Page 5 of Falkner
Washing up, she was ready to go when her mom was, and they headed out of the house.Once they were on the road again, she told her mom that the Dixons had invited her to stay with them.When mom didn’t say anything, she asked her what she was thinking.
“Maybe you should go and stay with them.”Doone asked her mom what she meant.“I know that the office told you that you could only stay for a month, but how are you going to get yourself a place to stay in that amount of time.Not to mention, I don’t want to mess this up for me.I love where I’m living and don’t want to be kicked out just because you don’t have a place to stay.”
“I can’t believe you’re saying that to me.Especially right now when I’ve just lost everything that I own.”Mom said she was just thinking about her place and how she didn’t want to lose it.“I will be out in thirty days, Mom.You don’t have to worry about that.Even if I have to live in a box in an alley someplace.”
“Don’t be like that.I’m only saying that I don’t want to lose my place after it took you so long to get me in there.Now with the food card too that you helped me get, the food isn’t going to go as far as I had thought that it would either now that—”
“I do have a job, Mom.I don’t plan on losing that, too.”She said that she was just thinking out loud.“Well, you’ve pissed me off.I’m sorry if you don’t want to hear that right now, but I’m mad that you think that I’m going to be messing things up for you when I’ve just literally lost everything that I own.”
“I’m sorry.Just forget it.But remember that you only have a month, less than that now, to find yourself a place to live.”She asked her how she was supposed to forget that.“You know what I mean, honey.I’m just worried that’s all.”
The rest of the trip was ruined with her mom’s worries.Did she think that she wasn’t upset about losing everything, too?That she would do anything to have a place of her own right now?What was she supposed to do about furniture?She did have renter’s insurance, but she didn’t know how long that was going to take before it kicked in, either.
Getting the things that she was going to need while living with her mom seemed sour now.Shedecided that after two weeks, if she didn’t have a place, she’d find herself a hotel room.Or perhaps live with the Dixons.She was so upset that she didn’t want to be with her mom, nor did she want to spend money on things that she’d lost.It was the little things that she thought of that upset her the most.She’d only just gotten herself new sheets for her bed.As it was now, she didn’t have a bed to sleep in, just the couch in her mom’s place.It wasn’t fair that—
“I’m sorry, love.”She told her mom it was all right; she could understand her worry.“I shouldn’t have said anything.You’ve gone well beyond what any daughter would do for their mother about getting me well and helping me out.I should have remembered that.”
“It’s all right, Mom.I promise.”But it wasn’t, and she thought that they both knew it.She had hurt her feelings, and there wasn’t any saying sorry going to fix that today.She was overly stressed out, and she should have taken that into account.“We’ll get this finished up and go back home and watch a movie.I have to pick up a newspaper, too, that might have places in it to rent.We’ll get this taken care of sooner rather than later, too.”
They went through the motions of getting her things that she’d need for the next few days, and since she had to return to work tomorrow night, she wasn’t looking forward to work as much as she might well have been.Everything seemed to be tainted for her, and she just didn’t know what to do about it.
Watching a movie with her mom later that evening, her mom was in bed by nine-thirty.She wasn’t far behind her.Knowing that she was going to be working extra shifts again, she decided to pick up all that she could so that she could find herself a place quicker.
Some of the places that she looked at wanted twice the first month’s rent and a deposit.She was going to have to come up with a way to save that much money in a short amount of time.Christ, she wished sometimes that she’d gone on home and been in the fire; it would have saved her a lot of heartache.
Doone didn’t mean that, but there were times when she’d be so depressed that she’d think of that same thing.It wasn’t fair that she’d worked so hard to get her mom into someplace safe, and here she was looking for something that she could move into, too.It was then that she remembered that she didn’t have any boots for the cold snap that they’d had today.Doone wanted to cry.
By the time her next shift came around, she was about as depressed as she’d ever been in her life.There were offers of help from her coworkers, but none of them knew of a place that she could stay.Even if she could just stay someplace for a couple of months, it would be someplace she could go that wouldn’t interfere with her mom’s predicament either.The days she had left were counting off quickly, and there was nothing out there for her to move into.She just knew she was going to end up in the Dixon home before too much longer, and she was just going to cry again.
“Did you hear about the new doctor?He started this morning.His name is…I don’t remember right now, but he’s a dreamboat.”Doone looked at her coworker, Tabby Wells, and asked her what department he was in.“Emergency right now.But he’s hoping to get to the fourth floor, where intensive care is.”
“I hope he’s nice.I’ve had a really shitty week so far.”She laughed with her friend and told her that she wasn’t going to be working just one shift anymore, but all of them, because she needed the money.“I need to get someplace soon or my mom is going to have to kick me out to the curb.”
“Poor baby.I’ve been keeping an eye on things, but the only thing that I’ve been able to find is rent-to-buy.I’m not sure I’d want that.The payments are usually big, and the places are usually shitty.But I’m looking.Has your insurance kicked in yet?”
“Not yet.I’ve heard that it’s on the way, but I don’t know when that could be.I did make sure they had my mom’s address to come to me.”After lunch, the two of them went to their separate floors and went back to work.One of the regulars came in just as she was going to do her fifteen-minute break.“Hello, Mr.Martin.What brings you into the emergency department tonight?”
After giving her a rundown of all his ailments, she made sure that he was to stay in his bed until the doctor saw him.The man was suffering from Alzheimer’s in the beginning stages, and his familyhad put him in a nursing home so they’d not have to deal with him.But he’d fall or something and would have to come to her department about once a week, and it had her wondering if the nursing home was taking very good care of the elderly man.Tonight, he had a good-sized bump to his head that she was sure was going to need stitches.She waited for the department doctor to come and see him while dealing with the other patients who had come in too.
At seven-thirty, she was on her way home.She didn’t know how it was going to work with her getting sleep until her next shift, but she was going to try her best not to make it so that her mom didn’t have her couch for the rest of her stay.As soon as she was in the tiny apartment, her mom told her to use her bed to sleep, and she’d take over the couch.She was so tired she fell into bed with her gown on and didn’t wake up until five the next morning when she had to go back to work on the day shift.
~*~
Falkner kept his eyes out for the woman who had sewn his brother up.He knew that she worked day shift and that she usually worked the emergency department, but so far all he’d been able to find out was that her home had burnt to the ground earlier this week and that she’d been picking up shifts since then.He hoped that she would take his brother up on his offer and stay with them.He’d been keeping an eye out for places for her to rent and so far hadn’t found anything.He didn’t even want to think about how much trouble she might well be in trying to find a place to stay.Then he saw her.
“Miss McFarlen?”She turned and looked at him, and he could have sworn that she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on.“Hello, my name is Falkner Dixon.You took care of my brother last week.He was in from a knife fight, and you sewed him up.”
“I remember him.Is he all right?”He said that he was and that he was healing well.“I know that he had to wait before he could shift himself out of the pain he had been in.I hope he gets better soon.”She started away, and he caught her.
“I wanted to talk to you.”She nodded and told him that she was working right now, but she had a break soon if he wanted to talk to her about his brother.“No.I mean, yes, I’d like to talk to you about my brother.Both of them.Dallas said that he spoke to you before your place when up in flames.”
She looked around like she was afraid that someone would overhear them.“Yes, he did.I went to stay with my mom, but that’s running out soon.I’m looking for a place right now.”He nodded and told her that he was hoping they could talk about Dallas.“If it’s all the same to you, sir, I’d rather not talk about Dallas.I met him and his wife the next day, and they offered me a place to stay.If you’re here to tell me not to bother with them, I wasn’t going to anyway.”
“No, that wasn’t it at all.”He looked around and could tell they were drawing attention to one another.“Look, I have lunch whenever I can find the time.You tell me when you’re having lunch and I’ll find you.”
“Why?”He asked her what she meant.“Just why would you wish to talk to me.I mean, I’m sure you have better things to do than sit with me at lunch time.I usually just eat and play on my phone for a little while.What could you possibly want with me?”
Something occurred to him as she was turning away again.This time, it hit him like a bat to the back of his head.Before he could wrap his head around what she was to him, she was gone.His mate was working with him in the emergency department, and she was homeless.
