by Molly Evans
Gina and Thomas departed, approaching the elevator in silence. Gina pushed the button and stared at the numbers on the panel. This man made her uncomfortable. Just standing with him, waiting for the ancient elevator, had her stomach churning. Something about him was very attractive to her, but knowing who he was and the type of lifestyle he came from made her squash any attraction that was beginning to form. She reached out to press the button again. “Why is this thing so slow?”
“Why are you in such a hurry?” he asked, more convinced than ever that there was more to Gina’s story than she was letting on. Bad marriage? Bad divorce, like him?
The elevator doors opened, and they stepped into it. “Are you OK?” Thomas asked, observing her closely. She wouldn’t meet his gaze, and she hugged her arms around her middle.
“I spent quite a bit of time with Mr Jones, and I just need to get back to the ER. I don’t want to get off on the wrong foot on my second day here.” Gina shoved her hands into her lab coat and fidgeted in the narrow space. He didn’t want to make her any more uncomfortable than she already was, but there was definitely something bothering her.
“That’s not a problem. It’s been quiet this morning.” He hesitated, then looked at her. “You seem a little on edge, though. Are you sure you’re OK?”
Gina gave him a surprised glance. “What makes you ask that?”
He shrugged. “I read people well.”
“And you’re reading something into me?” She’d only been here two days and already she was falling into the same trap she’d fallen into years ago. No way was that happening again.
Before she could respond, the doors to the elevator opened.
“Gina! Thomas!” Rhonda cried, and motioned for them to hurry. “Trauma coming through the door right now.”
Thomas and Gina raced behind Rhonda. Rhonda ushered the family members away and left just the medical team to work on the patient, a young male who appeared to be about sixteen years of age.
Gina hooked up the cardiac monitor and oxygen and started an IV in his blood-covered hand. Though he was unresponsive she talked to him anyway, telling him what she was doing.
“Who knows what happened?” Thomas asked.
“The mother is here, but she’s pretty upset,” the respiratory therapist said.
“Get her in here,” Thomas said, and placed his stethoscope over the patient’s chest. “We need as much information from her as possible.”
Gina picked up the phone and called the nurses’ station. “We need the mother—now.”
Seconds later Rhonda escorted a woman near hysterics into the trauma room.
“What happened to your son?” Thomas asked, not looking up as he continued to examine his patient.
“I don’t know! Someone dumped him in my driveway looking like this, and I brought him straight here.” She sobbed into her hands. “Is he awake?”
“Not yet,” Rhonda said. “They’re going to be working on him for a while yet.”
“This looks like a gang beating,” Gina said, and shot a glance at the mother. “I’ve seen this in other cities. From what you said last night,” she added to Thomas, “our little town can’t avoid it for ever.”
“My son is not in a gang,” the mother protested, glaring at Gina. “We don’t have gangs here. Hidden Valley is too small.”
“Richmond’s not that far away.” Gina knew it, she’d seen it, and hoped this mother would face her son’s problems quickly. Denial would only get her so far and then she’d have to face it or deal with the consequences down the line.
“No. It can’t be,” she cried, and shook her head. “He’s just a boy.”
“I’m sorry this is such a shock for you. But I just cut off his clothing and found this.” Gina exposed the markings on his deltoid for her to see herself.
The mother gasped and pointed a trembling finger at the tattoo clearly defined on her son’s arm. “I don’t know what that is, but it’s not a gang.”
“Has he been using any drugs that you’re aware of?” Gina spread the boy’s fingers apart, examining them for signs of drug use, but found nothing.
“No.” She shook her head and looked as if her world was about to fall apart. “I don’t know what’s going on.”
“Right now we need to focus on stabilizing him. We’ll work out the details later,” Thomas said. “Rhonda, why don’t you take her back to the waiting room?”
“I’ll come get you when you can see him, I promise,” Gina said, trying to offer the woman some support, though thinking of her son this way was obviously painful. “What’s his name?”
“Terrence,” the mother whispered. After touching his shoulder, she leaned heavily on Rhonda as they left the trauma room.
“Well, Terrence,” Thomas said to the unresponsive patient, “you’re in a world of trouble.” He turned to Gina. “Let’s get a CAT scan. I’m concerned that he hasn’t roused at all.” He checked Terrence’s pupils with a penlight, looking for a response.
“He’s had quite a wallop on the back of the head. He may be just concussed or he could have a brain injury,” Gina said.
“Absolutely,” Thomas replied. He liked the way she thought, processing the possibilities quickly. Obviously a nurse of some experience and ability to think through all the possible scenarios. Good qualities to have in an ER nurse in a small town. Someone who had been around and could snap into emergency mode when the need arose, but be content with the smaller issues of every ER, like the flu, cuts and broken arms. Nurses like that were hard to find. Thomas would have to review Gina’s temporary contract and see if he could get her to extend her stay. She’d only been there two days, but working with a nurse with her skills would only make his job easier.
Within the hour Gina handed the boy over to the OR team. Brain surgery was indicated for him immediately.
Gina returned to the trauma room to clean it. Traumas always created a lot of trash.
Thomas found her there, banging drawers, clanging things around and making a lot of noise. He stepped into the room. “What are you doing?” he asked, and looked around. The room looked worse than when the patient had been in there.
“Cleaning,” she said, and avoided looking at him. “This room is a disaster.” She gathered up the dressing materials that had landed on the floor. “You’re a very sloppy doctor, by the way.” She gave him a sidelong glance.
“What? I’m not.” He frowned at her assessment of his character.
“You are,” she said with a smile. “I can see you didn’t go to college on a basketball scholarship.”
“I didn’t, but—”
“You threw a lot of things on the floor and now I have to pick them up.” She reached for another handful of trash from the floor. “This is so gross. I think you should do it.”
He stepped closer, placing himself inches away from her. She was flirting with him! And he liked it. Hiding a grin, he waited for her to turn round. “I tried for the trash can and missed. That’s not sloppy. That’s just bad aim.”
“Like I said, no basketball scholarship for you.” She turned and gasped. She hadn’t expected him to be so close to her and her heart took off. She tried to back up, but her legs wouldn’t move.
“Want some help with this?” he asked.
“You want to help me?” She glanced down at his attire of crisply pressed white shirt that probably cost more than a day’s pay and the navy linen slacks that bore a neat pleat. “You don’t want to get blood on your shirt. I can handle this, thanks.” The way his mouth moved, one corner of it twitching up, made her want to reach out and touch it, to see if it was as warm as it looked. She swallowed. This attraction was getting a little too serious a little too fast.
He took a step back. “I’m not bothered. Why should you be?”
“Seriously, this is my job, and I’d feel guilty if you helped me. You don’t want to be responsible for my guilt, do you?” Despite the mental warning to herself, she couldn’t help liking his reply.
“Gin
a, I’ve done my share of dirty jobs as an intern and resident. A little bit of gauze isn’t going to bother me.”
“I know. But just the same. I’ve got it.” She looked down at the mess around her. “It’s a shame, isn’t it?”
Thomas instinctively knew exactly what she meant. “It is. Some kids learn the hard way, and I think he’s one of them.”
“His mom’s in for a whole lot of heartbreak, isn’t she?” Gina asked, already knowing the answer.
“She is. But hopefully she won’t have to face it alone.” He watched her stuff the gauze into the trash can. “Are you OK?”
“Putting a kid back together gets old sometimes, ya know?” A sigh came from her. “It seems like everywhere I go I put the same kids back together for the same things all the time. Just once I’d like to see them do well.”
“Yes. I know. Emergency medicine can be a bit overwhelming at times. Nurses burn out in ICU and ER more frequently than any other area.” He watched her with those striking blue eyes. “You make sure to take breaks, don’t you?”
“Yes. That’s why I don’t work in the same area all the time, but change back and forth to stay fresh.” Returning to her task, she stuffed more trash in the garbage can.
“Relax, will you? Let someone else get the trash. You don’t have to do everything.”
“It makes life easier on Housekeeping if I can at least help.”
“Certainly. But the trash isn’t what’s bothering you. Everything is just fine. Terrence is off to surgery and there aren’t any other emergencies right now, so why don’t you take a break?” He tried to coax a smile out of her, put her mind at ease. “I could use a break, too.”
“I can’t,” she said, as she carried on tidying. “When one job’s done, there’s always another waiting.”
“Come on. Trauma can be tough on people. The patient, the family…and the staff,” Thomas said, and took a step closer to her, invading her space again, putting more pressure on her until she looked up at him.
She frowned and glared at him, but couldn’t hold it and cracked a grin, feeling the heat of a blush in her neck. “What? Don’t you have a laceration somewhere to suture?”
“Nope, I’m fresh out.” The sassy edge to her voice made him smile. She was a refreshing change from people who knew who he was, what his family was, and sought to ingratiate themselves to him. Gina didn’t care who he was, and he liked that.
She dropped her shoulders and released a pent-up breath. “OK. Coffee sounds good. But I need to get rid of this stuff first,” she said. “I don’t want to leave everything for Housekeeping. That’s not fair.”
Thomas smiled, glad she had accepted his offer. “Five minutes, in the staffroom, or I’ll hunt you down.”
She grinned. “Good enough.”
Thomas hesitated. When she smiled like that she was absolutely stunning. With a quick nod he left her to her task, not wanting to think where this association could head. They were just coworkers sharing a bit of coffee and conversation, right?
Minutes later Gina entered the staff room to the fragrance of an exotic blend of coffee. “Oh, what’s that?” she asked, and sniffed appreciatively. “That’s not hospital coffee, is it?” The smell was making her mouth water. Thomas smiled, and Gina’s knees threatened to go weak. Oh, he was almost making her mouth water, too.
“This is my secret office stash.” He shook his head. “Now you know my deep, dark secret.”
“There are some perks to being the medical director, I see.”
“So, how do you take yours?” Thomas asked.
“Loads of cream and a touch of sweetener, thanks,” Gina said, and accepted the mug from him. For a moment or two she forgot who he was, what he was, and it felt just like two people having a coffee together. Like normal people would. Then she remembered. There was nothing normal about a man like Thomas.
“This isn’t your first time in this hospital, is it?” Thomas asked.
Surprised, Gina’s brows shot up. “What makes you say that?”
“For a traveler, you seem to know your way around this hospital very well.” Thomas gave a smile. “And your résumé shows that you did your nurse’s training here. I looked.”
“Cheat. I went to the university program here in Hidden Valley. Then I left right after graduation.” Couldn’t wait to get out, in fact. And had never thought she’d be back. “Seems like a long time ago.”
“Ever think of coming back?” Thomas sipped his coffee and contemplated her. “Being a travel nurse must have its appeal, but when you’re ready to settle down, had you thought of coming back here? You have family here, I assume.”
Gina cleared her throat and toyed with the cup handle. “My mother’s here, but I hadn’t thought of returning on a permanent basis.” She shrugged and chanced a look at him. “Nothing in my life is permanent, which is why I’m a temporary nurse.” Making things permanent meant giving up things she wasn’t prepared to give up at this point in her life.
“I see.”
Changing the topic, Gina needed to direct the focus away from herself. Sharing personal information didn’t come easily. “Your turn, Doc. What brings you to Hidden Valley? If you’ll forgive the observation, this doesn’t seem like your kind of place.”
“Me?” Why had he come here? He hadn’t thought about it for a long time. To get away? To run away? Not so unlike Gina, he thought. “My life…changed abruptly about a year ago, and I needed a quiet place to think.” He paused. Was that really it? “Hidden Valley is a good place to do that.”
“Not much to do in a town this size except think, is there? After that, then what? On to bigger and better things?” Gina asked.
“Something like that.” But had he thought about what would happen after this? He’d assumed that one day he’d leave, but didn’t have any immediate plans to return to the bosom of his family. Being away from them was actually a refreshing change from their high hopes and higher expectations.
“I know what you mean. If you stay here too long, you forget what else is out there.” There were so many things she wanted to see and do. But underneath it all she knew there was a loneliness that lingered over her life, no matter where she went. Gina glanced away, unable to hold his vibrant gaze. The man saw things too quickly, too clearly, and she would do well to remember that around him. “But this is a nice place for the summer. After that I’ll figure out what I want to do. Traveling does take a lot of energy, having to uproot myself every three months and go somewhere new. But for the most part I like it.”
“Why don’t you think about staying here for a couple of extra months?” Thomas asked. “Our hospital needs good nurses who know the community, and you certainly fit the need. And you could visit with your mother for a while.” He paused. “I’m assuming, of course, that you and your mother get along.”
Gina hesitated. “I don’t even want to think about it right now. For the time being I want try to relax a little, take a few trips to the mountains, and not have to worry about anything more.” Wouldn’t that be a lovely change? Not worrying? That’s all she’d done since she’d been a kid old enough to figure out what had been going on between her parents. At first she’d been afraid they would divorce, then she’d been afraid they’d stay together. The situation had been no-win from the start. Why they’d stayed together for so many years when they obviously hadn’t liked each other remained a mystery to her.
“Fair enough,” Thomas said, and they chatted about the hospital until they finished their coffee.
Gina looked away from his intense stare, not liking the way he made her feel. Having a squishy, excited feeling in her stomach for the boss was not good. If things had been different, if they’d had more in common than a job, a shared passion for medicine, if not for her past and his status she might have been able to look into his eyes with honest interest. But she couldn’t. Staying away from him was probably her best strategy to avoid repeating her mistakes. Mistakes that had almost cost her dearly.
“Are you going?” Thomas asked as he joined her.
“What is it?” She hadn’t seen anything of interest.
“It’s a fund-raiser for the cancer center. The staff go together to have a little off-time fun together, get dressed up, and raise money for a good cause.”
“Since I’m not really part of the staff, I’ll probably opt out.” Gina’s heart rate returned to semi-normal, and she returned to her chair.
“This will be my first time to participate as I’ve only been here a year, but it’s my understanding that the event has been going on for a long time. So us newbies should make an effort to go and be part of the team.” Thomas watched her. “What do you think?”
“Uh…no. Why don’t I work to relieve any staff member that wants to go?” She shrugged, trying hastily to think up an excuse. Events like that gave her hives. “Travelers usually fill staffing shortages. I don’t mind staying behind. Someone has to mind the store.”
“We try to include the traveler staff just as much as regular staff because you are part of our team. So far we’ve enough staffing coverage for the night.”
“Oh.” Gina considered the event. Who knows? It could be fun. “Where is it going to be?”
“The Boar’s Head Inn and Resort. Excellent food.”
Gina felt herself stiffen, and her heart tried to pound its way out of her chest.
“Oh, no.” Absolutely not. That was the one place in this town she would never go again. “I can’t go.” Never, ever again. No way would she go there again and relive the scene of her life’s ultimate humiliation. Sick, churning nausea filled her gut just at the thought of it.
“Why not?” he asked. “Have you been to the Boar’s Head Inn? It’s a charming place that dates back to before the Civil War. The university purchased it some time ago and has done a remarkable job of restoring the grounds and turning it into a first-class resort.”
Gina’s face went from pale to bright red. “It’s not something you would understand, Doc.” Really, really wouldn’t understand, considering he was one of them. “You don’t know what it’s like to come from the wrong side of the tracks and have people look down their noses at you because you don’t have the right last name.”
