Heartburn: An Everyday Heroes World Novel (The Everyday Heroes World)

by Tarrah Anders

  “Wow, you guys were babies!” she says.

  “We were eighteen. After she left… after she left, I changed and pushed myself hard and now here I am. But with her back in town, will everything that I worked so hard for dissipate because of her? Everything that she touched, that we touched back then was tarnished. We were bad news. We were so blindly in love with one another that we couldn’t see that we were pulling each other down. I don’t want that to happen again.”

  “Ro. I’ve known you for several years now. I’ve known you personally as well as professionally, and I can damn well say that there is no one and nothing that will deter you from your pathway. Look at you, you’re the attending physician in the ER. I know that you had a shady past, but look, you turned that shit around and became one of the most noteworthy individuals in town.”

  “Keep going,” I egg her on.

  “Oh, you suck, I’m trying to be honest and not trying to rub your bruised ego any.”

  “You were kind of offering that when you walked in,” I remind her.

  “This ex of yours, is she going to be a problem? Will I need to run any interference?”

  “No. I have it handled. I think that I just need to actually talk to her instead of ignoring her or pretending that she’s not there.”

  “I think that’s a good idea. Maybe you just need closure.”

  “Closure,” I repeat nodding.

  Yeah, that sounds like a good thing.

  I walk into my house and Duke greets me at the door. I lean down and pet him behind the ears.

  “Who’s a good boy?” I ask him.

  He licks my face; I stand back and notice there is an aroma wafting in from my kitchen that I’m not expecting. I step further into my home and there stands Karin in the kitchen, who apparently has let herself into my house.

  Did I give her a key?

  I don’t remember doing so.

  “Oh, hey honey,” she greets me.

  “Hey, I didn’t know that we had plans tonight?” I say uncomfortably.

  “Oh, we didn’t, but I thought that it would be a pleasant surprise. You know to let you know what you’re missing by us not living together.” She gives me a wink.

  I roll my eyes. Luckily, she doesn’t notice.

  “Well, okay then, what’s for dinner tonight?” I ask.

  “I’m making shrimp scampi,” she answers.

  I hide my reaction by undoing my tie and turning around.

  I’m not a fan of shrimp and especially of seafood in my pasta. But I can’t blame her for not knowing that. But it’s also not like it’s been part of any conversation that we’ve ever really had. We’re a surface couple, as in we don’t delve too deep into our lives. I couldn’t tell you what her ambitions were, and she likely wouldn’t be able to tell a soul about what my normal day would look like aside from working too much.

  I realized that this was the type of relationship that we had about a month into it. She never asked personal questions, she never offered up answers that were meaningful and so because of that—I gave up trying. The sex was decent, and I thought we agreed to keep it casual.

  Should we end this relationship?

  Of course we should.

  But will we? Not soon enough.

  6

  Kindra

  I step up to the front desk of the office.

  “Hello, name please?” The receptionist asks.

  “Oh, I don’t have an appointment,” I reply.

  “Well, today we have little space for walk-ins. But I can get you into an appointment with Doctor Mason first thing in the morning.”

  “Can you just go back there and give him a message for me?” I ask. “I’m pretty sure that he will relinquish a few minutes of his time.” I smile sweetly.

  “Sure, I can try.”

  “Can you please tell him that Kindra is here to see him?” I smile.

  “Kindra. Okay.” She nods, not at all recognizing my name.

  “He’ll know what that means.” I say.

  She looks at me with a confused look but pushes her chair back and disappears behind a wall.

  A moment later, my spine straightens as I feel the atmosphere change.

  “Kindra.” A loud male voice says halting my movements of pacing the waiting room.

  I turn around slowly.

  “Father.” I reply.

  I conquered one thing today. Seeing my father. And while that meeting didn’t go so well, I did it.

  I know that I need to talk to Rogan for real, except when I get to the hospital, he is nowhere in sight. I’ve looked in each of the bays and I haven’t seen him since I arrived. I checked the schedule and saw that Dr. Quinn, was on tonight, but there was also another doctor listed as well.

  “Have you seen Dr. Quinn?” I ask one resident on the floor.

  “Oh, he’s on call tonight. He will only be in if Dr. Richardson is unavailable. Come on, let’s introduce you.” The resident waves me over.

  I shake my head and politely decline. “I’ll introduce myself on my own, I want to get a feel for what we have going on in here and then prepare for the rest of my shift.”

  The resident nods and takes a seat at the computer to continue typing up her notes.

  I review what I need, then inhale deeply as I look around the space. It’s not too busy tonight, but in the emergency room, that can change in a moment’s notice.

  I see the tall man in dark blue scrubs talking to a patient. That must be Dr. Richardson. The conversation looks to be a positive one as they both have smiles on their faces. Then suddenly the phones at the front triage desk begin to ring excessively. One after another and there’s not enough people to answer the phones. I start picking up the lines and jotting down the notes of what we should expect for an incoming.

  “Why are these calls not coming through on the dispatch system?” I ask in between picking up the phones.

  “No clue, but the machine has been on the fritz the past few days.” The intern answers, grabbing for the next phone.

  “What is happening over here? Why did all the lines light up?” Dr. Richardson asks.

  “The switchboard is down sir, they have routed all calls to the phone lines.” The intern beside me replies.

  “There was a multi-car pile-up on the way into town. The calls are coming from the PD as an incoming. All buses are stocked and soon we will have a packed ER.” I tell him.

  “Are there any fatalities?” he asks me.

  “Negative, sir. PD says a few serious injuries, but a lot of patients are on their way.”

  “And here I thought that tonight would be a peaceful night. I haven’t seen you around here before, have I? I’m Doctor Richardson and you are?” He holds out his hand.

  “Nurse Mason, very nice to meet you sir.”

  “Looks like we’ll get to break in our relationship the fast way.” He grins, then looks at the intern at my side. “I want to make sure that we’ve got all med lockers stocked. I don’t want to be scrounging around for things and would like to be prepared for anything that comes our way.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Nurse Mason, how versed are you in the ER?”

  “Sir, I’ve spent my entire career at SF General. I specialized in emergency medicine, this is where I thrive,” I hold my head high.

  “Why on earth would you leave the city and come here? If you thrive in the ER, wouldn’t you want to be where the action is?” he asks as we walk across the room.

  “I’m from here, sir. My entire plan was to start out in the city, then return home.”

  “Ah, a boomerang.” He nods.

  “A what?” I ask as we approach the doors that lead to the bay.

  “A boomerang. It’s when you leave and then come back.”

  “Ah, yeah. That’s me.”

  I can hear sirens and see the flashing lights as they near. Three buses pull up, and we’re set into motion.

  We’re pulling the gurney’s down off the buses and wheeling
them into hospital, with residents following.

  “There’s three more buses coming,” someone shouts from one vehicle.

  “Someone page Quinn, we’re going to need him to come in tonight!” Dr. Richardson says.

  My heart skips a beat hearing Rogan’s last name, but I keep my eyes forward and get the line for the patient in front of me.

  There’s a lot of blood from the patient laying on the bed in front of me. She has a large glass shard piercing her chest cavity. She is sobbing, and half of her face is also bloody.

  I look behind me as a resident brings in another patient. I make sure the woman’s connected appropriately and turn to get the next patient checked in. This one has bruising against his chest in the shape of a seatbelt. The right side of his face is mangled, and he is holding his wrist.

  I move from bed to bed, in sync with Dr. Richardson for the night. The evening went fast and before I know it, the sun peaks in through the bay doors. The room slowed after that, and I finally caught my breath as I sat down to record some notes from the night.

  “Impressive.” Dr. Richardson taps his knuckles on the top of the desk.

  “Excuse me?” I look up at him just as Rogan steps up to him.

  “Hey Rogan, have you met our new hot-shot nurse?”

  “Yeah, we’ve met.” Rogan nods in my direction and moves around Dr. Richardson to grab one of the tablets in the stand. He taps the surface and sets it down on the counter to maneuver through the screens.

  “She’s pretty efficient. Took on tonight like a beast, I’ve seen nothing like it. It was pretty efficient.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Richardson.” I smile.

  “I may have to change some shifts with you, Ro, so that way I have a competent nurse in my ER.”

  “What’s wrong with Connie? She’s a skilled nurse.”

  “She’s good, nothing is wrong with her. But I enjoyed the way we flowed. It was like a dance, we were perfectly in tune with one another. Consider yourself lucky, man. You don’t want to let this one out of your sight.” Rogan looks up at me and then back to his tablet.

  If he only knew.

  7

  Rogan

  I live for the movement of the Emergency Room.

  Even in the town of Sunnyville, the Emergency Room is the front lines of the hospital. It is the place where you put all the judgements aside and it doesn’t matter who you are. You are an equal and you will be treated as so.

  I come to work revitalized each day, knowing that I will help someone, even if it’s just by giving them a band-aid and sending them on their way.

  Work is where I’m happy to be. It’s not a chore to go do a shift, or even to fill in for someone else. Work is where I go to clear my mind and be of service to others. If I’m not on my game while there, I could make mistakes and since Kindra Mason has come back to town, my mind wanders, my eyes drift and I know that I’m slacking off.

  I cannot let that happen.

  “We need to talk,” I say to her back in the locker room. She pulls her jacket off the hook and slowly turns around.

  “Excuse me?” she asks.

  “We need to talk. Since it looks like, you will be staying in town.”

  “Well, I did take a job here, I think that would be a hefty inclination of so.” She cocks her head and smirks.

  “Let’s grab a coffee, since our shift is over, and clear the air so that way, we’re both on level ground since we’ll be working together.” I suggest.

  “I can do that,” she nods.

  “I’ll grab us a table at Sunny Side Up,” I tell her and leave, not giving her the option to choose another place.

  It’s just after six in the morning when I walk into the diner. I’m greeted by the server who tells me to choose anywhere to sit, so I situate myself in a booth by the window. A few minutes later, Kindra walks in and looks around the empty space until her eyes land on mine.

  I know that I look tired, because tonight’s shift was long, but she looks fresh and rested which is impossible. She takes a seat in front of me and offers me a small smile.

  “Is this weird for you too?” she asks.

  “A little,” I admit, as the server pours us each a cup of coffee.

  “You guys need a few minutes?” She asks, looking back and forth between us.

  “Yeah, just a few, thanks Ness.” She nods and walks away.

  “The food here still the same?” Kindra asks.

  “New owners, better food.” I whisper.

  We place our orders and then we’re sitting in silence. I clear my throat and connect eyes with her.

  “Eleven years is a long time.” I say.

  “I can explain.”

  “You have a lot to explain,” I reply.

  “I know, I’m sorry.” She looks down at her hands folded in front of her until her head shoots up at someone shrieking her name and rushing toward our table.

  “I can’t believe you didn’t come home first!” The woman stands beside the table.

  I look up at her and recognize that it’s Kindra’s mom. She doesn’t regard me, her eyes are set on Kindra and waiting for an answer.

  “I needed to settle in first,” Kindra explains sheepishly.

  “You’ve been gone for over eleven years, Kindra. You’ve been in town for two weeks, and you haven’t even come to say hello to your mother?” She pushes Kindra’s shoulder to move over and sits in the booth beside her.

  “Well, last I remember, I was told to not come home. That I wasn’t welcome anymore.” Kindra says dryly, looking at her coffee cup in front of her.

  Hearing this conversation, while not in its entirety, is giving me some details of why she left. I knew her parents hated the fact that we were together.

  “That was a conversation that I wasn’t a part of, and you know that. You left and you never called, you never came back.” Kindra’s mom’s voice is laced with pain. I feel horrible sitting here, witnessing this private moment, regardless of how it began. But I don’t get up to leave either, because I want to hear this too.

  “That’s because I wasn’t allowed to. My car was packed up with all my stuff, the keys were under the visor and I was told to not go into the house.” Kindra says. “What other choice did I have? From what I remember, if a decision was made, then no matter which one of you says it—was the law

  My relationship with Kindra’s parents wasn’t the best, and after she left town in a hurry, there was no reason for either of them to talk to me. Once I found out that she was gone, I called their house and her father told me to never call the house again.

  So, I didn’t.

  And now I’m even more curious.

  If only her mother would leave, so she and I could talk.

  8

  Kindra

  I wanted to speak to my mother on my own terms and not to be ambushed like this, especially in front of Rogan who should know a part of this story and hear it from me.

  Instead, my mom is throwing out comments and questions like confetti.

  I run into my bedroom and throw myself on my bed. Tears stream down my face from the confrontation that I just had with my parents. I roll over onto my stomach and put my head on my arms and let out a sob.

  I hear my mother’s loud footsteps down the hallway halt in front of my door. I sit up and the look on her face is murderous.

  “I can’t believe how irresponsible you can be! What the hell were you thinking? Were you not careful? This will make our family look as if we are out of control. You are a disgrace! One thing after another. Why can’t you just stay out of trouble and not make us look like terrible parents!” My mother screams at me from my bedroom doorway.

  “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” I cry into my hands.

  “Do you know how many times we’ve heard that from you? ‘I’m sorry’ no longer means anything when it comes out of your mouth. We’ve heard it time and time again.”

  “I’m so sorry.” I continue.

  “The only reason you
’re not getting kicked out of this house right now, is because it’s not just you anymore!” She taps her foot and I can hear her breathing as my arm is still covering my face. “I can’t fucking believe that this is happening,” she mutters.

  “I’m an adult,” I whine.

  “You’re still a child. You have no concept of what it’s like to be an adult.”

  “You’re just saying all this, acting this way because you hate Rogan.” I spit at her.

  “Does Rogan know what it’s like to be an adult? No, he too is sheltered by his mom. You both are still babies, and both are too reckless.”

  Too reckless?

  My mother leaves the diner with a promise from me that I would call her later today after she handed me her number. She was hesitant, but I told her that I had just gotten off of work and I needed to grab something to eat before going to sleep. She eventually relented, apologized to Rogan—which was odd, and left, leaving Rogan and myself alone again.

  “Well, that was awkward,” I offer him a small smile.

  “Nothing that I haven’t seen before,” he waves his hand.

  “So, I guess I have a lot of explaining to do.”

  “Let’s start with the one question that has plagued me for years.” He stares into my eyes, the look cold and determined.

  I take in a deep breath and hold his gaze, knowing that I should have stuck around all those years ago. That I shouldn’t have let my emotions fuel me and leave without a word to anyone. Especially to him.

  “Okay,” I swallow, “What’s your first question?”

  “Was it a boy or a girl?”

  9

  Rogan

  In the time that I wait for her to answer me, it feels like hours have passed. She holds my stare, never wavers as she takes a deep breath as if readying herself to drop a huge bomb on me.

  “Maybe I should start at the top. I think that would be a little easier to do rather than give you just one simple answer, mainly because there is no simple answer, really.”