“I’ll go check-in and find out if we can update you,” I tell Tucker before I duck out. I walk over and peek into the bay that Lilly is in and see the doctors and nurses still attending to her. She looks pretty beat up, but she isn’t intubated, so I take that as a good sign.
“Excuse me, are you Lindsay?” a man standing to the side and out of the way asks. I recognize him from Paisley’s party as her stepdad.
“I am,” I confirm. I don’t really expect him to remember me, especially in a situation like this.
“Where’s Paisley? Is she okay?” he asks.
“She’s in the next bay over; Tucker is in with her. Would you like to see her?” I ask, keeping my voice calm to try and help keep him calm.
“Yes, I know that Lilly would like an update on her.”
“Follow me; Paisley was also asking about her mom, so you can update her. I was actually coming to ask if it was okay if I updated her since Tucker was with her. We can’t release information to him about Lilly without her or your approval.”
“That’s fine,” Mike says, running his hand through his hair. It’s all messed up, like he’s done that multiple times today already.
“Paisley.” Mike says her name as he steps inside her room. Her eyes fly open as she takes him in.
“Where’s Mommy?” she asks him.
“She’s still with the doctors, but she’s going to be okay. She just has a few minor cuts and bruises and a broken leg.”
“I’s have a broken arm. Can we have matching casts?” Paisley asks Tucker and Mike.
“I’ll see what requests I can put in for matching casts,” I pipe in, signing into the computer to check on the status of her ortho consult.
“Lilly’s going to be okay, then?” Tucker asks Mike, stretching his hand across the bed to shake Mike’s hand.
“Yes, they’re cleaning out some glass right now from her head, and I think waiting to hear from ortho on her leg, but otherwise she’s going to be fine, albeit sore for a week or so. She’s been asking about Paisley, so let me go update her, and then I’ll check back.”
“We’ll be here,” Tucker tells him as he ducks out.
“Ortho should be here any minute now. They’ve noted in the computer that her x-rays have been reviewed, and the next step is to come down and relay their recommendations to the patient and you,” I tell Tucker as I sign out of the computer.
“Thank you,” he says, looking at his daughter and then back to me. “This situation is my worst fear, something happening to her and me not being there to be with her. Thank you for taking care of her when I couldn’t.”
“She was a trooper, and I’d have done everything I did for her for any of my patients.”
“Yeah, but knowing that she wasn’t alone in a room full of strangers, scared and in pain, makes me feel a little better. Getting that call at the station made my heart fall into my stomach. The drive over here felt like it took years, not minutes.”
“Is the entire truck here?” I ask, realizing that Tucker hasn’t left Paisley’s side since he got here.
“I’m sure they are. Dad called in to dispatch and took us out of service, for now. We won’t usually leave someone behind in a situation like this. We’re family. Where I go, they go, and vice versa.”
“Would you like me to update them on Paisley?”
“Can you?”
“I can, with your permission, of course.”
“That’d be great. I’ll send a text to my parents updating them. I’m sure they’re out in the waiting room by now.”
“I’ll go see who I can find. I’ll be right back,” I tell him. I hesitate slightly before leaving the room, and walk around the bed to where he’s sitting. I drop a kiss to his cheek, doing my best to give him my strength. “She’s going to be just fine,” I whisper against his cheek.
He turns his head, planting his lips against mine in a chaste kiss. There’s nothing sexual behind it, just pure emotions. “Thanks,” he says again, wrapping one arm around me while his other stays, holding Paisley’s hand. He hugs me as tightly as he can with one arm for a few seconds, finally letting me go so I can go update everyone from the firehouse waiting to hear how she’s doing.
14
Tucker
I sit next to my daughter's hospital bed, my head resting against the mattress while the beeping of the monitors fills the room. She’s sleeping, the pain meds doing their job of relaxing her and taking the pain away. When Dad walked into the TV room at the firehouse looking white as a ghost, he told me to get my ass to the hospital. He’d hardly gotten the words out of his mouth, and I was on my feet, along with everyone else on my truck, and out the doors. I don’t recall much of the drive over, except feeling like it was taking forever to get the few miles down the road. I know Dad followed behind us, taking care of calling Mom to fill her in on what little information he had at the time.
I don’t know what I would have done if it was our truck that had responded to the accident. I’d have probably lost my shit right there at the scene. Knowing that it was another firehouse that responded tells me that the accident happened outside of our response zone, which isn’t that big of a surprise since Lilly lives in a different district than I work. Hell, even I live in another district.
“Mr. Wild.” An older, deep voice pulls me from my racing thoughts. I look up, then stand and accept the hand that is stretched across the bed for me.
“Tucker, nice to meet you.”
“Tucker, I’m Dr. Mills from Orthopedics. I’ve had the chance to look over Paisley’s x-rays and am here to inform you that she’ll be just fine. A cast for the next six weeks, and she should be back to normal. No damage to her growth plates and no need for surgery. We’ll get the bones set properly and get her all casted up and on her way home.”
I blow out a huge breath; the weight of knowing Paisley is okay and only needs a cast and not surgery is lifted from my chest. “Thank you so much. Will that happen here, or will we need to bring her into your office for that?” I ask.
“We’ll get her casted here. I don’t want to risk any further damage to the arm. I’ll see her in my office in six weeks, sooner if her pain in the arm isn’t subsiding after the next few days.”
“We can handle that. She asked if it would be possible to have a matching cast with her mom, who’s in the next room over,” I tell him.
“I’ll see what we can do,” he muses, jotting some notes down on the tablet he carries.
“Is that your wife next door?” he asks, looking at the tablet again.
“Um, no. Just Paisley’s mom. We co-parent. I believe her husband, Mike, is in with her,” I tell him, trying hard to not feel judged by this man.
“Right, I’ll go check on her next and see what we can do about matching casts, if they both need them,” he tells me without really telling me anything. I don’t expect them to give me all of Lilly’s information. I’m fully aware of how medical privacy laws work. Being a first responder, we’re taught to give as little information to those around us as possible, as we don’t know who is privy to that or not.
* * *
“Mommy!” Paisley calls out as the door opens wider, and a wheelchair rolls in.
“Paisley.” Lilly calls out her name as tears roll down her cheeks. Lilly has a leg propped up, surrounded by pillows and a splint to keep it where they want it. “How are you?” she asks our daughter.
“I’m fine, Mommy. My arm hurts a little,” she tells her, holding up her own splinted extremity. “Do we get to have matching casts?” Paisley asks her.
“I think we do,” Lilly tells her, Mike rolling her as close to Paisley’s bed as he can. I hop up and move some things out of the way so he can get her right next to the bed, close enough that they can touch one another.
“Can we get purple?” Paisley asks, a hint of excitement in her voice.
“If they have it, I don’t see why not,” Lilly answers her.
“How are you doing?” I finally interrupt, asking Lilly.
<
br /> “Sore, tired, and feel like I’ve been hit by a truck,” she tells me, a little humor lacing her tired words.
“What happened?” I ask. I know they were in an accident, but I don’t know any of the specifics.
“A truck ran a red light and T-boned me, sent me spinning around, and caused me to hit the car next to us. My car is a complete loss.”
“That’s okay, sweetheart, we can get you a new one,” Mike chimes in, resting a supportive hand on Lilly’s shoulder as he leans down and drops a kiss to the top of her head.
“I know, I just keep thinking what-ifs. What if Owen had been in the car? The truck hit me right at his door. Would he have been hurt badly? It's bad enough that Paisley and I were hurt.” She starts to cry, and Mike comforts her as best as he can with her in the wheelchair.
I realize I didn’t even think about their baby and whether he was in the car or hurt. “Where is Owen?” I ask.
“He’s with my parents,” Mike answers. “He was with them while Lilly and Paisley had an afternoon together,” he explains.
I nod, accepting his explanation. “The only thing that matters is that both of you are okay and will heal up completely in just a few weeks.”
“Knock-knock.” A younger girl raps her knuckles on the doorjamb before she pulls the curtain open further so she can get in the doorway, along with her cart.
“I hear someone pretty special in here needs a cast.” She smiles at Paisley as she places her cart at the end of the bed and starts pulling out some supplies.
“Can it be purple?” Paisley perks up and asks.
“Sure, can! Do you want light or dark purple? I have both,” she tells her, pulling out a roll of both cast colors.
“The dark one!” Paisley exclaims.
“Or I can use both and give you a pattern,” the aide offers.
I can tell the wheels inside Paisley’s mind are turning as she mulls over the decision. She looks between Lilly and me, looking to see if we’re going to interject and make the decision for her.
“Just the dark purple, please,” she finally decides.
“Sounds good. Now, I’m Jasmine, sorry if I didn’t introduce myself already,” she apologizes, looking between all the adults in the room.
“No worries,” Lilly answers for all of us.
“I’ll be casting your arm for you. Can you tell me your name, first?”
“Paisley Grace Wild,” she states proudly.
“Perfect, and how old are you, Paisley?” Jasmine asks as she looks at her tablet.
“I’m five,” Paisley tells her.
“Looks like you just had a birthday not too long ago,” Jasmine says as she places the items she’ll need to cast the arm on the bed.
“Yep! It was fun!” Paisley answers.
“Did you get anything special?” she asks.
“Daddy got me a dog! Buckley is my favorite.”
“Wow, you must be pretty special. I bet Buckley will take good care of you while you recover from breaking your arm,” Jasmine tells her.
“Maybe. He likes to cuddle with me,” Paisley answers.
“I’m sorry to ask this, but can you move so I can get her casted?” Jasmine asks me.
“Of course,” I tell her, standing up from my seat. I kiss the top of Paisley’s head before stepping away so that Jasmine can get in and cast her arm. With Lilly positioned on the other side of the bed but not able to move easily because of the wheelchair and her own splinted leg, it was just easiest for me to move out of the way.
I move to the doorway, leaning against the jamb as I watch Jasmine go to work on casting Paisley’s arm.
“Mommy’s going to get a matching cast,” Paisley tells Jasmine as she finishes up.
“That will be cool. You’ll have to sign each other’s casts and make sure to take lots of pictures together.”
“We can sign them?” Paisley asks, almost in awe of the possibilities of having it signed.
“Of course. That’s one of the fun parts of having a cast, getting all your friends and family members to sign it.”
“That’s so cool,” Paisley says. “Look, Daddy! Isn’t my cast so awesome?” she asks me excitedly.
“It is! Just be careful with that, now. You can hurt someone if you hit them with it.”
“Okay. Can I go home now?” Paisley asks as Jasmine cleans up the scraps and trash from casting her arm.
“Soon, baby,” I tell her. “I’ll go see if I can find out when they’ll be ready to discharge you.”
I step out of the room and head to the nurses' station. I stand by while Lindsay talks to one of the doctors, relaying information back and forth about a patient.
“How’s Paisley doing?” Lindsay asks, coming over to stand in front of me.
“They just finished casting her,” I tell her, itching to touch her but knowing that this isn’t the time or place. “Do you know when she might be released now that she’s been casted?”
“I’ll check with Dr. Knight, but it shouldn’t be too much longer,” Lindsay tells me, all business-like. “Oh, and I updated the guys and your parents. They’re all in the waiting room.”
“Thanks,” I tell her, running a hand over my face. The exhaustion that hits me now that the adrenaline has worn off from being called in from the station because of Paisley’s accident, has me ready for a long hot shower and a bed. One preferably filled with the beauty standing in front of me.
“Is she going home with you or Lilly?” Lindsay asks.
“I figured I’d take her home since Lilly is going to need extra help, and Mike will have his hands full between her and the baby. I can take a few days off work to stay home with Paisley while she recovers.”
“Okay, I’ll get everything ready and let you know when you can spring her free from here,” Lindsay tells me before she has to head off into another patient's room. I decide a quick detour out to the waiting room will help me pass the time, plus, I need someone to head back to the station and bring me my truck.
“How is she?” Mom asks, seeing me first as I push through the doors that separate the waiting room from the actual emergency room.
“She’s going to be just fine. They just finished casting her arm. Hopefully, we’ll be sprung from here soon,” I tell everyone at once.
“Hey,” I turn to Lee, “I need a favor; I need my truck. Can you go get it for me?” I ask him, reaching for my pocket, I realize my keys are still back at the station in my locker and tell him as much.
“Of course, anything else, man?” he asks.
“Not that I can think of at the moment.” He swirls his finger in the air in a circular motion, signaling rounding up everyone.
“Let’s go, boys,” he tells our truck crew. They all file past me, smacking my back in their support as they head outside so they can return to the firehouse for the rest of our shift.
I turn to my parents, the only two people left from the large group that was here for my daughter and me. “Let this be my notice. I need a few days off. I’m planning on bringing Paisley home with me for now, so I’ll need to be home with her,” I tell my dad. It's kind of nice to have Dad as my boss in situations like this. He’d probably kick me out of the firehouse if I tried to come back to work this week.
“Of course, I’ve already called in someone to fill your spot for the next few shifts. You focus on that little girl back there; she’s priority number one,” Dad tells me.
“How’s Lilly?” Mom asks.
“Banged up a little, had some glass in her skull, and she’s got a broken leg. Paisley asked for matching casts, so that should be happening,” I tell her.
“How fun for them, gotta find the good in the situation,” Mom states.
“I guess so. I never want to see her like that again,” I tell my mom, honestly. “When Dad came into the room, he hadn’t even said a word yet, and I knew something was wrong. Just the look on his face and his coloring told me something was going on.”
“I understand, son,
I was just as shocked when he called me and told me to be ready for him to pick me up on his way to the hospital.”
“I’ll call you once I’ve got her home and settled. Maybe you can come over and see her tonight. I’m sure she’d love to have visitors,” I tell Mom, pulling her into a much-needed hug.
“I’d like that very much,” she says, her words slightly muffled as she talks into my chest.
“Call if you need anything,” Dad instructs. I stand and watch as he leads my mom out the door and into the parking lot. It won’t surprise me if he drops her off at home, and she starts whipping up Paisley’s favorite foods to bring over to my place, so we have them on hand.
I head back to her treatment room, finding that Lilly and Mike have left, and she’s talking to Lindsay.
“Hey, how’s it going in here?” I ask, smiling at my girls. I love thinking of these two as mine.
“Someone is ready to be sprung free,” Lindsay says, flashing me a smile.
“Lee should be here shortly with my truck, so once he texts me that he’s back, I can sign her out.”
“Sounds good. I’ll just need your signature on a few pages.” Lindsay goes over all the discharge paperwork with me, explaining when Paisley will need to follow up with the Orthopedic as well as things to watch for over the next few days and weeks while she heals up.
“Do you mind staying in here with her for a few minutes while I go talk to Lilly and Mike?”
“Of course not,” Lindsay assures me. I squeeze her hand quickly before going to talk to Lilly. “Hey, just wanted to let you know that Paisley’s been discharged. I was going to take her home, get her settled, and keep her for the next few days. I figured that would help you guys out; Mike will have his hands full taking care of you and the baby.”
“Thanks, Tucker. Can you have her come in here before you leave so I can give her a hug and kiss and show her our matching casts?”
“Sure can. Are they going to let you head home anytime soon?”
“I think so, just waiting on the doctor to come in again, I believe.”
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