Urgent Care (The Hospital Series) Read online

  By:

  Jisa Dean

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Epilogue

  Code Blue

  Coming Soon

  Keep In Touch

  Copyright © 2019 by Author Jisa Dean

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording,or other electronic or mechanical methods, without prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, email to [email protected]

  http://www.jisadean.com

  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locals and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events institutions, or locals is completely coincidental.

  Dedication:

  To the people going home this holiday season. May your family be nothing like the one in this book, may you find your handsome doctor without the ER trip, and may all your endings be happy ones.

  Chapter One

  Demi

  My sister is beautiful. Blonde, young, bright blue eyes and rotten inside pretty much explains her to a tee. Seriously, something must have happened to mom when she was carrying Beverly. Maybe there was something in the water we drank or something. I don't think I turned out all that bad. I understand I'm a nineteen-year-old sales clerk working one step up from a gas station, the Sip and Go actually does have gas pumps but I work in the restaurant, not that there is anything wrong with the gas part though. I'm proud of what I've made for myself. Do I have a lot? No, but everything that I do have I got because I worked and saved like crazy.

  Mom and Dad never really offered me anything. I bought my own car, I paid my own rent, and if I needed something drastic I often sought comfort in my friends rather than my parents. I guess they were too tapped out paying for all of my sister's wants and whims to worry about mine. Ever since I can remember, Bev has gotten everything she always wants. Hell, she got my boyfriend who is now her fiancé.

  Cliff was a good man. He doesn't drink too much, he doesn't go out and raise hell on the weekend, and if his dad ever retires he will be the inheritor of the number one grossing car dealership in the area. I've known Cliff since we went to high school together. He's sweet but not the brightest bulb in the box. Still, he treated me nice when we dated. Right up until the time he tripped and fell dick first into my little sister's vagina.

  Nothing throws the brakes on a relationship like walking in and finding him six inches deep in a relative. In all reality though, I don't besmirch them their happiness. Not at all. I never wanted to marry Cliff and be Mrs. Car-a-lot - seriously they went with the King Arthur theme all throughout their showroom. The new cars are referred to as the Merlin special and if you bring in a clunker they give you the Morgan La Fay deal.

  I let a small laugh go without thinking and sense my mom's eyes on me. She's been so tense this entire day, like she's worried I'm going to go postal on my sister and shoot-up the rest of the family for funsies. Probably doesn't help that I'm laughing out loud at things only I can find funny. Way to sell the whole not crazy thing, right.

  Every year for Thanksgiving we hang out at mom and dad's house until the Friday after. When I was younger this used to be one of my favorite times of the year. We would welcome family we only saw once or twice a year, put up the Christmas tree, and watch Charlie Brown together. But as soon as my sister hit puberty all of that stopped. No one came over anymore because who could tell what Bev would do this year.

  As soon as I turned eighteen I moved out, and I thought about not going back either, but they're my family. I can't just abandon them, can I?

  "What is so funny, Demi?"

  "Just thinking about a conversation I had with my boyfriend a few days ago. Sorry. I guess I just miss him." I don't look up but I feel my mom's eyes narrow on me and I start to sweat a little.

  I am a complete fucking liar. I don't miss my love because I don't have a boyfriend to miss. I lied about having a boyfriend, so I could dodge some of the tension I knew would be thick in the air this holiday. Last Thanksgiving was when I walked in on them thrown over the counter in the kitchen going to town on each other. To be honest, I watched for a full minute because I didn't think I was really seeing what I was seeing.

  How could the guy I had been dating for the last six months be dick deep in my little sister? He had come with me not her. Well, I'm sure he actually cum with her but damn it, he arrived with me. Thank God I never gave him my V card. It just hadn't felt right and I wanted it to feel right when I finally trusted someone enough to commit to them that way. When I do, it will mean so much more to me than it seems to mean to everyone around me.

  Of course, the number one reason Cliff was bottoms up in my sweet sister was because I hadn't put out for the past six months and 'there was only so much a man can take'. I got that from Cliff, my mom, and my dad; but the worst was getting it from my sister who delighted in rubbing it in.

  So I did what any self-respecting virgin who didn't want to hear it all over again would have done. I lied my ass off. I told everyone I had a new boyfriend and that we didn't know if we were serious yet, and I was the one who wanted to take things slow. Before I knew it, the lie had grown so big my mom wanted him to come to dinner on Thanksgiving.

  "Tell us again why the man you are dating and refuse to tell us who he is won't come to dinner with the family?" Sometimes my mom can be as big a bitch as my sister. I can tell she's just waiting to tear me apart once the truth comes out.

  "He had to work. And I've already told you, Mom, I don't want to jinx anything. We're new and I just want to make sure about everything before I introduce him to anyone."

  "I think you were worried your new man would take one look at your sister and another one would dump you and go for her. Which is really just selfish of you, Cliff and Bev are happy with each other. The boy is going to marry her, Demi."

  I close my eyes and try to swallow down the pain of being the disappointment in the family. It's nothing new. My mom and dad have always been firm supporters of Bev. Even though my hand tightens up on the carving knife in my hand as I de-flesh the turkey I would never do anything to really hurt any of them, even Cliff.

  "Maybe she was trying to make Cliff jealous, so she can try to win him back." My sister's light, sweet voice has to chime in on the argument. I roll my eyes so hard I have a headache now. But I have my back to them so they can't tell how the thought of taking him back makes me sick a little.

  We always have a late dinner on Thanksgiving and this year is no exception. Me, mom, and Bev are in the kitchen doing the 'women's' work while my dad and Cliff are in the living room watching the game. It's not that I mind being in the kitchen. I like cooking Thanksgiving dinner and can't wait to have a family of my own to be able to cook for and decorate for and take care of.

  The thought of having that dream is enough to make me sigh. It’s a dream that isn't going to happen anytime soon. First, you would need a male to start to have that life and since I have no male and I can't self reproduce - although if I could that would be pretty awesome - that is a dream that will have to wa
it for later. The sound of my mother tittering about what Bev said is enough to make me wish I had taken my best friend's advice and went with him to the beach. Palm trees, sand, and watching Houston hook up with really hot men would have been so much more fun than listening to my mom and sister make bitchy comments all day long.

  I blame the thought of palm trees for my momentary lapse in coordination, but it was probably just me being clumsy, the knife I'm using bounces off the bone and glides right into the palm of my hand. It takes me a little while to realize it is way more serious than a band-aid can fix. When I turn to show my mom what happened blood is already running down my wrist and making a long red line to my elbow.

  Mom and Bev both scream loud enough that the men come running to see what happened, but they're not screaming because I'm hurt.

  "Don't get it in the turkey! You'll ruin Thanksgiving dinner, Demi!"

  "She did that on purpose to have everyone feel sorry for her! How low can you get, Demi?"

  Dad is the person that wraps a dish towel around my hand and puts pressure on it. He's also the person who shoots me the go-to-hell look for having to get up off the couch and leave the game. My body has gone hot and cold and it feels like warm water is being poured over me. I think I'm going into shock but I'm not saying a damned thing here. If I wouldn't pass out before I had it sown up I would just go upstairs and do it myself. As it is, I'm too light-headed for that to actually work and the thought of a needle coming anywhere near me makes me see stars.

  "I'll take her to the emergency room. It shouldn't take me long to get her there and be back." Damn, sometimes my parents' coldness shocks even me.

  "You better take this," mom hands me a clean towel before she steps back and I'm shocked by her kindness, "don't want it all over the car."

  Yeah, shouldn't have expected that to last long. Damn it I can really use a hug from someone right now.

  ***

  The closest hospital is about thirty minutes from my parents' house, but they don't take the insurance that my mom and dad still keep on me. I had to talk fast to keep dad from driving for another thirty minutes to go to the one that does. One, I just want out of this car and two, I hate the other hospital. It's filthy and the staff is mean and rude. Besides, I know a girl who works at this one. She does the hospital's billing and accounting. We knew each other in school and sometimes I go with her for a cup of coffee or a glass of tea.

  I finally have to tell dad that not only will I pay for it out of my own pocket, but he would be able to go back to the house and watch the game quicker.

  "I can't believe how selfish you are. Not only did you do this on a holiday but I just can't see you doing this by 'accident'." Both my parents think I did this on purpose to get back at Bev. "Then, you try to go to the most expensive hospital in town. But if this is the hospital you want to throw your own money away at then by all means go for it. Why did you want to come here anyway?"

  "I told you, I know someone who works here, dad. I can ask them to give me a ride back home when I'm done. It saves money on calling a cab or taking the bus." My dad is a little bit of a cheap ass.

  When we pull up to the front he doesn't even get out to walk me into the waiting room. I'm not even through the sliding doors before he is back out on the road to head home. If I wasn't hurting so bad and covered in turkey grease and blood I would just catch the bus home and hide for the rest of the week. Going back makes me a little nauseous but that could be blood loss too.

  I'm shocked they let me keep both towels and didn't try to jerk one back before he sped off. Guess they don't want turkey grease and blood on their matching accessories. I turn to the doors and think about calling Houston to send me the money to hop on the bus and come to him, he knows I'm good for it and I'll pay him back in a couple of weeks, but I can't because I left my phone at their house. So much for palm trees and living vicariously through Hou.

  Chapter Two

  Max

  Working a double in the emergency room was not my idea of a good Thanksgiving but knowing that Bob and his wife might have the opportunity to work things out for themselves is something I couldn't pass up. I've known Bob for about twenty years now. God, saying it like that really drives home how old I've gotten. So does twenty-four hours of no sleep and being up to my ears in blood and vomit. Ah the joys of working at the ER.

  I am ready to go home, fall into bed, and sleep until December. I start to take my coat off when a breeze blows through the busy room and brings with it the scent of summer, some flower that blooms at night or something exotic like that. I start searching for the smell when I spot a creature so damned beautiful I think I might have fallen asleep at the desk again.

  I watch her walk behind a nurse and into room five. She's holding a towel soaked with blood and my heart gives a kick. She's hurt. It's been years since I felt that gut check reaction of panic to someone being hurt. I head to the nurses' station to find out who is in room five when a nurse, who’s name I don't remember, approaches me. Technically I've clocked out but if there's been a big emergency I'll stay to help.

  "Doctor, there's a stabbing in room five and I was wondering if you could take a look at it before you walked out? Doctor Ridge is with a woman going into labor and Doctor Long isn't here yet to deliver it. I know you were just about to leave, sorry."

  "Nonsense I would be happy to take a look." Well, didn't that just work out perfectly? I follow the nurse down the hall trying to wrap my lab coat around me enough so the growing ridge of my dick isn't so noticeable to everyone waiting outside.

  As soon as I enter the room the scent of those night-blooming flowers wraps around me. This is my woman. I make a grab for her chart. Scanning it I read her name, her age, and what brought her in tonight. Damn, she's a baby. Nineteen, almost twenty years younger than me. She's also shaking and very pale. Her pupils are so dilated I can't tell what color her eyes are and her lower lip quivers when she lets it go from between her teeth.

  "Someone stabbed you?" The reason she's sitting on an exam table just hits me and my temper goes from null to inferno in seconds.

  She jumps when I speak and I make a note to try to hold in my anger. "No, I...stabbed myself?" I move closer to her and look at the hand she's holding to her wrapped in towels. "It's just a cut. No one stabbed me. Its just...it won't stop bleeding."

  "I ask Doctor Palmer to take a look because he's a surgeon and if there's something wrong with it he should be able to fix you right up so you can be back home with your family in time for dinner." The nurse tries to be more diplomatic than I am. She brings up a valid point though and it makes me scan the chart again. When I see her status as single, I breathe out a huge sigh of relief. With the nurse talking about family I was afraid someone else had already claimed this breath of fresh air.

  I walk over to the table and take her hand in mine. It's cold even through the towels. I start to peel them back when I realize they've become stuck to her skin with the dried blood. I try to go as slow as possible so that I can uncover what she's done to herself.

  "How did this happen again?" I ask because I want to know and to help keep her mind off of what I'm doing. When I get the cloth unstuck the wound does start bleeding again. It's not the worst hand-wound I've ever seen but it will need suturing.

  "I was cutting the meat off the turkey for my mom and wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. The knife slipped."

  You don't know how many injuries like that we have come in throughout the holiday season. It happens a lot.

  "Did your boyfriend bring you in?" yeah, it's not the smoothest pick-up line I've ever used and I can tell by the smirk on the nurse's face that I'm not very subtle either. It doesn't seem to register to the young girl sitting on my ER table. It has me wondering just how innocent she really is.

  "Um, no. I don't have a boyfriend. My dad brought me."

  Shit, the last thing I want is a protective father hanging around. Not when I just want to take this girl down, push her legs apa
rt and do a full workup on her anatomy. I'm going to have to really get a handle on this hard-on that doesn't seem to want to go down either.

  "Is he coming back here to be with you when you get your sutures?" I can already tell I'm not going to be the person doing the sewing. It's not that I couldn't do it; I could probably stitch one up with my eyes closed. I just won't do hers. While I won't be doing the stitching neither will any other male doctor.

  "I..." she's focused on the instruments on the cart the nurse pulls over.”Um, I don't want stitches. Can't you just use the glue stuff or something?"

  "The wound is too deep for that and the fact that this is a part of your body that is moved a lot and used quite a bit I would feel better about it if you had the sutures. We'll give you a mild anesthetic and start you on a round of antibiotics and fix you up in no time. However, even though all of this is very routine you shouldn't be doing things like driving around right after we stitch you up. Do you want me to go let your dad know you'll be out in a little while?"

  She looks from me to the nurse and the line between her brows only gets deeper. "Dad left. I'll catch a cab or something."

  "Your dad left you here when you were hurt?" What the hell kind of family does she have?

  "My sister's at home and she...needs him."

  "What happened to her did she cut her damned hand off trying to slice a pie?" What the hell could the sister need so damned bad that the daughter who's bleeding and dealing with a good bit of shock would be second on the list of people to be with?

  "What? No, she's fine. She's just high maintenance. Can't we put a bandage on it and wait to see if it heals on its own? I mean do I really need to be sown up?"