An Eternity in a Moment

by K Carothers

  Erin felt uneasiness stir inside her with the news. “Do they want you to take the position permanently?”

  “It’s just temporary,” Luke assured her, seeing the worry she couldn’t quite keep out of her eyes. “They’ll eventually bring someone else in.” He would tell her the rest of the story later—he knew he had to after the whole Jesse Torres affair, though it would probably bother her even more. But for the moment he deflected any further conversation on the subject by telling them about yet another interesting development.

  “The FBI is going to be busy up in Eagle River too, thanks to Wayne Raabe. The Sheriff’s detectives figured out why Wayne’s brother Zeke never reported his car stolen. It wasn’t to protect his brother—it was to protect himself. It turns out good old Zeke had stolen the car first, from a parking garage in Fort Wayne, Indiana a couple of months ago. He was doing something called VIN cloning. Basically, he would steal a car and replace the VIN number—the unique ID number every vehicle has—with one from a similar car that’d he’d find parked somewhere else. The number is usually on a plate in the dash, so all he had to do was take a picture of it, or write it down. Then he’d create fake documents and a new plate using that VIN number to sell the stolen car.”

  “So it’s like identity theft, but of a car,” Jenna said. “Boy, people sure do think of everything to keep you busy.”

  “You’ve got that right,” Luke agreed. “But Wayne uncovered a huge scam by stealing the stolen car, and now his brother is in a whole hell of a lot of trouble, too.”

  Erin’s lips twisted into a wry smile. “I hope he can pay for his own lawyer.”

  Just then Luke’s cell phone went off, and with a mental sigh he pulled it out. But it was only his dad this time—who wasn’t really looking to talk to him anyway. They spoke briefly, and with a teasing grin he handed the phone to Erin. “My dad’s been trying to call you, but you’re not answering. Is your phone in the car again?”

  Erin shook her head regretfully. “No, I think I might have lost it for good this time—and I checked the car twice.” Then into the phone she said, “Sorry about that, Greg. I’ve developed a very bad habit of misplacing my phone.”

  “No apologies necessary,” he told her. “I’m the one who’s sorry for bothering you. But I’ve got a staffing emergency in the ER, and I’m hoping you can help. The locum tenens doctor who’s supposed to work the day shift tomorrow can’t make it because of a death in the family, and I can’t find anyone else to cover. Chase McKellar is already doing a twenty-four-hour shift—on top of already working the twelve-hour day shift on Saturday—so I absolutely have to find someone to relieve him by morning. And if it comes down to me filling in, it won’t be pretty.”

  “I’d be happy to help. But can I start working there already?” Erin asked in surprise. “I just turned in the paperwork last Thursday, and from what I understand, getting a license to practice in another state usually takes weeks.”

  “Rome wasn’t built in a day either, but it probably could have been done in two if enough people had been determined to do it. And I had two days to get enough people.” Greg chuckled. “I also had a little luck and the right connections.”

  Erin smiled, glancing out the sliding glass doors in the kitchen. “It’s funny you should say that because we have our own little Rome project going on here. James Burnett started building a sunroom for Jenna this morning, and Nolan brought a bunch of his friends over to help after lunch. Then the neighbors called in half of New Dublin this afternoon, and now it’s almost done.”

  Meghan Carey had stopped by with her husband and kids and a pan of brownies—most of which had been eaten by the half-drunk Irishmen, who’d brought a lot more than Irish coffee themselves. It turned out Meghan’s husband was an electrician, and when he found out about the sunroom he called in everyone he could think of—including the building inspector—to come help. They’d all asked Erin about her adventure in the woods, of course, and after repeating the story twenty times she’d figured out how to make it sound more interesting. Then she and Jenna had taken Meghan and the kids down to the pond to listen to the swans while the men worked—mostly to keep the children away from the Irishmen after Bella asked her mom what “tits on a bull” were.

  “I heard about all that,” Greg said in amusement. “Colin mentioned he talked to you when he called to check up on Nolan. He thought his dad had been drunker than a monkey’s uncle when he told him Jenna was their long-lost cousin.”

  “I’m pretty sure he thought I was the monkey’s hammered aunt when I said Jenna really was his long-lost cousin.” Erin laughed softly, remembering her conversation with Colin. He had his father’s sense of humor and a slight Irish lilt as well. “I told him I would make sure Nolan and his friends were sober before they drove home, but he warned me that it wouldn’t be an easy task to get five drunk old Irishmen to cooperate. And he was right. I ended up driving them all home.” And in the process she’d learned plenty more interesting ways the Irish used the English language.

  “I know firsthand how hard it can be to get one Irishman to cooperate,” Greg said dryly. “Come to think of it, maybe I should call Colin back and make him work the ER shift tomorrow. That ought to rile him up a bit.”

  Erin smiled as she imagined how that conversation would go, having just found out how good Irishmen were at quarreling. “No, I’ll do it if all the paperwork is in order.”

  “Yes. I was able to get you approved for a locum tenens license, which will be good for ninety days at a time. We’ve given you temporary privileges at the hospital, and our malpractice carrier approved you for coverage as well. Those were the biggest hurdles. I can have one of our IT people meet you in the ER tomorrow morning to get you set up on the computer, and I think you should be good to go after that.”

  “Perfect. What time should I be there?”

  “It’s a 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. shift,” Greg said, and apologetically added, “I hate to ask you to do this on such short notice, Erin, but I’m desperate at this point. As you know, it can be a real challenge to staff an ER twenty-four hours a day, especially when there aren’t enough ER physicians to go around.”

  “I understand, Greg. And I’m glad I can help.”

  “Thank you, Erin. I’ll stop by in the morning to see how things are going. And I’ll make this up to you somehow, along with everything else.”

  “Don’t worry about it. And I owe Joanne a lot anyway, so I think we can call it even. She helped me out when I was a kid, though she might not remember. I only just made the connection myself.”

  “No, she’s never forgotten about you,” Greg told her. “She just hasn’t said anything because she wasn’t sure you would want her to.”

  Erin smiled painfully. “Until recently I wouldn’t have, I suppose. But please give her my thanks. And I’ll be sure to tell her myself next time I see her.”

  “I will. But as they say, ‘What goes around comes around.’” Greg chuckled. “And right now it’s come around to me being in dire need of an ER doctor, so I’m glad we’re all on this merry-go-round of life together. I’ll see you tomorrow, Erin.”

  “Okay. Goodnight, Greg.”

  Erin ended the call and handed the phone back to Luke, who raised a brow questioningly. “What’s going on?”

  “It looks like I’ll be working in the ER tomorrow. The doctor who was supposed to cover the shift can’t make it, and Greg couldn’t find anyone else to fill in.”

  “What about Chase McKellar?” Jenna asked.

  “He’s there now on a twenty-four-hour shift.”

  “A twenty-four-hour shift?” Jenna blinked in astonishment. “How is that even allowed?”

  “No one ever worked shifts that long at Boston General. It’s too busy there. But I’ve heard twenty-four-hour shifts are pretty common in smaller ERs.”

  Jenna shook her head. “I wouldn’t want to be
a patient in the twenty-fourth hour, that’s for sure—or even the sixteenth. It should be illegal.” As soon as she said it she gave Luke a chagrined look. “No offense against your dad.”

  “No offense taken,” he said. “I’d like to ask him about that myself. New Dublin ER is busy enough that I would imagine a doctor isn’t guaranteed to get even an hour of sleep between patients—not that it can be guaranteed in any ER. And it’s a fact that going without sleep for twenty-four hours is like being legally drunk.”

  Erin grimaced. “It’s a good example of what I’ve told Jenna about before. Doctors are generally held to a different set of standards than the rest of the human race, and hold themselves to those unattainable standards most of all. It gets ingrained very early on in training—we should work harder and longer than everyone else; we shouldn’t need to sleep as much or even take time to eat until everything else in done; and we should pretty much have all the answers to everything. We’re just not supposed to have the imperfections of the rest of humanity. I’m sure that kind of mentality is one of the reasons why doctors are more likely than most other professionals to abuse alcohol and drugs, among other things.”

  Jenna’s brows furrowed. “What other things?”

  Erin hesitated, then said, “The divorce rate is higher, and so is the incidence of depression. On average at least one doctor commits suicide in the U.S. every day. But it’s something no one wants to talk about.” It was a subject she herself would never have considered bringing up before now. “We’re expected to be superhuman. We want to be superhuman. And when we realize we’re not, we don’t know what to do.” She smiled tenderly at Jenna. “I’m just glad you turned me back into a human again, my fairy friend.”

  The concerned look on Jenna’s face only deepened. “It seems to me that in your profession there needs to be as much compassion for the doctor as there is for the patient, and yet you rarely get very much at all. It’s no wonder so many doctors buckle under the pressure. Can’t Greg find someone else to work, Erin? You deserve a much longer break than you’ve had. And Nolan was looking forward to teaching you how to use a real drill tomorrow—not the kind you use on people’s bones.”

  A slight smile pulled at the corner of Erin’s mouth. “The truth is, I actually own a real drill and know how to use it. I just didn’t say anything to Nolan since he was having so much fun showing me how to do things. I think it reminded him of the old days at the hospital. But everything will be fine tomorrow.” She squeezed Jenna’s arm reassuringly. “I have your understanding and compassion, that’s all I need. In fact, I’m looking forward to going back to the ER. I really do need it as much as it needs me. And I’m sure Luke will be happy that I’m staying out of trouble. Isn’t that right, Detective?”

  “Yes, that’s right,” he said over a mouthful of donut.

  Erin brushed some powdered sugar off his face with a grin, and turned back to Jenna. “I am going to call Nolan, though, and ask him to stay with you until I get back tomorrow. I’m sure he would be more than happy to. And his car is still here anyway, so I can pick him up before my shift and bring him over.”

  “I don’t need a babysitter,” Jenna protested.

  “Just humor me, okay? Then I won’t worry about you while I’m gone. And you can nurse Nolan’s hangover this time.”

  “If I say no, will you tell Greg you can’t work?”

  Erin chuckled. “I’ve already dealt with five stubborn Irishmen today, so you’re out of luck there. I won’t change my mind now.” She got up and put a donut on a plate for Jenna. “You better take one of these before Luke eats them all. I’m going to run upstairs and look for my phone again. It’s got to be somewhere.”

  And she eventually did figure out where. Just when she was about to throw in the towel again it finally dawned on her that the last time she had the phone was when Luke called right before dinner to let her know he couldn’t make it. And while she was talking to him she’d gone to get washcloths for the Irishmen. So she looked in the hallway linen closet, and there it was.

  Laughing at herself for being so absent-minded, she called Nolan and made arrangements to pick him up in the morning, then headed back downstairs, smiling over the conversation. Poor Nolan. Jenna really was going to be his nurse tomorrow.

  But she forgot all about Nolan’s hangover when she saw Luke in the foyer putting all his gear back on, with Jenna standing alongside him. “What’s going on?” she asked, hurrying over to them.

  Luke turned to her, and there was a haunted look in his eyes. “Patrol officers responded to a report of gunfire at the PD and found Jeff Kilbride dead in his office.”

  “Oh my God, that’s awful,” Erin whispered. “Was he murdered?”

  “No, it looks like suicide.” Luke slid his gun into its holster on his belt. “He left a note for his family, and one of the officers read it to me on the phone. It said he was sorry to end things like that, and he hoped his wife and sons would forgive him someday. And he also took full responsibility for Tina’s murder. He wrote that things got out of hand, and he wished he could take everything back.”

  Erin’s eyes widened in shock. “He was the one who killed her? But why?”

  Luke grimaced. “My guess is because of the baby. Women are a lot more likely to get murdered by a male partner when they’re pregnant. We’ll get a warrant for his DNA, but I’m pretty sure it’ll be a match. The thing is, some of his fingerprints were at the crime scene too, but we excluded them because he said he forgot to put his gloves on right away. They were only on the door, and he had been one of the first officers to arrive at the scene. But that’s probably why he hadn’t wanted DCI to get involved either. Unlike us, they would’ve requested he provide a DNA sample. We never even thought to consider him a suspect.”

  Luke didn’t mention that Jeff grew up on a farm, and had a military background, so he was also more likely than most to have worked with barbed wire before. It all added up to him being the killer…And yet it didn’t, his gut told him. But he shook that feeling off for the moment. He’d probably just eaten too many donuts. “Anyway, I’ve got to go. This’ll take a while to investigate, so I’ll head home afterward.”

  “No, I don’t want you to be alone tonight,” Erin said, grabbing hold of his arm before he could turn away. “Come back after you’re done—please. I don’t care how late it is.”

  Luke opened his mouth to give her all the reasons why he shouldn’t, but then stopped himself and nodded instead. Knowing the night was going to end with her in his arms would make everything else a whole lot easier.

  Jenna went over to the foyer table. “Here, we had some spare keys made for the front door. I thought you should have one too.” She pressed a key into his palm and briefly squeezed his hand.

  “Thanks, Jen. I’m sure Erin doesn’t want me throwing rocks at her window again.” Luke gave them both a ghost of a smile, then headed out the door.

  Erin softly sighed after he was gone. “What a bad ending to a good day.”

  “We don’t have to let it end badly,” Jenna said. “Come, let’s go outside and watch the fireflies. We can put that nice new deck to good use.”

  Erin nodded and followed her out. The Irishmen had decided to extend the deck beyond the sunroom so that she and Jenna would have an unobstructed view of the whole backyard. And now, looking out at it as they sat down, she realized what a great idea that had been. Those Irishmen were smarter than they wanted people to think.

  It was another clear night with a sky full of stars. Hundreds of fireflies once again danced to the tune of the crickets, while a slight breeze softly rustled through the trees in the distance. Moonlight shimmered over the pond, where the frogs and birds had a concert of their own going on. And for a few minutes they just sat there enjoying the sights and sounds of the night.

  “It’s hard to believe you were ever worried about me being bored here,” Erin eventua
lly said. “I’m still waiting for that to happen, by the way.”

  “I’m kind of hoping it does happen now,” Jenna remarked. But then her lips quirked up into a playful smile. “Although maybe not quite yet. I’m looking forward to doing more research into your mom’s past. Who knows? You could be related to Einstein or Thoreau—or even the President.” She made a face. “Okay, let’s just go with Einstein or Thoreau. But anyway, it’s all very intriguing. And now we won’t be able to go to the library tomorrow like we’d planned. Is there any chance you could call Greg and tell him you can’t work after all?”

  Erin chuckled. “For the last time, Jen, I’m not backing out.”

  “Are you really sure you’re ready to deal with all that again, Erin?”

  “Yes. In fact, I’ve never been more ready. When I go back to work tomorrow I’ll be better prepared to take care of patients than I ever was before, because now I know how to take care of myself. And it’s all thanks to you. I owe you for so much, Jen. You have no idea.”

  “Oh, please. I owe you a lot more.”

  Erin smiled at her affectionately. “Then I guess we’ll owe each other forever.”

  Jenna smiled back. “I guess so.”

  Erin gazed out at the pond, and after a moment her expression sobered. “I don’t know if it’s such a good idea to dig any further into my mom’s past, though. I mean, look what happened between Nolan and Deaglan. Maybe it’s better to just let it go, like everything else in the past.” And after half a century it would probably all remain a mystery anyway. Last night she’d told Luke about Anne Marie, and he’d looked some things up for her on the computer. She’d been sickened by the number of missing children across the country, but they hadn’t found any record of an infant who’d disappeared around the time of Anne Marie’s death.

  “Okay, we’ll let it go,” Jenna said. “If that’s what you want.”