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And I loved it.
I got to help people. I got to save people. What could be better than that?
Okay, the hours could be better. And the pay. And the doctors could stand to be less arrogant and obnoxious. But there was no getting around that patients needed me. That was all that mattered.
“I’m going on a break,” my colleague Ava said as she hurried past me. We’d started our shift together, and so far, neither of us had even had a spare moment to even use the bathroom. I didn’t blame Ava for catching a few moments for herself between patients. If I got the chance, I was going to do the same thing.
In the meantime, I could hope she’d bring me back some coffee, but that hope evaporated when she reappeared, her white sneakers smacking against the worn tile as she ran my way. “GSW in the ambulance bay!”
My empty stomach seemed to fold in on itself even as I broke into a run. Gunshot wounds weren’t exactly uncommon in New York City, especially at night, but I’d never get used to them. Ever.
Not after what had happened to Colby.
“You okay?” Ava glanced over her shoulder at me. “It’s a young man.”
“Of course.” It wasn’t true, but it didn’t matter. My job was to help the patient in any way I could, and that’s exactly what I was going to do.
We reached the entrance ambulance bay just as two orderlies pushed in a stretcher. There were no flashing lights on the other side of the door, but I didn’t have time to worry about where the patient had come from.
Instead, my eyes fell on the writhing young man on the gurney. For a moment, all I could see was a young man with a badly wounded chest. There was dirt in his blond hair and his youthful face contorted in agony.
“Colby,” I whispered.
“Piper!” Ava glared at me as she wrestled an oxygen mask on the struggling patient. “Help me.”
With a shake of my head, I blinked to clear my vision. It wasn’t Colby. The man didn’t even have blond hair. Still, it was hard to shake the image of my brother. What I wouldn’t give to see him again, even if just for one second.
Even if he was in pain like this patient. Being in pain was better than being dead.
“They said his name is Leonardo Turner, age twenty-nine,” a male orderly said, jerking his neck toward two tall men who had been stopped by security. Apparently, they didn’t like being told they couldn’t accompany their buddy, but then again, no friends or family liked hearing that.
Those guys weren’t my problem—their friend was. We wheeled the stretcher into a curtained off area and started assessing the damage as the man’s cries filled the air.
His blue T-shirt was torn and darkened with fresh blood. Grabbing a scissors, I cut it away, revealing a well-muscled chest that was bleeding in at least a dozen spots.
“I’ll page Dr. Baines,” Ava said as I surveyed the damage. He was scraped up and there were bits of what looked like gravel pressed into smooth, tan skin. But it was the deeper wounds that worried me.
“I think those are pellets,” I muttered as I wiped away blood and dirt.
“Better than bullets,” Ava said.
“No, it’s not,” the man said, wincing as I touched his damaged skin.
I nearly jumped at the sound of his voice. Usually patients in this state were in too much pain to make sense. “Mr. Turner, we’re going to take good care of you.”
“Leon,” he corrected, but then his eyes squeezed shut as he groaned.
“Hang in there, Leon,” Ava said.
The curtain flew open. “What have we got?” Dr. Baines appeared, and I was grateful that he was on duty tonight. He was a bit less arrogant than most of the doctors who worked here.Justa bit, but it was better than nothing. Plus, he was married so he didn’t try to hit on Avan and me constantly—not that that stopped some of the other married men around here.
Ava gave him the run-down as Leon’s eyes opened again. They were hazel with specks of gold. He raised his hand, pawing at the front of my scrubs. If a guy who wasn’t injured had done that, I would’ve smacked him. But I’d seen many patients do this, and I knew what he wanted. I clasped his hand in mine and squeezed. I brushed the dark, spiky hair back from his face with the other. “You’re going to be okay, Leon.”
He nodded, staring into my eyes as Dr. Baines worked over him and Ava put a port in his arm. I could see the moment the sedative hit him. He blinked once, then twice. “Just relax, and let us take care of you.”
Though his eyelids were drooping, he stared at me for a long moment. And in that moment, I saw something that filled me with warmth: trust. He trusted me, and by God, I wouldn’t let him down. I squeezed his hand and gave him a smile as his eyes closed and he drifted off.
* * *
