By the time Nikki reached the ER waiting room that evening, she was wiping sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. Once inside the cool room, she grabbed a fistful of tissues from the admitting clerk’s desk and did a proper number on her face. Then she hit the hand sanitizer pump on her way back into the ER.
“Well, look at you,” Rosemary said. “Is that twinkle in your eye because you’ve spent time with the sexy blue-eyed cowboy you were seen with last night at the store?”
“If anyone thinks they can hide anything in Bowie, Texas, they’d better think again. And what are you doin’ here?”
“Same thing you are. The hospital is short staffed, so we both got called in. Let’s hope we don’t get it before we get our hours in,” Rosemary said, and then whispered, “Is he as delicious as he looks?”
A deep crimson filled both of Nikki’s cheeks. Good Lord! She hadn’t blushed this often in her whole life combined.
“Aha, he is, isn’t he?”
“I wouldn’t know, and we’ve got to get to reports.” She whipped around and made a beeline for the break room.
The first name that popped up on her tablet was Sue Ann. Nikki covered her eyes and sighed. Talk about a buzzkill.
“She just got here a few minutes ago. I tried to assess her, but she told me to get the hell out and get you, Nikki. She’s floating around and seeing spiders on the ceiling,” the nurse who’d been on the eight-to-four shift said. “I hope you can do something with her.”
“I’ll do my best,” Nikki said.
“There’s a little boy from Nocona in number four. Leukemia in its last stages,” the nurse said. “Dr. Richards said to give him whatever he needs to make him comfortable and ask his mother again if she wants to admit him. If she takes him home later tonight, then we should call hospice.”
“I’ll take that one,” Rosemary said. “I can’t do anything with Sue Ann.”
Tears welled up in Nikki’s eyes at the thought of a child dying. She knew this day would come someday, but she’d hoped that she’d have a harder heart when it did arrive.
“That’s all we’ve got, ladies,” the second nurse said. “Hopefully it’ll be as slow for you as it has been for us. A heads-up—you’ll probably be asked to pull a double, so get ready for it.” They were both yawning when they left.
Rosemary touched Nikki on the shoulder. “You okay, kiddo?”
“Fine, just hurts me to hear about a child who’s…well, you know,” she said honestly.
“It’s the job, darlin’. We do our best, especially with the young ones. Now, let’s get to it. You ready for a double and then the weekend too?”
Nikki nodded. “We’ll have Thursday and Friday to catch up on sleep. Or at least I will. You’ve got kids and a husband.”
“I won’t bitch a single minute when I take my paycheck to the bank, though.” Rosemary smiled. “Let me know if Sue Ann starts crawlin’ the walls. I’ll bring the restraints.”
Nikki picked up her tablet, took a deep breath, and eased between the curtains into the cubicle with Sue Ann. “Hello, I’m kind of surprised to see you here so soon, and it’s not even a weekend.”
“It’s devils,” Sue Ann whispered. “I went to church Sunday after I was in here. I’ve got devils in me, and I took some pills to get rid of them.”
“What did you take?” Nikki pulled up Sue Ann’s chart.
“I don’t know. Whatever was in the cabinet. Top shelf.” She pointed to the ceiling. “That’s where we kept Mama’s pills.”
“Sue Ann, your mama has been dead for ten years,” Nikki said.
“Pills are still good, though, ain’t they? Mama was a churchgoin’ woman, so I figured her pills would get rid of the devils in my soul. Mama talks to me sometimes. I just have to be real quiet to hear her. She tells me to go to church and get right with the Lord,” Sue Ann said.
Nikki stepped out of the cubicle and called the intern on duty. He was familiar with Sue Ann and told her to induce vomiting and call the psych ward. She went back into the cubicle with a dose of ipecac in her hand and thinking that compared to Sue Ann, her mother was the sanest person in the whole state of Texas.
“This is going to get the devil out of your soul, but you have to drink it all,” she told Sue Ann. “Don’t sip it. Just throw it back like a tequila shot.”
“You sure this will work? Don’t you need to do one of the STI things where you put jelly on my stomach?” Sue Ann asked.
“No, Dr. Tillery said this is the very thing you need,” Nikki assured her.
Sue Ann drew her eyebrows down into a solid line. “He’s that good-lookin’ new doctor, right? I like him. If Dr. Richards said to take it, then I’d throw it at the wall. I don’t like that man. He don’t believe I’m sick.”
“Well, Dr. Tillery believes you. You take this to get rid of the devil and then we’re going to admit you. How many of your mama’s pills did you take?”
“Three bottles. Mama said that if I took them all that the devils would be gone and I’d be with her in heaven,” Sue Ann whimpered.
“Well, honey, we’re goin’ to get rid of those mean things for you. Just take this,” Nikki said.
Ten minutes later, Sue Ann had brought up dozens of undigested pills and was on her way up to the psych ward, where hopefully she would get some much-needed help. Unless, of course, history repeated itself and she checked herself out and went right back to the Rusty Spur. There was a very real possibility that she would be right back in the same cubicle with another devil or alien in her body come Saturday night or next Sunday morning.
Since they were short staffed, Nikki cleaned up the area and got it ready for the next patient. Then she slipped down the row and peeked into the room where the young boy was lying. His shaggy blond hair hung to his collar, and his eyes were sunken into his thin face. Frail hands held a computer game, but he finally dropped it and closed his eyes. She held her breath until his chest moved up and down a few times.
Other than the hair color, he reminded her so much of Quint those last days. If only she’d been a bone marrow donor, he’d be alive and well today. Or if they could have found a match for him before it was too late.
“We just got a call. Wreck out south of town and they’re sending them here for first evaluations,” Dr. Tillery said as he came out of his office. He peeked over Nikki’s shoulder. “I hate it when they’re kids.”
“There’s no way to find a bone marrow donor?” she asked.
“Too far along for that now. He’s an only child, and from what I read in his charts, it would’ve taken a miracle to find a match,” he said. “Better get ready for a rush. I understand there were six people hurt in the wreck, and I’m already going to ask you to work a double. You up for that?”
“Sure thing,” she said.
Nikki was so bone tired when she left the hospital the next morning around eight thirty that all she wanted was a shower and a bed for at least twelve hours. Then she remembered that she’d told the ladies she would come to Sunset right after lunch.
“Oh well,” she muttered. “That’ll give me four hours of sleep.”
She dragged her tired body up the steps and tried to wash away the smell of near death, blood, and tears in the shower. She forgot to turn off her phone when she fell facedown on her bed and wrapped the comforter around her. When she heard the ping, she glanced at it with bleary eyes. The text was from Patsy—she had forgotten that the Fab Five had promised to have dinner with Emily that day so they could see her new house. Could they postpone their time with Nikki until tomorrow? She sent a short message back that said: Sure thing. No problem.
While her eyes were semiopen, she read another one from Emily inviting her to the dinner. She sent one to her: Double shift. Need sleep. Rain check.
The last one was from Tag: Pick you up at eight on Thursday night. Have surprise for you.
I’ll be ready, she replied.
Then she set her alarm clock for six, turned off her phone, and closed her eyes. The last thing she saw as she drifted off to sleep was Tag tipping his black hat toward her the first time she met him out in Tulia, Texas.