“I’m honored, ma’am,” I respond, absolutely sincere.
Kinley and I quickly make our way to her truck, and as I buckle in, she turns to me. “I’ll go ahead and drop you off at the cabin and then take off for the hospital.”
“You don’t have to drop me off. I don’t mind waiting with you.”
“Are you sure? It might take a while.”
“If I need to go back to the cabin, I’ll call Ed,” I promise, genuinely hoping it doesn’t come to that.
I don’t know why, but I don’t want to be anywhere else. I just wanna spend some time with Kinley. When we get to the hospital, we are immediately met by a short woman with long black hair and a white doctor’s coat with Dr. Angelina Zamora embroidered on it.
“Her water broke on the ride over,” she says, exchanging a look with Kinley, then me. “I’m glad we convinced her to take the ambulance services instead of trying to get here in the back of someone’s car.”
Kinley drops her head to my shoulder. “Holy shit.”
I pat her arm, and she starts. “Oh, rude. Sorry. Dr. Zamora, this is Mackenzie Nash. Mac, this is Dr. Zamora.”
“Nice to meet you, Dr. Zamora.”
“Likewise.” Turning to Kinley, she asks, “I’m about to go in. Wanna join me?”
“Sure,” she says. “Think they’ve got some scrubs for me?”
“I believe so.”
Kinley kisses my cheek, then rushes with Dr. Zamora past double doors marked Restricted.
The waiting area isn’t that big or crowded, so I find a funky old wooden chair with padded cushioning and plop down. This little regional hospital is maybe a quarter the size of the massive level-one trauma center I was sent to in Denver. Hell, I’ve literally been to bigger gas stations, though those were in Texas, so maybe that doesn’t count.
From what I can tell, there are only two floors and two wings. I can see why Kinley didn’t send me here. Everybody seems competent, but this is definitely a place for setting broken bones and getting stitched up, maybe having your gallbladder removed. Definitely not the place for a brain event.
She really did save my life—and a fair amount of my quality of life—that night. As I stare off, lost in thought, I’m approached by a woman inRainbow Britescrubs.
“You’re Mackenzie Nash, aren’t you?” she asks nervously.
Not wanting to deal with fans right now but also not wanting to be a dick, I paste on a smile. “I am.”
“Oh,wow,” she says, breathy. “You came in with Kinley. Things got a little dramatic at The Skiing Bison, I hear.”
“Just a bit,” I say, unsure how much I’m allowed to talk about Lucy’s medical condition.
The woman smacks her forehead, then winces. “I’m sorry, let me introduce myself. My name is Cassie. I’m Kinley’s best friend.”
My eyes widen in recognition. “Oh my God, you’re the one responsible.”
Her eyes sparkle. “Responsible for what?”
Ha. I can’t tell if she’s joking or if Kinley really didn’t tell her best friend about what we’ve been up to.
Seeing my distress, she pats my arm. “I’m kidding. Sorry, I’m a little freaked out about meeting you in person. Kinley’s been keeping me up to date. This is my first day back to work, and I’m a bit of a hot mess,” she says, wincing as she pats her ribs.
I point to my cane and boot. “I feel you on that. It’s like everything went haywire all at once, and then I was glued back together by a four-year-old.”
“Oh, I’m gonna tell Dr. De León you said that.”
I roll my eyes. “Great. You know my neurologist. I’m sure that won’t come back to bite me in the butt at all.”
“I’m kidding. Besides, if I really wanted to make your life a living hell, I’d tattle to Loretta.”
