Page 6 of Passion Restored

“You do your job, and I’ll worry about the math. Get in, now.”

And with that, she hung up, and Liz lifted her lip in a snarl. She loved her job, she really did—except for the times she hated it. She was well and truly on her way to a burnout, and she prayed that no one got singed on her way down.

Lives depended on it.

The ER was packed to the brim by the time she got there, and though it wasn’t a full moon, the place had that same kind of energy. Tonight wasn’t going to be an easy one that was for sure.

She quickly stored her things in her locker and grabbed a cup of coffee, imagining it was from her maker at home and not the sludge she currently poured into her body. Since this wasn’t her shift, she went straight to the board to see where she was needed and what she could do.

The head nurse—Liz’s supervisor—Nancy, called her over as soon as Liz got to the central station, and Liz made her way as she finished her drink.

“Where do you need me?” she asked and threw away her cup in the recycling bin under the desk.

“There’s an MVA in room seventeen. It looks like the car just clipped him according to the on-scene reports, but he went down hard on the pavement.”

Liz’s brows went up. “A car hit a pedestrian?”

“Yep. Looks like it might have been deliberate, too, since it was in a parking lot,” Nancy put in. The other woman loved gossip but was real clear on the lines of patient confidentially, thankfully.

“I’m on my way,” Liz said as she made her way to the room. She grabbed a quick glance at the chart as the others worked and moved to wash her hands and prep before she started.

“Call for the OR,” the doctor on call stated. “Looks like a lacerated spleen.”

Liz held back a wince. If the man had a lacerated spleen, there was a good chance he’d lose it tonight. And while that wasn’t life-threatening if they were quick about their diagnosis, it meant there could be other internal injuries.

When Liz got to the doctor’s side, she blinked as she looked down at the patient in the bed.

“Hey, Liz,” Owen stated, his voice filled with pain.

How he was awake right then was beyond her. And, holy hell, what a small world. She felt as if he’d just spoken to her at the bar, and now, here he was.

“You know him?” the other nurse, Lisa, asked, a curious gleam in her eyes. Liz did her best to avoid being the butt of gossip around the hospital, and now it looked like Lisa wanted to catch something juicy.

“Mr. Gallagher,” Liz said, pointedly ignoring Lisa. “Can you tell me how you’re feeling?”

“Like I got hit by a car,” Owen said with a cough before trying to hide a wince. Tough guy, she thought. But even the toughest of the tough needed pain meds every once in a while.

“Looks like it, too.” She took his vitals again, noting that while he had to be in pain, his BP was decent, and he didn’t have a high temperature. His heart rate was slightly elevated, but considering what he’d been through, it made sense.

“I guess this is one way to get you to talk to me,” Owen said, and Liz wanted to ask him to shut up. She did not need the staff thinking she had a thing going on with her patient.

“It would seem. Now, let’s get you all fixed up, shall we?” She went back to work as the others did their thing. From the looks of it, Owen had a fractured clavicle, a few broken and bruised ribs, as well as the lacerated spleen that required surgery. And from the way his eyes tracked and the fact that he’d apparently been unconscious at the scene, he more than likely had a minor concussion, as well.

All in all, not too bad, considering he’d had a run-in with a freaking car.

“Will you talk to my brothers?” Owen asked, his words slurring. They’d pumped him full of drugs to dampen the pain and prep him for surgery so it was no wonder he was going under. He should have been out of it long before this.

Brothers? As in more than one?

That was a dangerous thought.

“I’ll make sure the doctor lets them know what’s going on,” she promised.

“You. Make sure it’s you,” Owen whispered. “They’re gonna freak…” And with that, he was out, and Liz was feeling a little confused.

Why on earth did it need to be her? She’d spoken to him quite rudely for all of two minutes earlier, but apparently, that meant something to this man.

Lisa gave her a look that spoke of more than Liz wanted to get into right then, and Dr. Wilder frowned.

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