Chapter 3
“Your new patient was just brought up, Audrey.”
“Thanks.” Audrey set down her coffee and took the new chart from the transporting nurse. She looked it over. Gun shot wound, shifter, bullet removed, and healing well. Will start physical therapy as soon as ready.
She walked into the room as the transporting nurses moved Kenny to his bed. He grumbled with the pain. Once they were finished making sure his IV was in place and everything was set, they nodded to her and walked out.
“Hi Kenny,” she said. “I’m Audrey. I’m your nurse for today.”
He didn’t look at her.
“How are you feeling? Can I get you anything?”
“I just want to be left alone.”
She checked his vital signs, adjusted his pain meds, and did just that—left him alone. When she stopped by the nurses’ station after checking her other patients to make her notes, one of her fellow nurses, Madelyn came over to her.
“You’re so lucky. You got the famous patient.”
“Who?” Audrey muttered, typing into the computer.
“Who?” Madelyn nudged her shoulder. “Kenny Boyer, the Grizzlies’ tight end, that’s who!”
“Oh.” Audrey rubbed her face and thought about drinking more coffee. “Cool.”
Madelyn sighed. “I know you’re not a football fan. But he’s cute, famous, and I’m sure, rich. And single, according to the gossip mags. Maybe you should… I don’t know, wear your sexiest scrubs?”
Audrey rolled her eyes. Like there was such a thing. “Right. I don’t need a boyfriend. This place keeps me busy enough.”
“Audrey.” Madelyn put her hands on Audrey’s shoulders and shook her. “You need love! You deserve a nice man to help you release all this stress.”
“Nope. Stress is my friend. I’ve learned how to make it positive so that it doesn’t negatively effect me.”
Madelyn tilted her head and gave her a look. “Girl. You are one sad case. Well, maybe I’ll just make sure I’m on second shift next week and take over your star patient. I can put in a good word.”
“Please don’t. If you want him so badly, you can have him.”
She laughed. “Right and wouldn’t Michael just love it if I brought another man home.”
Audrey shrugged. “Maybe he’s into the threesome thing. I don’t know.” She stood and picked up her next round of charts. “I don’t need a boyfriend.”
Madelyn patted her shoulder as she walked away. “You deserve to be happy,” she called after her.
“I already am!” Audrey called back and ducked into a patient’s room.
She went through her process of checking vitals and talking to the patient. This was the thing she loved most about her job. Taking care of people, making them feel better. It gave her joy and satisfaction. A boyfriend would only distract her from that.
Later, she went back to check on Kenny again. He was sitting up, staring at the TV.
“How are we?” she asked.
He slid his eyes to her, then back to the TV. “There is no ‘we.’ I’m miserable. I’m sure you’re fine.”
“Okay, well what’s making you miserable?”
“Life.”
She checked over his chart. Had anyone said he was depressed or did he struggle with any sort of mental illness that she’d missed? Didn’t seem like it. She tucked the clipboard under her arm and let her well-practiced medical training take over.
“Are you in any physical pain?”
“It’s okay.”
“Can I get you anything to make you more comfortable?”
“No.”
“Okay. Then tell me what else is going on. What’s bad about life right now?”
He looked at her for a moment, seeming to make some sort of assessment. “Is this some kind of psych eval? You going to send me upstairs for being all gloomy if I don’t shape up?”
“Do you think you need that?”
“Oh sure, talking about my issues always makes them better.” He huffed and shook his head.
“It does for most people. There’s always the option of medication to help you feel better.”
His gaze turned to an angry glare. “You think a pill can just make all my problems go away? Dumb little girl.”
She took in a deep breath. “Anti-depressants help a lot of people cope with life better. They might help you if you’re struggling. Would you like to talk to a therapist?”
“Right now, I wouldn’t even like to talk to you.”
“Okay. I’ll be back to check on you later.”
“Don’t bother.”
She left the room and swallowed hard as she made her notes.
Madelyn walked toward her. “How’s our star patient?”
Audrey pressed her lips together. “He’s fine.” Then she walked away.
Madelyn followed after her and dropped her voice low. “Did something happen?”
“He’s just kind of a jerk, that’s all. I think he might be depressed and taking it out on those around him. Did you notice if anyone came to visit him?”
“I haven’t seen anyone.”
“I’m suggesting a psych eval then.” Audrey made a note on her clipboard.
“You think he’s depressed?”
“I hope so. Otherwise, he’s just an ass.”
Later that night, when she was finally home after her twelve-hour shift, Audrey had the TV on in the background while she cooked a light dinner. She hadn’t really been listening, focusing instead on the smell of the garlic and chicken as it cooked in the pan, but when they said the name “Kenny Boyer,” her ears perked up.
She took the pan of chicken over to the TV to hear the story better. It was about her patient.
“Kenny Boyer was reportedly shot yesterday in a domestic dispute. Sources say he was assaulted by James Taggert after being found with James’ wife, Eva. He’s recovering well from what we’ve been told, and there’s been no news yet on whether this injury will affect next season.”
Her eyes widened and she went to scoop the chicken onto a plate. So Kenny had been sleeping with this married woman and then got shot by her husband? She shook her head. All the fame and money in the world didn’t give people smarts. Maybe that’s why he was depressed. Had he had deep feelings for this Eva Taggert? Or was it that his injury might affect next season.
Well, hopefully they could fit in his eval soon and get him some help if he needed it. Being depressed after a major injury was never a good thing. He needed to have a strong positive attitude if he was going to make it through the pain of physical therapy.
The news report ended, but now she was curious about this Kenny. She picked up her phone and searched for his name. She read through his football career details, how his team had won big in one of the biggest games of the century, according to this web site. He was young and good looking, set on a path to a stellar career. Why did he resort to being with a married woman, then?
She dug deeper in the search results and found a few gossip articles. One mentioned something about a woman named Carolyn and another player for the Grizzlies, Gabriel Randall. Audrey didn’t recognize the name, but she didn’t really follow sports, either. The story was talking about some sort of scandal involving the three of them and a paternity test for Carolyn’s baby. Looked like Kenny hadn’t been the father, but he’d probably wanted to be. There was a photo that might have been retouched and fake, but showed Gabe attacking Kenny in a park while Carolyn stood pregnant in the background.
She set her phone down and found a romance movie to distract her. This guy might really be messed up after all. First this Carolyn fiasco, now he was shot by his lover’s husband? He was like a walking Jerry Springer show. Except he wouldn’t be walking at all for a while.
Then, she had another thought and picked up her phone again. She searched his name with the word “family.” None of the results told her what she wanted to know. Did he have family? And if so, where were they? Why had none of the team come to visit him? And none of his family? Didn’t he have friends? She decided that maybe she’d just missed the visitors. Someone had to have come to see him. Even if only reporters trying to get the story. She’d check the visitor log tomorrow and see what was going on. If he was depressed, he needed all the support he could get right now.
The next day, Audrey went in to check on Kenny with the biggest smile she could manage. She wanted to be a shining cheerful force in his world at the moment. Anything she could do to make him feel better, she would.
“Good morning!” she said as she smiled and came into the room. “How are you feeling today?”
“As horrible as yesterday. Can’t they do anything about this awful food?” He picked up a piece of limp pancake with his fork and dropped it back down.
“You can have visitors bring you food. Are you expecting visitors today? Teammates or family?”
“Who knows. I’m not Gabe, so probably not.”
She took this as a chance to get him talking. “Who’s Gabe?”
“Gabriel Randall? The biggest star in shifter league history at the moment?”
“Football?” She smiled as she played dumb.
He raised his eyebrow at her. “Yeah,” he said condescendingly.
“Oh. I’ve never heard of him.”
“But you asked if my teammates were coming.”
She nodded. “I know you’re a football player. I’ve just never heard of him.”
This seemed make him happy. A tiny smile played at the edge of his lips. “Well, I’m the better player, but he gets more attention.”
“Not for long. Won’t this make big news?” She gestured to his wrapped leg.
“I guess. I’ve gotten a few interview requests.”
“Let me know if we need to post a guard outside of your door to keep all the adoring fans out.”
He pulled his mouth into a half smile. “Right.”
“Are you expecting anyone today? Family? A girlfriend or wife?”
His smile vanished. “No.”
“Oh?”
“I have no girlfriend and I don’t want one.”
“I don’t blame you,” she said. “Sometimes it’s nice to be single.”
“Well, I don’t think it’s nice,” he snapped. “But I haven’t had much of a choice lately.”
She nodded, trying to think of how to respond in a way that wouldn’t reveal that she’d been reading about his sordid love life online. “Is that what’s bothering you? Your love life getting you down?”
“Well, there’s that and this minor scrape, you know. No big deal. What is there to be sad about?”
“It’s understandable. Relationships are hard.”
“What do you know,” he said with a huff.
“I’ve been in my share. And many have ended miserably.”
He looked her up and down. “Why? You’re pretty enough. You’re no model, but good enough for most guys. You have a decent job. What’s the problem? You a prude bitch?”
She clenched her jaw and breathed through her nose. “No, I don’t believe I am. I guess I just haven’t found the one. And I’m perfectly content with my life. I don’t need to find him. If it’s meant to be, he’ll show up.”
He laughed without humor. “Oh God, you’re one of those. If it’s meant to be, it’ll be. Right. Was this meant to be, then? Me getting shot? The woman of my dreams leaving me with my baby for another man? Was that meant to be, too?”
With his baby? Had the gossip mag been wrong, then? “I don’t know, Kenny. Maybe.”
“Well, isn’t that a hell of a thing to say. Can I get a different nurse? You’re a real winner.”
“I’m done at 7. You’ll have a new nurse tonight.” She turned and left the room, trying not to let his words affect her.
It wasn’t like patients didn’t get rude sometimes. People in pain or family members dealing with tough circumstances often got nasty. It was part of the job you got used to—dealing with people at their most vulnerable, most exhausted, and often, at their worst. But she was trying to cheer him up and had failed horribly, and that bothered her. She thought she did her job well. Sure, everyone had an off day, no matter what profession a person was in. But usually her friendly demeanor was an asset. With Kenny, though, it did little good. And she found herself pressing him more than she would someone else. Why?
As she went about her morning rounds, checking on other patients, giving out meds, taking vitals, making notes, she thought about it. Why was Kenny getting so under her skin? Was it his attitude? His fame and money? By lunchtime, when she realized she’d been thinking of him all morning, it finally hit her. She tried to shake it off, but there it was. She was attracted to him.
He was physically attractive, but it wasn’t just his looks. She couldn’t care less about his career. Dating a football player would probably get annoying since she didn’t care for sports. It wasn’t his fame, and she made plenty of money, so it wasn’t that, either. It was none of those superficial things that could make a person seem interesting and attractive. His heartbreak intrigued her. His tendency to destroy things in his life or have them be destroyed made her compassionate toward him. Like she wanted to swoop in and save him from his problems. To take away all of his pain. His bad attitude was a challenge. She just had to find a way to break past it, to get him to let her in.