“What?” Josh stiffened. “Was anyone hurt? Is Ian . . .?”
Gabriel eyed him curiously. “Ian is fine. No one was hurt.”
“Oh.” Josh let out a breath and then cleared his throat. “So what happened?”
“George tried to break in. He is—was—an addict. Opioids, but also marijuana and alcohol. Anything he could get. He came to the clinic to try and get prescriptions, although Ian told him many times they did not prescribe narcotics.”
“And he tried to break into the clinic after hours?”
Gabriel nodded. “And then he had a heart attack or something. Someone was with him, and called it in.”
So much for the clinic serving families and innocent old folks who had nowhere else to go. Josh’s stomach clenched, a flash of remembered pain, of a knife scoring along his ribs to plunge into the soft flesh of his belly . . .
“Josh.” Gabriel touched his arm, a gentle brush of a finger. “Are you all right?”
“What if someone had been there, working?” Josh’s heart pounded. “What if—”
Gabriel waved a hand. “George wouldn’t have hurt a fly.”
“Don’t,” Josh said sharply. “Don’t ever underestimate the desperation of a junkie. You think you know what they’re going to do but then . . . Well.” He looked away. “You can’t predict. That’s all. Don’t let your guard down.”
Gabriel nodded soberly. “Yes, I can see you’re right. I’m sorry. I heard what happened to you in New York.”
“What? How? Did Ian tell you?”
“He told me.”
“Jeez.” Josh ran a hand through his hair.
“Don’t blame him for speaking to me.” Gabriel smiled smugly. “I got it out of him.”
“What did he tell you?”
“I have never seen him so mopey, so I asked what was wrong. I asked why he wasn’t happy after going home with the hot doctor last weekend.”
Warmth flooded Josh’s face. “Oh? And what did he say?”
Gabriel caught his eye, not allowing him to evade his gaze. “That he fucked up.”
Josh blinked. Curses coming from Gabriel’s mouth sounded . . . just wrong.
“That is a direct quote,” Gabriel added, a bit primly. “He knows he should have told you. When I asked why this was so important, he told me about how you were attacked.”
“It would have been important even if I hadn’t gotten attacked. That’s not something you hide from somebody when you—”
“When you what?”
Josh swallowed.
“Ah, I see. When you care about them.”
“I hardly know him.”
“You know him well enough to want more than one night.”
He opened his mouth to deny it, but couldn’t make the words come out. Should he have given Ian a chance to at least explain, before he’d stormed out that morning?
“He’s been clean for years,” Gabriel pointed out. “He goes to meetings. He acts as a sponsor.”
“Does this have anything to do with why he’s so devoted to the clinic?”
“I have not yet gotten the entire story from him. Maybe you can.”
“It’s not safe, not the way he’s running it. What about this guy’s—George’s—friend? How do you know he won’t come back?”
After a quiet moment, Gabriel said, “I don’t.”
“Gabriel.” Josh sighed. “Why do you go there? There’s no security and only one or two other people working with you. The lighting in the parking lot doesn’t work. Anything could happen. Is it really worth it?”
“You know it is.” Something beyond Josh’s shoulder caught Gabriel’s eye. He smiled, standing. “And this is why.”
Holding his hands out for the girl who came running to him, babbling in Spanish, he chuckled and spoke teasingly as he swung her up into his arms.
Yes, this was why. Josh knew what Gabriel was saying, but he couldn’t help the voice in the back of his head that kept asking . . . What if Ian had been there? What if he’d been there alone? What if this junkie had gotten his hands on a gun? What if?
The elder Mrs. Fuentes had brought the child. There was no sign of the girl’s mother and father. If they didn’t agree with this visit, there might be a problem with medication adherence and compliance with future medical appointments.
“Gabriel, where are the parents?”
“Working. Don’t worry, I called and got the forms done for the grandmother to act as guardian for the purposes of these visits. She watches the child while the parents work. She has full permission to access the medical records.”
So Josh was here, and the parents weren’t. Why had they been so insistent he come if they weren’t here to listen to his advice? Or maybe his presence let them feel more comfortable about skipping the appointment? Despite his resentment about taking this time out of his day, he kind of liked that explanation—it was always nice to be needed—but he couldn’t quite believe it.
He’d probably never know. After guiding the Fuenteses to the desk to check in, Josh and Gabriel waited in silence with the family until they were all called back. When the nurse brought them to the exam room, Josh took a few minutes to talk with Hennessy and tell him his observations. The man seemed to know what he was doing, so there was that, at least. When it was time for the exam, Josh wandered back out to the waiting room, although Gabriel stayed nearby as a translator.
Josh bent his head over his phone, reading email, looking at the news—anything to keep his mind occupied and off of Ian. Infuriating, frustrating . . . Was there another word for the man with the huge heart and a complete disregard for common sense?
After reading the same line in an article on neurological disorders in children about a dozen times, Josh finally gave up and sat staring at the wall.
“They have follow-up appointments for tests,” Gabriel said, making him jump. He raised an eyebrow. “Did I wake you, Doctor?”
“Just thinking. What else?”
“Some medication.”
“Do you think they’ll be compliant?”
“I think so. I’ll follow up with them and see if they need me to go with them again.”
Josh stood as Mrs. Fuentes came out, holding the girl by the hand. Miracle of miracles, that almost looked like a hint of a smile on the stern old woman’s face.
She spoke to Gabriel, who translated for Josh. “She says she is grateful you came.”
“But I didn’t do anything,” Josh said, somewhat plaintively.
“Having you here made her confident.”
Josh was unable to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Cooling his heels in another doctor’s waiting room and generally feeling useless did not put him in the best of moods.
Gabriel ignored that. “And she says she will be able to take Tara to her next appointment and will call us if she needs us.”
Plastering on a smile, Josh nodded to Mrs. Fuentes. They walked out to the lot together as the father drove up in his work truck, presumably using his lunch hour to pick them up.
Josh headed toward his own vehicle after they drove off, and then looked around for the beat-up red Toyota. “Where’s your car?”
“In the shop.”
No surprise there. “Then how did you get here?”
“I walked. The hospital is only a few blocks away.”
Not far, but even these few minutes outside in the afternoon sun had Josh’s shirt sticking to his back as the humidity climbed. “Hop in, then. I’m going to visit a patient of mine in the cardio unit.”
Gabriel brightened. “Dr. Shaw?”
Josh stopped, keys in his hand. “You know him?”
Gabriel chuckled. “Of course. He is my boss. Or rather, my boss’s boss. I am low man on the totem pole, but he never makes me feel that way. A good man, Dr. Shaw. We are all grateful you were there to help him.”
“Who is ‘we all’?” Josh clicked open the car. It was too damn hot to have this conversation in the sun.
They climbe
d in. Josh cranked up the air and then pulled out into the street.
“Practically everyone who works at the hospital. Everybody knows you saved Dr. Shaw’s life.”
“What now?” Maybe he should have had this conversation before heading into traffic.
Gabriel gave a sigh worthy of any fond parent watching his rather slow child try to put two and two together. “Dr. Shaw is Director of the Bayside Behavioral Health Center, where I work.”
Josh recalled on some level that Shaw worked at Bayside, but . . . “There’s an inpatient unit?”
“A big one, and outpatient programs. Inpatient detox, outpatient counseling for substance abuse, referrals. A separate hall for mental health disorders. We take up the whole east wing.”
So they had addicts coming in and out of the hospital all the time. Recovering addicts, but still . . .
He glanced over at Gabriel, who was beaming at him, clearly very proud of the work done by the Behavioral Health Center. Josh swallowed his bitterness and managed a faint, “Terrific.”
Parking took longer than the short drive to the hospital. They circled the lots in search of a space.
“There’s usually something back in Visitor Parking.” Gabriel directed him toward the lot farthest from the road. “They keep talking about building a parking garage, but it’s all talk so far.”
Bayside General was a sprawling structure, the central building six stories tall. Gleaming white stucco shone in the sun of a cloudless day. Two wings spread out from the main building, each a couple of stories. Nice to have space to grow out instead of up.
Gabriel opened his door and jumped from the car as soon as Josh pulled into a space. “Don’t forget where you parked.”
Josh followed him out of the car, moving to catch up as Gabriel set a quick pace across the parking lot toward the entryway.
“Sorry to be in a hurry,” Gabriel told him. “But I’m late coming back from lunch.”
Josh followed Gabriel through the doors and across the lobby where he’d made that call to Langdon after arriving with Shaw in the ambulance. He winced a little now, remembering how he’d raised his voice. Seating areas in tones of blue and gray were scattered across the gray slate floor. How many of these comfortable-looking sofas had been occupied while he’d been losing it with Langdon?
Gabriel jabbed at the elevator button, then caught his gaze and looked sheepish. “I don’t have an appointment for another hour. I just don’t like being late.”
When the elevator arrived, Gabriel punched the buttons for the second and fourth floors. “My office is on two in the Behavioral wing. Cardiac is on four in the main building.”
The elevator stopped on two, but Gabriel paused, holding the door open. He cocked his head. “Would you like to come with me? I’ll give you a tour.”
A faint shudder ran through Josh. Then his face warmed as Gabriel rolled his eyes. “We treat the whole spectrum of mental health issues. Not only substance abuse. You should see.”
The automatic refusal stuck in Josh’s throat, battled with curiosity and eventually came out as a “Maybe.”
Gabriel’s eyes brightened. “Let me know when. I’ll arrange it.”
Josh scowled at him. Had Gabriel been recruited into the get Josh back in the hospital brigade?
But young Gabriel simply gazed at him with big, innocent, and altogether too cheerful eyes, so Josh grunted, “I’ll let you know, thanks.”
Gabriel stepped back with a final wave and let the elevator carry Josh up to his floor.
Signs directed Josh down the short corridor toward the nurses’ station, but he lingered against the wall, breathing in the faint, familiar smell of antiseptic, ozone, and illness. Having spent so much of his life in similar halls, he felt unexpectedly comforted. What a relief. He’d been worried that his anxiety about the emergency room area would extend to the patient floors, which would certainly have made his job a lot harder.
In no hurry, he strolled down the corridor. Nurses and techs strode past him. Not as chaotic here as in New York, not quite as loud. But the same squeak of soft-soled shoes on waxed floors, the same beeping of monitors, and the same sound of conversations, some loud and some soft. A polyglot of languages in New York, but predominantly Spanish and English in this hospital, at least from what he’d heard so far.
He rested his hands against the cool plastic counter of the nurse’s station. Nice equipment here, that was for sure. A nurse made notes on a tablet while a tech worked at a large flat-screen. “I’m here to visit Dr. Shaw. I’m Dr. Parker, his GP.”
The nurse’s harried expression lightened for a second. “He’s talked about you, Dr. Parker.” She nodded down the hall. “Right there, room 336.”
Pausing in the doorway, Josh took in the sight of Mona and an older woman sitting in chairs pulled close to Shaw’s bedside. Mona seemed half-asleep in her chair, and the woman had dark circles under her eyes, but both looked relieved, as if the worst was over. And they were right. Shaw wore an oxygen tube, and a shiny new programmable IV pump dripped steadily, but he was awake.
“Doc.” Shaw squinted at Josh. “Get in here, man.” He held out his hand.
Josh came forward and took it. His hand felt cool and dry, skin well hydrated. “Glad to see you doing well, Dr. Shaw.”
Shaw blinked at him groggily. “You called me Carter when I was keeling over. You should stick to that.”
“Carter.” Josh let go of his hand. “How are you feeling?”
“Like an elephant trampled my chest and then kicked me in the head.” He struggled to sit up.
“Uncle Carter.” Mona jolted awake. “You’re supposed to lie still.”
“Lift me up.” He hunted for the remote that controlled the bed.
“I’ve got it.” The older woman pushed the button to raise the head of the bed, then she held out her hand for Josh. “I’m Antonia. Carter’s sister.”
“Good to meet you.” He shook her hand. “Mona’s mom?”
“That’s me.” She cast her daughter an affectionate look while Mona fussed with Shaw’s pillows. Some of Josh’s worry over his patient faded. The impact of caring family members on a patient’s recovery could not be underestimated, and Shaw seemed lucky in that department.
“C’mere.” Shaw waved him closer and then took his hand again.
“What can I do for you?” Josh smiled down at him. The man seemed a bit hopped up on pain meds. His skin appeared pallid under the salt-and-pepper scruff covering his tanned face.
“That’s the second time,” Shaw said solemnly.
“The . . . second time?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“Okaaay.”
Clearly out of patience with Josh’s denseness, Mona interrupted: “That you’ve saved his life.”
Shaw smiled his fuzzy smile.
“Ah.” Josh nodded. “Well, you know, if I hadn’t been there that morning, you would have been fine.”
He shook his head.
“You would have,” Josh insisted. “Because Mona was there, and she was terrific. She would have called the EMS and you’d have been fine.”
His smile turned thoughtful. “’S’true. Mona is great.”
A flush tinged her cheeks. “Uncle Carter.”
“And now she’s embarrassed.” Antonia wrapped her daughter in a hug. “It’s true though, honey.”
“Mom,” Mona whined. “Cut it out.” She squirmed out of her mother’s arms. “I need a Coke. Does anyone need a Coke? Or coffee?”
Antonia reached for her purse and handed her daughter a few dollars. “Get whatever you want and bring me a coffee. Dr. Parker? Can we get you something?”
“No, thanks.”
Mona made her escape, and Antonia chuckled. “There’s no telling what’s going to embarrass a fourteen-year-old. One day, nothing does—the next day, everything does.”
She took her chair again, nodding to the one Mona had vacated. Josh hadn’t meant to stay too long—the man needed his rest, not
a lot of visitors—but they seemed glad of his company, and he had no appointments this afternoon.
“Is there anything I can do for you?” Josh took the seat and examined the room. A single, with enough room for the two chairs that converted to cots. The thick white vinyl floor tiles and the soothing pale-blue walls appeared spotless. “Everyone treating you okay?”
“Great,” Shaw said. “Everyone’s great. You’re great. Thanks again for being there.”
“I’m very glad I was, but there’s something I’ve been wondering about since I first learned you worked here.” He hesitated. Was he being too intrusive?
“Ask away.”
“Don’t answer if you don’t want to. I’m just curious. You work here in the hospital, so you have a health plan. Why Langdon and Burke?”
“Ah.” A flush washed over his face, and he looked down at the blanket covering him.
Beside him, Antonia hissed out a breath.
“Never mind,” Josh said. “It’s absolutely none of my—”
“It’s okay.” Shaw raised his head, face calm again. “It’s been over a year since my partner and I split. He wanted the concierge doctors.”
“He always had to have the best of everything,” Antonia grumbled. “Spoiled little—”
“Antonia. Drop it.” Shaw took a deep breath and turned back to Josh. “I wasn’t planning to renew with Langdon and Burke, but then you took the position, and I wanted to stick with you.”
“Oh.” Wow. “Thanks.” Josh smiled at him. “That’s very kind. I appreciate the explanation. And I’m sorry to hear about your partner.”
He asked a few more questions, and then the conversation veered to Shaw’s running. He was an avid runner and not too happy that it would be a while before he could take that up again.
When Shaw’s eyelids drooped, Josh stood. “I’m going to let you rest now. You’re doing very well, Dr. Shaw—Carter.”
“Of course he is.” A tall blond strode into the room, impatience snapping in his voice. “I did an excellent job with his surgery. Why wouldn’t he be doing well?”
Shaw’s eyes popped open. “Dr. Parker, this bast— man with the wonderful bedside manner is my surgeon, Dr. Silas Reid.”
The Doctor Takes a Detour Page 13
