TRACE (The TRACE Series, #1) by Deborah Bladon Page A

meant to say that you're an asshole," I spit out through clenched teeth.
    "Nurse Meyer?"
    I don't need to turn to recognize that voice. It's Dr. Foster. That only and only chance I had left to keep my job just disappeared into thin air.
    I look down at the floor. I feel him brush past me as he walks into the exam room.  I brace myself when I see his black shoes stop almost directly in front of me.
    "I'm sorry, Dr. Foster." I exhale softly as I level my gaze on him. I don't grovel. It's not something I normally do but I need to pay my rent and New York is an incredibly expensive city to live in so if I have to beg to keep my job here, I'm going to do it. I know that Dr. Ben Foster is a compassionate man. I've seen it myself. Right now, I just need him to throw some of that benevolence in my direction.
    "I need a moment in the corridor, Nurse Meyer." There isn't an ounce of anger in his voice as he turns to look at the patient. "Garrett, what are you doing here?"
    "Ben?" Garrett's brows pop up.
    I watch the back of his head as he nods once before his hand flies into the air. "Sit down. I'll be right back."
    ***
    D r. Foster knows the patient. My luck can't get any worse. I know that he heard me call Garrett Ryan an asshole. I wouldn't be surprised if everyone in the emergency department heard it. I didn't tone it down at all.
    "Before you say anything, Ben," I begin as I look up into his kind face. "He's been belligerent since they brought him in."
    His eyes focus over my head at where another nurse is standing in the corridor. "You're hanging by a thread here, Vanessa. We've talked about this in the past."
    We have. I love my job. I've never wanted to be anything but a registered nurse, but since I've been thrown into the emergency room, I've seen things I couldn't have imagined. I lost it two months ago on a guy my age who had shaken his baby daughter so hard that she was still recovering in intensive care. His cavalier attitude about her injuries and his frantic attempt to leave the hospital resulted in me wrestling him to the ground. The police thanked me for restraining him but my supervisor wasn't quite as complimentary.
    "I have been trying to take his vitals since they brought him in," I say quietly. "I urged him to remain still and he kept getting up from the exam table, so I gave up. He's more than a foot taller than I am and he's at least a hundred pounds heavier. The man is as solid as a brick wall."
    "Why didn't you call for another nurse?"
    It's a logical question and it's not one that I expect him to know the answer to. He's overworked, just as every doctor in this emergency department is. "We're short staffed today, Ben. I called but no one came."
    "He's a friend of mine, Vanessa. What was with the asshole comment?" he whispers the question as he leans in close to me. "Where did that come from?"
    I don’t know Ben well enough to tell him word-for-word what his friend said to me. I'm not about to start talking about tits and ass in the middle of this bustling hallway. "He made some sexist remarks."
    "Garrett did?" His brow cocks.
    He doesn't believe me. I see it in his eyes. "He's arrogant, Ben. He wouldn’t let me exam him. He sent the lab tech running out of the room when he tried to draw his blood. He's incredibly uncooperative."
    "Why is he even here?" He glances down at the tablet in his hand. "What's wrong with him?"
    "He ran his bike into a tree." I shrug my shoulder. I'm going to leave the details about the tit chasing up to Garrett.
    "I need to get back in there, but be more careful." He pats his hand on my shoulder. "I'm not giving you a warning, but anyone else would."
    I nod just as Ben pulls the curtain open with a flourish to reveal Garrett Ryan falling face first onto the hard, tiled floor with a thud.
    ***
    "I 'm impressed, Vanessa." I feel Ben's hand on my shoulder. "You were a real asset earlier."
    I was too shocked to do anything but let my training guide me. The sickening sound of Garrett's