she and her daughter were now basically homeless.
“I’m fine, I promise,” Eliza insisted for at least the twentieth time. “Can’t I just go?”
The lovely red-haired young woman frowning at her appeared far too young to have earned that stethoscope and the name tag on her lab coat that read Dr. Devin Shaw.
“You were hit by a car, Ms. Hayward. The head CT showed a concussion.”
“And you said yourself, you saw no evidence of bleeding or swelling.”
The doctor made a dismissive gesture. “Yet. Sometimes those things can develop hours or even days after the initial injury. With all that’s been in the news lately about professional athletes and concussions, you surely understand that any head injury is potentially serious.”
“I know. I will be very careful, I promise.”
The doctor jotted a note on her chart. “I would still like to X-ray that wrist and possibly your shoulder where the vehicle struck you.”
All of which would take time and money, both of which she had in very short supply right now. “That’s hardly necessary. The SUV barely tapped me. Nothing is broken.”
“You sound very certain of that.”
“I’m sure I would know if I had any broken bones. Besides the concussion, I’ve got some scrapes and bruises and possibly a sprained wrist. That’s all. I don’t need to waste any more of your time.”
“You’re not wasting anything. It’s my responsibility to make sure we don’t let you leave the hospital until we’re absolutely certain it’s safe for you to do so.”
She shifted in the flimsy gown, wanting rather desperately to be done here. It was growing dark and a storm was poised to deliver a hard uppercut to this little corner of western Idaho. She didn’t have time to lie here being coddled and fretted over, not when she needed to find somewhere safe and warm for her daughter to stay.
“Look, I appreciate what you’ve done so far but, really, I’m fine. Please.”
She couldn’t stay here. The hospital was nice enough. Over the past five years with Maddie, she had seen the inside of more than her share of medical facilities and as far as she could tell, the Lake Haven Hospital was small but modern and seemed to have all the necessary diagnostic equipment.
The doctor might seem young but she also projected a calm, comforting bedside manner that Eliza appreciated.
That didn’t make her any more eager to stay a moment longer than necessary.
She craned her neck to see Maddie curled up in the visitor’s chair, watching one of her favorite Disney movies on Eliza’s tablet while she colored a picture with crayons and paper provided by the hospital staff.
Maddie had plenty of experience with hospital rooms and didn’t seem at all distressed to be in a new one. In fact, she had spent the past hour chatting up all the doctors and nurses in her usual friendly fashion.
Every time Maddie touched a surface, Eliza wanted to cringe and grab the spray disinfectant. Having a child with a serious health condition had given Eliza a severe case of germaphobia, at least when it came to hospitals.
No matter how good the hospital’s housekeeping department might be, most emergency departments were a breeding ground for viruses and bacteria by the very nature of the cases they treated.
She had to get out of here.
“Look, I appreciate your concern and I understand you’re just doing your job, but what do I have to do to convince you I’m fine so you’ll let me go? As I said, the SUV barely touched me. I don’t need X-rays or stitches and I don’t want any pain medication.”
“You might be singing a different tune in the morning. You’re probably going to hurt everywhere.”
She already hurt everywhere but she wasn’t about to tell this earnest, concerned young doctor that. “I promise, I’ll pick up a bottle of ibuprofen and take them faithfully.”
The doctor still didn’t look convinced so Eliza decided to appeal to her sympathy, if nothing else. “I appreciate your concern. Everyone here has been really great. I can highly recommend the hospital and will be happy to post good reviews on Angie’s List or wherever you hospitals need reviews, but I have had a really miserable day. The worst.”
The doctor gave her a sympathetic look. “The paramedics told me you were supposed to start work at the Lake Haven Inn. I’m so sorry. What rotten timing.”
“Almost as bad as being in the crosswalk at the exact moment a driver coming down the hill hit a patch of ice, right? Haven Point hasn’t been really great to me. Right now I just want to take my daughter and go.”
The doctor frowned again, looking torn. She studied the computer screen again and studied Eliza carefully.
“If I were to release you, where will you go?”
“I was going to drive back to Boise. I have friends I can stay with for a few days, until I figure things out.”
That was a blatant lie. Yes, she had plenty of friends but she wouldn’t feel comfortable calling any of them a few weeks before Christmas and inviting her and her daughter over for an open-ended visit.
She didn’t like the bleak option of an extended-stay hotel somewhere, but she would figure out a way to make it work for a while.
Dr. Shaw chewed her bottom lip, looking more like a middle-school student prepping for an algebra test than the attending physician at an emergency room.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t feel good about you driving two hours back to Boise when we haven’t properly assessed your injuries, especially with that storm. It’s already snowing pretty hard out there and I can imagine the mountain passes between here and Boise are restricted to chains or four-wheel drive only.”
“I have four-wheel drive on my vehicle and chains in my trunk.”
She also had a pounding headache that would make even driving to the mountain pass an interesting exercise, but that was another thing she decided not to mention to the physician.
“How about this. I’m all right with releasing you from here but I don’t feel good about sending you out into the storm. Do you know anyone in town you could stay with tonight?”
She shook her head then fought a wince as her pain cells reacted quite negatively to the gesture. “Megan Hamilton is the only person I know—besides the nice EMTs and your staff here, of course. I imagine Megan has her hands full right now, dealing with the fire at the inn. I can’t add another burden onto her plate.”
“We’re at a stalemate, then.”
“What if I were to find a hotel room for the night and drive back tomorrow?”
“I’m afraid that might be easier said than done. A lot of our hotels are only open seasonally, during the summer. With the fire at the inn, we lost half the available hotel rooms in town. All their guests had to scramble to find lodging here or in Shelter Springs, from what I understand.”
She
