"Watch it there." Caden interrupted my thoughts and grabbed my arm. I narrowly avoided walking right into a speeding ambulance that pulled out of the emergency entrance.
"That's the second time this month that I've nearly gotten smashed," I said.
"Because you're always so distracted. C'mon," he said and tugged me toward the main entrance.
Stormhill Hospital Center was a small hospital set just a few miles east of the center of town. It was oddly quiet inside and I was instantly met with the familiar smell of disinfectant. The hospital looked clean and much more orderly than Mercy General ever had.
"I hate how hospitals smell," Caden said.
"I bet you can smell more than I can." I glanced at him.
"Exactly," he said though his nose was scrunched.
We waited by the front reception desk until a middle-aged woman in a business suit and heels greeted us.
"Doctor Twofeathers?"
"Yes, hi," I said as I shook the woman's extended hand.
"I'm Brooke Malone, the General Director of Stormhill. Welcome," she said, her smile warm. I didn't notice at first but Caden had wandered away to take a seat in the waiting area.
"Thanks," I said.
Brooke's cheerful appearance was somewhat comforting. I was never good at selling myself with administrators. Sometimes it was easier to let my résumé or my work do it for me. There was an awkward silence before the wailing siren of an approaching ambulance broke it.
"I'm happy to see that you've expressed interest in our quaint facility," Brooke said. I handed her my résumé, but couldn't help the curiosity that was building as I heard the EMTs unloading the ambulance.
"Me too," I said and cringed when my voice sounded distracted. I watched as the EMTs raced into the emergency room and called out codes to the staff as they placed the blood-covered man onto the exam table. The thirty-something-year-old was gasping for breath. I watched as the E.R. staff rushed in and took over. One of the technicians rattled something off about a gunshot wound to the torso. Brooke watched the scene but she painfully drew her eyes away to look back at me. A gesture clearly meant to signify that she had confidence in her staff.
"Our hospital isn't usually this eventful," she said, her voice forcibly casual.
"I see," I said without returning my eyes to her.
There were two staff members rushing around the patient. One of them was a nurse and the other a very nervous doctor who kept glancing over his shoulder. The nurse cut through the shirt and pants of the patient and hooked him up to monitors that began beeping manically. An additional nurse rushed into the room and narrowed her eyes at the doctor, muttering something that I couldn't hear. My legs twitched as I watched the patient go into respiratory arrest.
"Do something. His lungs are going to collapse," the first nurse said to the doctor while the second held gauze over the wound that was bleeding heavily.
The young doctor fumbled with equipment and pulled out a plastic tube from a package. His shaky hand picked up a scalpel. Both of his hands trembled as he used his fingers to count down the man's ribs. One of the nurses quickly sterilized the area while looking thoroughly frustrated at the doctor. His hands shook harder as he hesitated to make the incision.
I couldn't stand there and watch for another second. While Brooke tried to babble on about the competence of highly trained residents to distract me from the deteriorating situation, I broke away from her without a word and rushed into the room. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Caden leap to his feet.
Both of the nurses gaped at me as I quickly put on a pair of gloves and yanked the scalpel out of the doctor's hand. I made an inch-long incision over the rib, slicing right through the skin and tissue. The young doctor took a step back as I grabbed the hemostatic clamp off the tray and inserted it into the incision. I guided it up and over the rib until I felt the distinct pop of the pleural lining. Without so much as a glance, I snatched the chest tube from the doctor and guided it into the chest cavity. Tossing the clamp aside, I then slid the rest of the chest tube manually toward the shoulder. Immediately the pooling blood began to drain and the patient's respiration was restored. The beeping monitors steadied and the man's condition stabilized.
"When you hesitate, people die." I turned to the young doctor. He stared at me with big gawking eyes as I rolled the latex gloves off my hands and tossed them into the bin.
"That'll be all, Dr. Fox." The deep voice of the attending doctor dismissed the nervous doctor that I now knew to be a resident. When the experienced doctor took over, I went back to Brooke and Caden. Both of them stood there with their mouths hanging open.
"That... What..." Brooke babbled. Caden just stared at me like he'd never seen anything quite like me before.
"I'm sorry, I just—" I started but Brooke interrupted.
"I...you...you've got some guts, Doctor Twofeathers," she finally said.
"The kid was dying and so was his patient," I said, my heart pounding in my chest. I knew that I'd overstepped my boundaries, but I couldn't stand by and watch someone code just to save face.
"This was the most interesting interview I think I've ever had," Brooke commented, her stunned expression curling into a smirk that brought me back to the reality of what I had just done.
"I didn't mean to overstep, but I wasn't going to let—"
Brooke cut me off. "No apologies. When can you start?"
"Start? What? I mean... Start, you mean here?" All I could do was blink.
"Yes, you don't think I'm going to let what you just did go unnoticed. You weren't even in the room and you knew exactly how to handle it. Welcome to Stormhill Hospital, Doctor Twofeathers," she said and extended her hand to me. I shook it and glanced to Caden who looked rather pale to say the least.
"Um...a month, I can start in a month."
"Excellent." Brooke beamed. "I'll review your résumé and give you a call later this week."
"Thanks, I mean, Thank you." What just happened?
On my way out, the doctor who had relieved the resident named Fox stopped me. "Doctor Twofeathers, is it?" he asked.
"Yes."
"I'm Doctor Collin Hansen. I saw what you did in there and wanted to thank you. The man is going to make it because of you."
"It... I was just doing my job. That's all," I said, grateful that my complexion hid my blush, suddenly aware of the anxiety that was rising in my chest due to all the attention.
"Yes, you were." He smiled. "Today was Dr. Fox's first rotation in the E.R. You taught him a good lesson." I nodded to Dr. Hansen as he shook my hand.
"Take care, Dr. Twofeathers. I think I'll be seeing you soon."
Chapter Sixteen
"You know, Shawnee, sometimes I underestimate you," Caden said.
"No you don't." I smiled at him. He laughed as we got out of the truck and made our way back to the cabin. It was late afternoon by the time we returned home and Xany had set out dozens of sandwiches on the table. Vanessa was lounging on the sofa while Mal sat on the floor carving a block of wood that looked like a potato.
"How'd it go, Nee?" Xany said as she bounced over to me and stopped short when she saw blood on my shirt. "What happened?"
"Shawnee saved a guy of course. She popped this tube into his chest and blood came pouring out." Caden's voice was all dramatic and gory. He made hand gestures to go along with it.
"Get out." Xany giggled.
"Too much attention for one day. I was just doing my job, that's all." I shrugged, desperate to relieve myself of some of the attention.
"You were doing that doctor's job, too. The dumb doctor in the emergency room was pissing his pants and then in rushed Shawnee. They offered her the job on the spot." Caden grabbed a sandwich while he proudly told my story for me. "You should have seen the look on the administrator's face. Classic!" He clapped me on the back and I laughed. Secretly, I was grateful that he had told the story rather than me.
Vanessa was smiling until she heard that I had gotte
n the job and then she began pouting again. Mal joined us in the kitchen and slipped his arms around me.
"Congrats, love," he whispered in my ear. A shiver ran down my spine when his warm breath blew across my flesh.
"I'm making a cake!" Xany exclaimed as she bounced over and kissed my cheek. I chuckled at her.
"Thanks," I said to all of them and leaned into Mal. I blew Vanessa a kiss, which made her pout just a little less. "I'm going to go have a quick shower to get this blood off of me."
Mal kissed my cheek then let me go. I went to my room to grab a clean outfit and glanced into the main room on my way to the bathroom. While the others chattered excitedly in the kitchen, Vanessa sat alone on the sofa toying with a wood shaving that she had picked up from the floor. I couldn't help the guilt that washed over me, both because I knew how much she wanted me to remain unemployed and when I saw that she was left out of the conversation with the others. So I decided to invite her into our own.
"Psst," I whispered. She turned to look at me with a furrowed brow. I nodded my head toward the bathroom and smiled at her before heading inside. She hesitated at first as if she didn't understand the gesture, but then she followed me into the bathroom as quietly as she could. I opened the faucet and turned just in time to see her close the door.
"Are you okay, Shawnee?" She looked worried and wrung her hands together.
"I'm fine. I just thought we could use some time alone to talk. Want to have a bath with me?" She looked at me as if she didn't understand what I was asking. "You can have the shallow end and I'll put loads of bubbles so it's not so watery."
"Okay, but no splashing." She laughed and dropped her hands. Sometimes I wondered if Vanessa's anxiety was just as bad as mine.
I plugged the drain and filled the tub, then poured in a bunch of lavender-scented bubble bath. Vanessa's dress disappeared and left her naked. I bit my lip as I watched her carefully slip into the warm water. She held her breath until she sat in it. Her body was tense as she watched me undress. I knew that Vanessa would never agree to take a bath without the invitation to join me. In a way, it showed me how much she was willing to sacrifice for me. I tossed my blood-stained shirt into the trash and the rest of my clothes in the hamper. I wrapped my arms around myself as I slid into the tub. Even after everything we'd already been through, I was still getting used to the idea of being seen naked. Touching was still the most difficult part. She smiled when I put my legs on top of hers and let the bubbles cover my torso. I could tell she was trying not to stare at me. She put her hands under the water and rubbed my legs and her soft purring returned.
"Are you very upset about me working, Ness? Be honest." I stroked her hip with my foot.
"A little upset," she said and kept her eyes averted.
"How come?"
"I'll never see you just like last time," she said as she drew circles around my kneecap.
"Of course you will." The guilt was nearly drowning me. I'd neglected her in the past and our friendship. All she did was worry about me and I never cared enough to notice.
"No. You'll go away for days then come back and be all sick like you used to be," she said and moved her hands to swish the bubbles around.
"Things are different now, baby. I have you, and Mal, and the pack to come home to." She remained quiet and kept playing with the bubbles. "What else is bothering you?" I asked and poked her side with my foot.
"Nothing."
"No lying allowed." She flicked a bit of water at me and I flinched. "Vanessa, you make me talk so I'm going to make you talk."
"I can't go."
"Go where?" I was getting better at translating her shut-down style of werecat talking but sometimes she just needed to offer me more.
"Home. I used to go home when you were at work and I wasn't."
"To Ireland you mean?" She nodded. I watched her in silence until she looked at me. "Because of that guy, what's his name?"
"Dugan."
"Are they still having trouble exiling him?"
"Yes."
I chewed the inside of my mouth as I contemplated asking her more questions about Dugan. I remembered our failed trip to Ireland and how scared she was of him when he got in her face. I decided to bite the bullet.
"Did he hurt you?" Vanessa made a very cattish sound and splashed water at me. I grabbed her by the wrist and tugged her around in the water so that I could hug her. "Stop it, Ness. Tell me."
"Bully," she muttered, but leaned into my hug. Her purring increased as she kissed my neck. This time her purr wasn't idle and affectionate; it was that intense self-soothing type of purring that she did when she was totally uncomfortable.
"I'm no bully." I stroked her hair until she stopped squirming so much.
"No, he was a bully."
"Dugan used to bully you?" She nodded. "I didn't know that. I'm sorry."
"No working."
"Ness..." Her words were getting fewer and fewer with the stress of talking about Dugan. She pressed her bottom lip out so I kissed it. "I know you don't want to talk about it so I won't make you."
"Good," she said and used the tip of her finger to trace around my breasts. I relaxed against the tub and let her while running my fingers through her wet hair. If I could purr too, I would. I tried very hard not to think about anything except being in the moment with Vanessa. I wanted to show her that I could be there for her like she's always been for me.
"Can I ask you something?" She looked up at me.
"Of course." I nuzzled her then met her gaze.
"Would you tell me?" She tilted her head to the side, her movements suddenly jerky and catlike when they hadn't been a moment before.
"Tell you what?" I couldn't help but laugh a little at her half-sentences.
"If you did anything."
"What do you mean?" My brow furrowed.
"With Mal."
"Oh, yes of course I'd tell you," I said as a smile spread across my lips. I'd tell her anything at this point. After all, I told Mal about the things she and I did. It was only fair.
"Okay," she said and went back to purring.
"You are one very atypical werecat, Ness. And I love you for it." I kissed her forehead.
"Love you too. I like you like this," she said with a catlike mewl to her voice.
"Like what?"
"Relaxed, not scared." She rubbed my shoulders and took extra care to trace my collarbone.
"I'm starting to like myself like this, too."
After we emerged from our bath, Vanessa seemed happier when we joined the others in the kitchen. Caden and Xany were standing by the door and Xany looked like she was dressed for a sniper mission.
"What the heck are you wearing, Xee?" I asked.
"Caden and Hank are taking me with them tonight to go patrol instead of Mal." Her voice was as chipper as sprinkles on a sundae.
"Since we'll be home all by ourselves tonight, ladies, what do you say we order in some Chinese food?" Mal asked Vanessa and me. She nodded her response and tossed herself on the sofa.
"Sounds good," I said to him while Xany showed me the crossbow Caden was teaching her to use. "Looks vicious, Xee."
"Thanks." She giggled and pulled back the tense string. I flinched at the thought of it snapping back and hitting her in the shoulder. To my surprise, she handled it like a trained marksman.
Vanessa curled up on the sofa and listened to Mal order a bunch of different things from the Chinese takeout place. "Shrimp," she called out. He smiled at her and made sure to order her plenty of shrimp. Not all werecats preferred seafood over other types of meat, but for some reason Vanessa did. I watched Caden continue to instruct Xany on how to use a crossbow until Hank honked the horn of his truck.
"Hold down the fort, bro." Caden grinned as he and Xany ducked out the door. Mal saluted him on his way out.
"How come Caden took Xany with him?" I asked and took a seat on the sofa near Vanessa's feet.
"Xany likes to be included. Caden thought it might be
good practice for her to see what patrolling is like," Mal said.
"You agreed with it?"
"Only because Xany will see how boring it is." He grinned before plucking me up from the sofa.
"Hey!" I gasped. He sat in my spot then placed me gently in his lap. Vanessa laughed and I smiled when I heard it. It seemed like a long time since I'd heard her laugh.
"You people make me feel like I'm weightless." I huffed at them both.
"To us you kind of are," Mal said.
"Mhmmm," Vanessa agreed.
I leaned against Mal and watched Vanessa purr contently. I glanced to him and without hesitation, his voice popped into my head.
She seems happier.
She is. Has she spent all day here, even while I was away?
Yes. I asked her advice on what to carve out of the wood block. She said I should make you a potato. I laughed aloud accidentally.
"What's funny?" Vanessa said.
"Did you tell Mal to carve me a potato?"
"Yes." She grinned.
"How romantic of you." I grabbed a pillow and bopped her leg, which of course made her laugh more. Mal put his hand on my stomach and began rubbing, not unlike Vanessa. I relaxed back against him and watched as they exchanged an obvious glance to which Mal smiled.
"What?" I said to him.
"Huh?"
"Are you two sharing some sort of secret?" I looked between them. Vanessa perked up hearing her favorite S word.
"Your cat told me that rubbing your stomach makes you feel better," Mal said. Vanessa nodded.
"Oh... Yeah." I narrowed my eyes at the two of them. "Did you two talk about me all morning while I was busy butting into other people's business?"
"Nope." Mal shook his head.
"Only half the morning." Vanessa grinned at me and earned herself another pillow bop.
Birthrite (Legacy Series Book 2) Page 16