Page 21 of Colt
“Okay,” I replied.
And then he spent the next two hours practicing. I just had to hope my birth control was potent enough.
The next morning, Colt followed me to my apartment in his patrol SUV, then veered toward the station which was situated right downtown. I’d done some laundry and unpacked a few things. Since I didn’t stick in one place for long, I didn’t have much. Only what I could fit in my car and the day I moved in, one of the neighbors in the small four-apartment building helped. Andy, a brawny, friendly guy who ran the local Feed and Seed, could carry twice as much as me, which made for only a few trips. Fortunately, this apartment came furnished. Because Colt was a man of his word and ridiculously attentive, I needed a nap before my overnight shift.
At seven, I walked into the ER and greeted the triage nurse in the lobby as I unzipped my jacket. “Hey Sarah.”
She smiled, then tipped her chin. “I see you found your badge.”
I frowned and glanced down at my ID that was on a lanyard around my neck. “What do you mean?”
“You always find it after you request a replacement. Right?” she continued.
I blinked.
“I’m surprised you were in earlier talking to HR about it going missing, although I guess it was smart since they’re only in until six and you’re on tonight.”
I stilled. My heart lurched. I hadn’t lost my badge. I kept it in my purse when it wasn’t around my neck as required while on shift. I hadn’t come into HR earlier either.
Fuck. FUCK! Missy. It had to have been Missy.
I had to think on my toes. “Yeah. That’s exactly what happened. I forgot I changed purses.”
My mind was racing, so I gave her a little wave and went to the locked double doors that led into the ER, swiped my not-missing badge to open them.
There were six patient bays that were in a circle around the central nurses station. A white board with patient data was on one wall for all to see and update. It was an older building with gray linoleum floors and green signage. The air always held the sharp bite of antiseptic and antibacterial cleanser. I greeted the nurses I’d come to know and tried to smile. After I put my coat and purse in my locker in the doctor’s lounge,I headed right for Dr. Barnes who was at one of the computers to get his shift change report. He was about ten years older and had grown up in nearby Missoula. We hadn’t chatted too much yet about our personal lives, but I did know he was married and had two kids in middle school.
“There’s only two patients, so let me get you up to speed and I’ll head out,” he offered.
I tried to focus on his report, but my mind kept drifting to Missy.
She was here in Devil’s Ditch and she’d come to the hospital to get a doctor’s ID badge.MyID badge that let me into all areas of the hospital, from gift shop to operating room. She could pretend to be me and help a patient. What she wanted was access to a prescription pad or drugs.
The hospital had a pharmacy that dispensed drugs and medications, but on each floor there was a big machine, like an ATM for medicine, that dispensed it. An ID badge and a password was needed to access and for anything to be dispensed. It also needed a registered patient’s bar code, because meds weren’t given out without a patient to take them.
She didn’t know my password. I didn’t create one, it was given to me each week and I had to memorize it.Even if she did access one, which I fucking hope she hadn’t, the password would be invalid in two days.
This was a disaster and worse than things she’d done in the past. She could have me fired. She could have me lose my medical license. She could have me arrested.
Worse, she could potentially hurt innocent patients.
Sweat dotted my brow. Shep had said he’d seen me at the grocery store. Had it been me–I’d gone several times since I moved to town but hadn’t actually seen him when I was shopping–or had it been Missy?
She knew where I worked. Did she know about Colt?
The only time Colt and I had been together in public was breakfast at the diner the day before and grocery shopping after. Unless she’d been following me around the hospital, she wouldn’t have seen us together in the morgue.
No, she wouldn’t dare come here at the same time I was on shift. It’d blow her plans.
Breakfast with Colt had been with his family, so if she’d seen us, maybe she’d think it was a bunch of friends sharing a meal, although it was pretty obvious the Wilder boys were related.
If she discovered I had feelings for Colt, then… I could only imagine what she would do. No, I knew exactly what she’d do. She’d sleep with him, because she’d done that in the past, not once, but twice with guys I dated. Guys I hadn’t even slept with yet.
Sleep with guys and trick them into thinking they were actually in bed with me. Then treat them like shit so they thoughtIwas the bitch. There was no way to explain to them what had happened. Besides, I didn’t want to be with a guy who’d been with my sister, even if he was tricked.
Shit. SHIT.
“You good?” Dr. Barnes pulled me from my freakout. I nodded. “Just continue to monitor and when a bed opens up, he’ll be transferred for observation,” he finished.
