Sean: Denver Royalty (Book 3)

by Sheridan Anne

  And not ten minutes ago, a man came in with stab wounds. I desperately wanted to work on him but I just missed out. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a total travesty but at the same time, it would have been awesome. I, however, got stuck with cleaning up the spilled blood lining the hallways.

  I’m five hours into the shift and things have finally started to slow down so I can take a well needed rest. I collapse down into the chair behind the reception desk and try my hardest not to fall asleep on the desk.

  I pull my phone out and check Tinder for the hundredth time over the last few days. Nope, nothing. I have no idea why I’m being such a baby about this. The guy clearly isn’t interested, or maybe he hasn’t checked his Tinder Account, who knows? I just wish I could move on. I mean, why the hell is this freaking me out so much? I shouldn’t even be concerned about it. I don’t even know the guy.

  I put my phone away and grab a stack of paperwork to get a head start on the patient reports in my down time, when Sue, the night time supervisor, sticks her head around the corner. “Gigi,” she says, gaining my attention.

  I look up and give her a smile “What do you need?” I question.

  “Do you want to go get something to eat?” she asks.

  “Oh, sure,” I say just as there’s a commotion at the door. “Perhaps not,” I grumble as I fly to my feet to investigate what the hell is going on.

  I gasp as a man barges his way through the door with a child in his arms. “Help me,” he demands of anyone who would listen. “She can’t breathe.”

  Shit.

  I rush forward and scoop the little girl out of his arms and rush to find a spare bed. “Why?” I question of the man as the girl attempts to suck in a breath making it clear her airway is somehow blocked. I mean, is she choking? Does she have a crushed windpipe?

  “Severe asthma,” the man replies as I place his child down on the bed. “She’s already had a few doses of her Ventolin tonight,” he adds.

  Shit. This isn’t good. “Page the doctor,” I call to Sue.

  The little girl’s eyes flutter as tears pool in the sides. The poor thing must be terrified.

  I got about checking the little girl over praying we don’t have to intubate her. I open her mouth and double check for any foreign objects, just in case. After a thorough check, it’s safe to say it’s definitely an asthma attack. “How old is she?” I question.

  “Three,” he rushes out.

  “Get me a Corticosteroid Injection,” I call out to Sue as she enters the room.

  She jumps straight into action and prepares the injections. “What’s that?” the man demands as he sees the needle.

  “A steroid injection that will act the same way as the Ventolin,” I tell him. “It helps relax the muscles around her airway.”

  He nods his head and I don’t give him a second thought as I work on saving his daughter. I insert the needle and the little girl flinches in pain.

  I lightly rub the injection site, willing the medicine to work its magic.

  “Thank God,” I sigh as the girl finally takes a breath. It’s not a great breath, but it’s enough to give her small body the oxygen it so desperately needs.

  The father rushes to her and instantly pulls her into his arms as tears of relief fill his eyes. He should probably give her the space she needs, but I’ll allow a small hug, after all, what parent wouldn’t be doing that in this situation? “Oh, thank God,” the man breaths as he holds onto his daughter for dear life.

  The little girl cries in his arms as I find her a glass of water. I hand it over to the father and he takes it eagerly before holding it up to the little girl’s lips. Once she’s done, the man places the plastic cup down on the end of the bed before looking up at me.

  I finally get a good look at the guy and my whole world stop. It’s the Tinder guy, Sean.

  Holy shit, holy shit. I’m nothing short of mortified. My eyes desperately want to roam up and down his body, wanting to get a good look at the body I know is hiding under those clothes but I force myself to keep it professional.

  “Thank you,” he says to me with every ounce of emotion in his body radiating out of his dark eyes.

  I’m completely thrown off guard and it’s obvious by the way he’s looking at me that he has absolutely no idea who I am. And if he does, he’s way too caught up in his daughter to make the connection.

  “That’s what I’m here for,” I tell him with a friendly smile before turning my face and waiting just outside the open door.

  Crap. How rude was that? I didn’t talk to the little girl, I didn’t offer my name. Shit, he must think I’m awful.

  The doctor finally makes his appearance up the hallway and I walk to meet him in the middle. “Three year old with severe asthma, has had four attacks tonight. Arrived struggling for breath. I administered a dosage of Corticosteroid.”

  “Excellent. What’s the condition of the child now?” he questions as we near the room.

  “Good. Stable.” I reply.

  “As efficient as ever, Gigi,” he says before disappearing into the room.

  I follow him in just in case he needs anything and listen in. “Hi, I’m Dr. Richards,” he says as he offers Sean his hand.

  “I’m Sean,” he says reaching out to shake the doctor’s hand. “This is Georgia.”

  You’re kidding. I share a name with the guy’s kid. Could this whole situation be any more coincidental?

  “I understand your daughter has been suffering severe asthma attacks?”

  “Yes, that’s correct,” Sean says. “She had three at home that were manageable with her inhaler. That’s when I brought her here. The fourth attack started in the parking lot and then, um,” he says, indicating towards me with his hand.

  “Gigi,” the doctor supplies.

  Sean’s eyebrows furrow at the name but he continues on. “Thanks. Gigi gave her an injection and she was able to breathe again.”

  “Good,” Dr. Richards says before stepping up to little Georgia and pressing his stethoscope to her chest. The room falls into silence as the doctor concentrates. “Alright,” he says to Sean, “I think it’s best we get her admitted and keep her for observation.”

  Sean nods while the doctor turns to me. “Can you get that sorted?”

  “Sure,” I smile before he disappears.

  With Sean occupied by his upset child, I exit the room and head back to the waiting room. Sue hands me the clipboard with all the paperwork Sean is going to have to fill out. “I figured you’d need this,” she says with a knowing smile.

  “Thanks,” I say on a yawn as I take the clipboard and head back to Georgia’s room. I knock as I enter the room before handing Sean the paperwork and a pen with instructions to hand it back to the reception desk.

  I go about grabbing extra pillows and blankets from the supply closet, figuring that Sean will most likely climb in bed with his daughter. I make sure they have everything they need before I get my ass out of there.

  I’m halfway up the hall when his deep voice calls after me. “Um, Gigi, is it?”

  I turn around to face the most delicious man I’ve ever laid eyes on and try my hardest to be professional. “Yes,” I smile. “Is there something you need?”

  “No, um. We’re fine, it’s just that…,” he cringes as he rubs the back of his neck. “Have we met? I mean, I know your face from somewhere.”

  Fuck me, this is not happening.

  “Um, no,” I smile. “I don’t think so.”

  “I’m sure of it,” he says. “Sorry, if it wasn’t for all this shit with Georgie I’d probably be able to figure it out.”

  I give him a tight smile. “I’m certain, we’ve never met before.”

  He gives me a curious look that tell me he thinks I’m wrong. If only he would check his Tinder account.

  I excuse myself and head back up the hallway. I take the risk and peek over my shoulder to see him still looking after me, trying to figure it out. He catches my eyes before turning and heading
back into his daughter’s room.

  Looking around the ER, I see that everything is calm and under control, so, I deem it safe to finally get myself some dinner. The second I finish annihilating my food, I pull my phone out and hash out a text.

  Gigi – Dude. The Tinder guy is here. He’s fucking dreamy.

  Her reply comes through almost instantly and I realize she must be playing on her phone, probably swiping through Tinder looking for tonight’s sausage.

  Mel – Take him to the on call room and fuck him sideways.

  I practically snort my lemonade all over the table while trying not to laugh like a damn hyena.

  Gigi – Sorry, I’m not a slutty whore like you are.

  Mel – You only wish you were. Go talk to him, get his number.

  Gigi – No, he’s got his kid with him, she’s absolutely gorgeous and besides, he didn’t respond to the whole Tinder thing. He’s not interested.

  Mel – Of course, he has a gorgeous kid, she has his DNA. Believe me, any guy would be stupid not to be interested in you.

  Gigi – What a joke!

  Mel – Call it like I see it, bitch.

  I’m about to respond when a new patient comes through the ER doors. I drop my phone into my pocket and get back into action. After all, helping people is what I do. What I love. I just wish my newest patient wasn’t struggling with a gastro bug.

  I busily get on with my duties as another three gastro patients come through the door. Just perfect, a gastro outbreak. Exactly what we need floating around here.

  I do my best to avoid heading in to see Georgia, but there’s only so many times I can do that. Her chest needs to be listened to and we need to make sure she doesn’t go spiraling into her fifth asthma attack for the night.

  I step into her room a few hours later to find Sean sitting up in the bed, wide awake with Georgia wrapped in his arms. I take the little girl in and see she looks exhausted. In fact, they both do. Her little eyes flutter and she moans in her broken sleep. Watching her struggle breaks my heart and I find myself growing attached to this beautiful little girl that I only met a few hours ago.

  Sean gives me a tight smile as I go around the room, completing all my duties. I exit the room again wishing there was something more I could do for this little girl, but it’s not like there’s a magical cure for asthma. It’s just something she’ll have to struggle with throughout her life.

  A few hours later, I find myself pushing through the door to my apartment. I walk down the hallway and pass the bathroom. I hover in the doorway, looking longingly at the shower but know I’m way too exhausted to have one. It will have to wait until tomorrow.

  “Is that you, Gi?” I hear Mel calling from within her room.

  “Yeah, just me,” I reply as I groggily make my way down past her room and push through the door to my own.

  “Did you fuck Mr. Dreamy?” she questions.

  “No,” I groan. “Go back to sleep.”

  “Mmkay,” she mumbles through the wall.

  I see my bed before me and it’s almost as if it’s calling out to me, begging me to climb in. I strip out of my clothes, not bothering with pajamas and slip in between the cold sheets.

  I shiver for the smallest moment before my body temperature finally warms up the sheets. I find myself thinking back to Sean and Georgia, I know I’ll never see them again, but I can’t help but feel torn about it.

  Every now and then, you’ll come across a patient who tears your heart out, and Georgia was one of them for me. She doesn’t deserve to suffer like this. I can only imagine how terrifying it must be for both her and Sean.

  I feel helpless.

  With a sigh, I push the thoughts away and finally drift off in a well deserved sleep.

  Chapter 5

  Sean

  What a shit night.

  My arms are stiff from holding onto a sleeping Georgie all night, but every time I would try to wriggle out from under her, she’d wake. Then the nurses would come in and wake her, then the doctor would come and wake her. It fucking sucked. I just want to take her home.

  I’ve never been so terrified in my life. She’s had an awful fucking night with her asthma, the worst one so far. She’d had three attacks at home then cried and cried. So, I did what any other responsible parent would do and took her straight to the hospital.

  She didn’t want to be out of my arms so the second I strapped her into her car seat she screamed. She was so tired and exhausted, all she wanted to do was sleep.

  I raced to the hospital knowing the screaming wasn’t going to be good for her lungs. We’d just pulled into the parking lot when she gasped for breath and my world stopped. I turned around and the look of terror on her face will forever stay with me. My little girl couldn’t breathe. She kept trying and trying to suck in a breath but it just wasn’t happening for her. Her eyes were wide and I could see her wordlessly begging for me to make it stop.

  I think I had parked my truck up on the curb right in front of the Emergency Room door. I can’t even be sure if I cut the engine or not. All I know is that I had to get my baby help.

  I practically ripped her out of her car seat before running into the Emergency Room and screaming for help. Some woman, Gigi, came and took her from my arms and I had to stop myself from holding on longer.

  Gigi raced and nearly threw her down on the bed in her rush to get her breathing. She looked her over, asked a few questions that I can’t for the life of me remember and then gave her the injection that saved her life.

  I could have kissed the woman right then. She’d saved my baby girl and I don’t know how I’ll ever repay her. Though, I don’t know if I conveyed that message to her, I was so caught up with everything happening with Georgie that I don’t even know if I was a pleasant human being.

  I find myself back in the present when Dr. Richards comes in and checks over Georgie, letting me know she’s doing fine and will get the nurse to prepare the discharge papers.

  “Thank goodness, Bub,” I say to Georgie. “We get to go home soon.”

  She smiles up at me in relief as the nurse with the breakfast cart comes around and offers Georgie a plate. She greedily accepts and instantly starts munching down.

  I sit impatiently waiting on the end on Georgie’s bed, desperate to get out of here. I look down at my watch and groan. I need to be in court in three hours.

  I pull my phone out and dial Logan’s number.

  “What’s up?” he answers on the third ring.

  “You got any plans today?” I ask, knowing it’s the hockey off-season and he should be taking it easy for the next few months.

  “Nope. As free as a bird,” he tells me. “Why?”

  “You think you guys could watch Georgie for me? I’ve got to head into court.”

  “Sure, but doesn’t Georgie usually go to daycare today?” he questions.

  “Usually, yeah,” I explain. “We had another bad night. She ended up in the hospital unable to breath.

  “Fuck,” Logan curses, cutting off my explanation of our horrendous night. “Is she okay?”

  “Yeah, she’s doing alright but I just need her to be with someone I can trust, especially today. I’ve got the Sanchez case and I can’t afford to be distracted.”

  “Sure thing, man.”

  “Thanks,” I breathe. “We’ll be there in roughly an hour.”

  I end the call and am delighted when a nurse comes in and gives me all the discharge papers. I get straight to work and sign everything that needs to be signed before collecting Georgie and leaving the room.

  I’m halfway down the hall when a thought hits me.

  I stop at the reception desk and come face to face with a nurse. “Hi, uh… Mel,” I say as I look down and quickly read her name badge.

  She gives me a welcoming smile and something in her eye tells me she has a secret. “Hi there,” she says politely. “How can I help you?”

  “Look, I know this is probably a long shot but I was wondering if the
nurse who took care of my daughter was here? I’d like to thank her.”

  “Really?” she questions as her smile widens. “That wouldn’t be Gigi, is it?”

  “Yeah, that’s her. Is she around?” I question.

  “No, actually. She isn’t,” she says with a cringe before quickly looking around. I can practically see the lightbulb go off in her mind as she looks to me with a knowing smile. She pulls her phone out and quickly writes something down.

  “Here,” she says, handing me the little piece of scrap paper. “That’s her number, but don’t tell anyone you got it from me.”

  “Thanks,” I smile, gratefully as I look down at the paper and see Gigi’s number scrawled across in black marker.

  “Fank you,” Georgie says in that beautiful little voice that I adore.

  Mel’s eyes flick to Georgie and take her in. “My, oh my, you certainly are gorgeous, aren’t you?”

  Georgie giggles at the compliment and I say a quick goodbye to the woman before heading out to the parking lot. The first thing I notice is that my truck is no longer blocking the entryway and I cringe, thinking it must have been towed away.

  “Hey,” a man says at my right. I turn to find a paramedic heading my way. “You looking for your truck?”

  “Yeah, you know where it is?” I say with a cringe as Georgie looks over to the ambulance and nearly loses her shit.

  He digs into his pockets and pulls out a very familiar set of car keys and tosses them my way. “I parked it round back,” he tells me with a nod.

  “Thanks, man. I’m sorry to have left it there like that,” I tell him.

  “It’s no problem. It happens more than you’d think,” he says before giving Georgie a fond smile. “Just keep her healthy.”

  “Will do,” I say feeling completely overwhelmed by his kindness. I give him another thankful smile before leaving and making a mental note to buy the guy a case of beer.

  I get us home and before I know it, I’m dressed in my suit and stopping by Logan’s ridiculously massive home.

  Georgie jumps out of my truck and makes her way up the stairs as I follow behind with her bag. She indicates for me to pick her up so she can reach the doorbell and press it over and over again until Logan appears at the door.