Her Hometown Hero

by Melody Anne

  She couldn’t answer that question. She was just grateful that Spence had made it, that he’d been given the opportunity to become the man he was today. And what a great man he was. He made everyone around him feel special, whether it was a patient, an employee, or the young or the old. He was intelligent and giving, and he made her feel like someone important. There was now no doubt that she loved him. She’d given him her body, and in the process given him her heart, her soul, and everything that was in her.

  How could it not be terrifying to love another so much that you could no longer imagine what your life would be like without them in it?

  “Good morning, sunshine.”

  Sage turned to find Grace in her bedroom doorway, holding up another shiny box.

  “What’s this?”

  “Like you don’t know. The princess gets another gift.” Grace bounded into the room and landed on Sage’s bed.

  “This is an even bigger box than last time,” Sage said. She ran her hand over the sparkling bow attached to the top.

  “I know. Open it already. You are killing me,” Grace said, reaching forward and threatening to take the box back and open it herself.

  Sage laughed at her friend’s dramatics. “I’m getting there.” She undid the ribbon that held the box closed. Inside, under a lot of tissue paper, was a small wall mirror with words engraved on the bottom of the frame, right below the mirror proper. She lifted it and was surprised by how much it weighed.

  “Wow. I think that’s a real silver frame, Sage.”

  “You may be right,” Sage replied, and examined the mirror closely.

  “What does it say?” Grace was obviously growing impatient.

  Her eyes filled as she looked up at her friend. “Believe,” she whispered, and smiled.

  “Oh,” Grace said with a wobble in her voice. “I swear, if you don’t marry this man, I will fight you for him.” Grace leaned over and snagged the mirror. She looked at her image and smacked her lips in a pretend kiss.

  “Don’t you think this is all moving so fast, though, Grace?” Sage asked as she flopped back against her pillows.

  “You’ve spent enough time with him to know whether you love him or not. He’s the most creative, romantic guy I’ve ever heard of, he gets you gifts all the time, jets you off to another city for a date, takes you to meet the family, and, if I may hazard an educated guess, makes love like a god. So what’s the problem in it moving fast?”

  Leave it to Grace to make everything so very black-and-white.

  “The problem is that he’s too perfect. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop and for the horns to sprout.”

  “Ah, honey, don’t think that way. This isn’t really a fairy tale. No dragon is going to attack, no poisoned apple is going to be placed in our kitchen, and no needles will put you to sleep. Don’t be afraid of holding on to something that you already have. Don’t fight it; just enjoy every moment of being together.”

  “I had a wonderful time on our last date,” Sage said.

  “I want to hear every single, sordid detail. I can’t believe my meeting ran so late last night. I was planning on making popcorn and holding you hostage until you spilled all,” Grace said. “But we have time now, and that hostage thing is coming into play if you’re not careful.”

  Sage spent the next hour telling her all about their trip. “He was amazing. The sex was beyond anything I could have ever imagined. I mean, I’m a doctor, so I knew it would feel good. I know there are certain chemicals in the brain that fire off when your body gets excited. But I had no idea it would be so . . . so . . . just so.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Sage. Sex can really suck. Trust me, I know. If you aren’t with a man who knows how to light you on fire, it’s nothing, meaningless, and you’re left feeling empty. Granted, it seems good sometimes. But it’s not ultimately about what your body can do. It’s about what your soul wants, what your heart is feeling—what you need most.”

  “Well, I don’t have previous experience as a point of comparison, but I know I wouldn’t mind doing that—with Spence, anyway—every single day for the next millennium.”

  Her body was still sore, but the soreness wasn’t such a bad thing. Though she ached in places she’d never imagined aching, still, whenever she moved, it sent a naughty image straight to her brain, which in turn, heated her core and readied her for another hot night with her lover.

  “Do you work tonight?”

  “Yes. In a few hours, actually.” Sage reluctantly threw off the covers and finally left the warmth of her bed.

  “Is Dr. Hottie working with you?”

  “Yes, I believe Spence is on the schedule.” Sage grinned as she gathered her clothes and started making her way to their small bathroom. A shower would have her revved up to go.

  Grace followed her. “Then totally shock him. Drag him into an on-call room and rock his world,” she said, making Sage stop in her tracks.

  “I couldn’t do that.”

  “Why not? You have a pager, right? If any emergencies arise, the two of you can throw on your scrubs and be out there in seconds. It would certainly interrupt the mood, and if you haven’t . . . you know . . . then he might go out there sporting some major wood. But, you might not be interrupted, and then you’ll be so much more relaxed for the rest of the night. Besides, wouldn’t the shock on his face be worth it? He won’t know what to do with such a shameless hussy.” Grace guffawed at the redness in Sage’s cheeks. Little did Grace know that Spence had already suggested such a thing.

  “I’ll think about it,” Sage said, now unable to rid her mind of the image of getting horizontal with Spence on a small on-call bed.

  “Don’t think about it. That’s really the problem here, Sage. You’re thinking too much. Just feel. Go with what your body wants and quit worrying or computing or analyzing or whatever else it is you do with that superhuman brain of yours.”

  Sage opened the bathroom door and looked back at Grace. “I need to shower,” she said.

  “Yeah, rub extra lotion in all the right places so you’ll smell extra good for the doctor.”

  Sage could hear Grace’s laughter even after shutting the door and turning on the shower tap. She couldn’t get sex off her mind, and that was definitely not good. Walking into the hospital was going to be a feat, because the minute she saw Spence, she’d want to rip off his scrubs and do dirty things to him. Sex muddied things up, made a person think of nothing else. What if she was confusing sex and love? Well, she’d probably find out soon.

  A hot cup of coffee and more sleep was all Sage could think about. Her trip three days ago had been wonderful, but she certainly hadn’t slept much, and now being on her feet for endless hours was making her think that maybe she should have forgone the trip and stayed in bed.

  “Sage, I don’t know why you look tired, you’ve only been on call for twenty-six hours,” Mo said while her fingers tapped against her hips. Sage could only tell it was a joke by the small upturn of Mo’s mouth.

  She loved Mo teaching her the stuff she hadn’t learned about during medical school. Each shift she worked with the woman, she grew to love her even more.

  “I’ve had more coffee than sleep lately, so please don’t remind me.”

  “Well, you should have been a nurse then, because after twelve hours at this place I go home and sleep without another thought in my head except for which episode of True Blood I need to watch next.” Mo was in midsentence when Sage saw her favorite nurse’s eyes narrow.

  Before Sage could even blink, Mo was already en route to discuss why a second-year medical resident was attempting to put an IV in a patient in the wrong direction.

  As Mo reamed the med student, Sage couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. Then the thought dissipated as she downed her tenth cup of coffee for the night. They all had to learn, and part of that process was getting schooled by the nursing staff who knew what to do better than many of the doctors.

  Since the heat was tem
porarily off her, Sage took a moment to sit down, resting her throbbing feet momentarily. The doctors’ lounge was probably the cleanest room in the hospital since it was the least used. Closing her eyes for a blissful moment, the world felt right.

  Not even five minutes passed when she heard chatter coming over the ER radio. Sitting up, she leaned in to listen and could hear bits and pieces of “. . . bus versus train, mass-casualty incident, en route code three.”

  Instantly she found herself on alert. Every cup of coffee she drank that night came back in full force and the sand in her eyes disappeared. Although her time in the emergency department had proven to be educational, nothing could prepare her for the unknown tragedies that had been unfolding before her since she’d begun her residency.

  “This doesn’t sound good.” Turning, Sage spotted another resident throwing on a trauma gown as he rushed from one of the on-call rooms.

  “No, it doesn’t.” Fear slithered through her, though she hoped it wasn’t showing.

  She scanned the ER, making a mental note of available rooms and resources as she locked eyes with Mo and they exchanged a look that spoke volumes. The previously quiet emergency room became a bustling hive of activity as everyone took their places like actors in a play.

  As sirens sounded, and the first of the injured from the bus versus train came rolling through the emergency room doors, Sage began to doubt herself for the first time in a while. Nerves unsettled her stomach and she found herself clenching her hands into fists as she stuffed them into her pockets.

  “Get him to bay three!”

  “He’s gone. I’ll tell the family when they arrive.”

  “Put pressure on that wound now!”

  Noise. Commands. Movement. It was synchronized chaos. Sage felt like she was watching from the outside and she began to panic, feeling as if she couldn’t breathe.

  And then she felt the warmth of strong hands on her back. “You’ve got this, Sage. Take a breath and close your eyes for two seconds and then dive in there,” Spence whispered in her ear.

  “I . . . I’m . . . I don’t know what to do.” The weakness in her voice frustrated her. Spence turned her toward him and looked into her eyes.

  “Look, I’ve been watching you since the first day you walked into this place, and I have no doubt that you will make a fine doctor. Don’t think for one minute that not every single person in the medical field has felt at one point or another that they can’t do it. It’s tough work and we hold people’s lives in our hands. But you will make it. You are strong and smart, and you know what you’re doing. Have faith in yourself and your abilities.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Because I’m the best and I only work with the best.” His confident smile empowered her. The knots in her stomach loosened and her shoulders straightened with determination. The ER doors burst open again with a whole new set of patients, and suddenly Sage knew what to do.

  Within a half hour, every trauma room was filled with critically injured patients, as was the ER hallway. The noise of paramedics shouting out quick reports, doctors issuing orders, and family members sobbing was almost deafening.

  Staff was using supplies faster than they could be restocked and the entire environment was looking more like a war zone than a hospital. Sage had little time as she moved from patient to patient, doing whatever she could.

  “Sage, we need help over here!” Mo shouted as a young man was wheeled into a room that had barely been cleared out.

  “He’s spiraling quick,” Sage said as she looked at the stats, her hands never stopping.

  “Blood pressure seventy-two over forty-five and dropping, heart rate one fifty-two.” Mo’s voice was calm and sure.

  “We need to get another IV in him right away. Open up that fluid and let’s get two units of O-negative blood in here now. He’s going into shock.”

  “I can’t find a pulse,” Mo said, looking at Sage as if she already knew the conclusion. Sage wasn’t ready to give up on the man. He was too young.

  “Start chest compressions, get the epinephrine ready.” Sage directed the staff but was very aware that his bleeding was uncontrollable. After another fifteen minutes of resuscitation, Sage had to say out loud what everyone already knew. “Time of death, 10:40 p.m.”

  The fact that none of them had the time to mourn the loss of a young man’s life was almost as disturbing as actually losing him. Before Sage and Mo could put on a new set of gloves, another patient was being wheeled in by paramedics who looked pale and exhausted.

  “Twenty-three-year-old female, approximately eight months pregnant and in active labor. She’s fully dilated. Vital signs stable, but she does have two superficial glass wounds to her right arm. Bleeding is controlled, but the baby is crowning and ready to come into this world.”

  The young woman was alternating between sobbing and screaming out in pain.

  “Are you ready for this, Mo?” Sage said as she moved her onto the ER gurney.

  Mo was prepared in less than a minute, with towels and tools needed to deliver a baby.

  “I know you’re scared right now”—Sage glanced at the chart—“Stacy, but your baby is ready to come out and meet you.”

  “It’s too soon,” Stacy wailed.

  “You’re eight months along. Your baby can make a healthy entrance, but you have to work with me, okay?” Sage looked the woman in the eye, knowing she had to calm her down or she would never be able to push, which would mean an emergency C-section.

  “I can’t do it. I hurt so much.”

  “Listen, Stacy, you either push this baby out, or you’re going into surgery,” Sage said forcefully, which startled the woman enough to quiet her as she stared at Sage in shock. “What are you having?” Sage asked.

  “A girl.” Stacy’s lip trembled.

  “Then let’s bring your daughter into this world.” Stacy nodded as she leaned back.

  “We need a push now,” Mo said, giving Sage a look that said it was getting more critical by the second. Sage barely had time to glance at the monitors before she felt another tightening of her own stomach.

  “Push, Stacy!” Sage yelled, and much to her relief, the woman bore down and gave it all she could. After a few tense moments and some strong pushes, Sage found herself delivering the too-still infant.

  Before panic could set in, Mo was there, cleaning the baby’s mouth out, and then a loud cry rent the air and could be heard above all of the chaos in the ER.

  “Stacy, she’s beautiful,” Sage said in awe, amazed that in the midst of all this tragedy, a miracle had been placed in her arms. Sage looked at the messy, beautiful baby girl and gently laid her on her mother’s chest.

  “Thank you,” Stacy quietly whispered as she took hold of her daughter while Mo and Sage then went to work on her other wounds.

  Patient after patient came and went, and somehow the staff kept on going until finally the ER slowly calmed. When there were no new patients, Sage looked at the clock and realized she had just put in a thirty-six-hour day with a few short naps in between.

  “It was a pleasure working next to you tonight, Sage.”

  Turning, Sage felt tears in her eyes. “Mo, there’s no one I would rather work with,” she said, knowing she was more emotional from pure exhaustion.

  “I don’t know about that. There’s a certain doctor here I think you don’t mind working with too much,” Mo said with a taunting smile.

  “Shh. I don’t want people to hear you,” Sage gasped as she looked around, grateful everyone else was just as exhausted as she was and wasn’t bothering to listen.

  “I just call it how I see it,” Mo said before walking away.

  “Well . . . quit calling it.” Sage realized her comeback wasn’t very good as soon as the words came out.

  She gave up. Because right then, nothing sounded better than a long, hot shower. Somehow she made it to the locker room and gathered up her things, and then limped to the closest shower. Closing her eyes
to push away the thoughts of the night, she threw her filthy scrubs into the hamper and stepped into the small shower bay.

  The hot water was heaven on her sore muscles. Eyes closed and soaking in the water massage, she felt rather than saw his presence. A slow smile formed on her face as she felt his hard body press against hers.

  “You did amazing, Sage,” Spence said as his hands traveled up her stomach and cupped her breasts.

  “I can’t do this right now, Spence. I’m exhausted and there was so much trauma, more trauma than I ever expected to see here,” she said, her eyes filling with tears.

  Turning her around, Spence looked into her eyes, a gentle smile on his lips. “You are strong and capable and you saved lives tonight, Sage. Don’t let the ones you weren’t able to save take away the joy of the lives you gave back to terrified family members.”

  “But what about all of those people who didn’t even get a chance to say good-bye?” she said, resting her head on his chest as the first tears fell.

  “I don’t know why or how some live and some don’t. All I know is that we do our very best every single time. You are spectacular and there is so much ahead for you,” he promised as his fingers massaged the back of her head.

  “I am so glad I’m here with you, that I chose this hospital, that I get to learn from someone so great in the field.”

  “I’m glad you’re here, too. Let me help you wash up, then I’m going to take you home, put you to bed with a hot cup of tea, and then sweep you off your feet tomorrow,” he said, lifting her chin and giving her a light kiss.

  “I think that’s exactly what I need,” she said, utterly drained, not even having the energy to lift her arms up around his neck.

  Spence gently washed her body, then for once, helped her put clothing on before wrapping an arm around her and walking with her to his truck. She didn’t get her cup of tea, because she fell asleep against his side within two minutes of leaving the hospital.