The Doctor's Orders, page 7
Nick tipped his head against the wall. “People will be pissed about property taxes going up.”
“The construction companies will be over the moon, though. And if you can keep talking about the new jobs it’s going to create, good for you. Work with Erin.”
“It’s not going to be as simple as raising some taxes. The finances for this place are precarious at best. We barely had it balanced to add cardiac care. That will pay off in the long run, but we can’t add this at the same damn time. The timing couldn’t possibly be worse.”
“We’ll figure this out. All of us.”
Nick slid his hands down Jared’s shoulders. It was nice to be able to see him properly, at least. “I’ll work with you. You’ve got some good ideas, Dr. Kumpel.”
Jared stroked the stubble of Nick’s jaw. “I can only work with a patient who’s getting adequate rest and stress relief. Can you promise me you’ll give yourself regular release, Mr. Beckert?”
“Mmm. Not sure. You might have to give me a prescription. Maybe some personal visits.”
Jared smiled and nipped Nick’s jaw. “If I must, I must.”
Nick couldn’t help but notice Jared looked a little sad, though.
The rescue team had tossed a portable light into the shaft as well, and even as it was a relief to be able to see without worrying about using up the phone’s battery, something about the return of his vision made Nick all too aware of the impending end of their cocoon.
This setup was directly out of a romcom: two people trapped in an elevator, emerging at the cusp of love. Except he and Jared had gone in primed. He’d told himself their high school infatuation had been a fling, a lapse in judgment, the folly of youth, but as he’d grown older, unable to deny who he was, he’d had to admit what he’d felt with Jared was real. When he came back to Copper Point and worked side by side with Jared, even before they’d become closer working on the embezzlement investigation together, Nick had known their old flame had never gone out. They’d only ever needed a match to set things alight again.
Passion had never been their problem. It was the logistics of being together they needed to sort out, not their feelings. In the darkness, Nick had told himself they could face it. Something about the light, even the dim glow of the lantern, drew his self-doubt back to the surface.
Their intimacy began to erode when the Duluth team used the Jaws of Life to cut the top off the elevator since the access door was jammed and wouldn’t open more than forty degrees. As the metal scraped and whined and debris began to fall, Nick and Jared rose, moving far away from the area, and though they touched one another, they were more subdued than they’d been when they were together in the dark. Nick wasn’t sure what he thought should happen, but he’d at least hoped for one last flare between the two of them, a final kiss, a glance over Jared’s shoulder. Ridiculous, since all that mattered was the two of them getting out. But as he helped lift Jared into the rescue team’s arms, then held his throbbing shoulder and watched Jared disappear into the shaft, all he knew was that Jared was leaving. Their time alone together was over. By the time Nick emerged into the main hallway, he got a quick glimpse of Jared being ushered away by Owen before he was beset by reporters.
It’s done. The moment with Jared is gone.
With a hand on his elbow, Erin appeared beside him, smiling at the press as he spoke sotto voce to Nick. “Thank them, promise to give them a statement after you’ve been cleared by the medical team, and let Jack escort you to a room.”
Dr. Wu was indeed standing by, stern-faced and agitated. Nick nodded, indicating he understood what Erin wanted him to do.
Erin didn’t pull aside and leave him to it, not yet. “You’re all right? You said you were, but you look haggard.”
“From the way he’s lowering his shoulder, I want to run a CT scan on it.” Jack glared at them both. “Finish this so I can do my job.”
Nick wasn’t entirely sure what he said to the crowd, but he managed a smile while he did it. He was glad Jack insisted the nurse take him away in a wheelchair instead of letting him walk. He kept his chin up until he was wheeled into a private room, which smelled of his mother’s perfume, his grandmother’s baking, and his sister’s weeping.
As Jack shut the door and the three women folded him into their arms, Nick let himself crumble a bit.
“We were worried sick,” his sister said, squeezing his hand and kissing the side of his head. His mother didn’t say anything, only stroked his face, her eyes brimming with tears. Grandma Emerson sat beside him, rubbing his back as if he were a little boy who had stumbled and fallen down.
He wasn’t allowed their comfort long. Jack was apologetic and gracious as he removed him from their care, explaining he was taking him to run some tests. On the way down the hallway—carefully clear of all reporters—he asked Nick questions about his shoulder injury, and paused to have him demonstrate some range of motion.
“I think you’re probably fine, but Rebecca wants us to run full tests on the both of you because it’ll look better in the paperwork.” Jack took up the handles of the wheelchair again. “And I hate to point it out, but because of the location of the CT scanner—”
Nick tensed. “Oh, hell.”
“Yes. We’ll have to take the elevator to the first floor. Trust me when I tell you it’s been thoroughly inspected by three different fire crews, and the likelihood of you having a repeat of the incident which landed you here is next to nothing, but I do understand your hesitation.”
Nick wanted to lobby for walking down the stairs, but he was exhausted on a level he didn’t know how to describe, so he shut his eyes and told himself over and over it’s going to be fine, everything will be fine as he went into the elevator car. When it jolted to a start, he couldn’t help startling, and Jack put a hand on his shoulder.
“This one is rougher than the other. Which is unfortunate as it’s what we’ll have to use for months to come. The damage to the shaft on the main one is extensive.”
“Jared thinks I should lobby for a new building.” Maybe if he kept talking, he wouldn’t panic as much.
“It isn’t the best design, this one. And depending on how expensive the repair bill comes out to be, especially if there are other improvements that should be done, we might be better off building new. The timing isn’t the best, is it?”
How was it possible this elevator was slower than the other one, which had practically been a snail? “Where’s Jared? Is he all right?”
“Owen is with him. I haven’t heard anything, but your rooms are next to each other upstairs. I’ll tell the others to make sure he checks in with you before he goes home. Except I’m going to try to get you both to stay overnight for observation. The hospital will cover the cost anyway.”
Home. No, Jared would leave with Owen and Erin. He’d invited Nick to come too. Maybe he should have said he’d go. He wanted to go. There was no way he could, though.
It was already over, wasn’t it? They’d had a moment in the elevator, and it was all they’d have.
No. I want more.
God, but he was so tired. And sore. He rolled his shoulder again, but it felt stiff and sent a dull ache through him.
“Nick?”
Someone was calling him. Jack? Or was it Jared? Blinking, he rubbed his shoulder and glanced around. It was raining.
In the elevator?
No. He wasn’t in the elevator. He was under the bleachers, and Jared stood in front of him. It was confusing, because one minute he was young Jared, lanky and thin, and the next he was Dr. Kumpel, wearing a white coat and a tasteful beard. The two spoke in unison, together, voice changing between young and old.
“I just want to be your boyfriend. Officially. I want to hear you say that’s what this is, not send me guilty glances like we’re some horrible mistake. Is it such a terrible thing to ask for?”
It wasn’t, but it was too much for Nick. It had been then, and it was somehow even more impossible now. Except it hurt more at thirty-six than it had at sixteen to turn him away.
“I don’t want you to go away again.”
“Nick.” Someone shook him gently, and when he opened his eyes, blinking, he saw Jack Wu regarding him with concern. “Nick, stay with me. The elevator’s about to open, and we’ll get you to an exam room immediately.”
It was too late. Jared had already left. No reason for Nick to stay, then. “Tell him I always loved him,” he murmured, and as people shouted, doors opening to let in bright light, Nick gave in to his exhaustion and slumped forward in the chair.
Chapter Four
WHEN JARED heard that Nick had collapsed on the way to the CT scanner, he tried to go see him. Owen immediately pushed him back into the bed.
“You’re a patient right now, not a doctor.” Owen adjusted the tape on Jared’s IV. “Jack will take care of him. I sent Simon to help, if it makes you feel better.”
It did, but what would make Jared feel best would be helping Nick himself. “Why did he pass out, though? Is his shoulder that bad?”
Owen gave Jared a long look. “You were trapped in a small dark space for five hours. It’s a traumatic event. The poor man had to ride in a damn elevator to get to the scanner.”
Oh no. “Nick can’t have panic attacks about elevators now, that’s no good.” The rest of what Owen said soaked through Jared’s overwhelmed brain. “Wait, we were in there for five hours? And he passed out? I need to see him right now. I need to verify that he’s okay.”
“Chill. Nick will be fine. You’ll be fine. Everyone is going to be amazing. The whole hospital will be sprouting flowers and rainbows before you know it.”
Jared ran a hand over his face. “When are you letting me out of here? I just want to sleep in a bed.”
“You’re funny, you know? If you glance down, you’ll notice you’re in one. Sleep anytime you want. Would you like me to prescribe something to help you relax?”
Jared pulled his hand away, regarding Owen in horror. “You bitch. You admitted me?”
“Doctors do make the worst patients. You’re completely dehydrated and exhausted. You’re so overstimulated you’re shaking. Most importantly, though, you’re a physician at this hospital and your health is essential for the health of this community. Yes, I admitted you. They’ll bring the papers by in a minute. If you try to refuse them, I’ll send in Erin.”
Sighing, Jared lay back against the pillows. “Fine. But I expect to go home in the morning.” He frowned as he did a mental calculation on the time and realized it was morning, albeit very early.
“We’ll discuss that after you rest.” Owen was seated on a stool beside Jared, focused on the laptop serving as the physician access port to the electronic charts. “Also, while you’re already cranky, as soon as we’re done here, your parents want to see you.”
Jared swore under his breath and stared at the ceiling.
Owen raised an eyebrow. “Want me to ship them off? I will.”
“No, it’s fine.” He grimaced. “I mean, it’s not, but send them in. It’s less trouble than ignoring them.”
Owen didn’t look up from the computer. “I’ll stay and force them out when you’ve had enough.” He rubbed his jaw. “They seem subdued, if it helps. We were all scared to death out here. I think things have calmed enough I can tell you this now, but there was a fire danger until the Duluth crew got here and stabilized things.”
Fire? With them trapped in the elevator. Jared gripped the bedrail. “That’s why you evacuated everyone.”
Owen nodded, grim. “Yes, and it’s what got the news networks in such a frenzy. Erin was trying to keep a lid on it, but there wasn’t a chance. If anything had happened with the two of you in there, they weren’t sure they could have gotten you out in time.”
Jared’s limbs felt weak. “You’re kidding me. It was that bad?”
“Yes.” When Owen turned to face Jared and took hold of his hand over the top of the blanket, his eyes were glossy with unshed tears. “So you’ll forgive us for being fussy with the two of you, all right? We’re just thrilled we’re visiting your obstinate ass in a hospital room and not your corpse in the morgue.”
Taking deep breaths had suddenly become difficult. Jared pushed his thumb against the side of Owen’s wrist. “Say, Doc. How about you put a little lorazepam through that IV port?”
“I’ll get it right now, before I let your parents in.”
“Perfect.”
Owen rose from the stool and bent over the bed, pressing a kiss against Jared’s forehead.
Jared caught his shoulder weakly and held him there, drinking the contact in.
The bliss of Ativan injection hit him as soon as Owen slid it into his IV line, and the short-term anti-anxiety med smoothed out the jagged edges creeping uncomfortably close to his psyche when he thought about the elevator. He felt reasonably ready for his parents too, and when the door opened, he managed a small smile and even a wave. Chemicals were such a wonderful thing.
His mother shuffled forward, hugging her purse, and his father came in behind her with his hand on her shoulder. They looked absolutely ragged, and it occurred to Jared a round of Ativan for the whole Kumpel clan wouldn’t have gone amiss.
Jared tipped one side of his mouth a little higher. “Hey.”
They hurried over and hugged him together, his mother touching his face and his father ruffling his hair. They fussed and said all the things he expected, telling him how worried they’d been, how they’d been so afraid they’d lose him. It was a nice moment, and the lightness of the drug let Jared think the ridiculous thought that maybe he should almost die more often so they could all forget the awfulness between them.
Except it wasn’t five minutes before they started in.
“I just can’t believe who you had to be caught in an elevator with,” his mother murmured.
Owen, pretending to enter things into the computer, paused.
Jared pulled his hand away from his mother, his heart sinking. Right. Fool he, to think a mere brush with death would get them past this.
Jared’s father patted his wife’s shoulder. “Now, now. We’re going to focus on how glad we are Jared’s alive.”
No, Jared decided. I’m going to push back, because I don’t want to pretend when I know where this is going to end. “Nick was amazing in the elevator. I owe him so much. I’d likely have a concussion if it weren’t for him. Every time it fell, it pitched us sideways and knocked us around, and he’d grab hold of me, wrapping his body around me so he took the brunt of the assault.”
He stared at his mother, daring her to make a comment.
She stared back, her lips puckered as if she’d eaten a lemon.
His father looked uncomfortable and said nothing.
Owen turned to Jared. “You didn’t tell me this. No wonder he passed out. I’ll get a message to Jack. I think they’re finished downstairs now. I saw activity in the room next door, and the two of you are the only patients. Though, give us an hour to change that. It’s a full moon.”
Jared stared at the ceiling again, unwillingly remembering. “Yeah. We were in a corner, but when it shifted, there’d be pretty much no warning, and it was completely dark. The time I about lost it was when we lifted in the air. I think that’s when he really hurt his shoulder.” He shut his eyes. “It’s starting to hit me now what it could have been like, what it would have been to endure that alone. I’d just ridden the thing to go up to the second floor. It could have been me alone.” His stomach became queasy, and his hands began to shake.
Owen squeezed his hand. “I’ll put a standing order in on the Ativan. Also, FYI, Simon and Jack took up the shift tonight, and I’m working for free. You’re going to have to Skype the peds patient we shipped out of town once this is over. He heard the news and was terrified you were dead.”
“Nick mentioned that in the elevator. I’ll do it as soon as someone gives me my phone.”
“He’s in bed by this point. No nurse will let him take a call, and your doctors won’t let you make it. You can talk to him in the morning. As for your mobile, though, I’ll let you have a few minutes with it.” Owen tossed Jared’s phone onto the bed. “I shut it off because it was blowing up, and that was stressing me out when we weren’t sure what was going to happen.”
“Jared.”
He turned toward his mother, honestly having forgotten she was there. “Mom, Dad. Thank you for coming. But if you start anything, I’m kicking you out.”
His mother appeared genuinely hurt. “How can you say that to me when I’ve come to see my son who nearly died?”
“Because I’m the son who nearly died. And I know how much you can hurt me with the casual things you say about Nick, that you mean to do it. Today of all days, I’m not in the mood. So if you can’t sit here without making a jab at him, you’d better get going.”
For several seconds they regarded one another, a quiet standoff. Jared’s dad was usually ready to smooth everything over with a platitude, but for once he stayed quiet. Eventually Jared’s mother rose, holding her purse to her side, lifting her chin high. “You’re tired and need to rest. We’ll come see you tomorrow.”
“You’ll have to behave then too,” Jared called after them.
The second the door closed, Owen turned on him. “What in the hell was that?”
Jared considered his options. It would be easy to pawn him off. Owen wasn’t going to push him on anything tonight.
But maybe Jared wanted to be pushed. Or maybe he simply wanted to spill on his own.
In the silence, Owen kept going. “I know you’re mad at your parents because they’ve tilted conservative the last few years, but… are you telling me they’re so racist they’re mad you were trapped in an elevator with a Black man? What the hell? Do they just not like Nick? What’s going on? I feel as if I came in on the wrong episode of a soap opera.”
Yep. Jared was going to tell Owen everything.
Everything.
“My mother was always two-faced when it came to the Beckerts, but she laminated her racist card when I was sixteen.” Jared stared at the ceiling. So weird, after all these years, to finally tell his best friend. “When she caught Nick and me having sex in my bedroom.”
