Carol shook her head. “I can’t afford that,” she confessed. She looked embarrassed when she said, “I don’t have any health insurance.”
Tania figured as much. The woman was a volunteer here, not an employee. If she worked anywhere else, that company might not offer any health insurance, either. “Let me worry about that. For the time being, let’s get to the bottom of this pain of yours.”
Carol looked hesitant. “I wouldn’t want to do anything to get you fired.”
“I won’t get fired,” Tania assured her. Taking the prescription pad out of her pocket, she wrote down a few words on the top sheet, instructions for the radiology department. “Take this to X-ray.” Tearing the page off, she held it out to Carol. “You know where that is, right?”
Carol nodded, accepting the paper before getting off the table. “They gave the volunteers a tour of the hospital the first day.”
“All right then. Tell them to send the X-rays to me when they’re ready. If we don’t find anything, then we’ll tackle the MRI.”
Carol had already crossed to the door. “You’re one of a kind, Dr. Pulaski.”
Tania smiled to herself. “Actually, I’m one of five,” she said under her breath.
Walking out behind Carol, she watched the young woman go down the hall. Either the volunteer was a fledgling hypochondriac, or she was a very stoic soldier because, for someone who said she had back trouble, Carol was moving rather well.
Chapter 11
It seemed to Tania that the candy striper had no sooner turned the corner than the E.R. suddenly came alive again. The back doors sprang open, admitting several sets of paramedics.
Patients poured in, including four people involved in a car accident, each brought in by a separate ambulance. Caught up in the fast pace, Tania lost track of time. And of the candy striper.
It was only at the end of her shift, as she hurriedly went through her files for the day, anticipating the evening ahead of her, that Tania realized that Carol’s X-rays had never reached her. They were missing.
And so was Carol.
Guilt and confusion came over her as Tania took a quick peek into the room where she’d initially examined Carol. As she’d suspected, the volunteer wasn’t there. In her place was a rather battered-looking skateboarder, looking none too happy about cooling his heels in the E.R. He had a broken wrist, which was being attended to by Ronald Morris, another one of the fourth-year residents on duty.
In the middle of applying a cast to the grumbling skateboarder’s injured wrist, the doctor glanced over in her direction. “Can I help you with something, Dr. Pulaski?”
“Do you know what happened to the patient who was in here a while back?” Tania asked, trying vainly to pinpoint a time.
“They got better?” the doctor suggested whimsically.
“Maybe,” Tania murmured, wondering if that was what actually happened. Had Carol felt better and decided not to have the X-rays done?
Tania withdrew from the room. Turning, she noted the head nurse heading toward the central station. She hurried after the woman. “Hey, Shelly, did you see Carol?”
The woman stopped and frowned. “Carol?”
According to Sasha, Shelly had been with the hospital forever and, in her opinion, the woman made it a point to know everyone on staff. “The candy striper.” There was no sign of recognition on the older woman’s face. “She was complaining about a bad back, so I sent her for X-rays. She was supposed to be in trauma room three.”
Habit had Shelly glancing up at the patient board. “You’ve got a broken wrist in there now. Dr. Morris is treating him.”
Tania looked at her watch. It was getting late. She needed to be on her way, but sense of order made her hate leaving things up in the air. “Yes, I know. I was just wondering what happened to Carol.”
Shelly lifted her wide shoulders, letting them fall carelessly. “Maybe she changed her mind. Felt better. Happens.” And then she looked at Tania over the top of her glasses. “Isn’t your shift over, Doctor?”
“Yes, but—”
Shelly’s expression told her she wasn’t about to be swayed from her position. The chief attending might be at the head of the E.R., but everyone knew that it was Shelly who kept everything running smoothly.
“Go home, Doctor.” Tania looked around the area, hoping to spot the missing volunteer. No such luck. Shelly moved her full figure in front of her. “I know it’ll be tough but we’ll soldier on without you.” And then her voice softened. “You’re not going to be any good to us if you don’t start getting some rest.”
Tania felt the corners of her mouth curving. “Since when did you become a doctor?”
Shelly appeared completely unfazed by the question. “I pick things up. Now go.” The nurse waved her off to the rear doors.
Tania thought of the play she was seeing tonight. And the man taking her. One stray thought about Jesse and she could feel her anticipation grow. “Actually, I do have somewhere to be.”
The woman nodded, turning her attention to the files that were on the desk. “As long as it’s not here, that’s all I care about.”
“It’s not,” Tania assured her, already backing away, on the path to the lockers. “I’m seeing Colors of the Rainbow tonight.”
Shelly spared her one long, envious glance. “Lucky dog.”
The comment surprised Tania. “I didn’t take you for a musical lover.”
“I’ll have to sing my rendition of The Impossible Dream for you someday,” Shelly called after her, then chuckled.
It seemed rather appropriate to be seeing this particular play, Tania thought as she boarded the bus on the next corner some ten minutes later. The title actually reflected the way she felt. As if there were a rainbow just beginning inside of her, its collection of colors ready to shoot out of her at a second’s notice.
If she were honest with herself, this happiness terrified her. She was afraid to feel this way.
Common sense told her to back away, to cancel tonight and any other “tonights” that might be in the offing. Because not to cancel was to become further involved and becoming further involved would only lead to disaster.
But a stubborn will to soar, to enjoy life, refused to let her cancel or retreat. Refused because there was supposed to be more to life than just going through the motions.
Pros and cons battled it out within her, even as she doggedly continued to move forward.
By the time Tania got off the bus and ran into her building, she had less than twenty minutes to get ready. The elevator seemed to take forever, even though she was the only one on it.
Dashing through the front door of her apartment, she locked it behind her and all but flew to her room.
This time, there was no indecisive hunting through her wardrobe. She knew exactly what she was wearing, a simple black dress that subtly adhered to her figure. That and matching heels. She’d had the foresight to pick it out last night just in case she was running late—which she usually was lately.
When the doorbell rang, she’d just barely finished putting on her makeup. She glanced at her watch. He was five minutes early. The man kept her on her toes.
“Coming,” she called out, pausing to step into her shoes. Grabbing the string of pearls she wanted to wear, she flew to the front door, hoping she didn’t look as rushed as she felt.
When she got to the door, Tania took a deep breath to center herself, then turned the doorknob to open it. She was still holding on to the necklace.
Jesse was standing on her doorstep, looking better than a man had a living right to.
She tried not to notice that her heart didn’t so much skip a beat as jump up in her chest. Either she’d suddenly developed a case of atrial fibrillation, Tania thought, or something was definitely happening here. Something that could have more far-reaching consequences than the condition she’d just diagnosed and discarded.
“You look beautiful,” Jesse told her.
So do you, she thought
.
Out loud, she said, “Yeah, yeah, I bet you say that to everyone.” Tania turned her back to him and held out the pearls while lifting her hair away from her neck. “Could you help me put this on?”
He frowned slightly, taking the pearls from her. He didn’t want to help her put on her necklace. He wanted to press his lips against the smooth expanse of skin she’d exposed to him.
Jesse took a breath, reining in his thoughts. “I’m pretty much all thumbs,” he confessed. It took him more than one try to hook the clasp. Relieved, he backed away before he wound up giving in to temptation. “Okay,” he told her. “Done.”
She turned around to face him again and he had this overwhelming desire to kiss her. He banked it down. He’d never been one to allow himself to be governed by impulses.
“And as for saying that to everyone,” he commented drily as she grabbed her purse, “I’m pretty sure that this is the first time I’m saying it today.” Jesse glanced around just as they were about to leave. “Where’s the rest of your team tonight?”
“Elsewhere,” she answered simply, fishing out the key to the apartment. “Why, you miss getting the third degree?”
He laughed, shaking his head as Tania locked the door behind them, then slipped her key into her clutch purse. “No, but I was getting used to it. Besides, they were just proving that they cared about you,” he told her. “Nice having someone care about you.”
“In small doses,” she allowed.
He had the distinct feeling that the remark was somehow meant for him.
“Are you aware that you’re humming the opening number?” he asked Tania nearly four hours later as she hunted for the key to her apartment door. She’d been humming off and on ever since they’d left the theater and the melodic sound, as well as her pure enjoyment of the play, made him smile. Her eyes were shining. He couldn’t recall ever being with a woman whose eyes reflected her inner joy.
Tania stopped humming, but she wasn’t embarrassed. It had been a wonderful show, a wonderful evening all around, and right at this moment, she felt incredibly content and happy.
Looking up from her purse, she nodded. “I know. The song was wonderful. The whole play was wonderful.” Her eyes smiled at him as her fingers located her keys. “Everything was wonderful.”
Including the time she’d shared with him. They’d gone to a five-star restaurant not too far from the theater. Then, because his car was parked in a structure, they decided to leave it there and walk to the theater. It was a warm, sultry night and they continued their conversation from the restaurant. There’d been no awkward pauses, no hunting for something to say. She discovered that they liked the same movies, the same authors, the same baseball team.
For the life of her, Tania couldn’t remember when she’d enjoyed herself so much.
“No argument from me,” Jesse assured her softly.
She could almost feel his eyes caressing her face. Could feel her heart start hammering even before his lips touched hers.
Tania threaded her arms around his neck and gave herself up to the moment, silently arguing that since it was for the moment, it was all right.
The keys slipped from her lax fingers as she lost herself in the kiss. But just as it felt as if it was going to continuing building, Jesse drew back.
“You dropped your keys,” he told her, bending to pick them up for her.
“I guess my fingers went numb.” Her eyes danced with amusement. Taking the keys from him, she inserted one in the keyhole. And discovered that the door was unlocked. “That’s weird,” she murmured under her breath.
“What is?”
She pushed the door open slowly. “The door wasn’t locked.”
“Maybe one of your sisters came home and forgot to lock it.” He’d done it himself once or twice when his mind was on other things.
But Tania shook her head. She was still standing on the threshold, peering in. He saw the uneasy look in her eyes. “My father was on the police force for twenty-seven years. He drummed that into our heads—always lock your door behind you, coming and going, even if you’re only home for five minutes. It’s just something we do.”
“Maybe I’d better look around for you,” he suggested.
Independence warred with common sense. Common sense won. “Sure.”
Tania banked down the surge of nervousness that threatened to overwhelm her. She was grateful to him for volunteering rather than waiting to be asked. But she didn’t want him to think she was one of those women who needed to check her closets and look under her bed before she went to sleep each night.
Still, the first thing that popped into her head was that somehow, after all this time had passed, Jeff had broken in.
That Jeff was waiting for her.
C’mon, Tania. Stop being an idiot. She forced a smile to her lips. “Miss being the hero?”
Jesse made his way through the living room. “I’m not a hero yet,” he told her. “That’s only if there’s a bad guy hiding in one of your closets and I get to engage him in hand-to-hand combat.” He noticed how quiet it was. If someone else was home, he was fairly certain that by now, they’d be out to investigate. “Your sisters still aren’t home?”
“Apparently not,” she murmured. Then, in an audible voice, said, “Doctors keep erratic hours.”
Jesse slanted a smile in her direction. “I’m beginning to learn that. Why don’t you stay by the door while I check the rest of the apartment out?” he suggested.
“The hell I will,” was her answer.
She wasn’t a shrinking violet. He had to admit he liked that about her. “Okay, then stay behind me, just in case.”
Her breath caught in her throat even as she tried to brazen it out. “Why? Do you think that someone’s still here?”
“Probably not. But it doesn’t hurt to be cautious. I had a friend who walked in on a burglar once. Burglar was so scared, he almost trampled my friend trying to get out.” Jesse looked at her meaningfully. “But some burglars aren’t afraid.”
“I know,” she said quietly.
With Tania half a breath behind him, Jesse made his way from room to room. There was no one else in the apartment. When they walked into the last room, the kitchen, Jesse saw two notes posted on the refrigerator door, held in place by magnets, one shaped like a stethoscope, the other like a miniature Empire State Building.
Moving ahead of him, Tania read first one note, then the other. Natalya’s note said she was at their parents’ in Queens and would probably spend the night there, while Kady’s note, which appeared to have been left first, said she was spending quality time with her fiancé.
“Quality time?” Jesse echoed. He’d only heard the term applied to parents and children.
Tania grinned. “That’s code for spending the night,” she told him. She saw his quizzical look and beat him to the obvious question. “We use code in case one of our parents stops by and sees the note.”
“Your parents don’t approve of Kady’s fiancé?” He’d only met her briefly, but Magda Pulaski didn’t strike him as a woman who would hold her tongue if she disapproved of something or someone.
Tania was quick to correct the misimpression. “Oh, no, they love him.” She led the way back to the living room. “He saved Kady’s life.”
A knowing smile curved his mouth. “Then it’s your sister sleeping with him before they’re married that’s the problem?” he guessed.
It sounded so unforgiving when he said it and her parents were warm, caring people with huge hearts.
“My parents aren’t prudes.” She wanted him to know that. The next moment she asked herself why that was important. “They just don’t want it stuck in their faces.”
He nodded. Sexuality was a difficult thing for one generation to accept about another—and it worked both ways, he thought. He never wanted to think about the possibility of his mother dating after his father was killed.
Jesse glanced toward the door. He knew it was time to leave, ev
en if he didn’t want to.
“Well, I guess it looks like one of your sisters did forget to close the door when she left. There’s no one here but us,” he added needlessly, looking down into her face. “I guess I’d better get going.”
Tania caught the bottom of her lip between her teeth, debating. In a minute she’d be home free. Despite that, she heard herself saying, “Since you’re already inside, would you like to stay awhile? I could make some coffee—or maybe you’d rather have a drink?” As she asked, she made her way over to the small liquor cabinet against the far wall.
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