shit. He knew Kal could do it, but . . . damn. Then again, no matter what, he’d always stand behind his brothers.
“And they’re probably all current on their CEUs.”
Kal rolled his eyes. “Fuck you.”
Rafe laughed. “Hey, I can’t help that I was in the room when Jackson popped in to tell you what a loser you are.”
“Fine. I’ll do those today.”
“You should. And then you have to talk to Jackson. And Dad. Because if there’s something you want, you should go for it.”
“You’re right. Hey, thanks for not telling me my idea is stupid.”
“I think it’s dangerous. But elite as fuck. You’re a great firefighter, Kal. And you can do anything you set your mind to.”
They stood and hugged.
“I appreciate your faith in me,” Kal said.
“Anytime. You know you can talk to me about anything.”
“Thanks.”
“Now go do your CEUs.”
Kal grinned. “On it.”
“Let me know what Jackson says.”
“I will.”
Kal left the room, and Rafe continued his workout. After he finished, he put the equipment away and wiped down the room, then refilled his water jug. He walked past the training room and saw Kal in there with his headphones on, typing into the laptop.
He nodded in satisfaction. When his brother wanted to focus, he could shut out the world.
He hoped Kal was on the right track. And he hoped Jackson would listen to him. The outcome of that remained to be seen and was out of Rafe’s hands. All he could do was be there to offer his support. And he would be. Like always.
Just like his brothers had always been there for him.
CARMEN ADJUSTED HER POSITIONING IN HER CHAIR IN THE nursing supervisor’s office, a room she didn’t get to occupy all that often because she was typically running a hundred miles a minute going from one end of the ER floor to the other, or hanging out at the desk charting and scheduling. But if she didn’t finish staff evaluations today, they were going to be late. And the one thing she wouldn’t tolerate was turning things in late. So her nurses had to fill in for her on the floor, and Tess was handling triage duties while Carmen was occupied in the office doing freaking paperwork.
She looked down at her watch. It was two o’clock, and she’d been at this since she’d come on shift at seven this morning. She liked to be up and moving around, and sitting on her butt for this long staring into her laptop was making her eyes cross.
She loved her job, loved supervising the nursing staff, but the paperwork part? Not so much. Fortunately, this only had to be done twice a year and she was almost finished. She only had one more eval to do, and that was Tess’s, whom she’d deliberately saved for last.
Tess was her right hand and could do Carmen’s job as well as Carmen, which meant she was qualified for a supervisor’s position. Carmen knew that Faith Stansfield was moving to Pittsburgh at the end of August, and that there’d be an opening on the ICU step-down floor for a nurse supervisor when she left. Tess had excellent skills and had stepped in for Carmen in a supervisory capacity when needed. She knew Tess could handle the position, and she intended to recommend Tess to replace Faith.
Of course, she wouldn’t put that in Tess’s performance review, because she didn’t want Tess to know about it in case she got turned down for the job. But Carmen knew all the nurses on all the floors, and no one was better qualified for the job than her friend. Plus, Carmen’s recommendation held some weight.
She finished Tess’s eval and filed it, along with the note suggesting the promotion. The head of the nursing department for the hospital would review her recommendation, and then, hopefully, Carmen would find out soon.
Of course, losing Tess would leave a huge hole in her department, but she’d never hold back any of her nurses from promotion. Her job was to make them all better so that they could rise up.
She looked up when there was a knock at the door. Tess popped her head in. “Thought you could use a cheeseburger and a chocolate milk.”
Carmen grinned. One of the other things she loved about her best friend was how well Tess knew her. “Oh, God, it’s like you read my mind. Come in.”
Tess carried the tray in and set it on Carmen’s desk. “I don’t want you to think I’m buttering you up, because