A Doctor's Trust (Lifeline Air Rescue Book 4)

by Scott, Laura

  “Yeah, but don’t you think you ought to give these kids the benefit of the doubt?” Zane persisted. “You’re so willing to believe the worst of them just so you personally won’t be disappointed. And you think I’m the selfish one?”

  His comment stung. “You don’t know anything about me. I care about these kids. Do you know how hard it is for me to find adults to volunteer at the community center? If I didn’t twist the arms of my friends, like Miguel and Kurt, we wouldn’t have any help whatsoever. The entire building would have been closed down long ago if I hadn’t done some serious lobbying with the mayor. So don’t you dare pass judgment on me, Zane Taylor.”

  “Okay, but keep in mind you’ve done nothing but pass judgment on me,” he countered in an even tone as he reached over to clasp her hand. “Jenna, I like you, and I admire you more than any woman I’ve ever met.”

  She opened her mouth to speak, but he tightened his grip and kept talking. “But I think you’re taking your attitude too far. Not all of the people who live in Barclay Park are bad and not all of the people who live on The Hill are good. You should know that better than anyone.”

  “I never said that.” Even to her own ears, her rebuttal sounded weak. There was a kernel of truth in what Zane had said. She was so aware of the potential dangers to Rae that she refused to see the good things that happened in Barclay Park. Maybe there weren’t as many good things that she’d like to see, but as Zane pointed out, it wasn’t totally horrible.

  “No, you haven’t said it out loud in so many words, but it’s how you act.” Zane’s grin was crooked. “The saying that actions speak louder than words may be a cliché, but it’s very true.”

  She tamped down a flash of annoyance. Her actions, volunteering at the community center, did speak loudly on her behalf.

  A harried-looking woman dashed into the double doors. “I need to see my son. Damien Goodman. Where is he? Is he all right?”

  Jenna pulled out of Zane’s grasp and crossed over. “Ms. Goodman, I’m Jenna Reed, and I’m the one who left you the message. Damien is doing pretty well, but they’ve taken him for a test.” She glanced over at Zane, silently asking for his help. “Dr. Taylor was with Damien while the doctors examined him. I’m sure he can fill you in on the details.”

  “I can’t see him?” Damien’s mother sent a pleading glance at the intake nurse. “Are you sure?”

  “I’ll find out how much longer until you can come in.” The nurse picked up the phone and made a call.

  Zane came over to join them. Jenna gratefully introduced him.

  “I was with Damien while the physician examined him. They took some blood to run tests and gave him some medication to slow his heart. His blood pressure was normal, and within a few minutes, he was already feeling better.”

  “I don’t understand. What happened?” Ms. Goodman seemed very confused.

  Jenna remained silent while Zane explained the series of events, from the incident on the basketball court to the ambulance ride to the most recent cardiac test Damien was undergoing.

  “Ms. Goodman?” The nurse behind the counter caught Damien’s mother’s attention. “Damien’s test has been completed. I can take you back to see him.”

  “Thanks for letting me know.” Damien’s mother shook Zane’s hand, then hurried after the nurse.

  Jenna smiled at Zane. ”Double thanks from me. I thought she was going to lose it there for a minute.”

  “I don’t think you would have been cool, calm, and collected if Rae was the one in the ER.” Zane reached for her hand again. She couldn’t make herself pull out of his grasp. “I don’t think we’re needed here anymore. Let’s go. I’m hungry. We’ll grab something to eat before I take you home.”

  It was on the tip of her tongue to insist on taking the bus, but she bit down hard. Maybe Zane was right. Maybe she was holding the fact that he didn’t grow up in Barclay Park against him. Was she really a reverse snob?

  Friends could share lunch and offer to drive someone home. It didn’t have to be a date. Still, she smoothed a hand over her braided hair and wished she wasn’t wearing shorts that had been washed so many times they threatened to fall apart at the seams.

  “Sounds good.” She concentrated on sounding casual, as if she wasn’t anxious to spend more time with Zane. Hesitant, she offered a shy smile. “I’m hungry too.”

  8

  Once Zane had convinced Jenna to eat lunch with him, he stressed over where he should take her. He immediately ruled out a nice place, especially as they both were dressed for basketball camp. Should he stop for fast food? He wasn’t picky, but he didn’t want Jenna to think she wasn’t worth something a little classier.

  After a long internal debate, Zane decided to compromise using his cell phone. He placed a take-out order from his favorite Italian restaurant, Giovanni’s.

  He glanced at Jenna from the corner of his eye. He still couldn’t believe she was actually there with him. During the basketball camp, Zane had been forced to admit the truth. His acute awareness of Jenna on a physical level couldn’t be ignored. He wasn’t going to be satisfied with just being her friend.

  But he needed to go slow, or he’d scare her off. And somehow he needed to break through the wall of isolation she built between them. Right now, he’d have to keep his attraction under tight rein.

  As they waited in Giovanni’s parking lot for their food, Zane searched for a neutral topic of discussion. “How are things going with Rae?”

  “Pretty good,” Jenna admitted. “She buckled down, completed her final exams, actually went to the graduation ceremony. Hopefully, she maintained decent grades, although she’s already been accepted into college.”

  Zane thought Jenna was a little too fixated on her sister attending college, but he held his tongue. Not only did Jenna have control issues, but he suspected she’d been hurt in the past. Badly.

  The thought bothered him. He wished he could spend just five minutes alone with the person who’d hurt her.

  “How many years are there between you and Rae?”

  “Six. We had different fathers, but neither of them stayed in the picture long enough to matter.”

  Shocked at her brutal honesty, he couldn’t think of a witty response. A rapping on his car window drew his attention, and one of the employees from Giovanni’s held up a large white bag containing their lunch.

  Zane rolled down his window to accept the food, passing the bag over to Jenna. He paid in cash, leaving a nice tip, then glanced at Jenna, who sniffed the contents of the bag with deep appreciation.

  “Yum. Smells great.”

  “How about we head over to the park?” Zane pulled out of the parking lot. “We can sit outside to feast on spaghetti and garlic bread.”

  “Okay with me.” Jenna opened the bag to peek inside. “If you want your share, you’d better hurry. I’m hungry.”

  He smiled and shook his head at her teasing. The park wasn’t far, and they found a nice, secluded spot. A comfortable silence fell as they delved into the meal.

  Zane pushed garlic bread and salad toward Jenna. At the rate her portion of spaghetti was disappearing, he figured he’d have to head back to Giovanni’s to request more.

  “Oh no, I’m full. Really.” Jenna held up her hand in protest. When he raised a brow doubtfully, her cheeks turned pink. “I know, it’s a bad habit of mine to eat fast. Blame it on working as an EMT. Seems like we always got a call during meal breaks.”

  “I can relate. The same thing often happens to us in the emergency department.” He grinned. “Not that we allowed anything to interfere with our appetite.”

  Jenna laughed. Her whole face lit up, and his chest tightened. She needed to laugh more often. “Trust me, we didn’t either. The only thing that ever bothered me was bugs.” She made a face. “They were the worst.”

  He could only imagine what sorts of things she witnessed as an EMT in Barclay Park. His chest squeezed as he thought of his younger sister. He didn’t want to go th
ere. Time to change the subject, and fast. “I was surprised your sister wasn’t at the center this morning.”

  “No, Rae had to work starting at ten this morning. She has a job at Carlson’s Custard for the summer.”

  “Really?” Zane couldn’t hide his surprise. He assumed Jenna worked so hard to provide for both of them.

  “Yes, really.” Jenna glanced at him in exasperation. “I don’t know why you’re shocked. Do you honestly think I pay for her cell phone and spending money? Get real.”

  He had to laugh. “Well, if she’s eighteen, it’s good she’s learning to be independent.”

  “Absolutely.” Jenna began packing up their empty containers. “Lunch was really good, Zane. Thanks for the impromptu picnic. But I should get back. Rae is due home soon.”

  He didn’t want to take Jenna home yet, but the determined glint in her eye forced him to help her gather their leftovers together. He stood, then held out a hand to assist Jenna to her feet. “If you insist. Although I thought maybe we could talk about when to reschedule the basketball camp.”

  They walked back to his car, dumping the garbage in a receptacle along the way. He held the passenger door open for her, then walked around the car to slide into the driver’s seat.

  “I have to check the calendar for the community center,” Jenna informed him. “I’ll pick a few dates, then you can tell me what works for you.”

  “Sounds good. If I need to switch a day off work, it shouldn’t be a problem.” Zane navigated the city streets, then headed toward Jenna’s house.

  He didn’t want the day to end, but he hadn’t asked a woman out for so long, he was out of practice. What movies were playing? He had no idea. Was there a Brewers baseball game going on in town? Did Jenna even like baseball? What did she do in her off time?

  Besides coaching at the MCCT?

  “Do you mind if I call the hospital about Damien?” Jenna pulled out her cell phone.

  “Of course not.” Zane listened as she called the emergency department at Children’s Memorial, then requested to be transferred through to Damien’s room. After speaking for a few minutes, she hung up.

  “Didn’t get to talk to Damien directly?”

  “No, he didn’t answer the phone in his room. The nurse told me that he was going to be admitted overnight for observation and additional testing.”

  “He’s probably getting those tests now.” Zane brushed a hand over her knee. “Don’t worry, I’m sure he’s fine. You can try again later.”

  “I know.” She smiled. “Hey, at least he wasn’t admitted to the ICU. That’s a good sign, right?”

  “Right.” Zane pulled into Jenna’s driveway. He threw the gear shift into park, then turned toward her. “Jenna, since we both have the night off, would you be willing to go see a movie with me? Unfortunately, I have no idea what’s playing, but I’m sure we can find something.”

  With her hand on the door handle, she glanced back at him. She shook her head, her expression full of regret. “I don’t have the night off. I’m working the graveyard shift for the local ambulance company.”

  “You mean as an EMT?” Zane frowned when she nodded. “But why? You’re a paramedic. Don’t you get enough hours at Lifeline?”

  “I do it for extra money, and sometimes it helps to work for two different companies. Lifeline is fully staffed at the moment, and you know Jared keeps an eye on the overtime we put in. Thanks for lunch and for all your help during basketball camp. I think the kids really learned a lot.”

  “Wait a minute.” He wanted to stop her from leaving, or to at least be invited in for a few minutes, but Jenna opened her car door and jumped out.

  “Gotta run. See you later, Zane.” As if he were no more than a casual acquaintance, she waved and slammed the door behind her, quickly disappearing into her house before he could so much as blink. Stunned, he stared after her. Jenna worked two jobs, yet she still didn’t have the money to repair her car.

  What else couldn’t she afford? He wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

  A FEW DAYS LATER, Jenna crawled from her bed early in the morning, glad she was scheduled at Lifeline for the day. Her EMT shifts at the ambulance company weren’t terrible, but given a choice, she’d take working for Lifeline every time. And not just because the pay was better. Working in close association with the nurses and physicians was a great learning experience for her.

  She’d been satisfied with being a paramedic until Zane had told her to consider going back to school. Now it seemed like she couldn’t think of anything else.

  Four years. She could still attend school after Rae graduated, right?

  Of course, she’d be four years older, too. Shaking her head at her foolishness, she headed into the bathroom and brushed her teeth. Her gaze landed on a cardboard box in the garbage can next to the sink. Curious, she bent closer.

  Her knees buckled, and she grabbed the sink with both hands.

  A home pregnancy test kit.

  For a moment, Jenna closed her eyes, hoping—praying—the image was just a trick of her mind. But when she looked again, the evidence was still there.

  Rae was pregnant. Or at least her sister thought she might be pregnant. All of Jenna’s hopes and dreams of Rae graduating from college disintegrated into dust at her feet. And suddenly she had to know. Right now. Either way. She pulled the box out and sifted through the debris, searching for the telltale test strip. Will the result still be visible? She was pretty sure it would. Not that she’d ever used one herself.

  The test strip wasn’t in there. She took everything out of the bin until it was empty. Nothing. What had happened to it? Was Rae hiding it? Somewhere in her room?

  Her sister had spent the night with her friend Claire, so she wasn’t in her bedroom. Feeling like a spy, Jenna poked through some of Rae’s things, but she didn’t find the telltale pregnancy test strip.

  A glance at her watch warned her she’d be late if she wasted any more time. She left Rae’s room, closing the door behind her. She hurried through a quick shower.

  After she was dressed in the navy blue Lifeline flight suit, she went down to the kitchen to find something for breakfast, although she wasn’t at all hungry. She hesitated, knowing she needed to eat because a twelve-hour shift was really long, but also knowing if she did, she’d probably throw up. What if Rae was pregnant? What would they do? How would they manage to take care of a baby? Pay for daycare?

  Panic swelled, nearly choking her. Jenna forced herself to remain calm. She grabbed a breakfast bar out of the cupboard, then headed outside to the bus stop.

  The bus lumbered down the street ahead of her, and she had to sprint to catch up before it left. Panting hard, she climbed on and sat down in the first open seat, avoiding eye contact with the other passengers.

  She stared blindly out the window, her thoughts whirling. Maybe the test was negative. Maybe she was worrying about nothing.

  Then again, maybe the test was positive and this was only the beginning.

  She squeezed her eyes shut, forcing back tears. College would be difficult enough for Rae, but there was no way Jenna could imagine her sister going to school while taking care of a baby. Especially when neither one of them could afford to quit their jobs. In fact, Rae had been granted a job in the college cafeteria to help offset the costs of her tuition.

  Selfishly, Jenna silently admitted, she didn’t want to take care of Rae’s baby. Not when she was looking forward to Rae going to college and landing a decent job. Not to mention dreaming about going back to school herself. Resentment burned a fiery path to her stomach. She stuffed the rest of her breakfast bar in her purse, her stomach rolling with nerves.

  Babies were a blessing. She knew that. Just as she knew she’d do whatever was necessary to help Rae get through this.

  No matter how impossible the task seemed.

  Somehow, she managed to get herself under control by the time the bus dropped her off a few blocks from Lifeline. She hurried inside, trying to push
her personal troubles into the dark recesses of her mind.

  “Hi, Jenna,” Zane greeted her with a smile.

  “Hey. How was your night? Did you get a lot of calls?”

  His eyebrow levered upward. “I didn’t work last night. I’m on with you today.” Zane’s voice was ridiculously cheerful. “Ethan and Kate were on last night.”

  “Oh. Great.” She couldn’t summon any enthusiasm for his benefit. Normally, she’d be nervous flying with Zane, but today she simply couldn’t find the energy to care.

  After helping herself to coffee from the lounge, Jenna headed into the debriefing room.

  “Hey, Zane, Jenna.” Ethan leaned back in his chair, looking tired. “If last night is any indication, you’re going to have a very busy day.”

  “A lot of trauma?” Zane asked.

  “Yeah, mostly. We started the night with an ICU to ICU transfer, then the trauma pager went berserk. We had three trauma calls back-to-back.”

  “Maybe you took all the trauma calls for the next twelve hours,” Jenna joked feebly. “Thanks a lot. Now we’re going to be bored out of our minds all day. You could have saved one trauma call for us.”

  “Hey, it’s not Ethan’s fault he’s a trauma magnet.” Kate laughed. “Our shifts are always like this.”

  “Any deaths?” Zane asked.

  Ethan shook his head. “Not so far.”

  Jenna stared into her coffee, barely listening to the banter. If she called Rae this early, would her sister answer? And if so, would her sister actually tell her the truth about her pregnancy?

  She reached into her flight suit, wrapping her fingers around her phone.

  “Jenna?” Zane put a hand on her arm, and she glanced up, belatedly realizing they were talking to her.

  “What?” She couldn’t hide her clipped tone.