The emergency room had that chaotic buzz to it.

Doctors were shouting orders that nurses rushed to implement. Panicked people were pacing the waiting room while two children wailed and a distraught mother cried as they sat behind curtains, coping with the aftermath of a car accident.

So far there had been no fatalities, but the man who’d just been rushed into the OR was touch and go. Sally couldn’t say anything to the family yet, so she remained with the man’s son, who was in agony as he waited for his leg to be X-rayed. He had a nasty compound fracture that the doctor had already inspected and dressed. The kid screamed bloody murder while that was being done. The sight of bone sticking out through skin can freak anyone out.

She’d told him not to look down, but he couldn’t help himself. Poor kid.

“I know it hurts, buddy. The pain relief will kick in soon. Once the X-rays are done, we’re going to get you into surgery and the doctor will straighten your leg up for you.”

“I’m scared.” He hiccupped and shuddered beside her, tears and snot running down to his chin.

She snatched a tissue and mopped him up. “I know. It’s really scary. But the doctors here are so good and before you know it, you’ll be running around with your friends again. Plus, you get time off school. That’s kind of cool, right?”

The boy’s lips twitched slightly but didn’t form a smile.

“Doc wants to know if he’s had a recent tetanus.” Lena stopped at the end of the bed with her pen and clipboard.

“Yes, I checked with the mother. He had one about six months ago when he needed stitches for a gash in his arm. Abbey’s double-checking the records for me.”

“Cool. I’ll pass that on. Orderly should be here in about two minutes.” Lena winked at the patient before turning to deal with the next in line.

The boy whimpered. “What’s an orderly?”

“It’s the very nice person who is going to wheel you down to X-ray.”

“I want my dad.”

“I know, but he’s busy right now, getting all fixed up. We’ve called your mom and she should be here any minute. In the meantime you’ve got me, and Spencer will be arriving any second to take you to X-ray.”

The boy’s chin bunched, his lips trembling.

“You know what I love about Spencer?” Sally ran her hand down the boy’s arm, tucking her fingers within his shaking digits. He took the comfort, squeezing hard while she tried to calm him. “Spencer’s got this really funny laugh. It’s like high and kind of squeaky. So if you have any good jokes up your sleeve, you have to try them out on him. It’s so worth it.” The boy looked at her like she was crazy, but she kept going. “You know any good jokes?”

“I’ve got a knock-knock one,” he said quietly.

“Okay, well when you guys get to the elevator, I want you to use it.”

Spencer arrived just as she was finishing her sentence. Letting go of the boy’s hand, she walked around to Spencer and gave him the specifics. Just before he took the brake off the bed wheels, she leaned up and whispered in his ear. “Laugh at his knock-knock joke. And make it a really decent Spencer giggle, got it?”

The tall, gangly man gave her a sideways glare before giving in with a grin and a nod.

“Thank you,” she mouthed before turning back to the child. “You take care of yourself, and I’ll come visit you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay.” The boy still looked terrified and Sally worried how he’d cope, but as the bed started moving away from her, she heard him softly say, “Knock-knock.”

Sally smiled and turned back to find out what she needed to do next.

Abbey ordered her down to the last curtain where she got busy dressing the minor wounds of the main culprit. From what she’d gathered, the man was speeding and ran a red light, plowing into two vehicles. Because he was in a big pickup truck, he’d come away relatively unscathed, unlike the two other families.

Sally couldn’t help a touch of anger toward his reckless driving, but she kept her mouth shut and still treated him with tender care. There was always a backstory, and even if his was selfish, he still deserved proper treatment.

A rustle of the curtain made her glance over her shoulder.

She spotted Blaine and her chest instantly constricted.

It’d been nearly two weeks since she’d seen Nate driving by in his car. Since then life had been a busy rush of work, family, friends…and Oscar. He’d embedded himself into her life—picking her up after work, joining her for walks with Rusty and appearing at family dinners. He brought her flowers, took her to fancy restaurants, and basically treated her like a queen. It was hard not to enjoy it. She’d never been so pampered in her life.

But seeing Blaine made thoughts of Nate come crashing forward, and she realized that she wasn’t anywhere close to getting over her ex-boyfriend.

“Hello, Officer Hartford.” She cleared her throat and turned back to the patient. “I’m nearly done.”

“I can wait.” Blaine spoke softly like he always did, his deep voice calm and undemanding.

The man in the bed seemed twitchy, his agitation only growing when he spotted the police officer.

“I need you to relax,” Sally said quietly.

The man grunted and turned his head. She could understand his struggle. The man had ruined lives today, and the road to recovery would be long and painful. The consequences of his recklessness were really going to hurt.

“All done.” Sally stepped back, pulling off her gloves and throwing them out as Blaine stepped into the room.

“Simon Danforth, I’m Officer Hartford. I’d like to ask you a few questions about the incident this afternoon.”

Sally slid the curtain closed to give them some privacy. The man would no doubt be under arrest, but he couldn’t be taken out of the hospital before the doctor had signed him off.

Washing her hands, Sally dried them thoroughly before grabbing a quick glass of water.

“Take ten, Sal.” Abbey pointed to the door.

She obeyed immediately, knowing that Abbey would have things on a tight rotation. She needed to give her nurses quick bathroom breaks and snacks in order to keep them fresh for the long day ahead.

Sally’s sneakers squeaked on the shiny floor as she headed for the bathroom. She relieved herself quickly and stepped into the break room to scarf down half a muffin before going back to work.

Brushing the crumbs off her face, she headed back down the corridor and bumped into Blaine.

“Hey.” He smiled down at her.

She was forced to stop, even though her quaking innards were telling her to run before she felt too much. “How’s it going?”

“Good.” He bobbed his head. “I haven’t seen you in a while. How are you doing?”

“Yeah, okay.” She forced a bright smile. “I’m doing really well. Life’s busy with work and family. You know how it is.” She brushed her hand through the air. “How’s your dad?”

“He’s keeping well, although living with Nate is driving him a bit insane. The guy can be a slob.”

“Oh, yeah, he can.” Sally raised her eyebrows. Nate was always so distracted with work that picking up after himself was never high on his priority list. Sally hadn’t minded so much. She wasn’t a neat freak, and he made up for his messiness in other ways. Heat rose up her neck and she quickly blinked to clear her mind.

“We miss you,” Blaine murmured.

She flinched and looked up at him, unsure what to say. Her nose tingled. Her eyes began to burn.

She didn’t want to miss them too. She was trying to move on…away.

“Nate’s miserable without you,” Blaine kept going, making everything worse.

She closed her eyes and dipped her head. She didn’t want to hear that! She was trying to move on!

Blaine couldn’t hear her internal screaming so he kept torturing her. “I know why you broke up. I get it. And maybe deep down, Nate does too, but he’s too pig-headed to admit it. He’s hurting so he goes into defense mode, pushing everyone away.”

“I can’t fix him, Blaine.”

“I’m not asking you to.” His smile was kind when she opened her eyes and looked at him. “I guess I just wanted you to know that he’s a grumpy bastard without you. You always knew how to bring out the best in him. Take it as a compliment, not pressure. I just thought you should…you know…know.”

“Thanks,” she croaked and started walking away before he could say any more. “Say hi to Rosie for me.”

“Will do,” he called after her.

She could feel his eyes following her all the way until she turned the corner.

Leaning against the wall, she clenched her jaw and blinked at her stinging eyes.

“Don’t cry,” she ordered herself. “It’s not your problem.”

Her heart said otherwise, knotting inside her chest as she pictured Nate miserably sitting at his desk, overworked and stressed. His hair would be standing on end, his blue eyes blurry. He’d be wearing that cute scowl that made his eyebrows dip together.

A small smile flitted over her lips as she pictured him…and all the ways she used to make him feel better. She’d always been able to unwind him, bring him out from under his clouds.

She just wished she’d been able to figure out a way to keep him with her, away from the demons that drove and pestered him.

But he kept going back, because she hadn’t been enough.

And she probably never would be.