After Happily Ever Afte- Astrid Ohletz Page 0,19
usually upbeat nurse.
Dr. Pine ran a hand through her short hair and used her other to wipe tears from her eyes. “Ask Emily.”
“No! Don’t ask her.” Tony closed the cat carrier and placed it behind his back. “Short version: A few years ago, a couple of cats got loose in the ED, created chaos, and our highly allergic surgeon here slipped with her needle and sneezed all over the wound. The patient sued the hospital. Emily took it personally because she’d been in charge of the ED that night for the first time.”
Diana couldn’t help herself. She laughed until her eyes were as teary as Dr. Pine’s. “Really?”
Twin glares cut through her mirth. Why couldn’t the others see the humor in the situation?
“Okay, okay.” Diana raised her hands. “I’ll go search, and I won’t breathe a word to Emily. She’ll find out soon enough anyway. Do you need anything, Dr. Pine?”
“No, I’ll be fine. I’ll stick to the surgical floor and take some antihistamine. Let’s hope we won’t have any surgical emergencies tonight.”
Tony groaned. “Don’t say it. Don’t even think it. Let’s just pray that your residents can handle whatever you lured here.”
“Achoo!”
“Are you sure you don’t want to wait until we find Tiger?” Liz handed the discharge papers and the new vaccination record card to Weepy Mom, who wouldn’t meet her gaze.
“You lost her. She’s not our problem anymore. You keep her or bring her to the pound or whatever. We’re done with cats.” Angry Dad crossed his arms in front of his chest and glared at his wife. “I told you we should have gotten a dog.”
“Dogs are smelly.” Billy played with the superhero Band-Aid on his left deltoid muscle. “Can I get ice cream now? And a burger?”
“Of course.” Weepy Mom hugged her son with one arm and steered him toward the exit.
There was nothing Liz could do to stop them from leaving. Maybe it was better that way. Even if they found Tiger right now, she wouldn’t be treated fairly by that family.
If only she could adopt the cat herself, but her roommate’s allergy prevented her from taking the cat home even for a day. Alexis would kill her.
Liz glanced at the electronic whiteboard. Still relatively empty and no real emergencies. Good. More time for her to find Tiger.
No one was at the nurses’ station, presumably because everyone was searching for the fugitive. Before Liz could call Tony for an update, Courtney jogged around the corner.
If anyone else ran in the emergency department, Liz would immediately be alarmed. But the pace was typical for the overeager resident.
“Oh, Liz, great, you’re here.” Courtney skidded to a stop, narrowly avoiding a crash. “All the nurses are gone somewhere. How do I get a psych consult?”
“You call psych.” Liz pointed to the laminated list of telephone numbers on the wall. Other residents in their third year knew that. But Liz was never sure if Courtney really hadn’t learned the working process of the ED by now or if she played dumb for a reason. But that was a question for another day. The more important question was why Courtney was looking for a consult. “Aren’t you with a woman with a respiratory infection?”
“Yeah, probably just a cold. But the old woman seems a little bit crazy. I don’t know if it’s her age or fever or something else.”
“Why don’t you try to use a more medical and less offensive term than crazy?” Sometimes Liz wanted to shake Courtney.
“Um, yeah, sorry. She’s hallucinating. She insisted a cat is hiding under the supply cart.” Courtney snorted. “A cat. Here.”
Today was definitely a shake-Courtney-day. “Did you look under the cart?”
“No. Why should I?” Reaching for the phone, Courtney rolled her eyes. “I thought we shouldn’t encourage hallucinations.”
“Didn’t you listen to the announcement and call Tony? We lost a cat, and she’s hiding somewhere in the ED. So forget about the consult and help me catch Tiger.” Liz stalked in the direction Courtney had come from. “What room?”
“Ten.” Courtney hurried after her. “Tiger? I thought you said cat.”
But when they arrived at room ten, the sight of the open doorway wasn’t encouraging.
The patient, an elderly woman clad in a flannel nightgown and thick robe, sat on the gurney, and her short legs dangled half a foot off the floor. Her wrinkles deepened in her flushed face as she smiled at Courtney. “There you are again; I was about to look for you. The cat left.” She pointed out of the door, then brought