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And he did.
I just wish I wasn’t constantly being compared to a ghost.
Both Luca and the old Malachi.
“I was invited to dinner,” I said, leaning back in my chair and changing the subject. “They said that you were coming, too?”
She smiled then.
“Gabe and Ember would’ve made great in-laws,” she said softly. “Did you agree to go?”
“If I can make it off of work in time,” I admitted. “They’re having it kind of early in the day. I don’t even get off until six.”
“That was my fault,” she said. “It’s my only day off this week. I have a doctor’s appointment at four, and I didn’t really want to go home just to turn around and run right back out again.” She paused. “If you need us to, we can wait until you get off. You’d only be about six-fifteen, correct?”
I shrugged.
“Generally, that’s about when I would get off, yes.” I agreed. “But then you have to counter in the fact that, like clockwork, there’s a wreck that I usually end up having to work. So, six o’clock is when I’m supposed to be off. Not when I’ll actually be off.”
She grinned.
“I think I’ll just call them and change the dinner to breakfast. Maybe you can join us before your shift,” she admitted. “Your job sounds very similar to mine with the responsibilities before you are allowed to leave. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to go home hours after my shift was supposed to end.”
I frowned. “Is that normal?”
She pursed her lips.
“Our emergency room is smaller than the one down the road,” she said. “The policies are different than bigger hospitals. So, generally, the staff at Kilgore Memorial aren’t allowed to get overtime, no matter what. When they find out that we get overtime, they’re generally not very happy about it. But Dr. Cromwell is one of three doctors that are full-time on staff there in the ER. They like to keep him happy so that they don’t lose him to the bigger hospital where Piper works.”
“What I’m understanding is that Dr. Cromwell gets what he wants, and if that happens to be overtime, then okay,” I drawled.
The guy really was a dick.
“Did you hear anything more about his brother?” she asked. “The one that was shot?”
I shook my head. “The protest died down that next day after Lock’s dad, Downy, did a press conference and explained what had happened. And Yao used the kids being there to his advantage and started questioning them on what had happened that night. That’s how he got the other kid’s name that was involved in the shooting.”
“Did anything more come of that?” she asked, taking a slow bite of her pizza and chewing.
I looked away from her mouth and picked up another piece of pizza, downing it in about six bites.
“It was originally thought that the kid was the one to shoot Brent Cromwell, Dr. Cromwell’s brother,” I said. “But after interrogating him…” I trailed off when she took another bite of her pizza. Only she had to lick the sauce off the side of the pizza first before it fell off the crust.
The door to the break room was shoved roughly open, breaking me out of the spell that only Frankie seemed to be able to hold me in.
“Oh, sorry,” a smiling nurse said as she walked in the room. “Just have to use the potty.”
Then she was disappearing inside.
“So, the kid that they suspected shot Brent Cromwell’s brother…” She started. “How did they clear him?” She tilted her head. “What’s the kid’s name again?”
“They didn’t clear him.” I shrugged. “He’s still a suspect. Just has a fairly tight alibi,” I answered. “And I don’t know his name. But the kid played on the football team with him. Was a kicker just like him. They were competing over the two spots. Caused a beef, according to the students that were friends with both. The other kid is still defending his innocence in it all, however. At least from what I’ve heard.”
The toilet flushed in the room beyond us, and the now frazzled-looking nurse smiled tightly at us as she left the break room.
“What was that about?” I asked.
She looked at the closed door and snorted.
“That’s Melly,” she said. “Dr. Cromwell’s side, side piece.”
I blinked. Slowly.
“What?”
“His side, side piece,” she answered. “He’s married, you know. He’s also got another doctor he sees that works at the other hospital in Longview. She’s one of the other possibilities I would’ve had to be under through my residency, FYI. I’ve heard she’s a lot cooler than Cromwell. Easier to work with.” She scrunched up her nose. “Melly is the other, other woman.”
“How do you know all of this?” I asked. “Is he not discreet about it?”
She snorted.
“Dr. Cromwell,” she whispered, leaning in so that I could hear. “Is the Dr. McDreamy of Kilgore Memorial.”
