you already are .
Hell, he’d already broken nearly all the rules, self-imposed and otherwise. When Meredith had cut herself, the first thing he should have done was get the first aid kit out of his Bronco. Instead, he’d taken one look and rushed indoors. No rubber gloves. All that blood. Never once had he thought to protect himself. If he had caught one of his deputies taking a risk like that, he would have been furious.
No two ways about it, he needed to back off. Keep his distance.
That was a fine and dandy plan, but easier said than done. For starters, it was his fault Meredith had cut herself. He felt bad about that. He’d realized from the first that she was skittish. He should have had the good sense to walk around back and knock on her door. That was the normal way of doing things.
Now he was in charge of a little girl who looked as if she’d just eaten Mexican jumping beans.
“You ever been in an emergency room before, Sammy?”
She hunched her shoulders and hid her face again.
Uncertain if that meant yes or no, he decided to wing it. “I bet it seems scary.”
A voice blasted out over the loud speaker above them, and she jerked.
“That’s just a lady talking into a microphone,” he explained. “Little speaker wires carry her voice through the building, and the sound comes out of those little square things in the walls.” He pointed at the speaker, silently congratulating himself on handling this situation fairly well. Little kids weren’t beings from another planet, just pint-sized adults. “That way, when somebody needs treatment, the lady can call the doctor, and her voice goes everywhere in the hospital.”
The child peered up at the speaker, her small face solemn, her lower lip caught between her teeth.
“Inside the emergency room where your mama went, there are beds lined up along the wall, with pretty striped curtains to pull closed around each of them. Peg, the nurse you met, will stay with your mama until the doctor comes to take care of her. Pretty soon, when she’s all fixed up, she’ll come out those doors right there.”
As she looked at the double doors, he felt a tug on his heartstrings. Though his sister Laney had been ten when their mother died, Sammy reminded him of her. The same sorrowful, lost expression. He wanted to hug her close and make her feel better.
He drained the pop can, set it on the table near his elbow, and tried to concentrate on the television program. Some broad with frizzy red hair was interviewing a bunch of married couples. Heath listened for a minute or two, realized the topic was about men who had an underwear fetish, and wished he had a channel changer. The stuff they aired in the afternoon when little kids might be watching was mind-boggling. There oughta be a law, he thought, glancing uneasily at Sammy.
A string of snot trailed from her nose. As if she sensedhim staring at it, she stuck out her tongue to lick her upper lip.
“Don’t do that !” His stomach came up into his throat. Straightening one leg and lifting his hip, he dived a hand into the back pocket of his jeans. After determining that his handkerchief was clean, he clamped it over her nose. “Blow.”
She sputtered her lips.
“No, honey. Through your nose.”
She blew through her lips again, this time with more force.
Heath sat forward, twisting his mouth, wrinkling his nose, and honking to demonstrate. When he realized what a spectacle he was making of himself, he glanced around to be sure no one was watching. Then he snorted again. She finally blew for him, after which he damned near pinched her nose off trying to wipe it.
After returning the handkerchief to his pocket, he noticed her shoe was untied. When he lifted her foot onto his knee, she toppled backward, barely managing to catch herself from falling off the cushion.
Taking care of a kid was damned hard work.
“I’m sorry.” He lowered her foot onto the cushion so her leg wouldn’t be hiked at such an angle,
Hell, he’d already broken nearly all the rules, self-imposed and otherwise. When Meredith had cut herself, the first thing he should have done was get the first aid kit out of his Bronco. Instead, he’d taken one look and rushed indoors. No rubber gloves. All that blood. Never once had he thought to protect himself. If he had caught one of his deputies taking a risk like that, he would have been furious.
No two ways about it, he needed to back off. Keep his distance.
That was a fine and dandy plan, but easier said than done. For starters, it was his fault Meredith had cut herself. He felt bad about that. He’d realized from the first that she was skittish. He should have had the good sense to walk around back and knock on her door. That was the normal way of doing things.
Now he was in charge of a little girl who looked as if she’d just eaten Mexican jumping beans.
“You ever been in an emergency room before, Sammy?”
She hunched her shoulders and hid her face again.
Uncertain if that meant yes or no, he decided to wing it. “I bet it seems scary.”
A voice blasted out over the loud speaker above them, and she jerked.
“That’s just a lady talking into a microphone,” he explained. “Little speaker wires carry her voice through the building, and the sound comes out of those little square things in the walls.” He pointed at the speaker, silently congratulating himself on handling this situation fairly well. Little kids weren’t beings from another planet, just pint-sized adults. “That way, when somebody needs treatment, the lady can call the doctor, and her voice goes everywhere in the hospital.”
The child peered up at the speaker, her small face solemn, her lower lip caught between her teeth.
“Inside the emergency room where your mama went, there are beds lined up along the wall, with pretty striped curtains to pull closed around each of them. Peg, the nurse you met, will stay with your mama until the doctor comes to take care of her. Pretty soon, when she’s all fixed up, she’ll come out those doors right there.”
As she looked at the double doors, he felt a tug on his heartstrings. Though his sister Laney had been ten when their mother died, Sammy reminded him of her. The same sorrowful, lost expression. He wanted to hug her close and make her feel better.
He drained the pop can, set it on the table near his elbow, and tried to concentrate on the television program. Some broad with frizzy red hair was interviewing a bunch of married couples. Heath listened for a minute or two, realized the topic was about men who had an underwear fetish, and wished he had a channel changer. The stuff they aired in the afternoon when little kids might be watching was mind-boggling. There oughta be a law, he thought, glancing uneasily at Sammy.
A string of snot trailed from her nose. As if she sensedhim staring at it, she stuck out her tongue to lick her upper lip.
“Don’t do that !” His stomach came up into his throat. Straightening one leg and lifting his hip, he dived a hand into the back pocket of his jeans. After determining that his handkerchief was clean, he clamped it over her nose. “Blow.”
She sputtered her lips.
“No, honey. Through your nose.”
She blew through her lips again, this time with more force.
Heath sat forward, twisting his mouth, wrinkling his nose, and honking to demonstrate. When he realized what a spectacle he was making of himself, he glanced around to be sure no one was watching. Then he snorted again. She finally blew for him, after which he damned near pinched her nose off trying to wipe it.
After returning the handkerchief to his pocket, he noticed her shoe was untied. When he lifted her foot onto his knee, she toppled backward, barely managing to catch herself from falling off the cushion.
Taking care of a kid was damned hard work.
“I’m sorry.” He lowered her foot onto the cushion so her leg wouldn’t be hiked at such an angle,
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