to Cedar Bluff had been a good decision for her. She loved the homey atmosphere of the hospital and the town. Plus, her apartment was only a few miles from the hospital, making it easy to ride her bike to work every day.
Hailey glanced up at the assignment white-board and couldn’t suppress a tingle of excitement when she noticed the physician leader assigned to her team was none other than Dr. Simon Carter. She knew who he was, of course. His chocolate-brown eyes, mink-colored hair and broad shoulders stood out dramatically, in her humble opinion, among the rest of the physicians. But in the two months since she’d started in the ED, they’d only worked together a few times and those had all been during her orientation, with her preceptor primarily interacting with him.
He seemed like a nice guy. And one of the few not married. Rachel had warned her that Dr. Carter didn’t date any of the staff at Cedar Bluff, ever, but she couldn’t seem to control her physical reaction to him. But it didn’t matter because she wasn’t in the market for a relationship either, so Hailey was more than happy to admire him from afar. She’d noticed all the staff called the doctors by their first names, but she couldn’t bring herself to follow their example. Especially with Dr. Carter. Using his first name, Simon, seemed far too personal.
Heaven knew, it was bad enough that Dr. Carter’s handsome face managed to invade her dreams.
Shaking off the inappropriate thoughts, Hailey quickly took report on the patients in her team from Alyssa, the day shift nurse in team two. With sixteen-month-old twin girls at home, Alyssa only worked one shift per week, and often that shift was a weekend.
“Hailey, do you have any questions?” Alyssa asked, when she’d finished her rundown. “Because if not, I need to go, I have to pick up the girls from their grandma. As much as my mother-in-law enjoys babysitting, I think it’s getting to be a bit much for her now that the girls are walking.”
“No questions,” Hailey said reassuringly. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to take care of twins.”
Alyssa laughed. “It wasn’t too bad until Grace and Gretch learned to walk. They were preemies and a bit delayed in reaching their milestones, so they didn’t figure it out until just a few days ago. Now it’s like they’re each on a different mission, heading off in opposite directions. Keeps us running.”
“No doubt,” Hailey agreed, ignoring a twinge of envy. Alyssa’s husband, Jadon, was one of the ED doctors she enjoyed working with. They made a beautiful couple.
Once she’d envisioned a similar future for herself. Husband. Babies. Happily ever after. But not anymore.
Moments after Alyssa left, Leanne, the charge nurse, came over. “Hailey? I just put a new patient in room seven. Here’s the paperwork.” Leanne thrust a clipboard into her hand. Most of their nursing documentation was on computer, but the registration and consent for treatment forms were still on paper. “Fifty-five-year-old guy with abdominal pain.”
“Thanks.” Hailey took the clipboard and glanced up in time to catch Dr. Carter staring at her. The moment their gazes collided, he seemed to go still, and then tore his gaze away.
Had she imagined the flash of interest in his eyes? Most likely. Rachel had confided that she’d tried to ask Dr. Carter out several times, but he’d always politely declined.
Not that Hailey was interested in dating him, the way Rachel had been. Still, it felt good to be noticed.
“Good afternoon, Mr. McLeod,” Hailey said with a smile as she walked into her new patient’s room. His wife was there too, standing next to his bed. Hailey quickly introduced herself. “Tell me what brought you to the hospital today.”
The middle-aged gentleman grimaced. “We went out for lunch with my daughter, she’s a sophomore at the university, and ever since we finished eating, my stomach has been hurting. The pain is cramping, and it seems to come and go. Do you think I have food poisoning?”
“Possibly,” Hailey said, as she set the forms down and reached for a stethoscope. “But generally food poisoning sets in at least four hours after the meal. What did you have for lunch? “
“A steak sandwich and French fries,” he admitted. His wife glowered at him and she suspected his wife had wanted her husband to pick a healthier choice.
“Hmm.” She took his blood pressure, which was a bit elevated, either from the pain or because he had high blood pressure already. His pulse was tachycardic at 104 but his respirations seemed normal. “Put this under your tongue,” she directed, holding out a probe for an electronic thermometer. After a minute, the device beeped. “Your temperature is normal, ninety-nine.”
“Maybe it’s just flu?” he said helpfully.
“Do you feel like you’re going to throw up?” He shook his head no. “Have you been told you have high blood pressure?” she asked, logging on to the computer to review his medication history. “Are you taking blood-pressure medicine?”
“No.” He grimaced again, and she glanced back at him in concern. Whatever was going on with him, she doubted it was food poisoning. His medical history wasn’t too significant for anything other than heart disease.
“Okay, Mr. McLeod, I’m going to talk to the doctor about your case. I think we may need to do some blood work, just to make sure there’s nothing going on with your heart. And then you might also need some X-rays or CT scans to see what’s going on in your belly. I’ll be back in a few minutes, okay?”
“Can’t he have something for pain?” Mrs. McLeod asked, a worried frown in her brow.
“I’ll check with the doctor. I don’t know if he’s going to want to wait until we know what’s going on with your husband first.” She pulled up a chair for the woman. “Please sit down so you’re comfortable while you’re waiting.”
“Okay.”
Hailey made a few notes on the computer and then left the room to find Dr. Carter. Mr. McLeod didn’t appear too sick, but her intuition was screaming at her that something more serious was going on with his abdominal pain.
The sooner they could get tests ordered, the better she’d feel.
Simon glanced up to find Hailey striding purposefully toward him. Keeping his expression friendly but distant took more of an effort than it should have. “Dr. Carter? I need you to take a look at Mr. McLeod in room two. I’m concerned about his abdominal pain.”
He frowned. “Appendicitis?”
“Maybe, but he said he doesn’t feel sick to his stomach and he’s not running a fever. He does have a cardiac history, and ate a steak sandwich and fries for lunch.” Hailey’s expression was troubled. “His blood pressure is up a bit. One-seventy over ninety-two.”
“So we’ll do a full work-up, then,” Simon decided. “Draw a cardiac panel, basic chemistry panel and blood count. If he has an infection, his white blood cell count will be elevated.” He could feel Hailey’s piercing blue eyes on his back as he headed for their patient’s room.
He introduced himself to the couple. “We’re going to do several types of blood test, to see if we can narrow down what’s going on with your abdomen. Once Hailey gets your blood sent to the lab, I’m going to order a CT scan.”
Hailey came
