“No.” She tilted her head to the side. “At least, I don’t think it is,” she mumbled. “But anyway, I did start talking to this one guy but I don’t know where that is going to go. It’s rather odd to be talking to someone you can’t see.”
“What’s his name?” I asked.
“RocTime.”
Uh, what? “His name is RocTime?” I asked. I was suddenly glad I never had to join a dating app.
“You’re not supposed to use your real name,” she explained. “At least, not at first. If you want to tell them your name later, you can.”
“Well, what does this guy look like?” I asked.
She pulled out her phone and laughed. “That’s the funny thing in all of this.” She swiped a few times on her phone and then held it up to me. “He has a picture of The Rock as his profile picture.”
Sure enough. There was a picture of the Rock from the Baywatch movie. “So why are you even talking to this guy?” I laughed. “You don’t know his name, and that obviously isn’t him.”
She shoved the phone back in her pocket and shrugged. “I don’t know. I did it for a little fun but also because I’m a little lonely. Even if this guy ends up being some bored housewife in New Jersey, it’ll still be a bit of entertainment for me.”
“That is optimistic and sad all in one,” I laughed.
“It sure it, isn’t it?” Mave agreed.
“Just promise me you won’t go meet RocTime or anything, okay? I don’t need to worry about you being made into a sex slave or something.”
She held up her hand. “Scout’s honor, I will not meet RocTime without have a chaperone and probably four beers in me.” Mave stood and motioned up. “Let’s go check out my office. Being four floors away from Dr. Asshole Clark is going to be a dream come true.”
“But you’re leaving me,” I whined. I stood up and shut my locker.
Mave put her arm around me and smiled. “But you always know where you can come hide out if things get too crazy for you.”
“Hopefully, one day, I’ll be working up there with you.” I had always wanted to work in either pediatrics or family medicine. They were both on the same floor, and I would see Mave all the time if I managed to get a spot in either.
“Ain’t no hoping about it, honey. It’s gonna happen.”
“You do know I have four years ahead of me before that would even happen, right?”
Mave pushed the button for the elevator and shrugged. “Maybe you’ll end up doing some of your clinicals on the fourth floor with me.”
The doors open, and we stepped into the elevator. “If you can pull some strings to make that happen, I will love you forever and if I ever get pregnant again, I will name my baby after you.”
“Don’t you think you should run that by Jay first?” she laughed. “He might want to baby named after him.”
“He’ll have to settle for the middle name. And besides, he’s totally got the last name locked down.” I pressed the button for the fourth floor and leaned against the wall. “Mave Jay Perez. It just rolls off the tongue.”
Mave laughed and shook her head. “Even for a boy?”
I shrugged. “If you can make it to where I work with you again I will call my baby whatever you want.”
“You’re happy,” Mave said quietly.
I turned to look at her. “I am. Still a little bit sad when I really think about it but talking with Jay and realizing he wasn’t going anywhere made everything a little bit better.”
Mave grabbed my hand and squeezed. “I’m glad, Delaney.”
Things may not be exactly perfect, but they were better than they were.
It was only up from here.
*
Chapter Thirty-Two
Jay
“Look, it’s Frankie!”
Delaney sat on the edge of the sofa and pointed excitedly at the TV.
“It is, Del. Didn't you watch the race the other weekend?” I asked.
“Yeah. Why?”
“Because you’re acting like you’ve never seen a race before.”
Delaney and I were sitting on the couch at her mom’s watching the finals of the race in Colorado. Susan was at Christy’s but had said she would be bringing dinner home.
“I did watch it before, but now that I have you here to explain things to me, it’s way more exciting.”
Brooks rolled into the staging area, and the crew moved into their places around the car and further down the track.
“What’s Roc doing?” she asked. “Brooks is going to hit him.”
“No, he’s not,” I chuckled. “He’s guiding him into the groove.”
“Well, I think he should be doing that on the side. What happens if Brooks’ foot slipped off the brake? He’ll run right into Roc.”
“I’ll make sure to let Brooks know you have a few concerns about his foot and the pedal.” Brooks would laugh his ass off and probably ask Delaney if she thought she could do it better.
“No, no. Don’t do that. I don’t want to tell Ken Doll how to do his job.”
I slowly turned my head to look at her. “Did you just call Brooks Ken doll?”
She cringed and nodded. “Uh, maybe?”
I busted out laughing and gathered her in my arms. “You have no idea what you just did. I am forever calling Brooks Ken from now on.”
“He’s not gonna know what you’re talking about unless you tell him what I just said,” she whined, “and I really don’t want you to tell him.”
“That’s going to be the best part. I’m not going to tell why I’m calling him that.” I laughed again and couldn’t wait until the crew got back from the race tomorrow. It was nice spending the weekend with Delaney, but I missed working too.
That was something I never thought I would feel.
Delaney leaned against me and sighed.
This was something I never thought I would feel either.
The woman I loved cuddled up next to me while I explained everything about drag racing to her. The explaining part was kind of annoying, but in the end, as long as Delaney was pressed up against me it was all good.
*
Chapter Thirty-Three
Delaney
“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.
*
Chapter Thirty-Four
Jay
“Just let her sleep.”
Mave looked up at me and smiled. “I didn’t think either of you were awake.” She walked to the foot of the bed and grabbed the chart. “Everything is looking good, Jay.” She put back the chart and grabbed the stethoscope from around her neck.
“It doesn’t feel good,” I mumbled.
“You’ll be sore for a couple of days but you’ll see you were mighty lucky.” She pressed the cold end of the stethoscope to my chest.
“How are my friends? What’s going on with them?”
She listened to my heart then dropped the stethoscope back over her shoulders. “The three who came in after you are in about the same boat as you. Bumps, bruises, and a couple of broken bones.”
“So they’re going to be okay?” I asked. I needed her to tell me specifically they were going to be okay.
“They’re going to be okay.”
“What about Roc?” I was worried about him.
We had just been cruising down the highway, talking and joking about Brooks almost crashing in the wall on the last run, when a semi flew across the median and plowed into the side of the hauler.
“Last I heard, he was in surgery, but he’s stable.”
“If he’s stable then why is he in surgery?” I demanded.
“Jay, calm down,” Delaney called sleepily from the chair.
“Go back to sleep, Del.” The accident had happened seven hours ago, and it was almost midnight. Delaney had worked almost a full shift before the accident had come in, and she was beyond exhausted.
“Hard to sleep when you’re yelling at Mave.” Delaney unfolded herself from the chair and raised her arms over her head to stretched.
“You doing okay?” Mave asked her.
“Much better after a little nap.” Delaney stood next to Mave and rested her hand on my thigh. “Can you tell us what Roc is in surgery for?”
“Setting his
legs. Both had multiple breaks. It's going to be a long recovery for him, but Dr. Clark thinks he’ll pull through.”
Delaney squeezed my hand and turned to look at Mave. “Thanks, Mave,” she said softly.
“No problem. Both of you try to get some rest. You’ll be discharged in the morning, Jay, along with your friends.”
“But not Roc, though” He asked.
Mave shook her head. “I’m sure after surgery, he’ll be moved to a different floor to be observed and then more than likely moved to a rehab facility.”
Damn.
Mave walked out of the room, and Delaney moved closer. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” she whispered.
“I told you I’d never leave you, Del. Even an airborne semi can’t take me away from you.”
Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she let out a sob.
“Get in this bed with me, Del.” I scooted to the side, and she didn’t protest.
Delaney needed to be close to me just like I needed to feel her against me.
“For the record, we shouldn’t be doing this but I honestly don’t care,” she mumbled as she hoisted herself onto the bed with me.
“Just gotta hold you for a second, Del,” I muttered into her hair. I wrapped her up in my arms and held her tight.
“You scared the living crap out of me, Jay,” she whispered.
“I was pretty damn scared too, Del. I was scared I wasn’t going to be able to make that little family with you or ever get to hold you again. When that truck was rolling, you were the only thing I was thinking about.”
“Jay,” she sobbed.
“Shush, Del. I’m right here. I told you I wouldn’t leave you, and I’m right here.”
Delaney sighed and tipped her head back to look at me. “I love you, Jay. I love you so much.”
I brushed her hair behind her ear and smiled. “I love you, too, Delaney.”
She sighed and laid her head on my shoulder. “I think we’re done having traumatic moments now, don’t you think?” Her body shook, and I knew through all of this, Delaney was laughing.
“I think you’re right, Del. It’s definitely time for us to smooth sail for a while.”
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