Page 15 of Doctor Frost

“Say no more.” I smiled. “I’ll stay.”

“Yay!” Claire screamed.

I couldn’t help but laugh as I listened to Claire and how excited she was for me to be staying for dinner as I followed her through the house and out to my car.

Dalton had orderedin from The Golden Lotus, a new Thai restaurant in Eastport. During dinner, Claire and Tommy shared stories about their week at school and about some of their favourite hobbies. Once the food was gone, the table cleared and dishes were done, Dalton made us a coffee and left me in the living room while he went to tuck both kids into bed.

I now sat in the living room, sipping on the hot coffee, flipping through a magazine while I waited for him.

“Sorry about that. Tommy wouldn’t stop talking about that one kid at school that invited him for the weekend to thecottage,” Dalton said, coming over and sitting down on the couch beside me.

“Not a problem.” I smiled. “He seemed pretty excited about the invite at dinner, too.”

“Yeah, that is Tommy. I haven’t even given him a yes or no yet.” Dalton chuckled.

“Well, I hope it’s a yes, otherwise I think he is going to be pretty upset,” I said, thinking back to how excited he looked.

Dalton chuckled. I wasn’t sure I’d ever even heard the man laugh before. Dalton was good-looking. I’d always thought so, and he had a really pleasant smile too, and there was a glint in his eyes as he looked at me. Today was the first time I’d seen a personality to match the total package.

The room grew quiet as we looked at one another, and soon his sombre face returned. I swallowed hard as I placed my mug down on the table.

“Well, thank you once again for dinner. Really, you didn’t have to,” I said, reaching for my purse.

“It was my way of saying thank you for helping me with Claire.”

“Like I said before, you don’t need to thank me,” I said, feeling annoyed as I dug into my purse for my keys. Finally, I felt them and looked over at Dalton, ready to announce my departure.

“Like I said before, I know you don’t like me very much,” he said. “In fact, I’m almost sure you probably hate me.”

I frowned and sat back, looking over at him. He seemed almost vulnerable.

I placed my keys back down on top of my purse, waiting for him to talk, but he just studied me.

“Like I said before, I don’t hate you. I don’t have room in my heart for hate. I will say I don’t like the way you treat people.”

I could tell from the look on his face he knew how he was treating people was wrong, which if he knew that, then I wondered why he continued.

“I think I’m going to head home,” I said, shifting myself to the edge of the couch to stand when he grabbed my hand. I looked down to where his hand rested on my arm and then over at his face.

“I…I didn’t use to be this way,” he murmured. “So short and cold with people.”

I could tell from the look on his face that whatever he was about to say was serious and that he needed to share whatever it was. I shifted on the couch and turned my hand around so his rested on mine.

“What happened?” I questioned.

“It was November, snowing bad. I was working nights in the emergency. It was a busy night. Claire had called to say good night right as the EMTs brought in two stabbing victims and a car accident. Immediately, I took the accident, saying good night to Claire. I rushed over to the room where they were working to get the patient stable.”

As I watched him, I noticed the colour had drained from his face and knew immediately what he was going to say, but I let him continue, not wanting to stop him. He obviously needed someone to talk to, and if I was that someone he was comfortable sharing with, then I’d be the ear.

“I shoved the curtain to the side and began reading over the extent of the injuries. Broken leg, possible broken pelvis, broken ribs, oxygen levels were low, suggesting maybe a punctured or collapsed lung, possible internal bleeding as well. As I made my way to the head of the stretcher and looked down at the woman who lay there, my world stopped. Every ounce of air that had been in the room was gone, the room spinning out of control as I looked down at my wife.”

I closed my eyes, blinking away the burning feeling that was certain to become tears. I couldn’t imagine how he must have felt at that moment.

“In that moment, the noise of the emergency room fell away and every memory my mind held flashed before me. The first time we met, the first time we kissed, the first time we…our first home, our first baby, our second baby….the trip we’d just taken to Hawaii. Panic filled me and the room continued to spin out of control. That was when I turned and vomited on the floor. I couldn’t ever remember a time that I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t even think. All I could see was her beautiful face laying on that stretcher as I sunk to my knees in shock. The RN who I normally worked with immediately noticed and she came over and that was when they called the code.”

“Oh, Dalton…” I whispered, my eyes filling with tears as I gripped his hand a little tighter.

“It literally felt like hours as they worked on her, not minutes, as it truly was.”

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