Page 2

Chapter Two

M ac

“You’re working another double?” Sarah pouted, flopping onto the couch as I shoved my feet into my new Nike sneakers. “Mac, seriously, I don’t know how you’re still standing. I’d be in a coma.”

I sighed, tying my laces quickly before looking up at her. Sarah had been my best friend since the first day of fourth grade, when she’d marched right up to me and declared that my Lisa Frank binder was ‘totally awesome’, and immediately sat down next to me. We’d been inseparable ever since, weathering everything from bad pixie haircuts, worse boyfriends, and cramming for finals on zero sleep. Now, as adults, we shared an apartment, a car occasionally, and our unbreakable bond.

“I’m fine, Sarah,” I assured her, forcing a smile.

She scoffed, throwing an arm dramatically over her eyes. “A couple? You’ve worked doubles all week. I swear, pretty soon they’re going to start charging you rent.”

I rolled my eyes but didn’t argue. She sort of had a point. Between covering for a coworker on maternity leave and helping out in the Emergency Department because hospital staffing had been perpetually short, I’d been pulling more hours than usual.

Still, X-ray techs didn’t get showered in money, and as much as I loved my job, I wanted financial stability even more.

“Besides,” I added, shrugging into my light zip-up jacket, “if I don’t do it, who will?”

Sarah propped herself up on her elbows, leveling me with a look. “Literally anyone else. If you keep burning yourself out like this, you won’t have the energy for anything fun. Like, oh, I don’t know, a social life?”

I snorted. “That was a train wreck.” The social life she was referring to was my last date, six months ago, that had been a total dumpster fire.

“Okay, fair,” she conceded, crossing her arms. “But you’d have time to meet someone if you weren’t always at work.”

I laughed at that. Dating wasn’t even on my radar at the moment. I was more worried about getting out of debt.

“I’ll worry about having a social life when I’m not trying to pay rent and student loans,” I said, grabbing my bag from the counter. “But if it makes you feel better, we’ll plan a girls’ night soon. My treat.”

Sarah wrinkled her nose. “That does sound tempting…”

“Good. Think about it.”

I turned toward the door, prepared to rush out, when Sarah sighed dramatically. Hand on the doorknob, my eyes closed. I knew that sigh. Whatever she was about to say, I wasn’t going to like.

“So, uh…” She hesitated before casually adding, “Chad is coming over later.”

I froze for half a second before forcing my expression to stay neutral. “Great.”

Chad coming over was anything but great. He was a total douche.

She side-eyed the flatness of my tone. “He’s really trying this time. I swear he’s getting better.”

I bit back my immediate response. The last time Chad was ‘really trying’ he still somehow managed to empty Sarah’s bank account. Not to mention, he flirted with anything in a skirt.

“Just… be careful, okay?” I said instead.

Sarah groaned as I turned the doorknob. “You’re starting to sound like your brother.”

She did not just— “Take that back.” I was nothing like my brother. He was overprotective to the point of suffocating. I was just trying to look out for my best friend. It was totally different.

“Fine.” She conceded. “You’re not like Jack, but I know what I’m doing, okay?”

The pleading look on her face made my heart squeeze. My best friend was beautiful and amazing and every other awesome thing under the sun. But, she had a terrible picker when it came to men.

“Okay,” I nodded, deciding it was probably best to tackle my opposition to the asshat later. “See you later?”

Relief flooded her face. “I’ll be here.”

As I stepped into the hallway, my phone buzzed in my pocket. Fishing it out, I smiled the moment I saw the word Mom lit up on the screen. I swiped my finger across the bar and tucked it against my ear.

“Hey, Mama.”

“Hi, baby,” she said, warmth coating her words. “Just checking in. Are you coming to dinner tomorrow night?”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” I replied instantly. “You know, Sundays are my favorite night of the week.”

“Good,” she said, satisfied. “Your nieces have been asking about their Auntie all week. And don’t forget, Chelsea’s baking that tres leches cake you love.”

My stomach rumbled just thinking about my sister-in-law’s baking. “You know I’ll show up just for the cake.” I laughed, imagining my niece Emma with a million questions about what I’d been doing all week as her little sister launched herself into my arms like she always did. My brother’s girls were eight and five, and the most adorable humans on the planet.

Mom laughed. “I know, I know. Just wanted to lock in my girl before the hospital steals you away again.”

I glanced at the time and groaned. “Speaking of, I gotta go. My shift starts in a half hour.”

“Alright, baby, I won’t keep you. Drive safe. Love you.”

“Love you too, Mama.” I hung up, pressing the phone to my chest for a second before sighing and climbing into my car.

Ever since Daddy was killed in the line of duty, it had just been me, Mama, and Jack.

I’d been twelve when it happened. One minute, my daddy was kissing me on the forehead before heading out for his shift, and the next, there were two officers standing in our doorway, hats in their hands, wearing expressions I didn’t understand.

But Mama did.

The moment she saw them, she let out a wounded sound I would never forget. “No,” she kept saying. “No, no, please, no.”

Jack was fifteen and I remember the way his face went pale. He didn’t cry, though.

Not then.

He just grabbed onto mama and rocked her back and forth like he could hold the pieces of her broken heart together.

Honk!

“Shit!” I jolted, pulled back to the presents.

Glancing at the clock on the dash, I cursed again. If I didn’t get moving I was going to be late.

The ER was already a madhouse when I walked through the sliding doors. Flu season had hit hard in Jacksonville, and with half of Cypress Memorial’s nurses out sick, it was all hands on deck.

I’d barely clocked in when Megan, one of the nurses on staff for the night, flagged me down with a grin on her face.

“Oh thank God, you’re here,” she said, hooking her arm through mine and dragging me down the hall. “C’mon, you have to see what’s in exam room three.”

“That bad?” I asked, already bracing myself. I was seriously rethinking my decision to help down there. I was a LPN, but I was also a certified X-ray tech and preferred my job in Radiology. It was never as crazy as it was down here.

“That hilarious,” she corrected. “We get our fair share of ‘What the F’ down here, but this?“ she motioned ahead of us. “Top five, at least.”

I sighed. “Please don’t let this be another guy with an object up his?—”

“—Oh, it’s way better.”

I arched a brow.

She definitely had my attention now.

Pasting on my best professional expression, I stepped inside and immediately stopped in my tracks.

What. The. Hell.

On the hospital bed sat a middle-aged man, sweating bullets, clutching his knee.

That part wasn’t unusual.

But the three dildos duct-taped to his leg—Wait. Was that duct-tape holding them to his leg? I looked closer.

Yep. Definitely duct-tape and definitely unusual.

Standing there, lost for words, I blinked. Then blinked again, because seriously. What. The. Hell.

“I—what…?”

“I told you, it was good,” Megan mumbled under her breath, barely keeping a straight face.

The man, who looked like he very much wanted to disappear, groaned. “Look, it’s not what it looks like.“

“Sir,“ I managed, trying my hardest not to burst out laughing, “I need you to explain to us exactly what this is, then.”

The patient sighed heavily, his face as red as a tomato. “It was a bet.”

Megan made a strangled choking noise, clearly enjoying this way too much.

I had so many questions.

“And who exactly bet you to duct-tape adult toys to your knee?” I asked, trying and failing to keep a straight face.

“My fantasy football league,” he muttered under his breath.

And that was her undoing. Megan completely lost it, wheezing as she slapped my arm. “I told you,” she gasped between laughs.

“Oh my God,” I whispered. Men were so damn stupid. “Okay. Got it.” That explained the toys but not his knee. “Uh...so, okay…but why is your knee swollen?”

The man shifted uncomfortably. “Well... the deal was, I had to wear them all day.”

I nodded, still not understanding how he injured his knee. “I picked the Chiefs to win the Super Bowl,“ he started to clarify, “and well…”

Ahh… I wrinkled my nose, finally understanding. “And they lost.”

“Yeah.“ The defeat in his voice was almost as comical as his… predicament. “This was part of the bet, which I admit was pretty damn funny until I slipped in my kitchen and heard something pop.”

“Because of the—” I motioned to his leg.

“Yeah,“ he confirmed miserably, glancing down at the accessories strapped to his knee.

Look. I tried, okay. I really tried to keep it together but he had three bright pink vibrators attached to his leg and I was pretty sure one of them was still humming.

Turning my head, I buried my face in Megan’s shoulder to muffle my laugh.

Megan, for her part, was howling at this point. “This poor man is suffering and we are—” I snort-laughed. “We are terrible people!“ I snorted again, trying to breathe.

Megan wiped at her eyes. “You attract weirdos like a magnet.“

Before I could argue, a transport nurse from upstairs popped her head in. “X-ray’s ready for your patient.“

I bit my lip, nodding, before glancing back at the man. “Sir, we’re going to need to, um... remove those for the x-ray.”

“Oh God.” His eyes went wide with horror. “Can you knock me out for that?”

Tears streaking down my cheeks, I gave him my most reassuring smile. “I promise we’ll do our best to preserve your dignity.”

Megan snorted as she whispered, “I mean. What’s left of it.”

Three hours later, I’d had six patients with the flu, a guy with a broken nose, another who’d failed spectacularly at trying to break up a fight at the bowling alley, and an elderly woman who’d hit me with her purse when I suggested she might have to stay overnight.

It was official. I was never volunteering to help in the ER again.