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If I weren’t in such a panic, I would have questioned the nickname she gave him, but my mind was solely focused on Amelia.
“He’s a little slow, Anne.” Buck winked at the girl, who blushed and returned to what she had been doing before I got there—nothing.
Buck walked me past the waiting room doors and into the ER. He stood at an impressive 6’4” and looked as big as he did when we were both with the Marines. Albeit, he had shaved off the unruly beard he used to sport and decided to replace the baldness on his head with some blonde hair.
“As I live and breathe, Nathaniel Cane.” He smacked the back of my shoulder. “What has it been? Five, six years?”
“Seven. You look good, Buck.”
He smiled. “Leaving the war zone will do that to you. I didn’t know you were in Chicago.”
“I moved down here after my last deployment in Syria. Look, Buck, I don’t mean to be an asshole, but I’m looking for someone. We can catch up some other time, but right now, I need to—”
“This way, asshole. She’s in trauma seven.” He rolled his eyes. “And what do you mean? Being an asshole is your default setting. It’s why I liked you so much.”
Buck walked me to the room in the ER. Every room in the ER was separated from the others. Sliding glass doors with curtains behind them acted as blockers.
“Here you are,” he stopped just a few feet from the room. “I’m the one treating her. She had a little smoke inhalation, and we gave her some oxygen. She’s a little spooked, but other than that, she’s medically fine.”
I nodded, the large lump returning to my throat. “Thanks, Buck.”
From the small gap in the curtains, I could see her lying on the bed with her eyes cast to the ceiling. She didn’t have the oxygen mask on anymore and still had soot residue on her face, but at least there was some pink on her cheeks.
“Girlfriend?” Buck looked between me and the room that housed Amelia.
“No.”
“Wife?”
I shook my head. “She’s…” I didn’t even know what to call Amelia and me. We were far from friends, and there was no chance we could ever be more than that, so I settled with something more neutral.
“She’s important.”
“Hmm. I see.” I could see the wheels turning in his brain, trying to piece together what I wasn't actively saying.
“I have other patients, but you owe me a drink.”
“You got it, Buck.” I rubbed my hands against my work pants and entered Amelia’s room.
She was dressed in a gown, and her hair flowed down her backside. When she heard me enter, her eyes moved from the ceiling to the doorway.
Her face went from shocked to confused to shocked again.
“Nathaniel? W-what are you doing here?”
Hearing her voice diminished all the dread that had poured into me hours ago. Watching those hazel eyes look at me with so much…life in them washed away all the anxiety that had locked itself tightly in my muscles.
I swallowed hard, trying to clear my throat of any obstruction. I didn’t know why I was so nervous. It wasn’t like I hadn’t been with her alone. But this was also the first time I was seeing her since Thanksgiving.
“I came to check on you.” My voice came out thicker than usual.
Her eyes held mine.
“How did you know?”
“I’m the one that got you out. Do…do you not remember?”
She shook her head. “The last thing I remembered was picking out a coloring book, and then…it all went black. Then when I opened my eyes again, I was here.”
