NECESSARY MEASURES

by Alexander, Hannah

  “So don’t do it. Wait until tomorrow.”

  “I need this job.”

  “Your supervisor probably also needs her job. What’s going to happen when her boss finds out she left a fumble-fingers alone to do the job she probably should have done herself?”

  “Thanks,” she snapped.

  Beau picked up two of the folders. “I didn’t mean it like that. It’ll be okay. I can help.”

  “I can’t let word get out about this. It’ll humiliate Dad and—”

  “I’ll do it.”

  “How will we ever make our next car payment if—”

  “I said I’ll do it. Relax.”

  She stopped mid-complaint and a gleam of hope entered her smudgy eyes. “You?”

  “I don’t think you want to call your supervisor back in now.”

  “You can do this stuff?”

  “Sure. I did some data entry this summer between my shifts in the cafeteria. Remember when half the staff was out because of the mercury poisoning? They were desperate. I learned how to do a lot of clerical work.” In fact, it was probably his destiny in life to hide behind a computer monitor and enter data. He could do that well. Computer monitors didn’t complain when he tried to smile.

  What had he been thinking when he tried that with Dru? What had made him think all of a sudden that he could be normal?

  Brooke grabbed him in a sudden impulsive hug and gave him a loud smack on his unsmiling cheek. “Beau, I love you!”

  He squirmed away from her but the contact eased some of the sting of Dr. Caine’s words.

  She dabbed at the offended cheek to remove all traces of her lip gloss. “Won’t they miss you in the emergency department?”

  Hardly. “If they want me they can call.” He knew they wouldn’t.

  Brooke watched him in silence for a few seconds. Her eyes darkened with a knowing frown. She’d always been able to pick up on his slightest mood change. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m great.”

  “Dad call?”

  “No.”

  “Did you kill a patient?”

  “No!”

  “Cut yourself?”

  “No. Brooke, would you just—”

  “Needle stick? Those are dangerous, you know. Lauren was telling me the other day about some old doc in Knolls who—”

  “Brooke, I didn’t get stuck by a needle, okay?” He took her gently by the shoulders and turned her toward the door. “If you don’t leave me alone to enter this data, even I won’t be able to finish it in time.”

  “Fine. You’ll get a ride with Lauren?”

  “Sure. She’s working overtime tonight.” Especially with a tech missing from staff.

  “Good, then I’ll pick up Chinese takeout on the way home.” She checked her watch. “And maybe I’ll have time to drop by Evan’s and check out the new article he’s doing.”

  “Then you’d better go to the bathroom first.”

  “What?”

  He bared his teeth at her in his ugly grimace-smile. It was okay. She saw it for what it really was. “You look like a raccoon.”

  “Evan won’t care. He won’t even notice.”

  “The guys at the China Garden probably will.”

  “Oh. I’ll wash my face on the way out.” She winked at him and left.

  He sighed and sat down at the keyboard. Brooke would find a way to repay him for this and he really didn’t mind it. Sure beat showing his deformed face to patients in the ER.

  ***

  “That grandmother had the personality of a pit viper.” Muriel scrubbed beside Lauren at the sink, her movements short and sharp, her chin jutting forward in anger. “No, strike that. She wasn’t that friendly. And I can’t believe Dr. Caine did that to poor Beau.”

  Lauren had ached to follow Beau and reassure him but there had been no time. Before she could break free they’d received word that he was in the business office helping enter data. She’d talk to him later.

  “I know what his problem is.” Muriel jerked a paper towel from the dispenser and dried her hands. “He resents Dr. Sheldon and he’s getting back at him through Beau.”

  Lester stepped toward them. “Muriel, would you lower your voice? I heard you halfway down the hall. If Caine—”

  “I hope he does hear me.” Muriel stood with fists on hips. “Did you know he applied for the ER directorship last year and was turned down? Mr. Butler’s too wise for that. So now comes the power play with that chief of staff title while the real administration is out.”

  “Did you even hear me say shut up?” Lester hissed at her. “He isn’t in the best of moods and he has a reputation for firing nurses in his practice.”

  “Will Butler won’t let him fire me.”

  “Butler isn’t back yet in case you haven’t noticed,” Lester reminded her.

  “He will be soon. I saw him yesterday at the grocery store and he’s doing great. He’s itching to get back to work. When he does he’ll put a stop to some of Caine’s shenanigans.”

  “Define shenanigans,” came a voice of hard-packed ice from behind them.

  All three of them turned to see Dr. Caine stepping around the corner, arms crossed over his chest, lips pressed together.

  Muriel didn’t falter. “Tricks. You know, as in humiliating people in front of an audience like you did to Dr. Jonas when he came in late because of a delayed flight. The way you did to Beau when you dismissed him loudly enough for the whole department to overhear it.”

  “Then here’s another shenanigan for you.” Caine leaned into his words as if he were relishing them. “Find yourself another job, Muriel, because you’re fired.”

  Her eyes flared with momentary shock. “On what grounds?”

  “Insubordination.”

  “You can’t fire me.”

  “Check my job description.”

  “Dr. Caine,” Lauren said, “if you fire Muriel half the staff will walk out.”

  Caine turned his attention on Lauren. “And then they can be hauled into court for abandoning their patients. Feel free to try it.”

  ***

  Beau stared out at the street where a cold drizzle dampened the blacktop and reflected a muted image of the big red letters of Emergency from the sign above the ambulance bay. Weather reports assured everyone that the temperature would not drop to freezing tonight but he still felt a chill all the way to his spine. How could he ever face Dru at school again?

  “Ready?” came a soft voice behind him.

  He turned and looked at Lauren. It could just be the lighting but she looked wiped out. He nodded. “You okay?”

  “I’m livid. Let’s get out of this place.” She led the way through the waiting room door.

  He had to rush to keep up with her as she made her way across the parking lot toward her pickup truck. She really was livid.

  She unlocked the door, climbed in, and waited until he was buckled up before she spoke. “He fired Muriel.”

  For a few seconds the words didn’t register. Then he felt a sick anger in the pit of his stomach. “Why?”

  “He overheard her complaining about him.” She looked at Beau through the darkness then shook her head and remained silent as she backed out of the space. She turned from the employee parking lot onto the street.

  “She was defending me?” Beau asked.

  “Of course. She’s as angry as everyone else about the way he and that hideous woman treated you tonight.”

  Beau felt a stab of guilty pain. He allowed it to attack him in silence for several moments as Lauren turned onto their street, slowed, pulled into the driveway.

  “I wish your dad was here,” she said.

  “So do I.”

  “I might be looking for a new job too.”

  He blinked at her. “Tell me he didn’t fire you.”

  She inhaled deeply, pressed the automatic garage door opener and removed her foot from the brake. “I hate what he did to you. I let him know it. That probably wasn’t a smart thing for
me to do but I don’t care.” She pulled into the empty garage. “Brooke isn’t home yet?”

  “She’s probably at Evan’s. I saw her just before she clocked out.”

  Lauren parked and looked at him in the dim glow of the overhead light. “Lester said you’d called but we were so busy I didn’t get a chance to talk to you. I can’t believe what happened to you tonight.”

  “Could we not talk about this for a little bit?” It was just making him more miserable. By the time he got to the hospital tomorrow everyone would have heard about it. Ugly Beau Sheldon scared a patient. It hurt.

  “Of course, Beau. I’m sorry.”

  They entered the house in the shelter of companionable silence.

  Lauren raised her head and sniffed the air then plopped her purse into a chair and headed to the kitchen. A few seconds later came an exclamation of joy.

  “Chinese! All right! Are you hungry?”

  He was.

  They ate sweet and sour shrimp and rice noodles in silence.

  He finished a final chunk of shrimp and pushed away the cardboard carton. “Did you ever read the story about the tangerine bear?”

  She dabbed at her mouth with her napkin. “I don’t think so. Why?”

  He couldn’t help noticing how, as soon as he spoke, she focused her whole attention on him. It was the way she always listened. She didn’t just do it with him but also with Brooke and with Dad and with patients at work. She probably didn’t even realize how it drew people, or how her natural kindness seemed to radiate from her eyes. Unlike Brooke, Lauren hardly ever wore makeup. Dad liked that about her. Mom hadn’t worn makeup either.

  Mom would have liked Lauren a lot. They would have been good friends. In another life. If things were different.

  “What’s a tangerine bear?” Lauren prompted gently.

  He released the memory of Mom. If she were here he’d be talking to her about this and she wouldn’t want him to dam it up inside. Brooke wasn’t here right now and neither was Dad.

  “I don’t remember much. It was about a stuffed bear with his smile sewn on upside down,” he said. “He was placed in a shop with other misfits and no one wanted to buy him because he was a freak.”

  Lauren’s face relaxed in lines of understanding.

  He couldn’t believe how stiff his throat suddenly felt. It was just a children’s story but he felt as if he was spilling deep secrets that he’d never shared with anyone except close family.

  She leaned forward, elbows on knees. “Do you remember anything else about the story?”

  “Not a whole lot. It’s just that I guess when I was a kid I felt sorry for the bear but now I can identify with him.”

  “Was there a happy ending?”

  “Yes but it wasn’t the ending he had expected.”

  “The older I get the more I learn that we can’t predict what’s going to happen in our lives. And you can’t allow one little incident in the emergency room to color your world or your future.”

  “You sound like a Sunday school teacher.”

  “And you sound like an intelligent young man who will be one of this world’s best doctors someday. Stop listening to people like Dr. Caine and that grumpy old woman and start listening to people like your father and Archer Pierce.”

  “And Lauren McCaffrey.”

  She grinned. “And me.”

  “Thanks. I think I will.” He tossed their trash and leaned back. “Want to split Brooke’s cashew chicken?”

  “Do you think I’m suicidal?”

  He opened the lid of the untouched cardboard container and waved it in front of her. “There are extra cashews—her favorite—and she can’t scream at me because she owes me a big favor. Come on Lauren, you’ll never get another chance like this. She always playing practical jokes on us.”

  “And I’d like to live through the next one, thank you very much.”

  Okay, so she wasn’t perfect. But she was close enough.

  Chapter 22

  On Thursday before school, Beau sat in his father’s home office reading the most recent literature on the treatment of headaches in the ER. The article was long and dry, filled with abbreviations he didn’t recognize, and it didn’t keep his attention. He was worried about Brooke.

  She hadn’t arrived home last night until after ten o’clock curfew and all she’d told him and Lauren was that she and Evan had some last-minute research to complete. He’d taken that to mean pictures or snooping but he’d given up trying to control his sister. Almost. She wouldn’t listen and who was going to back him up—Tony Dalton?

  He was about to shove the periodical aside and start breakfast when the telephone rang beside his elbow and startled him. He glanced at the caller ID. It was Grandma Sheldon’s number.

  He snatched up the receiver. “Dad?”

  “Beau. It’s good to hear your voice. How are things down there?”

  “We’re okay. A little busy at work.”

  “That’s nothing new. I didn’t wake you did I?”

  “Nope, I was just getting ready to make breakfast. Don’t you have your deposition today?”

  There was a tired sigh. “Postponed. I thought I might drive home last night but there’s been a little problem here.”

  “What kind of problem?”

  “It’s your grandma. I don’t feel comfortable leaving her here by herself right now.”

  Beau’s grip tightened on the telephone receiver. “Is she sick? Did something happen?”

  “That’s what I called to talk to you about. Is Brooke there? I need to discuss something with both of you before I make any decisions.”

  “What decisions?”

  “Get your sister. Has Lauren already gone to work?”

  “No, she’s sleeping in today. Hold for a minute.” Beau left the receiver on the desk and rushed through the house, taking care to silence his footsteps as he passed the closed door of the guest room. Lauren had to work tonight.

  He knocked on Brooke’s door and waited. No answer. She probably had her head buried under her pillow.

  He knocked again then cracked the door open. “Brooke, Dad’s on the phone. He wants to talk to both of us.”

  No answer.

  He pushed the door wide and saw that her bed was empty. Unmade. She never made her bed. “Brooke, where are you?” He sniffed the air and caught the aromatic combination of soap, perfume, and hair gel that always wafted from her room after she got ready for school in the morning. But it was too early. He glanced toward the dresser, where she always plopped her ten-gallon purse. It was gone.

  “Brooke?” Her bathroom door was open and the light was off. He went to the kitchen, thinking she might have slipped past him and could be sitting at the kitchen table but all was quiet. He saw the bright square of a sticky note on the refrigerator and snatched it off.

  She’d left for school early, caught a ride with Evan.

  Beau went back to the telephone. “Sorry Dad, Brooke’s already gone to school.”

  There was silence. “You’re kidding.”

  “Nope, I found her note just now.”

  “What’s going on? She barely gets to school on time, much less early.”

  Beau sighed. “She’s been acting stranger than usual. She and Evan are working together a lot on some articles and...” He would not tell Dad that they were ostracizing him from their special little project. He’d given up tattling when he was ten years old. “And we’ve had some major things happen.”

  “Like what?”

  “An eighth grader died of an overdose of meth Monday. His name was Oakley Brisco.”

  “Brisco? I know that name.”

  “I think you treated his grandfather once.”

  There was a deep groan from the receiver. “Oh no. The boy died at school?”

  “Yes. They rushed him to the hospital but they didn’t get him resuscitated. It was horrible, Dad. A lot of people are upset and I’m one of them. Evan’s probably writing a piece about it. You haven�
�t called much so I thought you were busy with the case.”

  “I’m sorry, son. It isn’t just the case, though that’s getting difficult too. We need to do something about your grandma. She has Alzheimer’s.”

  Beau sat down hard in the office chair. “When did you find this out?”

  “I’ve suspected it since last week. It’s one of the reasons I didn’t get home over the weekend. Jay pulled some special favors and we had an appointment with a neurologist Monday. We’re trying some new medication with her but we can’t tell yet if it’s going to work. Meanwhile, I may have found someone who will stay with her. If this arrangement doesn’t work out I need to know what you and Brooke think about asking your grandma to live with us.”

  Beau swallowed. “Of course we should.”

  “That’s it? Just like that?”

  “This is Grandma. We’re her family.” He refused to even consider how hard it would be to have her with them all the time.

  “I don’t know if she’ll be willing to leave St. Louis. She’s lived here all her life.”

  “Maybe you should talk to her about it when she’s...you know...thinking straight.”

  There was a soft sigh. “I’m glad you feel that way. Thanks. I hope your sister—”

  “She’ll say the same thing.” Eventually. Brooke could be opinionated and she liked her own way and living with Grandma would probably drive them all nuts. They would also drive her nuts. It was their family way. His sister had a deep sense of responsibility. She’d do the right thing.

  “So how’s it going down there today?” Dad asked. “You worked at the hospital last night?”

  “Yeah.”

  There was a waiting silence. Dad could read him almost as well as Brooke.

  “Dr. Caine was on duty,” Beau said at last. It would come out sooner or later anyway. He kept telling himself it wasn’t a big deal. “He wasn’t exactly friendly. I did something stupid and a patient’s grandmother took it the wrong way. I was banished.”

  “What do you call stupid?”

  Beau related his experience to the tune of Dad’s sympathetic monosyllables.