Damon smiled back. “Then it’s fine. Haley and I were talking about the therapeutic benefits of massage on Friday and she offered to give my mom massages when I wasn’t here.”
“You should have told us. We can put it on her chart.”
Damon shrugged. “I wasn’t sure she was serious.”
The nurse shook her head. “Haley is always serious. I wish everyone was half as reliable.” She noted the vitals then turned to leave. “If you could stop at the station and sign the permission, that would be great. Everyone will know then.”
“Sure, I can do it now.” He eyed his mom. “It looks like she’s going to sleep for a while.”
“Yes, it does.”
Damon went back to the station with the nurse.
“You know, your mom responds really well to massage. It might be a better pain management technique for her than the morphine. Maybe you should talk to her doctor about that.”
“I’d like to. When do you expect him?”
“He usually does rounds on weekday mornings.” The nurse pulled up his mom’s chart. “Even with the holiday, I bet he’ll be here sometime tomorrow although it probably won’t be in the morning. Can he call you on your cell? It’s best if you talk to him directly.”
“Sure.” They had his number on file and Damon initialed where she requested.
She hesitated.
“Anything I should know?”
Her smile was quick. “Just a word to the wise. Drugs are easy. They’re administered regularly and keep things on an even keel. Some doctors don’t like to take a chance with patient comfort by trying something less predictable.”
“But her response to the massage is predictable.”
“But the timing of when she gets one isn’t, except for Friday night. Be prepared for him to ask for a more regular schedule in order to manage her pain.”
“Thanks. That’s good advice.”
It also meant that Damon had a reason to go looking for Haley.
He asked the nurse for directions to the cardiac ward and found it easily. He could feel the difference as soon as he stepped off the elevator. The mood was tense, even though it was fairly quiet. The oncology ward wasn’t a happy place, but it was more tranquil. He could hear heart monitors from the rooms in this ward and someone moaned in one of the rooms to the right. The only nurse at the station was on the phone and simultaneously typing on a computer. Two nurses passed him, moving quickly and quietly, their expressions grim. Another went by with a crash cart, wheeling it down the hall at a fast trot, and a doctor ducked into a room just ahead of it.
Clearly, there was a crisis with a patient.
Damon stood back and out of the way. He thought he caught a glimpse of Haley going into that same room, but then a second alert sounded. The nurse on the desk muttered something under her breath and paged a doctor. He heard a man say “clear” from the direction of the first room, even as a second cart was wheeled into another room with another team right behind it.
He knew that Haley wouldn’t have any time to talk to him soon. He certainly wasn’t going to interfere with her doing her best at her job.
Damon had another plan. He went back to his mom’s room, checked on her, kissed her goodnight, then went down to the gift shop.
Three code blues in one shift. It defied the odds. Some people were not welcoming 2018 with joy. Haley closed her locker, more exhausted than she’d been in a long time, and shouldered her purse.
“Happy New Year, Haley!” Daphne said and handed her a gift bag.
Haley was surprised. “We don’t exchange gifts.”
“No, but someone left it for you at the desk.” Daphne smiled. “See you tomorrow.”
The gift bag was stuffed full of tissue so Haley couldn’t see what was in it. It was a bit heavy, but she didn’t want to take the time to open it. Haley assumed it was a little thank-you from one of the nurses whose shift she’d taken over the holidays.
She waved to the nurses on the next shift and got on the elevator, leaning back against the back wall and closing her eyes as it descended.
Had she caught a glimpse of Damon earlier?
She thought she had, right when the second code blue had sounded, but when the emergency was over, there’d been no sign of him. She’d thought he might have come to say something about her giving his mom a massage, but maybe he didn’t know.
Maybe he hadn’t even visited the hospital. He could have been busy at F5F. Natasha hadn’t expected him, after all.
Even if he had come to the hospital, Natasha might not have told him.
Maybe she’d been asleep when he arrived.
Haley sighed, acknowledging to herself that she’d been looking forward to seeing him again. The elevator doors opened and she strode across the lobby.
Her interest in Damon might not be mutual. Once might have been enough for him. She might just have been next.
To be fair, she’d thought he was next. Maybe if she was in the habit of seducing gorgeous men, she’d be more used to wanting more.
Joe’s cab was the first in line and Haley slid into the back seat with some relief. It was good to see a friendly face. It was starting to snow, big white flakes tumbling out of the sky. Maybe she’d walk to work the next day.
They wished each other a happy new year.
“Rough one?” Joe asked as the cab pulled away from the curb. “You look tired.”
“Three code blues in a row. It was certainly busy.”
“How many of them made it?”
“Only one.” Haley knotted her hands together and looked out the window at the dark park, suspecting that even the man who had survived the night wouldn’t live long. She found the cardiac ward harder than oncology, which was pretty much the opposite of the other nurses she knew. It was maybe because death came suddenly and often violently. She preferred when the grim reaper stalked his victims for a while.
Maybe because it was easier to believe he might be caught and stopped before he finished his grisly business. Maybe it was because people had time to make their peace with the inevitable and say goodbye. When death came out of the blue—as with a heart attack—it was often over before much intervention could be done.
“I gave a ride to your man tonight,” Joe said.
Haley blinked. Her man? Joe’s eyes were twinkling when she met his gaze in the mirror.
He meant Damon.
Her gut clenched with the conviction that one of the other nurses must have taken him home. Robyn would have done it, in a heartbeat.
“He’s not my man, Joe,” she said.
It was true. Damon had never promised her anything.
Well, he’d promised not to seduce her, but she’d changed that.
He’d said he would please her and he’d done that.
So, why did she feel like forgetting her own rule? She was committed to her career. There was no room in her life for love and marriage, and she didn’t want there to be.
She just wanted another night with Damon.
“Does he work at the hospital?” Joe asked.
“No. His mom’s in the oncology ward.” She watched, her curiosity whetted, but Joe gave no sign that Damon had been with anyone else. “He’s a nice guy,” she ventured.