he knew Kinsey couldn’t refuse without looking bad. He wasn’t stupid. He’d timed his request well.
“I don’t have a lunch break for another hour,” she hedged, then went back to checking on George’s vitals. She was smart, not giving him a refusal, but certainly dismissing him.
“You can go early if Mr. Anderson needs to discuss the patient with you,” her boss offered. Austin gave Kinsey’s boss his thousand-watt smile, feeling pretty smug when the older woman blushed.
“Thank you,” Kinsey replied, but he could see she was seething.
Good, he thought. He liked her even more when her hackles were up. He shifted in his seat as his pants became a bit uncomfortable. His gaze never left her as she took her time finishing in the room.
Finally, with a glare in his direction, Kinsey exited the room, making him have to rush to catch up to her. She ignored him as they silently walked down the long hallway toward the cafeteria. Once inside, she took a tray and started grabbing food from the shelf. It didn’t look like she was paying the least bit of attention to her choices. Seemed to him she was just trying to get the meal over with. Well, he’d have to eat extra slow then, because they were going to have it out, one way or another. He could think of one thing they could do to relieve the tension between them.
“What’s so important we had to speak outside of the room?” Kinsey asked as soon as they were seated. He watched as she stirred her coffee, repeatedly swirling the spoon around repeatedly until he placed his hand over hers.
“I’m not as bad as you think. I don’t know why you’ve been trying to make me a villain since our incredible night together. You were right there with me, and if I do recall correctly, quite satisfied,” Austin said, ignoring her question.
Kinsey gasped as she tried to pull her hand from his. He gripped it tighter. She finally let go of the spoon and allowed their joined fingers to rest on the table. Finally, she looked up and met his eyes.
“Look, Austin, I understand how you may think I’m someone that I’m not. I don’t do one night stands. I don’t have affairs. I have a career to think about, a great family, and believe it or not, a reputation to uphold. I think it's best if you get over this idea you have of me, so we can both go on our merry ways.”
“Sorry, but that doesn’t work for me. First of all, I’ve never accused you of being the ‘one-night-stand’ kind of girl. Secondly, I wasn’t asking you for a cheap affair. And thirdly, I’m not exactly chopped liver. My family is respected in this community, and contrary to what you might think, I care about my reputation as well.”
“Hah!”
Her childish outburst made Austin grin. He looked at her as he fought the laughter wanting to spill out. She was the most intriguing woman he’d ever had the pleasure of meeting. He couldn’t seem to stop chasing her. Maybe that was why he was so intrigued. He was usually the one being chased. It was nice to feel like a man – to hunt his prey. He felt like jumping on the table and pounding his chest. His grin grew bigger.
After a moment of silence, Kinsey’s lips twitched as she looked at him. Maybe she was realizing how bull-headed she was acting.
“Okay, I can concede that you’re not the devil. I’m still not interested in dating you, though.”