Page 4 of Curveball: The Baby and the Grump

“Thank you,” I say, relieved that he’s not making this even more difficult.

I return to double-check his chart and frown. He’s already on the maximum dosage of painkillers that we allow for cases like his. But I have a feeling that a little bit of placebo effect is going to work perfectly here.

“Did Doctor Brown manage to come and look at it yet?” I say casually, racking my brains to figure out why the name Jackson Kerr is familiar to me. Who is this guy?

“Yeah, he took me for an x-ray.”

“I take it he hasn’t come back with the results yet?”

He shakes his head unhappily. “I haven’t heard anything yet, even though it’s been forever.”

“You do realize that you’re not the most important person in this hospital, right?” He gives me another foul look. Honestly, he’s worse than Matt after too much sugar and not enough sleep. Why did this guy never grow out of being a teenager? “Let me get you some more painkillers sent down,” I say.

“Really?” He narrows his eyes suspiciously. Maybe he’s smarter than my cunning placebo plans after all.

“Yes; it’s my job to make you comfortable. I’m here to look after you, regardless of what you might think.”

“And here was me thinking you were here to hurt me even more.” With that I get just the faintest of wry smiles from him. Not a major success and not the kind of success I’m hoping for long term, but it’s a start. Jackson Kerr can be made to laugh after all.

“All right,” I say, pushing a button that does absolutely nothing in the hope that he’ll believe I’m getting him more drugs sent. “I’m going to go on my break now. But I’ll be back after to make sure everything’s okay here.”

“Really? But we’ve only been here for three hours!”

I ignore the comment, biting my tongue against saying, You have been lying down for hours — I’ve actually been working. “Anyway, I’ll be back soon.”

He gives me a look, but before he can say anything else, I back out of the room and shut the door behind me. It would probably be fun to verbally spar with him for a while longer, but my break will only last so long, and I want to take it.

I head back out into the corridor, where I barely make it three steps before someone else wants me for something. I end up running around on errands for another fifteen minutes before finally I manage to sneak into the break room, slump into a seat, and rest my head on the table with a thump.

It would be so easy to nap right now. But I can’t. I have too much to do.

I let myself have one of my twenty minutes of break just zoning out, then drag myself up to my locker so I can grab a protein bar out of my bag. I don’t feel hungry, but I’ll need the energy later because my day isn’t going to get any less busy.

I check my watch. Seventeen minutes. If I go now, I can grab my car and dump it in the hospital lot. This time, I don’t run as fast, but I do power walk. By the time I sling myself into my car, I’m out of breath, but fortunately the roads are empty so it takes me the one minute it should have taken earlier to swing into the only free space I can find, right at the back of the lot.

Too soon, I have to get back to work, so I take a deep breath, center myself, then head back out. Mrs. Briar waves angrily at me as I pass her, so I grit my teeth to nod and smile at every complaint she’s about to launch at me.

Eventually, I manage to discharge her despite the grumbling, promising that I’ll go to her house and check on her personally if she keeps having issues. Before anyone else can come and bother me, I dash off to Jackson’s room.

He startles as I close the door, having been lost in a daydream or something. “Oh, you’re back.”

“I said I would be.”

“Didn’t think you meant it,” he sniffs. It’s clearly a challenge, and I am going to rise to it.

“I always mean what I say,” I lie with my very best smile. Nobody always means what they say. Sometimes you have to tell tiny little white lies to make feel people feel better. That doesn’t make you a bad person. It just means you care about other people’s feelings.

He grunts disbelievingly but says nothing else. I almost feel sad at the lack of banter, but I do also have things to do. “I’ll go and check up on the status of your x-ray, then, unless you need anything else.”

“An extra pillow. My back hurts.”

I’m about ninety-nine percent sure he’s lying to me just to be contrary, but I keep smiling anyway and go over to the cupboard to fetch a pillow. He’s sitting straight up when I turn around, and I keep my face in a very deliberate professional neutral as I tuck it in behind him, pushing slightly on his shoulder to encourage him to lie back down. “How’s that?”

“Much better,” he says.

I step away before the spark of attraction I feel can ignite. It’s stupid, I know, but I have eyes and no time for dating. I’m allowed to find people attractive. But I can’t act on it, especially not at work. I just wish he wasn’t giving me that look, like he’s asking a question I can’t answer. “Good. Just buzz if you need anything else, okay?”

“Okay,” he grins, and I turn on my heel and leave the room before my mind can run away with me.

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