but Leila Ross, one of the trauma surgeons, quickly came to her rescue.
“Alyssa Knight is one of our ED nurses—there’s no reason to call Security.” By the acid contempt in her tone, it was easy to deduce that Leila didn’t particularly care for the new physician. “Thanks for your help, Alyssa. We’re fine now.”
“Sure,” she murmured, taking the hint and stepping out of the trauma area. She glanced at Dr. Torres, but he’d apparently already forgotten about her, his attention centered on placing the chest tube in his patient.
She headed back toward the arena, where she ran into Susan. “The traumas are two snowmobile riders who hit each other head-on. I bet you’re glad to be out of here for a few months, huh?” Susan asked, coming up beside her. “Good way to escape the craziness around here.”
She thought dealing with premature twins would have its own element of craziness, but didn’t respond. Susan brushed past, heading into the trauma room to offer more help, and Alyssa watched, wishing she had a chance to ask about the new doctor on staff.
Not that it mattered much, since, as Susan had pointed out, she’d be off for a few months. Hopefully by the time she was scheduled to return, Dr. Torres would have forgotten all about this little incident.
She turned and left, heading back upstairs to the nursery, knowing she’d miss the excitement of the ED to a certain extent. Taking care of patients had always been her passion. Yet she was also a mother now, and her precious, tiny, preemie daughters had to come first.
Half expecting to run into Jadon, she was disappointed to note he wasn’t waiting for her in the nursery. Where in the heck was he? Surely he hadn’t forgotten she was being discharged today?
Her ire faded when she looked at Gretchen and noticed the CPAP mask had been removed from her daughter.
“Renee?” she called to the day-shift nurse, who was standing nearby. “Why is Gretchen’s mask off? Is she doing better?”
“Yes, Gretchen is doing much better,” Renee confirmed, crossing over to her with a reassuring smile. “As a matter of fact, Dr. Downer was just here looking for you and Jadon. Why don’t I page him?”
“Please. I’d love to talk to him.” Alyssa wished Jadon was here, too, so the doctor could talk to both of them.
They should be able to share the good news along with the bad.
“Alyssa, I’m glad you’re here. Gretchen’s chest X-ray looks remarkably improved so we’re doing a trial to see how well she’s oxygenating with the CPAP mask off.” He glanced at the monitor over Gretchen’s isolette and waved a hand at the pulse ox reading. “She’s at ninetyfive percent, which means so far she’s holding her own.”
“Really?” She was almost afraid to hope. “You really think she won’t need the mask again?”
“I think between the antibiotics and the extra nutrition she’s been getting, little Gretchen is going to be just fine,” he assured her. “But we’ll watch her closely, just in case.”
Hope swelled, filling her heart with joyous relief. She knew they would keep a close eye on Gretchen, and on Grace. She was lucky to have such a great team of caregivers for her babies. “I’m so glad.”
“Me, too. I understand you’re going to be discharged today, is that correct?” he asked.
“Yes, but you can contact me on my cell phone if there’s any changes with Grace or Gretch.” She recited the number, patting her pockets and belatedly realizing the device was still in her suitcase. Jadon had thought of everything when he’d packed the bag for her, including her cell phone. “And I’ll be here for a little while yet.” Thankfully Jadon lived close to the hospital, so she could come and visit the girls often.
“Great. For now there isn’t much else for us to do except to take good care of the babies and watch to be sure they don’t have any other complications while they gain weight,” he said.
“Sounds good.” Excited, she took Gretchen out of her isolette to hold her close to her breast for the first time since the mask had gone on.
It seemed like forever. But after she’d held Gretchen, she gave Grace a nuzzle, too, unable to stop smiling.
Gretchen was doing okay. Soon the girls would be able to come home.
Which meant she needed to get ready for them.
After visiting for another hour, Alyssa walked back down to her room, becoming more vexed with Jadon.
It was past noon. Why wasn’t he back by now? What on earth could be so important?
“Alyssa?” Denise flagged her down. “Jadon has been trying to get in touch with you.”
“He has?” she asked with a frown. “Where is he?”
Denise lifted her shoulder in a slight shrug. “I’m not sure, but he would like you to call him on his cell phone. I wrote the number down for you.”
Good thing, as she didn’t have Jadon’s new cellphone number. She didn’t even have his old cell-phone number anymore. She took the slip of paper and returned to her room. Picking up her phone from her suitcase, she saw there were several missed calls.
And the battery was almost flat, so she used the phone in her hospital room to call him. “Jadon, it’s Alyssa. I just got your message,” she said when he answered.
“Alyssa, I’ve been trying to reach you. I won’t be able to take you home today.”
A warning chill snaked down her spine. “Why not? Where are you?”
There was a slight pause, as if he was trying to figure out exactly what to say. “I had to leave early this morning for another family crisis. You were sleeping, so I didn’t want to wake you. I should be back later tonight. Traffic is awful so I can’t get into it now. I promise I’ll explain later.”
She sank onto the edge of her bed, staring out her window at the snow-covered trees surrounding Cedar Bluff Hospital. Looking at the wintry landscape, it made her all the more aware of the coldness she felt inside. “You left town,” she said dully.
“Yes. But not for long. I’ll be back soon.”
Now it was soon, when earlier he’d claimed he’d be home later that night. So which was it?
She had a bad feeling he didn’t know.
“So what am I supposed to do? Go back to my apartment and sleep on my couch?” Her bedroom set just happened to be set up at Jadon’s house.
“I left a key to my place with Simon. He’s working second shift tonight, and he’s going to stop by the hospital to give you the key. If you want him to give you a lift to my place, I’m sure he will, but if you’re going to sit and visit with the girls anyway, you may as well wait there for me. It’s your choice.”
Her choice? What if she wanted option number three—none of the above? What if she wanted Jadon to forget about his family crisis because they were having their own family crisis here?
There wasn’t
