Page 29 of Falling for my First Crush

“Of course,” Maia says with a smile.

“Thanks,” I say.

As I leave the restaurant, I can’t help thinking that this night turned out better than I could have hoped for. I got to go out with Maia, and now I’m going to fight a wildfire.

Seventeen

JACKIE

Isprinted home faster than I thought possible. My blood was boiling. By the time I pounded up the front steps, I was sweaty and out of breath. I’m still fuming. The thing is, I don’t know why. Yes, it sucked to see him with Maia, especially because it seemed like Maia was kind of making fun of me.

But Joe can do whatever he wants with his life. All I need him for is the Tribute, and once that’s over, if we don’t talk any more, who cares? I step into the house, stifling a groan. I care, that’s who. Joe is my friend, or at least I hope he is.

I drag myself into the shower, glad that today is one of my days off. I try to wash away all the stress and tension from the day. By the time I get out, it’s only partly worked. Every muscle in my body still aches, and all I really want to do is go to bed.

I’m toweling off my hair in my bedroom, when my phone starts ringing. I know that ringtone. Work is calling. I stifle another groan. Of course, this is how my day is going to continue to go. First Joe, now work.

“Hello?”

“Is this Jackie Moretti?”

I don’t recognize the voice, and I can feel a frown creasing my face. “Yes, it is,” I say.

“This is Shannon from scheduling,” the woman says.

“Oh, hi,” I say. “What can I do for you?”

“You are on our list of nurses available to pull an extra shift today,” she says. “So, are you?”

“Am I what?” I say, slightly confused.

“Are you available to come in to work?” Shannon asks.

“I…” I pause, unsure what I am supposed to say. I haven’t been called into work on my day off before. Is there some kind of protocol where you can say no?

“We need coverage in the ER,” Shannon says. “There are a ton of injuries from a natural gas explosion that happened outside of town. From my understanding, there is also a wildfire that was sparked by the explosion. We’re just desperately looking for extra staff. If you can’t come in, we’ll keep looking.”

“Of course I’ll be in,” I say without any more hesitation. My mind starts racing. I can’t believe something like that happened here, in Cranberry Creek.

I book it to the hospital. I’m sure that I break several traffic laws, and I don’t remember stopping at any red lights. I hope they were all green. Turning on the radio in the car, I can hear that the situation is much more complicated than I had originally thought. There is a lot of speculation about how many people are injured. There are even unconfirmed reports of casualties.

I can’t believe how petty I was being earlier. Who cares if Joe goes out with Maia? It might hurt my heart, but at least we’re all alive. As I throw my car into park, the thought crosses my mind that if I got called into work, Joe might have, too. Is he out fighting that fire right now? My heart starts to hammer painfully against my ribcage. I feel like I’m about ready to have a panic attack.

Despite the fact that I know I need to be hurrying into the ER, I pause on the sidewalk to take a few deep breaths. Instantly I feel calmer. I’ll be no good to anyone if I am in the middle of a panic attack. I need to be calm and able to completely focus on my patients.

Joe is fine. He is at dinner with Maia, probably staring deeply into her eyes. Jealousy flashes through me, confusing me. Why am I so hung up on Joe? Ugh. Even when I crushed on him ages ago, he never reciprocated the feelings. Why do I find my heart pining to know what he thinks and feels still? I feel childish, very annoyed with myself. I shake my head hard to clear my thoughts. I’m going to be fine. Joe is fine. Even if he did get called in, he’s been trained to fight wildfires. They are lucky to have him.

Finally, I feel well enough to go inside. My mind is still lingering on Joe and Maia. I’m confused by my feelings, because these are not things that I have ever associated with Joe since my childhood. When I have more time, I think that I need to follow the thoughts to their conclusion so that I can have some kind of resolution. I think I need that.

When I step inside the ER, there are people everywhere. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many people here. This is what we train for, though. It’s typically called a mass casualty event. Not because people have died, but because there are so many people involved in whatever has happened.

I head over to the nurse’s station and wave down one of the nurses, who looks positively frantic and exhausted. “What?” she snaps. Then her expression softens. “Sorry. Just…this is crazy. What can I do for you?”

“I’m from maternity. Scheduling called to see if I could come in. Where do you need me?” I say.

“Zoe, we have an overflow nurse,” the woman calls over her shoulder.

Another woman, whom I assume is Zoe, hurries over to me. “Name?” she says.

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