Page 55 of Coulda

“Damn broken leg.”

“You broke your leg?”

“She found you before I could find her,” the paramedic observed, coming back into the room to fist bump Rio.

The new arrival looked at Amber to say, “This guy owes me a few dozen beers. He refused to let me take him to the hospital until we’d taken care of everyone else.”

“It’s just a leg,” Rio explained when Amber looked at him. “You’re ratting me out, Nelson.”

“According to the crowd, there would have been many more injured if not for this guy, pushing people behind the bar for safety and then vaulting over it to tackle the assailant,” the paramedic shared.

“They’re exaggerating.” Rio brushed away the accolades.

Amber knew they weren’t. She gave him her best mad nurse look before scanning his lower body this time. Everything looked okay except one foot pointed the wrong way.

“Ouch,” she commiserated.

“I’d say surgery is in your future,” Nelson projected.

“I guess you don’t need me here,” the doctor joked as he walked into the room. “I’ll just thank the man of the hour here for preventing more injuries.”

“Dr. Urial, this is Rio. He’s my…” Amber searched for a word to let the doctor know what Rio meant to her. “He’s my everything. Can you patch him back up?”

“I can with a visit to the operating room,” Dr. Urial assured them. “I’ve looked at the X-rays. It looks like you’ll need a plate and some screws to fortify that break so it can heal properly.”

Amber ran her fingers through his hair when Rio flopped his head back against the pillows. She knew he was beating himself up for letting himself get hurt.

“We’ll wait until the morning when we’re both fresh to get that taken care of and the trauma surgeons have finished all the gun wound injuries. We’ll keep your pain down as much as possible in the meantime.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Amber said gratefully as she clung to Rio’s hand.

“I’ll take a look now and double check what I saw on the X-rays.”

After Dr. Urial’s exam, Amber could tell that Rio was in pain. She rang quickly for his nurse. When the emergency department director entered the bay, he asked Amber to step outside the cubicle.

“It’s against policy for you to take care of a relative in your capacity as a nurse. Want to clock out for lunch and get him cleaned up off duty?”

Amber smiled at the stern-faced man. He didn’t know her at all as this was her first day working at the hospital. He could have ordered her back to work with a warning or canned her when she insisted on taking care of Rio.

“Thank you, sir. I’ll clock out and get him set to go up to the floor when they have a room for him. I won’t interfere with his nurse. Promise.”

“I’ll hold you to it. You have thirty minutes. Make the most of it. If we have another rush of injuries, you’ll have to cut your lunch short.”

“Yes, sir.” Amber turned to jog through the department, dodging machinery, healthcare workers, and patients. She checked herself out for lunch and returned in a flash to gather a small tub and washcloths, along with a few other items.

The look Rio gave her as she walked in made her heart flutter in her chest. He was as glad to see her as she was to see him. She could have lost him. Amber vowed to treasure every moment they had together.

“Did you get more pain medicine?” she asked.

“Yes, Nurse Murphy.”

“You.” Amber waggled her finger at him. “Now, I’m in charge, Rio.” She turned on the faucet to warm the water.

“Maybe until they get me put back together again,” he allowed.

“And you’re back on your feet.”

“We’ll see about that.”

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