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“That little newborn was the cutest.”
I dropped into the chair in front of Mave’s desk and tried to plaster a smile on my face. “Sure was.”
Mave was sitting at her desk, writing up her reports and updating files. I was trying not to bawl my eyes out over the cutest newborn we had just given his first set of shots to.
Mave kept her eyes on the computer screen but handed me the box of tissues. “You can cry now, honey.”
I promptly burst into tears and blubbered on about how tiny his toes were.
“Is this ever going to get easier?” I asked. I blew my nose and sat back in my chair.
“Yes.” Mave glanced at me. “It’s just not going to be right now.”
“You’re not going to believe the breakdown I had last night. I swear to God, Jay was ten seconds away from calling the psych ward to come take me away.”
“What happened?” she laughed.
What happened was I really was losing my mind.
For two weeks, I had been fine. I thought about the baby, but it wasn’t sadly. It was a fleeting thought here or there, and then it was gone.
But last night and today that all changed.
“We were watching TV and a commercial came on for diapers.”
“Oh, God,” Mave muttered. “I know where this is going.”
“Jay made a one-off comment about changing dirty diapers, and I legit freaked out. I’m talking he couldn’t tell if I was going to cry or punch him in his nuts. I scared myself for a second.”
“So which did you end up going with?” she asked. “Crying or punching him in the nuts?”
“Crying because I do eventually want to have a baby with him and I need his nuts to be intact.”
“There’s always in vitro,” she laughed.
I waved her off and pulled my phone out of my pocket. “I really need to just not see another baby for a year or two.”
“Because that is totally possible working in peds and family medicine.” She shook her head and turned back to the computer. “It’s gonna get easier, honey. Until then, just tell Jay to guard the family jewels and keep the tissues handy.”
I scrolled through my phone, checking to see if Jay had called or texted me. He had checked in with me a couple of hours ago when the race team was on the way to the test track and told me he would call when they were on the way back to the shop.
Mave’s phone beeped, and I looked up. “Is that the pager app for the hospital?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she mumbled. “Dr. Clark is back in the ER finally. I wonder what he needs.” She looked at the message and then immediately picked up her phone.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
She nodded. “Miranda, let Dr. Clark know Delaney and I are on the way down,” she barked into the phone.
This wasn’t good. Not at all. The only reason Dr. Clark would need our help was because there were too many patients for the doctors and nurses to take care of.
“There’s been a tractor trailer versus car hauler accident, Delaney. I don’t know any other specifics except for there are six patients coming in, two with life-threatening injuries.”
Mave and I hightailed it to the elevator but opted to take the stairs when we saw the line waiting to get on. “One of the drawbacks being on the fourth floor,” Mave panted. “I gotta haul my cookies down four floors when there is an emergency.”
We made it to the ground floor level and jogged toward the ER.
Mave’s phone went off, and she looked at it as we ran. “The first ambulance is two minutes out. Two patients. One life-threatening, the other stable. Stay close to me, Delaney.”
We made it to the ER just as the ambulance pulled up. The paramedics burst from the ambulance, and the lead started barking at Mave and me about who was on board.
“Twenties male. Head injury and a possible broken nose. Fifty-year-old male. Multiple lacerations, two broken legs, with possible internal injuries. Driver of the car hauler.”
The back doors of the ambulance opened, and for the second time in a month, my world flipped upside down.
Jay was lying on one of the stretchers, his face bloodied and an IV hooked to his arm.
“Stay with me, Delaney,” Mave ordered. “Head injury and a broken nose. He’s all right, honey.”
The paramedics moved to the stretcher next to Jay. Roc laid there unconscious with blood all over his face and a neck brace strapped to him.
My eyes darted back to Jay who was staring at Roc. “Wake up, Roc. you gotta wake up, man,” he cried.
Dr. Clark came charging out to the ambulance and took over. “I’ll take the fifty-year-old male. You handle the other patient. The next ambo is ten minutes out. One was pronounced on scene so we’re down to three more coming in.” Dr. Clark helped wheel Roc into the ER, leaving Mave and me with Jay.
The paramedics unloaded Jay, and his eyes connected with mine. “I’m okay, Del. I’m okay,” he repeated.
I nodded and tried to pull it together. Thankfully, Mave was there to take the lead, and I followed. I held Jay’s hand, and he squeezed it tightly. “I’m okay, Del.”
Tears stung my eyes, and I nodded.
The paramedics helped to get Jay moved to the bed, and they were gone with the stretcher. Two nurses came into start getting Jay’s vitals while Mave and I started cleaning up his face.
“I don’t know what happened, Del. One minute, we were driving down the road to the shop, and then the next, the truck flipped in the air with the car hauler slamming down on top of us.”
“Don’t worry about that right now, Jay. I just want you stay calm and try not to move while I look at your nose.”
Mave examined his nose, found it was broke, then worked on setting it.
“How’s Roc?” he asked.
Mave and I didn’t know anything about the other patients. Right now, Jay and Roc were they only ones who had arrived.
“We don’t know anything right now, Jay, but as soon as we do we’ll let you know.” Mave snapped off her gloves and motioned for me to follow her.
“I’m sorry, Mave. I’m not being very helpful.” I knew I needed to get my head together, but I couldn’t focus knowing we were working on Jay.
“You’re fine, Delaney. I want you to stay with Jay for the time being. His nose is broken, and he has a concussion. Until I know how the rest of his friends are, I don’t want you coming out to help.” She put her hands on my shoulders and gave me a small smile. “Go take care of Jay, and I promise to take good care of his friends.”
She headed off in the direction they had taken Roc, and I slipped back behind the curtain where Jay was.
“Del, what’s going on with Roc?” he asked right away.
I stood by the side of his bed and looked at his vitals. “Mave went to go check on him. I’m staying with you right now.”
“Is something wrong with me?” he asked.
I looked down at him with tears in my eyes. “Just a broken nose and a concussion.” I couldn’t hold my tears back anymore.
“Don’t cry for me, Del. Don’t cry for me.” He reached out, and I threaded my fingers through his.
“Who else was in the hauler with you, Jay?” Dr. Clark had said there was one patient who had been pronounced dead at the scene, and I was still worried it was one of Jay’s friends.
“I was in the front with Roc while Frankie, Remy, Brooks were in the back.”
“No one else was with you?”
He shook his head and cringed. “Uh, four of the guys were behind us in one of the trucks. I don’t think they got hit.”
I closed my eyes and said a prayer, hopeful that Frankie, Brooks and Remy were the last three in the ambulances.
If they weren’t, Jay’s and my world was going to be completely destroyed.
*
