Over the years, I’ve learned that you could never truly predict how any given night was going to be in an ER, especially in the city. Some nights were slow, with only a few patients trickling in, while others were pure chaos, where I’d barely had time to take a breath. Some might call me crazy, but personally, I liked the fast-paced shifts that kept me hopping from one station to the next. It made the time pass by faster, and I always felt like I’d accomplished something at the end of my shift. I was having one of those insanely hectic nights when Dan and Janice Mathews came in with their grandson. By the time they made it back to me, I could tell they were feeling pretty anxious about him. I couldn’t blame them though. They were forced to sit in a crowded waiting room with a small child while he was in excruciating pain.

After the front nurse got him settled in the room, I walked over to the grandparents to introduce myself. “Hi. I’m Kenadee. I’ll be Kevin’s nurse while he’s here in the ER.”

“Hi, Kenadee. I’m Janice, and this is my husband, Dan. Kevin’s father is on his way. He’s a few hours away, but he’ll be here as soon as he can.”

The front nurse had already explained their situation, so I said, “That’s okay. We’ll manage until he gets here, and I see that Kevin’s father has given you permission to handle his medical care?”

“Yes. He did that a while back.”

“Then, we shouldn’t have any problems.” I made my way over to Kevin’s gurney, and when he looked up at me with his handsome, blue eyes, there was no doubt that he was scared. “Hi Kevin. I have a few questions for you. Is that okay?”

With his elbow safely tucked close to his side, he answered, “Yes, ma’am.”

“Good.” As I placed a pillow behind his back, I continued, “It says on your chart that you’ve hurt your elbow. Can you tell me what happened?”

“I was playing football, and this guy tackled me from behind.” He extended his good arm to demonstrate as he went on, “I put my hand out to stop my fall, and I heard my arm pop.”

“Oh, man. That doesn’t sound good.”

He grimaced as he added, “And it hurt really bad, too.”

“I’m sorry, buddy. We’ll get you fixed up soon, and maybe you’ll get a cool cast out of the deal. How about that?”

Giving me a half smile, he replied, “That might be cool.”

“Alright. Moving on. Do you happen to know if Kevin’s allergic to any medications?”

“He’s not,” Janice answered.

“Okay. Has Kevin had any previous surgeries or major illnesses that we might need to be aware of?”

“I had ALL,” Kevin answered for her. “Acute lymphocytic leukemia. I’ve been in remission for almost three years now.”

“That’s pushing it a little, Kevin.” Dan corrected him. “It’s been two years and just under seven months.”

“Well, it’s pretty close,” he argued.

“Not close enough.” He turned his attention back to me and said, “Kevin went through chemotherapy, and we were very blessed that it’s gone into remission. He goes for regular checkups, and so far, things are looking good.”

“Wow. That’s pretty impressive. It’s takes a tough guy to go through all that.”

He gave me a little shrug. “It wasn’t so bad.”

I pulled my monitor cart over to his bed and told him, “I’m sure you’ve seen all these before.”

“Yeah. You’re gonna check my heart to make sure it’s pumping right … and my temperature, and probably my oxygen level. But all of those are fine. It’s my elbow that’s messed up.”

“You’re probably right about that, but it’s my job to check.” I smiled. He was one of those kids who made it difficult to see him as just a patient. His personality lured you in, making you want to get to know him, and his smile was just adorable. “You’re a pretty smart kid.”

As I took his blood pressure and temperature, I glanced down at his elbow, and when I saw how swollen it was, I had my doubts that it was just a bad sprain. After I wrote down his stats, I asked him, “If you had to rate your pain from one being the least and ten being the worst, what would you rate your pain level right now?”

“I’d say around a seven or eight, I guess.”

“Okay. Well, I’m going to need to take a couple of X-rays to see what’s going on. The doctor’s going to need to know if it’s broken.”

“Is it gonna hurt?”

My nose crinkled a bit when I answered, “Well, I don’t want to lie to you. It might just a little, but I promise to be as careful as I can.”

“Okay.”

I stepped out of the room, and with the help of one of the orderlies, we rolled the mobile x-ray machine into his room. He helped me position Kevin’s arm where I would get the best shots without causing him a great deal of discomfort. After we’d taken several pictures, I pulled them up on the computer screen to be sure that I’d gotten a clear image. As soon as I saw the state of Kevin’s elbow, I knew they were going to be in for a long night. I looked over to Kevin and said, “Okay, buddy. We got everything we need.”

“That’s it?”

“Yep. That’s it.”

“That wasn’t too bad,” he said, sounding surprised but then his little eyebrows furrowed when he added, “It hurts a lot though.”

“I bet it does.” I smiled warmly. “I’m going to get these x-rays and your file over to the doctor right away, and we’ll be back after he’s looked them over.”

“Is it broken?” Dan asked.

As much as I wanted to tell him, I knew I couldn’t, so I told him, “It’s really best for Dr. Tate to discuss the x-rays with the patients. I’ll see if I can go get him now.”

“Thank you, Kenadee.”

“No problem.”

After I left Kevin’s room, I sent Cindy in to get his IV started, then went to find Daniel. After he looked over his chart and reviewed the x-rays, he turned to me and said, “We need to see which orthopedic surgeon is on call tonight.”

“I already checked. It’s Wanscott.”

“Well, that’s good. He’s one of the best.” As he closed Kevin’s file, he said, “Send these x-rays over to him and see when we can get the surgery scheduled.”

“You got it.”

I put a call into the head nurse and was relieved to hear that he would be right over. Once he arrived and examined Kevin’s x-rays, I led him to Kevin’s room. He walked over to the side of the bed and said, “Hey there, Kevin. I’m Dr. Wanscott.”

After he shook his hand, he introduced himself to Dan and Janice and explained to them all that he was an orthopedic surgeon. Eager to hear about his grandson, Dan asked, “What do you think about Kevin’s elbow?”

“It’s a pretty extensive break.” He walked over to the computer and pulled up an image of the break. As he pointed to the screen, he said, “You can see here, it’s shattered right along the socket. I’d like to take him into surgery and set the break with several pins to secure the loose fragments around the growth plate.”

“How long does a surgery like this take?” Dan asked.

“About an hour. Give or take.”

“And when would you want to do it?”

“As soon as we can get it scheduled.” He glanced down at his watch. “Possibly within the next half hour.”

Kevin’s voice was filled with panic when he asked, “When’s Dad gonna get here?”

“I don’t know, sweetheart. He’s coming as fast as he can, but you heard what he told your grandfather about that awful wreck.”

When Kevin’s eyes started to fill with tears, his grandfather walked over to him and said, “Don’t worry, kiddo. You’re gonna be fine. We’ve gotten through worse things than this.”

“Okay.”

“That’s my boy.” He smiled.

Kevin perked up when he asked, “Will I have a cast?”

“You sure will,” Dr. Wanscott answered. “You got a favorite color?”

“Blue.”

“Blue it is.” Wanscott turned to me and said, “Have him prepped and up to the second floor in twenty.”

“You got it.”

Just as the good doctor had requested, I had Kevin prepped and on the second floor, but just as the orderly was about to push him into the operating room, I heard someone call out, “Kenadee!”

I looked down the hall and saw one of the nurses waving me down. “Yes?”

“Sawyer Mathews is on his way up. He wants to see his son before he goes into surgery,” she shouted.

“My dad’s here?” Kevin asked as excitedly as he could, considering his groggy state.

“Yep. Looks like he made it after all.” I smiled. I turned to the orderly and said, “Hold on just a second. Kevin’s father wants to speak to him before we take him in.”

I’d barely gotten the words out of my mouth when I heard the sound of footsteps barreling down the hall, and as I turned to see who was walking in our direction, I couldn’t have been more surprised. It was him—the hot biker from Daisy Mae’s. Similar to that night, he was wearing his leather cut, with a tight, black t-shirt, faded jeans and black boots, and while he was hot enough to make my ovaries nearly explode on the spot, there was something different about the way he looked. This time he didn’t have that friendly smile, or that charming demeanor. This time he looked like a man possessed. His brows were drawn together, his blue eyes were narrowed, and his hands were bawled into fists as he charged towards us like a raging bull, revealing another side to the mysterious biker. As he grew closer, my heart started thumping in my chest, and a slight shiver jolted down my spine. Mortified by my reaction, I looked down at Kevin and stuttered, “Uh … Umm … Your dad will be here in just a second.”

“Kevin?” the biker called, and my heart literally stopped beating.

I looked up, and he was standing at the side of gurney, looking down at Kevin. His expression had softened, and all I could see was pure love in his eyes.

“Dad! You made it.” Kevin was a little loopy, but his eyes still lit up as soon as he saw his father.

Dear Lord. My hot biker was Sawyer Mathews, father of Kevin Mathews. Damn. Sawyer leaned over and kissed Kevin on the forehead. “I’m sorry it took me so long, bud.”

“It’s okay.”

“And don’t you worry about this surgery stuff. In a blink of an eye, that doctor will have your elbow all fixed up, and you’ll be good as new,” Sawyer assured him, and my heart nearly leapt right out of my chest. There was just something about seeing such a strong, tough guy acting so sweet to his child.

Knowing that Dr. Wanscott was on a tight schedule, I said, “I’m sorry, but we really need to get Kevin inside.”

Sawyer nodded, but he hadn’t yet made eye contact with me. Understandably, his focus was totally on his son. “I’ll be here when you get done.”

“Okay, Dad.”

We wheeled Kevin into the operating room where Dr. Wanscott’s staff took over. When I went back out into the hall, I was stunned to see that Sawyer was still standing there. His hands were tucked in his front pockets and he was staring at the floor, lost in his own thoughts. It was easy to see that he was consumed with worry, and suddenly all those feelings of overactive hormones were replaced with something completely different. I walked over to him and said, “Hey. You doing okay?”

He looked up at me, and a surprised expression crossed his face. “It’s you.”

“It’s me.” I smiled. “I didn’t realize you had a son. He’s a pretty great kid.”

“Wait. You met Kevin?”

“I was his nurse today.” I laughed. “You didn’t see me, but I was one of the nurses taking him into the operating room.”

“Oh, damn.” He quickly glanced down at my name tag. “Sorry about that, Kenadee. I totally missed that.”

“It’s okay. You were a little preoccupied.” I teased him, but quickly added in a little bit more of a professional tone, “Kevin’s in good hands, by the way. Dr. Wanscott is one of the best orthopedic surgeons in the city.”

“Well, that’s good news at least.” The tension in his shoulders seemed to ease just a little as he took a deep breath. “So, how long should this thing take?”

“Maybe an hour … and honestly, when you hear the word surgery, it makes ‘this thing’ sound worse than it really is. The doctor just needs Kevin to be asleep, so he can set the break and place the broken fragments where they need to be. He’ll use little pins to keep them in place. Once he’s done, Kevin will be in recovery for an hour or so,” I explained. “That’s all there is to it.”

He gave me a quick once over and smirked. “You’re pretty good at this stuff, aren’t ya?”

I shrugged. “Maybe just a little.”

“Beautiful and smart. It’s hard to top that.” I could feel the heat of his gaze as his eyes slowly skirted down my body, and by the time those gorgeous blue eyes landed on mine, I was practically panting. “So, you’re Kenadee. I’ve finally got a name for the pretty nurse from the diner.”

“I guess you do. And you’re Sawyer. I like that name, by the way. It suits you.”

“Glad you think so.” He smiled as he glanced down at his watch. “I’m a nervous wreck, and it looks like I have some time to kill before Kevin gets back. You know, I may have a heart attack if it takes too long. Why don’t you do a guy a favor and help him pass the time by having a cup of coffee with him?”

I wasn’t sure it was a good idea, but at that moment, I just didn’t have it in me to turn him down. “Um … Yeah, I think I could do that, but I don’t have long. My break’s only twenty minutes.”

“I’ll take what I can get.”

“The cafeteria is downstairs.”

He motioned his hand forward and said, “Lead the way.”

He followed me to the elevator, and I took him down to the cafeteria—my heart pounding all the way. My reaction to him was just as strong as it was the other night, if not stronger, and I was struggling to keep myself from looking like a complete idiot. We both ordered a cup of coffee and sat down at a table that left us mostly to ourselves. I could see the guilt in his beautiful eyes as he explained that he was working at the time of Kevin’s accident, and the difficulty he had trying to get back. “Where’s the guy you were riding with?”

“Murphy? Oh, after he heard they’d taken Kevin into surgery, he took our parts over to the garage, so the guys could get them unloaded.”

“Well, that worked out well.”

“I guess. Things could’ve been worse. I don’t know what I would’ve done if my folks weren’t here today.”

“They were really great with Kevin. It’s obvious they’re crazy about him.”

“They are.” The smile he gave could light up a room. “But they spoil him rotten.”

“Well, that’s what grandparents are for.”

“What about you? Are your folks still around?”

“Yes, but I don’t see them as much as I’d like to. Now that they’re retired, they spend a lot of time traveling, or at my brother’s. He has two young kids, so they’re all about spending time with them.”

His eyebrows rose as he said, “I’m sensing a little jealously there.”

“No. Not at all. I want them to enjoy their retirement and see the world. They deserve it after how hard they’ve worked. I’d just like them to stop by and see me once in a while. Or call and check in to say hi. Something. They’re over at Luke’s every other week, and they’ll spend the entire day over there, and they can’t even pick up the phone to call me? What is that about?” Realizing how catty I’d just sounded, I paused for a moment, then said, “Okay. I might be a tiny bit jealous, but just a tiny bit.”

“It’s okay. I get it.” He snickered. “Sibling rivalry and all that.”

“I don’t know about all that.” I laughed. “I think it’s time to change the subject. Tell me something about yourself that nobody else knows.”

A mischievous glimmer flashed through his eyes. “That’s kind of personal for a first date, don’t ya think?”

“Not a date, and if you tell me yours, I’ll tell you mine.”

“Fine, but no judgements.”

“No judgements.”

“I’ve always had this thing about clowns. I’m not exactly afraid of them, but I just don’t like them.”

I couldn’t hide my surprise. “Clowns? Really?”

“Yep. Your turn.”

“I can hold my breath for four minutes and twenty seconds.” I glanced up at the clock and sighed as I stood up. “Ugh, I’ve got to get back upstairs, but I’ll check in on Kevin and see how things are going.”

“I’d appreciate that.”

“I really enjoyed talking to you again, Sawyer.”

“Me, too.”

“Kevin is going to be fine, and he’s going to love his new cast … for about an hour.”

He laughed. “Yeah. You got that right.”

When I started to walk away, he called out, “Kenadee?”

“Yeah?”

“When will I see you again?”

“In about half an hour,” I answered playfully. “I’ll be with Kevin when he comes out of surgery.”

“And after that?”

I looked at him standing there with his tousled blond hair, thick, unruly beard, biker clothing, and muscular build, and there was no question that he wasn’t like any man I’d ever dated before. Without a doubt, this man was strong and fierce, but there was a kindness, a vulnerability to him that I was drawn to from the moment I first saw him. That part of him had me coming back for more. The corners of my mouth curled into a smile as I said, “I guess we’ll have to see about that.”

And then I turned and walked away.