Page 77 of The Ampersand Effect

morning before I get to break for lunch.

Good. Grier was taking a lunch. This could work in Tobin’s favor. Hopefully Mike and the patient would be ready to depart soon—it was a good forty-five minute flight to Aetheridge Children’s Hospital from here, and she didn’t want to miss her opportunity.

TOBIN—11:08 a.m.

Still bothered by your brother’s mystery

girlfriend? Or is something else on your

mind?

She had to stay smooth—no diving directly into lunch questions.

GRIER—11:08 a.m.

Both. The girlfriend is not so mysterious as

she is secretive. I wish he’d just tell me. But, I

suppose I could just ask him, too. And rounds

were a little heated between me and one of

the surgeons. We’re receiving a patient this

morning he wants to immediately cut into,

but I believe further evaluation is necessary.

The child is only eight, and has chronic

pneumonia secondary to severe scoliosis.

Surgery is likely inevitable, but something

about her presentation made me question

previous assessments. Thankfully, the chief

was interested in my input, which bought us

some time.

Chronic pneumonia? It didn’t take more than that for Tobin to realize the patient she was transporting was the same one Grier had just described. She immediately felt more protective of the girl, just drawing from Grier’s obvious desire to help. Her heart warmed as she experienced yet another extrinsic view of Grier’s depth of empathy for her patients.

TOBIN—11:10 a.m.

That’s a lucky girl, to have you in her

corner.

Grier didn’t respond as quickly as she had been, and Tobin looked up to see Mike and the hospital staff wheeling the transfer patient out to the helipad. She wouldn’t have another opportunity to inquire about Grier’s lunch plans until she was at the children’s hospital—so she needed to do it now.

TOBIN—11:15 a.m.

What’s for lunch? Any plans?

She slid her phone into the breast pocket of her jump suit and began going through her pre-flight checklist. She felt the rear doors open as the patient was loaded, followed by the subtle shift as Mike climbed in, then Erik. The rain had strengthened, and the skies had become a shimmering mixture of dark and light grays. She honestly enjoyed flying in the rain like this. The cloud cover blocked scenic distractions, and the quiet stillness of the world below let her brain slip into a kind of autopilot, drifting in and out of incomplete thoughts. Most of them involved Grier.