“Do you remember my colleague, Dr. Staci Hardt?” Caleb asked and Tony looked over at Staci and held out his hand to her.
“I do, Tony Jacobs.” They shook hands and Tony tightened his grip on hers after she did the same to his. They held hands for a good minute while staring at one another. Caleb had to clear his throat several times to get them to stop staring at each other.
“Sorry,” Staci whispered.
“I’m not,” Tony said, and smiled at her. He finally cleared his throat and turned his attention to Caleb. “Sorry, what were you saying.”
“I hadn’t started yet,” Caleb said with a smirk. “I received the medical records you sent to Erin, and thank you, not that it matters, but it was great to be able to know your case before you even arrived.”
“You can thank Ramos and Lloyd for that.”
“Ramos?” Staci asked. “I don’t know if I heard of someone with that name.”
“Me either,” Caleb said with a confused look.
“Marcia Ramos, she’s dating Lloyd Berry.” He saw understanding in Caleb’s face. “If you read mymedical records, then you know what happened, and what I went through. Ramos was right there beside me when I crashed. If it weren’t for her, I would never have been able to open my chute the little I did. She was the one to get hers partway open, then was able to help me get mine the same way.”
“Oh, wow,” Staci said. “I too read your file. I know you don’t need a prosthetic, that’s what I specialize in, but your case intrigued me. I haven’t discussed this with Caleb yet, but did you happen to send any x-rays along with the medical records?”
“No, but I brought them with me.” He stood, and went out into the hall, when he returned, he had a large flat box with him, that was at least four inches thick.
“Let’s go back to the exam room,” Caleb said and Tony followed Staci, with Caleb hot on their heels with his and Tony’s coffee cups in hand. In the exam room, Staci turned on the lights to the box to put the x-rays on so they could read them. Tony walked further into the room and placed the box he carried on the exam table. He opened the box completely and pointed.
“The top set of films were when I first arrived at the hospital after the collision. From there down to the bottom is every set of x-rays before and after every operation I had to fix my injuries.”
“In your own words, what were your injuries?” Staci asked as she watched Caleb pull the first set offilms and slap them up on the light board. The two doctors stood before them as Tony described the accident, and what he endured while waiting for help to arrive.
“How long from when you hit the mountain and help came?” Staci asked. She looked around wildly, and Tony smirked as he reached up and took one of the pens out of her messy bun and handed it to her. “Thanks,” she said and took it, then started taking notes. She leaned in so that her nose almost touched the films, and as she looked at the damage he had sustained, she wrote on the pad in her hands. For the next three hours, the three of them went through all the films, and when they were done, Caleb slipped the last set of films in their extra-large envelopes and looked up at the knock on the door. Staci went to open it, and grinned when she saw Katherine standing there holding a bag.
“Lunch,” Katherine said and Caleb turned to Tony and invited him to join them. He had sent a text to her asking her to bring extra food for Tony. They went into the break room, and Staci ran out, and returned with her can of soup.
“What’s that?” Katherine asked.
“My lunch. You can’t keep providing for me.”
“It’s no bother,” Katherine said, and Tony spoke.
“Why don’t you make something at home to bring with you?”
“I don’t know how to cook. When I made mygrocery list, I forgot to include lunch meat.” She held up the soup can. “On my grocery list, I had a lot of cans of soup, and cereal, lots and lots of cereal.” She sighed as she eyed the sandwiches and gave in when Katherine set a roast beef and cheese sandwich in front of her.
“You don’t know how to cook anything?”
“If you consider making toast, pouring milk on cereal, and heating up a can of soup in the microwave cooking, then yeah, I can cook.” She grinned when Caleb snorted a laugh.
“Back in Seattle, Staci lived on Door Dash, Insta Cart, and the local restaurant delivery services.”
Staci wrinkled her nose at him. “There’s nothing here that would deliver a hot meal, not with the nearest restaurant over an hour away. So, I have plenty of cereal, soup, and those one-person frozen meals.” She sighed as she finished one half of her sandwich, then picked up the other. Before taking a bite, she sighed heavily. “I told Caleb last week when I first arrived that I needed a keeper.” She laughed as she continued to eat, and after she finished, Tony, who had been studying her nodded.
“I know how to cook, I could teach you.” She whipped her head around and stared at him in shock.
“I couldn’t ask that of you.”
“You’re not asking, I’m volunteering. Besides, I don’t know when Caleb will release me to start working over at New Double. When he allows me towork, I don’t know what Cole will have me doing. I’m not expecting to ride a horse for several weeks or months yet, and I don’t know if I can toss hay bales around. I’ve been inactive for years, and I’ll have to build my muscles up. This next part is just my own opinion, but I think if I can work a little bit every day, I’ll be able to build up my stamina, and form muscles that I’ve lost over the last few years since the accident.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he shook his head.
“Hell, I might only be able to work half days until I can get the momentum to do more, isn’t that right, Caleb?”
“Probably, but we won’t be able to make any decisions until I do a thorough assessment.”
