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“Sorry, thought you were the doc or nurse. I just want to get out of here.” Kristy hopped to the small closet on the wall. “Yes, I remember you. What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see how you were doing,” Amber said.
“Fucking peachy.” Kristy opened the closet and pulled the property bag out.
The maneuver making her wobble a bit more than Amber was comfortable with. Rushing to stand behind the woman, she readied herself for a tumble that thankfully never came. “How about you sit and I’ll help you?” Amber offered.
“Why is that bag so damn heavy?”
“Oh, Mrs. Allen,” Dr. Krandle’s voice was followed by the telltale sound of the curtain being pulled. “I see we’re still trying to escape.”
“Lil’ Bit,” Kristy corrected, though her focus was on digging her stuff out of the bag. “Mrs. Allen sounds like sand in a gas tank.”
“Amber?” Dr. Krandle’s eyes lit up when she saw Amber standing behind Lil’ Bit
“No, Kristy, can’t you keep your patients straight?” she spat, pulling on her leather coat then tossing first one wrench, then a second on bed. “What the hell?”
“You came in with those on your ankle as a splint,” Dr. Krandle said, the blood from the open fracture now dry on the metal.
“I’m Amber,” Amber said. “And anything can be a splint in a pinch.”
“You did that?” Dr. Krandle beamed. “That’s awesome, you did a great job.”
“You taught me well.” Amber warmed from the complement. She’d help set more than one bone with the Ortho doc over the years.
“Since you two don’t need me,” Kristy said as tossed her jeans that had been cut off on the bed. “Anyone have some pants? Anything? So I can get out of here?”
“Sit,” Dr. Krandle ordered. “Let me go over everything real quick. Skirts would be best.”
Just then, a nurse came in, wheeling a knee cart, carrying a pair of scrub bottoms and discharge orders.
“Not really my thing,” Kristy said sitting on the bed.
Amber assumed more from an exhausted right leg than actually taking a command. Amber eyed the scrubs, sized bigger than they needed to be, but it made sense since they would have to be pulled over a boot. “Can I?” She wasn’t really asking as she took the scrubs then grabbed a set of surgical scissors from Dr. Krandle’s pocket. If she’d known the nurse she would have gone there first, but familiarity did have its perks.
Kristy only half listened to the instructions, her focus on Amber who’d cut the left leg of the scrub bottoms along both seams to the knee, before lowering herself and helping Kristy dress. The slits giving her the space needed to pull them over her boot.
“I have a few prescriptions—”
“Don’t want them,” Kristy snapped.
“You’re going to have pain,” Dr. Krandle advised. “There’s nerve damage, if there’s a prior addiction—”
“Why would you think that?” Kristy asked. “No, there’s no addiction issue. I have a four-year-old at home and my Prez is a doc. Trust I’ve gutted out more painful things than this.”
“I noticed your arm,” Dr. Krandle said. “Who did your repair?”
“Don’t know, don’t care, they did a piss poor job.” Kristy returned her focus to Amber. “Why are you here?”
“Nova asked if I could drive you home.”
“Roadkill called you?” Kristy asked, her eyes a bit narrow.
“I offered yesterday since I had to get my kids, dad’s weekend,” Amber explained. “I have a few hours before that, so I figured we could visit your husband in the ICU before we head home.”
Lil’ Bit’s lip trembled, “Thank you. I haven’t seen him—since—my brother facetimed Red in the ICU, but he couldn’t get in the room. I could only see Baldy through a small window.”
“Well, that’s no good at all,” Amber said. “Sign this paperwork, let me grab those wrenches and I’ll teach you how to roll on that knee bench on the way to his room. That good with you Dr. Krandle?”
“I have no objections,” she replied. “But rest Kristy. Promise me that.”
“After I see Baldy,” Kristy assured her, a slight smile on her lips showing how beautiful she was. After a few adjustments to lower the bench, Kristy was ready to roll.
Amber felt like a giant next to the petite woman who made her way through the hallway as if on a mission. In a way, she was and Amber felt a warmth in her chest when the couple were finally reunited.
