And then it hits me.
The triage room is being used by the specialists.
“Jeez, what is wrong with me?” I ask myself, feeling the slight tremble in my hands.
Allison reaches over and squeezes my arm. “It’s because it’s someone you care about.”
The weight of her words gets lodged in my throat.
How did this happen, and in such a short amount of time? I haven’t known him for long at all, and here I am getting all up in my feels at the thought of him being hurt.
Because he’s a friend.
A close friend I’ve had sex with multiple times, but we don’t necessarily have to dissect that detail. I’d be this worked up over Allison or Charli getting hurt, right? I’m sure I would.
Right?
I take a deep breath and shake my head, dislodging all personal thoughts from my brain. “All right, I’ll run and get the patient into his room. Lance should be done with Room 2 by now, so I’ll put Cade in there when he arrives.”
Allison nods. “That’s what I’d do.” I turn to walk away when she says, “Hey, Oaklee? Maybe don’t leave Cade and Dr. Williams in the room together alone for too long, huh?”
Oh fuck.
This has trainwreck written all over it.
“Good idea,” I reply with an awkward chuckle.
“If you need me, holler. I can referee,” she states with a grin and a wink before stepping in close. “Oh, and for the record, my money’s on Cade, one thousand times over.”
I bark a laugh. “Mine too.”
Numbly, I walk up front to get the next patient. “Liam,” I say, waiting for the sick child to come back with his parent. Mom stands up and takes the seven-year-old’s hand, guiding him to where I wait. “Hi, Liam,” I say, noting his glassy eyes and red cheeks.
“Hi,” he whispers before barking out a cough.
“Let’s stop by the scale first and then we’ll get you into a room. Dr. Williams is here today, and he’s going to get you checked out and on the mend as soon as possible.”
I run through taking vitals for the little guy before asking about his symptoms.
“The cough started yesterday with a low-grade fever, but this afternoon, it started to really sound deep. His fever has gone up too, and I’ve been alternating Motrin and Tylenol every four hours,” she says, the unmistakable look of worry on her face as she continues to tell me about his symptoms.
“Okay, shirt off, big guy. Dr. Williams will be in shortly, okay?”
The little guy nods and starts to remove his sweatshirt. I slip out the door and place the chart in the holder before moving to the available room and getting it all cleaned up for the next patient.
Becky pops her head around the corner and says, “Cade is here.”
I nod, taking a few calming deep breaths before I exit the room and make my way up front. As soon as I open the door, I see Cade standing there in front of the big window. “Cade?”
He spins toward me and smiles. When I wave him on, he walks, each step with his left leg a bit gingerly. “Hi.”
I glance down and shake my head. “What’s that?”
He follows my line of sight. “Duct tape.”
I close my eyes and shake my head. “You put duct tape on your wound?”
“Well, first I rubbed dirt in it, and then I covered it with the tape.” He flashes a big, cheesy grin, making me giggle.
