The rest of the flight is spent low over the gurney, murmuring steady reassurances between monitoring his vitals.
I stay closer than I need to, calming him each time he flinches or whimpers.
The helicopter lifts us away from the fire, and I hope, with time, he can heal more than just the burns and cuts.
CHAPTER
THREE
ASPEN
Standing outside Room 324, with damp palms and my heart in my throat, I hype myself up to go inside.
Emmett’s not special.
I’ve checked up on other patients after handing over care, and I float to cover other areas of the hospital all the time, so running into patients I flew with isn’t unheard of.
But there’s only a handful of patients I’ve gone out of my way to personally check on.
The ones I almost lost.
Or the ones that don’t sit right after I hand them off.
So why does this feel different?
It could be because the need to check on Emmett feels more about me than it does about him.
Head injury. Shock. The fentanyl.
All of those things could explain the way he looked at me in the helicopter.
None of them make it easier to forget.
It’s a loose end.
I’ve tried ignoring it, but his face is a permanent fixture when I close my eyes.
The entire flight is embedded in my brain. The way he trusted me, the way he went on about everyone but himself. The way he held on like I was a tether when he was halfway between realities.
Seeing him with my own eyes, knowing he’s okay, feels like the only way to move on. And Ineedto move on.
“He’s just like all my other patients,” I lie under my breath.
I’ve seen it all—miracles where people survive unbelievable odds; senseless, devastating loss that makes you question everything; palpable relief when things go just right and bargaining when they don’t.
The bargaining might be the most devastating to witness.
“It should’ve been me.”
Not unfamiliar words in my line of work, but Emmett’s held an acceptance I rarely hear.
Healing bodies is what I’m good at, but that wasn’t what he needed.
Not really.
This man I know nothing about, branded himself on my empath soul more than all the others.
Physically, I know he’s okay—I’ve already checked his chart.
