Page 11 of James

CHAPTER SEVEN

From that moment on, things moved at the speed of a whirlwind. Before Laura knew what was happening, she was in an ambulance on her way to the hospital, despite her protests that she was perfectly fine. The rescue crew and paramedics might have given in, but when James told her to stop her fussing and go in that warning tone, Laura stopped her fussing and went.

Laura wasn’t at all happy about it. It was embarrassing to be hovered over like this when she wasn’t hurt. Still, she was lying on a gurney with an IV needle stuck in her hand. The paramedics told her she was dehydrated. How stupid she was not to have remembered her water bottle until the morning. She swore she could stop traffic, if the warmth in her face was any indication of how red she was.

It was an awkward, uncomfortable ride, ending with two orderlies wheeling Laura into the hospital, where she was swiftly transferred to a curtained corner of the Emergency Room for even more hovering.

Head still reeling from the speed of events, Laura felttoo drained to protest the whirlwind of questions and tests that followed, and at the first quiet opportunity, she closed her eyes.

She must have dozed off, because when Laura woke up, she was in a relatively quiet section of the hallway outside the ER, along with a dozen other patients, most of them, like her, hooked up to an IV bag with one rather frazzled-looking nurse to tend them. When she noticed Laura had opened her eyes and was looking around, she smiled and came over.

“I’m Amy, the floor nurse,” she said. She had a pleasant drawl and a friendly face, despite her weary eyes. “You’ve had kind of a rough night, huh?”

“Looks like you have, too.”

“Oh, yes, it’s been busy with the tornado and all.” Amy rolled her eyes to acknowledge the understatement. “Now, you haven’t been admitted, but you are going to be here for a little while longer. Do you want us to call anyone or put anyone down for visits?”

Laura mustered a smile and said, “No, I’m fine. I don’t need anyone. I don’t think I’ll be here that long. I really don’t understand why I’m here at all, especially when everyone is so busy. There isn’t a scratch on me. I’m fine, really.”

Truth be told Laura wasn’t fine – she was dead tired and had a headache. However, she hated to be a bother when there were real patients who needed real care, and it was nothing a good night’s sleep couldn’t cure.

Amy smiled reassuringly. “I get that you’d rather not be here. Personally, I’d rather be at home, too. Fortunately for you, you get to leave just as soon as the doctor has been by to give you a quick once-over. She’s running a bit behind today for some unknown reason.”

“Right. Completely unknown.” Laura gestured to the IV in her hand. “Could you at least remove this thing?”

Amy eyed the half-full IV-bag. “I’m sorry, honey, you’ll have to put up with it a bit longer. We need to get some fluids in you.”

Honey. James had called her ‘honey,’ numerous times.

“Where is James?” she asked.

Before Amy could answer, a petite woman with reddish blond hair and a wealth of freckles approached.

“Good afternoon…” She checked her clipboard. “Ms. Turner. I’m Dr. Samantha Simons. Let’s have a look at you.”

The first few minutes of the exam went fine, as Laura had expected. Then Dr. Simons took hold of one of her arms and examined her bruises. “What happened here?”

Not again.

Laura was all too familiar with the probing questions and looks of pity by medical staff. She’d been in the ER several times while she was married to Jake. She couldn’t handle being viewed as a victim again – a weak woman who couldn’t protect herself from men. “I must have hit it somewhere.” She wanted the earth to swallow her.

The doctor and nurse exchanged glances.

Dr. Simons gripped her other arm. “Both arms simultaneously?” she inquired softly.

Laura sighed and closed her eyes.Think girl, think!There was no way she was going to admit what had happened. “It might have happened while the firefighters were helping me out of the building. They had a firm grip, and I bruise easily.”

From the looks on their faces, the women didn’t believe a word she said, but they couldn’t prove otherwise.

As Laura hoped, the doctor dropped the subject, and the exam was over quickly.

As soon as Laura had the full IV of fluids in her, the nurse removed it. Laura signed her release forms (sighing as she noticed a pamphlet titledDomestic Violence: There Is Helptucked among her care instructions) and caught a cab waiting outside, leaving the hospital as fast as she could.

After seeing Laura off, James refused to go in the other ambulance. The paramedics weren’t pleased with his decision, but he signed their waiver and they let him go and went to help other victims of the storm. After thanking the crew, he walked over to his truck. There was some debris in the back, but it was otherwise undamaged.

He got in, turned the key and the engine roared to life. James plugged his phone into his car kit and sure enough it came back on after a few minutes. He maneuvered the truck around some tree trunks and waved at the rescue crew. One of them lifted a hand. The others kept working on clearing the area. As he turned on to the main road and headed to the hospital to see how Laura was, he called Chris.

His friend picked up the phone at the first ring. “Hey asshole, you were supposed to call last night. Hot date?”

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