Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 73311 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73311 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
People sucked at driving in the rain, but they sucked even more at driving when it just began to rain. It was like it took their brains a while to turn on when they saw the raindrops on their windshield.
After sliding into the cruiser, I looked in my rear view mirror as I rid my hair of a few stray raindrops.
“Where to now, Tank?” I asked him.
He didn’t answer, only stared.
With a small laugh, I turned my lights off, and then put the cruiser into drive.
After a quick look over my shoulder, I pulled back onto the highway and headed for the heart of Mooresville.
It was about five minutes from my scheduled lunch time, and as long as I went slow and nobody decided to pull any stupid moves, I’d be able to make it on time to eat lunch with Imogen and my mom.
Except nothing ever went the way it was supposed to as evidenced by the fucking radio that always knew when we were going to lunch.
“All units be advised, there’s a wreck involving multiple cars at mile marker sixty-six on Highway 290,” the dispatcher, Meredith, droned.
Wincing, I took a quick glance at my watch before I pulled up my phone and placed a call to Imogen.
Freakin’ perfect.
***
“You okay?” Tommy Tom asked worriedly.
I looked at him, then nodded.
“Fine.”
“Umm, Dr. Tommy?” a hesitant voice broke into our conversation. “The teenager is asking for her parents. Is it all right if I…”
Tommy nodded his head. “Tell her, but be ready to give her some Ativan if anything goes wrong.”
The girl nodded, her eyes lingering on Tommy Tom, before she hustled away.
“New nurse?” I asked casually.
Tommy Tom crossed his arms over his chest.
“Yeah,” he nodded his head. “Almost, anyway. She’s a student nurse right now. Has two more shifts and then has to pass her boards, and then she’ll be working in the ER full-time. Fucking my life up even more.”
My brows rose.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because she sets my fucking dick on permanent hard-on, and it’s fucking killing me, especially when I have to wear goddamn scrub pants that help conceal nothing.”
I snorted.
“That’s a bad thing that she makes you horny?” I asked. “Why don’t you do something about that?”
He sighed.
“I’ve done it…and it hasn’t gone away.”
I choked.
“You…Mr. I-don’t-sleep-with-students, slept with a student?” I asked.
His mouth tightened.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he grumbled. “It’s bad enough that I can’t fucking think straight. I don’t need your shit, too.”
Winking at him, I offered him my hand.
“Thank you for your help.”
He took it and looked me in the eye.
“I wouldn’t have wanted to see what you saw today.” He stared at me. “I’m sorry.”
I was sorry, too.
The man that I’d pulled over for speeding in the rain had followed the speed limit for about a half mile once he left me.
Another three down the road he’d lost control of the car, and had smashed into an oncoming car head on.
He’d killed not just himself, but his wife in the front seat, as well as the son in the backseat.
The only survivor had been the teenage girl, and if she was lucky, she’d be able to walk with a limp for the rest of her life.
If she was unlucky, she’d be wheelchair bound.
And I found, after my years as a paramedic/firefighter, it never got easier seeing people hurt. Seeing the pain that the teenager had gone through while I waited with her for an ambulance to arrive had been terrible.
It was something I hoped I never had to experience again.
With one last slap to the back, Tommy Tom left, leaving me to my own thoughts.
Yeah, today was bad.
And I knew, if I was going to keep doing this job—a job that I found that I loved even more than being a firefighter—I was going to have to take a break or I’d burn out.
Lucky for me, twenty minutes later and sitting in Big Papa’s office, he saw the necessity just as I did.
“I need a fuckin’ vacation.” I dropped down into the seat next to his desk.
“So take one,” he said. “You’ve been working here two solid years without one. I’m pretty sure we can handle a few weeks off without you.”
“I have a dog to take care of, and a kid to pay for. I can’t take a freakin’ vacation.”
That was a lie and we both knew it. I didn’t need to work like I was.
Big Papa eyed me, then looked down at Tank.
“Mei will watch Tank,” he said. “She’s watched him for you before when you went off for the weekend and asked Imogen to marry you—though I can’t believe she said yes.”
I flipped him off.
He was right, though.
“Fine,” I mumbled, standing up. “I’ll call Mei and ask her if she wants to watch Tank. Then I’ll take the week.”
Big Papa choked. “You can’t go this early. I have to find someone to cover for your shift.”