It was only her third day back, and she felt like she’d never been gone. The normalcy of her job helped her forget all she’d been through during the past couple of months. It had been nice to see Debbie, Butch, and Willow, who had acted as head nurse while Emily was on leave. She had feared that Willow might resent her once she came back and resumed her duties, but the first thing out of Willow’s mouth was, “Thank goodness you’re back. It’s all yours.”
“Good afternoon, Mrs. Stanton. I’m Dr. Foster. Emily’s going to help me take a look and see what’s going on with that baby of yours.” Dr. Foster washed his hands and pulled on gloves. “I hear he’s trying to make an early appearance.”
Emily washed her hands and put her gloves on. She smiled reassuringly at the young soon-to-be mother. Dr. Foster was the best obstetrician-gynecologist in town as far as she was concerned.
“And you’re right at thirty-six weeks?” he asked, as he began the examination.
“Will my baby be all right if he’s born now?” she tearfully asked. “I mean, is he big enough?”
“That’s what we’re going to see,” Dr. Foster told her as he slid away. “You can scoot up and make yourself comfortable.” He removed and disposed of his gloves. “Meanwhile, Emily’s going to hook you up to an IV. There’ll be some medicine in it to help you relax and slow those contractions down. It may even stop them.”
“It won’t hurt the baby?”
“He’ll be fine,” the physician assured her. “I’ll be back in to see how you’re doing in a while.”
Emily followed him out and listened as he told her what he wanted done. She soon had Mrs. Stanton—Chrissy, she had asked Emily to call her, lying on the hospital bed as comfortably as she could, IV in place.
“You might get drowsy, Chrissy,” Emily told her. “It’s all right for you to doze off. It’ll help you relax even more. Someone will be coming in to take you for a sonogram before too long, though. That’s just to make sure your little guy’s doing okay in there.”
“Do you have any children?” Chrissy asked her.
Emily finished locking the bed rail in place. “No. I’m not married.”
“Do you have a boyfriend?”
She smiled. “I have a wonderful boyfriend.”
“Thass good.” Chrissy was already dozing off.
Emily checked the monitor one last time to make sure her vitals looked good before leaving to discover her next task.
“I don’t know what to do with her! She’s locked herself in a stall and won’t come out! I know her arm is broken.” Emily recognized Trevor’s grandmother standing at the nurse’s station, her whole body shaking.
“I know her,” she told Debbie. “What’s going on, Mrs. Ryman?”
“It’s Mrs. Taylor. She fell this morning, and I knew when it happened her arm was broken. It took me all day to get her to come to the hospital. Now she’s locked herself in a bathroom stall and won’t come out.”
“Did you call Logan?”
The older woman nodded. “He was at a site, and his foreman told me he’d let him know to come here as quickly as he could. I just have to get her in here.”
Emily remembered what Logan had told her about his mom hiding in the closet. She looked at Willow.
“Please page Dr. Lysart. Mrs. Taylor suffers from agoraphobia, and I think she’ll respond better to a female doctor. If you’ll keep an eye on Mrs. Stanton in 3A, I’m going to try and talk her into coming back here.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Willow assured her.
“Why don’t you go to the waiting room so you can watch for Logan?” Emily gently suggested to Mrs. Ryman.
“Thank you.” She looked relieved that somebody else was going to take responsibility for her employer.
So, it was a few minutes later that Emily found herself in the ladies’ restroom talking through a closed stall door. She’d grabbed an “Out of Order” sign and left it outside the door so they wouldn’t be disturbed.
“Mrs. Taylor, we haven’t met yet, but I’m Emily Scott. Your son Logan and I are very good friends.”
A scuffling noise came from inside the stall. “You’re Logan’s girl. He told me about you.”
“Yes,” Emily answered her. “I’m his girlfriend. And I would never let anything happen to his mother—to you. I promise if you come out and go with me, we’ll walk straight back to a room with nobody else in it. Nobody will stop us or bother you along the way. Then a very nice doctor—a friend of mine—will come in and look at your arm.”
“I don’t like for people to look at me.”
“I know.” Emily kept her voice calm and even. “That’s why you and I are going to go straight back to the room. We won’t even walk past the waiting room, and the only people in the room with you will be me and the doctor.” She hoped Logan would be there before his mom needed x-rays.
“You’re nice. I’m glad you’re Logan’s girl.”
“Thank you.” Was that the sound of the latch being pushed back? “I’m glad I’m his girl, too.”
The door slowly opened, and a woman about Emily’s height with short brown hair a shade lighter than Logan’s and the same brown eyes Emily loved to look into, walked out of the stall.
“Thank you for trusting me,” Emily told her, smiling reassuringly.
“You’re pretty.”
“Thank you. So are you.” Emily gently took the older woman’s uninjured arm. “I’ll tell you what. We’re going out this door and walking really fast so nobody sees us or stops us. Okay?”
Logan’s mom nodded, a look of determination on her face.
Emily, still holding Mrs. Taylor’s arm, pushed open the door and led the other woman out. They walked at a quick pace, and Emily took her through the employees’ entrance straight to an empty examination room. They had made it, unseen and undisturbed.
“Will you sit on the table and wait while I go see if the doctor is here yet?” Emily gently asked.
“You’ll have to help me up there. I think I broke my arm.” She held up her bent left arm, which was bruised, swollen, and to Emily’s trained eyes, indeed most likely broken.
“I can do that.” Once more supporting her good arm, she managed to get Mrs. Taylor onto the table.
“I’ll be right back,” Emily promised before she hurried to the nurse’s station.
“Dr. Lysart is five minutes away,” Willow told her, “and it looks like 3A’s contractions might have stopped.”
“Good. Thank you.” Emily grabbed a blank chart and clipboard. “I’m going to stay with Mrs. Taylor. I’ll just go ahead and get her information. I’m sure her son will be here soon. Send him to 6B.”
“We’re covered. You take care of your boyfriend’s mom.” Emily had told Willow she was dating Logan Taylor, and Willow had evidently put two and two together.
Emily walked back to the room. She asked Logan’s mom for the information necessary for admitting her to the emergency room. She was just getting ready to check on Dr. Lysart again when Logan charged into the room.
“Mom! What did you do?” He rushed to her side.
“I fell.”
Logan turned to Emily expectantly. “ I’m pretty sure her arm is broken. We’re waiting on Dr. Lysart to get here. She’s a friend of mine, a really—”
“I’m here now. She’ll be fine.” He turned away from Emily back to his mom. “You’re safe now, Mom. I’ll take care of you.”
“Logan, she has a broken arm, and she has to be looked at by a doctor. She needs x-rays,” Emily gently explained.
He whirled on her. “I understand. I’ll stay with her while they do all that. We don’t need you anymore.”
Emily’s heart shattered into a million pieces as she turned and blindly walked out of the door and back to the nurses’ station. Dr. Lysart was standing there.
“I understand you’ll be assisting me with this patient.” The doctor spoke warmly to Emily.
Emily mindlessly handed the chart to Debbie, who had
just walked up. “I think Debbie better go. I’m taking my break.”
Ignoring Willow’s puzzled expression, Emily walked out of the emergency room, all the way out of the hospital to her car. Once she sat behind the wheel, she lost it. They didn’t need her anymore. He didn’t need her anymore. If Logan loved her like he said he did, how could he have so coldly pushed her aside when all she was trying to do was help? Maybe he didn’t love her. He was waiting six months until she was strong enough to hear the truth—that he had done all of this out of pity.
Emily had two more hours before her shift was over. She wasn’t going to let Logan Taylor hurt her again. He could only hurt her if she gave him the power. Furiously wiping the tears from her eyes, she got out of the car and walked back into the hospital to her post.
“I’ll take care of Rooms one through four,” she told a still confused Willow. “One of you will have to handle the rest.”
“Mrs. Taylor asked for you,” Willow softly told her.
“I’m sorry, but I’m sure Debbie will do just fine.” She picked up the chart for the patient in Room 1A and went to check on him.
She kept busy for the next two hours and didn’t see Logan or his mother again before she left work for the day.
After Emily showered and changed, she decided to fix herself a light dinner. She was just clearing the table when somebody pounded on her door.
Knowing who it was, she braced herself. She was strong enough to do this. Emily Irene Scott didn’t need Logan Taylor’s pity. In fact, he could stick his pity where the sun didn’t shine.
“I’m so sorry, Em,” were the first words out of his mouth when she opened the door.
“Yes, you are.”
He gave her a bewildered look. “Can I come in so we can talk?”
“I don’t think we need to talk. I think you said enough earlier today.” She started to close the door.
“Emily, wait.” He pushed the door open. “Mom told me what you did—how you helped her. I’m so sorry for what I said. I didn’t mean it. I just went nuts when I saw her there, hurt like that.” Logan managed a shaky smile. “She reamed me out for talking to you like that.”
“You know what I figured out today, Logan?” She was going to lay it out for him.
He didn’t think he was going to like this. “What?”
“If you love me like you say you do, you’d never be able to talk to me like that. I think everything you’ve said and done has been out of pity. You’re not waiting six months for me to decide for sure I’m in love with you. You’re waiting six months for me to be strong enough to hear the truth. You came when I needed you and didn’t know how to leave.”
“Em, you’re so wrong. I…”
“Well, I’m letting you off the hook. I don’t need you anymore.” Those stupid tears were falling again despite her resolve.
He shook his head. “I love you, Emily, whether you believe me or not. I don’t know how I can ever make up for snapping at you the way I did today, but I will do whatever it takes. You might not need me, but I need you. Please, Emily, don’t do this.”
Were those tears in his eyes? “You just feel sorry for me.”
“No.” He put his hands on her shoulders. “I’m sorry you lost your mom and dad, but what I feel for you has nothing to do with pity. I love you, Emily.” He lowered his voice. “I love you.”
The next thing she knew she was in his arms and he was kissing her like there was no tomorrow. He backed her further into the house, kicking the door closed behind him. His lips slid from her mouth down her neck. His hands were everywhere.
He suddenly froze and took a step back. “Stop me now, Em,” he breathed, “or I won’t be able to.”
“I don’t want you to.” She took his hand and led him into her bedroom. Standing by the bed, she grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head, baring his chest. She had always known he was built like this, but seeing him made her weak in the knees.
“Your turn,” he told her, unbuttoning her blouse and pushing it off her shoulders. He pulled her against him, kissing her passionately while he reached behind her to unfasten her bra. When he pulled away, it went with him. She marveled at how right it felt to have her bare chest pressed against his as he kissed her hungrily. He couldn’t believe he was holding her in his arms like this.
Emily was unfastening his button-fly jeans when he thought of something. Swearing softly, he placed his hand over hers, stopping her.
“We can’t, Emily. I don’t have any protection with me.”
“Oh.” Her racing heart sank. “Oh.” She wasn’t on the pill and had never even thought about being on birth control.
She turned and grabbed her blouse, pulling it back on and buttoning it. He stood and watched her for a few moments.
“You are so beautiful, Em.” He pulled her against him, kissing her one more time. “Do you believe me, Emily?” He kissed her again. “That I love you?”
She looked into his eyes, which were dark with emotion, and slowly nodded.
“I promise I’ll never say anything like that to you ever again.” He finished the last few buttons on her shirt. “I need to get used to having somebody else care about Mom, don’t I?”
“She said you told her about me.” Emily watched while Logan picked up his shirt from the floor and slid it back on. “Why haven’t I met her before?”
He took her hand and led her to the living room, where he sat on the couch and pulled her onto his lap. “I guess I was still…embarrassed. Mom is different. Not like your mom was. Sometimes she says or does something that doesn’t make any sense, and then she doesn’t remember it later.”
“Didn’t you tell me once that she’s on medication?” She wrapped a lock of his thick, dark hair around her finger.
“Yeah.” He slowly ran his hand up and down her arm. “She has panic attacks if she doesn’t take it.”
“I bet if you read the side effects of the medication, you’ll find out her behavior and memory loss are to be expected.” Emily placed her head on his shoulder. “You know, I’m used to seeing people with all kinds of medical and psychological conditions.”
“I know.” He pulled her head up and kissed her lips. “Mom chewed me up one side and down the other after you left. She told me how you helped her get out of the bathroom and into the examination room without anybody seeing or bothering her. The doctor you called was great. Mom wants to start seeing her.” He cleared his throat. “Because of how you treated her, she even trusted the x-ray technician enough to go with her to have her arm done. She took my mom through the employees’ hall and they didn’t run into anybody. That other nurse—Debbie—told her how you had done it.”
“Please stop, or I’m going to start thinking you came over here out of gratitude.”
Logan turned her head until he was looking into her eyes. “I am grateful for what you did for Mom, but I came over here because I love you, and I didn’t want to lose you. The next four and a half months are going to be the longest time in my life.”
She pulled away from him. “You mean after what we just did—almost did—we still have to wait? You still aren’t sure about how I feel?”
“I think it was a sign that we’re supposed to wait. I promise if you still love me, we will take up right where we left off, and it will be even better because we waited.”
She considered his words. “Okay, but when the middle of December gets here, you’d better be prepared. None of this stopping just when it’s getting good because we don’t have protection.”
A groan emanated from deep in his throat. “I assure you we won’t stop just when it’s getting good.”
“Okay.”
“Good.” He gave her a quick kiss. “So, will you come to Mom’s with me this Sunday? We’ll take a bucket of chicken with us and have a nice meal together.”
“I’d like that.” He loved her. All was right with her world.
Chapter 33
“He thought broil meant th
e same thing as boil so he melted the handle on my very best cooking pan,” Linda Taylor told Emily. Both of them laughed about Logan’s childhood culinary efforts.
“But at least he took care of me.” She turned her gaze to a grade school picture of Logan. “He’s always been the only one to take care of me.” She leaned forward in her chair and placed her hand over Emily’s on the dining room table. “I hope you understood that he was on autopilot the other day at the hospital. When his brother left, it put all of the responsibilities on his shoulders. And he was still a child.”
“We’re good,” Emily told her. “He’s just going to have to learn to share you with me.”
“I’d like that,” Linda replied, patting her hand. “Would you like to tell me about your mom and dad, or does it still hurt too much?”
Emily thought about it—what they would want her to do. “My dad was a government and history teacher at Hazard Middle School. He loved his job, but he loved Mom and me more. Mom taught fifth grade in the same building. She was a nurturing mother.” Emily remembered the day she’d spent at their house. “It might sound strange, but the one person I’ve wanted to talk to the most about their deaths has been my mom.”
“You spent a lot of time together, didn’t you?”
“Yes. Every summer they were the hosts at Boone’s Sites, the campground where Logan and I…reconnected. My friend Abby went with us a lot, but we’d only have each other to rely on. It was like our own little world.” Emily smiled sadly. “Dad and I used to go fishing. When it rained, we’d stay inside and play poker. Ask Logan about that sometime.” She chuckled, then sobered. “Mom and I liked to walk on the trails together. I think we knew those trails so well we could have walked them in our sleep. All three of us liked to read, and when I got older we’d read the same book, and then argue about it.”
Linda pulled her uninjured arm back toward her and supported her cast for a few moments. “At least you’ll always have those special memories.” A lone tear slid down her cheek. “Logan will have the memory of coming home and trying to talk me into coming out of the closet to eat bologna sandwiches with him. Or of his brother telling him ‘tough luck’ and walking out the door when Logan told him he didn’t know what to do.”
Counting On It (Hearts for Ransom Book 1) Page 17