Jeremy stopped by his apartment for a quick shower and change of clothes, then was on his way to San Antonio. It looked like he’d be about fifteen minutes late, but maybe when he explained to his mother that there had been a girl involved, she’d forgive him. She was always asking when he was going to find a nice girl. Not that he’d actually found one, but he’d met one, and that had to count for something.
Rebekah McClain . . . He had no idea what had just happened. Who was she, and how . . .? He shook his head. It was like she somehow knew what was going on inside her patient even though she couldn’t see it. Maybe he could have accepted her explanation about the cyst, but the main coronary artery? The left one? That was too specific to be a guess, even an educated one. He also knew from talking to the other paramedics that they didn’t get many gunshot wounds in this small town, so it’s not like she would have a lot of experience with them.
Part of him felt like he should just let the whole thing drop and pretend like he didn’t notice anything. But a much larger part of him wanted to know more, to figure out just what he’d witnessed. He knew he hadn’t imagined it—it was a real, solid thing, and his imagination wasn’t that good anyway. The real question was, would she tell him?
By the time he pulled up to his parents’ house, he’d decided that he would go down to the hospital the next day and see if she’d agree to have dinner with him—for longer than thirty minutes. Maybe he was intruding and maybe he should leave her alone, but his curiosity was eating him up inside, and he wanted answers.
His brother, Greg, answered the door, reaching the knob easily from his motorized wheelchair. “Hey, Jeremy,” he said as he maneuvered backward to let Jeremy in. “You’re a little late.”
“Yeah, I know—I’m sorry. Is Mom freaking out?”
“Well, she hasn’t called the Highway Patrol yet to see if there’s been an accident, so you’re probably good.” Greg grinned and led the way into the kitchen. “Look who’s here, Mom!”
Hannah Burton turned from the stove. “Well, if it isn’t Jeremy. You could have called to tell us you’d be late—you know how I worry!”
“I do know, Mom.” She hadn’t been so uptight before Greg’s accident, but ever since then, if she didn’t know where everyone was at all times, she’d fret. Jeremy could understand it, and he also knew that it was hard on her when he decided to become a paramedic. They were each dealing with their feelings about Greg’s accident in their own ways. “I’ll call next time.”
“See that you do.” She set down her mixing spoon and took the pot from the heat. “Greg, call your father for dinner, please.”
Greg steered his wheelchair over to the top of the stairs that led down to the basement. “Dinner, Dad!”
“How’s he been?” Jeremy asked quietly, nodding toward his brother.
“He’s had some pain this week,” Hannah replied. “His doctor put him on a different medication, but we can’t see that it’s doing any good. There are some things Greg’s just going to have to live with.”
That might be true, but what a horrible truth. Jeremy hated the thought of his brother enduring that kind of pain every day for the rest of his life. Of course, he was grateful that Greg still had a life, but if there was a way to reduce the pain, he’d do whatever it took to find it.
Hannah carried the last serving dish over to the table, and Jeremy grabbed the pitcher of water that was on the counter. A moment later, Thomas Burton came up the stairs and joined his family.
“How was your drive?” he asked Jeremy just as he always did, and Jeremy replied that it had been fine, just as he always did. Things between Jeremy and his father had always been strained, but even more so after the accident—Jeremy believed his father blamed him for it, and Thomas had never done anything to prove him wrong.
“Time to say grace,” Hannah said, and they all bowed their heads.
Jeremy said “amen” as was expected, but he didn’t register a single word his father had said during the short prayer. He’d been trying to figure out how to change some of these family dynamics that had been in place for so long, they seemed implacable.
His mother—always devoted, always concerned, always plugging away at whatever challenge she was presented with. His father—hard-working, difficult to please, uncommunicative. Greg—optimistic, long-suffering, the peacemaker. And then there was Jeremy, who was the fixer, the one who wanted to mend all the fences and knit together all the bones and patch up all the seams. None of these roles were wrong, necessarily, but the family wasn’t working together—it was fraying at all the edges, each person going through the motions separately instead of coming together to share their pains and their triumphs.
“Jeremy, have some potatoes.”
He took the dish from his mother and put some steaming mashed potatoes on his plate, then passed the bowl to his right. Everything went around the table in a well-choreographed dance until everyone had some of everything, and then the expected interrogation began.
“So, Jeremy. How are things going for you in Bagley? Do you like your apartment?”
“Yeah, I do. It’s not too far from work, and it’s furnished, so that’s nice—saved me from having to find some furniture.”
“That’s good. And have you found a church out there yet?”
Jeremy grinned. He’d thought the question about girls would come first. “I haven’t been yet because I was busy moving in last Sunday, but I saw one in town that I think I’ll check out next week.”
Hannah took a bite of her chicken, then turned her attention back to him. “Any nice girls?”
“I was waiting for that question.” Jeremy chuckled. “There seem to be a lot of girls in Bagley, but I haven’t asked any of them out yet—I just got there.”
“But there is someone,” Hannah persisted. “I can see it on your face.”
“How can you see something like that on a person’s face?” Thomas asked. “Let the boy eat his dinner.”
“I think Mom’s right,” Greg said. “Look—Jeremy’s turning red.”
“I’m not turning red.” Jeremy shook his head, knowing he’d get no peace until he said something. “I did meet a girl at the hospital today—a nurse in the ER. But I only talked to her for a few minutes, and I don’t know anything about her.”
“But you’re going to go back, right?” Hannah asked.
“I’m sure I’ll see her a lot. And yes, I’ll find out more about her.” That was definitely a promise he intended to keep—the mystery of Rebekah McClain was going to nag at him until it was solved.
“Well, that sounds promising. You’ll bring her for dinner sometime, of course.”
“If we start dating, which isn’t guaranteed, and if it starts getting serious, which isn’t even on the table right now, yes, I’ll bring her.” Jeremy turned to his brother. “Time to take the heat off me. How are your ham radio classes going?”
“Good,” Greg replied. “I’ll have my license next week, and then I can help out with natural disasters and all kinds of things from right here at home. My way of giving back.”
“And it’s much safer than your way,” Hannah said, turning back to Jeremy. “The way you’re constantly running toward danger . . .”
“Mom, I’m not the one in danger,” Jeremy replied. “I’m helping people get out of danger.”
“Well, I still worry. It’s my prerogative as a mother.”
“We know that, and we love you for it, but we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing,” Jeremy replied. They’d had this conversation several times as well—it seemed that most of their dinnertime conversations were repeats of things they’d already discussed quite a bit—but he knew she’d never really understand. The call to be a first responder wasn’t the same as the call to do something else, and it wasn’t something he could explain.
They finished up the meal with a peach cobbler, Jeremy helped his father move some heavy boxes out to the garage, and then he told everyone goodnight. He laughed and shook his head as he walked out to his car. He loved his family, even though they had their little moments of strangeness. He supposed every family did.
***
Rebekah braced herself before knocking on Dr. Hunsaker’s door. She’d been trying to think of a way to explain her actions, but short of telling him about her powers, she didn’t know what to say. Her sisters were the only ones who knew what she could do—well, the men in her older sisters’ lives also knew, but that didn’t help her out now. She didn’t know what would help. How could she explain it in a way that wouldn’t sound like she’d lost her mind? More importantly, would she be able to keep her job, or was she about to be fired from doing something she loved?
Knowing she couldn’t delay any longer, she raised her hand and knocked, entering when she heard, “Come in.”
Dr. Hunsaker sat behind his desk and took off his glasses when she came in. “Have a seat,” he said, motioning toward the chair across from him. Rebekah sat down, trying to decide if she should speak first or wait for him. He solved that problem by starting to talk as soon as she was in her chair.
“Nurse McClain, you’ve been with this hospital for three years. You excelled in nursing school, you came to us with excellent references from Dr. Gardner’s office, and you’ve never missed a day of work. I can’t find any patient complaints in your file, and your supervisors never have anything negative to say about you. Yes, I’ve done a little digging over the last twenty minutes. Tell me why it is that over the course of the last . . . year, let’s say, I find myself constantly at odds with you? You’re contradicting my orders, you’re doing things without authorization, you’re making wild speculations . . . and perhaps the most confusing thing of all is that you’ve been right an amazing number of times. I don’t understand what’s going on. Should I fire you for insolence, or give you a raise for your excellent work? Being chief of staff is a pretty hard job, and you’re not making it any easier on me.”
Even without touching him—because that would be awkward—Rebekah sensed that he was getting a bad headache, and she knew she was the cause. She had to think of a way to make this right. “Dr. Hunsaker, I’m sorry—I know I’m putting you through a lot. I don’t mean to contradict you or make things harder for you. I’m just . . . a very opinionated person, and sometimes my instincts steer me in a different direction.” That was a terrible answer, but the words wouldn’t come.
“You realize that by taking that man into the operating room, you could have introduced any number of germs, subjected him to new diseases, and ruined the entire procedure all because you believed you were saving his life?”
“I do realize that, sir. But tell me—when you got in there, what did you find?”
Dr. Hunsaker sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “The bullet had gone through the left coronary artery, just like you said. Yes, he would have died if we hadn’t operated immediately.”
She didn’t reply. There was nothing more to be said.
He finally met her gaze square on. “You’re not fired, but I will be watching you closer than you’ve ever been watched before. I can’t have strange things happening in this emergency department. We have too many people depending on us.”
She nodded. “I understand. And thank you for the reference you gave me for my med school application.”
“You got it mailed in on time?”
“Yes, I did. Now the wait to hear back.”
“I believe you’ll be a fine doctor. I just hope this . . . whatever it is . . . gets straightened out soon or you’ll be kicked out of the program. You need to fall in line, not flout authority and do your own thing without regards to orders. There’s a reason why the system is set up the way it is, Nurse McClain.”
“I understand, sir.”
Actually, she didn’t understand. In her years of nursing, she’d noticed that doctors were revered as deities, and nurses were considered too far beneath them to be recognized. That didn’t seem right at all—weren’t they all there to work for the good of the patients? Shouldn’t they be on the same team?
Apparently, that wasn’t how things were in the real world, and she was becoming less enchanted with the real world all the time. Maybe once she was a doctor and had some clout, she could make some changes . . . but she was a woman, and a female doctor would never carry the clout of a male one. It was infuriating.
“Go get some rest,” Dr. Hunsaker said. “I see your day starts early tomorrow.”
“Yes, sir. It does. Thank you.” She stood up. “I promise I’ll do better.”
He gave one sharp nod. “See that you do.”