scold me, I’d rather him not do it in front of dozens of patients’ families I may have to talk to later.
“I didn’t get any message.”
He runs his hand through his hair in disbelief. “You are such a child. You can’t even be bothered to check your voicemail and call your brother back.”
I steer Henry away from the nurses’ station, down a hallway I hope is empty.
“Why are you here, Henry?” I ask, already tired of his scolding.
“I want to make sure you are okay. Today’s the anniversary of—”
I give him a dirty look.
“Well, you know what it’s the anniversary of. And you get a little crazy. I want to make sure you don’t do anything stupid this year.”
“The anniversary was yesterday. Not today. And I didn’t do anything crazy.” Unless you count climbing a mountain for the first time, rolling my ankle, and having to get carried down by a hot stranger, before running over said stranger’s motorcycle. Nope, definitely not crazy.
“Whatever. It’s still around that time, and I’m not leaving until I’m sure you are fine.”
I put my hand on my hips, staring my brother down. “No, you mean until you ensure I won’t do anything that will put the Burns back in the papers again and ruin your business.” I didn’t do anything that bad last year. I just got drunk, and I didn’t have any money for an Uber home, so I slept under an underpass. The cop that found me wasn’t happy with my decision, even though I thought it was the right one.
He shrugs. “I’m here to make sure you don’t fuck up again.”
I shake my head. Everyone in my life has a perfect life, except me. Even though my mistake was years ago, it still haunts me. I still have the guilt and nightmares, even if I can’t remember the details of that day. My family will never forgive me for what I did. No matter how much I’ve changed. No matter how much I try to be exactly like them. Maybe when I have a husband and kids, they will feel differently, but until then, they think of me as the screwup who they have to fix every year.
I hear the sirens, and I know we have another patient coming in.
“I have to go,” I say, running down the hallway to meet the ambulance. My pager goes off, and Felicity starts giving me the info. Two male patients. Both critical. Not sure what happened, but they need all teams on hand.
“Mila! I’ll be waiting until the end of your shift to talk to you,” Henry says.
I keep racing down the hallway, ignoring my brother, who thinks I need a babysitter. I don’t. But he won’t leave until I prove to him I’m okay. Last year was just a fluke. It wasn’t my fault. This year, I’m better.
I run to emergency bay one and start collecting all the supplies we could need to take care of the incoming patients. Two other nurses enter as well. When I turn around a man is being pushed in on a gurney. We transfer him quickly to the bed.
“What happened?” I ask the nearest paramedic.
“Not sure exactly. It was a car accident. He was riding in the passenger seat. His heart stopped once during transport, and he’s struggling to breathe. Blood pressure is low. He’s been unconscious almost the entire time and is now. Bleeding from a wound in his chest and leg.” He doesn’t have to say more about the car accident. I can see in his eyes he suspects a drunk driver.
I start cutting off his clothes, while the rest of the staff begins jumping on their jobs. IVs, tending to wounds, checking blood pressure, oxygen. We work in unison, a perfect dance, moving and speaking with each other in synced rhythm with each other. We all know exactly what needs to happen to keep this man alive.
The fabric I cut from his clothes is expensive. It takes a lot of energy to cut the suit from his body due to the thickness. He wears a Rolex on his wrist, which I remove as well. And then I grab gauze to press to the lesion on his head. It doesn’t appear horrendous, compared with the wound on his chest. Another nurse is addressing that gash.
I flick his hair up so I can continue covering his laceration. Despite his condition, I can’t help but think how beautiful he is.
Gorgeous man. His body is fit. His hair