The Best Laid Plans. Amy Vastine

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СКАЧАТЬ hadn’t made the cut as her perfect mate because their job was a little too risky for Emma’s liking. Paramedics were right up there with firefighters and police officers in terms of on-the-job danger. Emma wanted someone whose career didn’t put him in harm’s way. A punch in the jaw from an autistic teenager was nothing, but paramedics in the city of Chicago dealt with much scarier things than that.

      Tammy threw her hands up. “Whatever you say. Maybe you were just being a good friend. Lord knows I wouldn’t let Dr. Gavin within a hundred yards of my boys.”

      That was it. She was being a good friend. Emma could absolutely be friends with Charlie. There were no rules against that. Being friends wouldn’t interfere with her well-laid plans.

      Emma’s next patient was a five-year-old boy who had fallen off a park swing and possibly broken his arm. His father had brought him in and seemed rather anxious. He kept checking his phone, unable to sit still.

      The little boy’s name was Oliver Grady, and he reminded Emma of her nephew. She got him settled in an exam room and put in the request for an X-ray. While they waited, she blew up a latex glove and drew a smiley face on it.

      “Can you hold on to this with your good hand?” she asked Oliver, who nodded with tear-stained cheeks. “Whatever I do to you, I’ll do to Mr. Smiley first, so you can see that it won’t hurt, okay?”

      “Promise?”

      “I promise. Watch this.” She put on her stethoscope and pressed the chest piece against the makeshift puppet and pretended to listen carefully. “See, he didn’t pop. Let’s try you.” She listened to the little boy’s heartbeat, which slowed as he relaxed. “Good job.”

      “Ollie’s very brave, aren’t you, bud?” Mr. Grady stood beside the bed and gently swept the boy’s hair out of his eyes. “I could use some of that bravery for when his mom gets here. She’s going to kill me.”

      “Accidents happen, right?”

      “Not when my ex-wife is in charge of him. Accidents are always my fault.” He ran his hand through his hair as his phone beeped with a text. He checked it and held it up for Emma to see. “Told you she was going to kill me.”

      That was exactly what the text said. She planned to kill him when she got to the hospital. Angry exes in the ER were never a good thing. Emma made a mental note to ask the intake nurse to give her a heads-up when Oliver’s mom arrived.

      “We’ll make sure everyone survives this trip to the emergency room,” she promised. “Now, Oliver, I need you to do one thing for me while we wait for an X-ray.” She grabbed the bag of ice she had brought in with her and set it on top of the blown-up glove. “Mr. Smiley can handle a little ice. I bet you can, too.”

      The boy cringed and tightly squeezed his eyes shut as she lifted the bag and set it gently on his swollen and most likely broken arm. His face relaxed and his eyes opened. “That doesn’t hurt,” he said with obvious surprise.

      “I knew you could handle it.” Emma smiled and ruffled his hair. “I’ll be right back, tough guy.”

      The best thing to do was avoid trouble before trouble happened. Emma went out to the waiting area to follow up with the intake nurse. Unfortunately, it appeared that Oliver’s mom was already there. Perhaps what gave her away was the woman’s insistence that she be allowed to see her son “this second or else.” Or maybe it was her threats to press charges against her ex-husband for neglect.

      “I can take her back,” Emma offered. “Her son is waiting for an X-ray.”

      The intake nurse was more than happy to pass the irate woman off. Even the people waiting in the family-and-patient room seemed relieved to see her go.

      Emma tried to appeal to the more rational side of the former Mrs. Grady that had to be dwelling somewhere inside. “He’s been very brave and is resting comfortably. We see so many kids this time of year who get carried away at the park or fall off a bike—it’s really not that unusual. He’s going to be fine, but it’s really important that we keep him calm.”

      “This never would have happened if it weren’t for his father’s inability to do anything right,” she snapped.

      Clearly, she was not going to let her ex off the hook so easily. Emma would have to be more direct. “I understand you’re worried, but Oliver needs to know everything is okay. He needs his parents to get along while we do our best to get him fixed up.”

      “I think I know what my son needs.” The woman’s face turned red.

      Emma was treading on thin ice. Instead of backing down, she smiled as sweetly as she could. “Good, because I would hate to have to escort you out of the ER after I just brought you in.” She pointed to Oliver’s room. “He’s right over there. Exam room five.”

      Oliver’s mom harrumphed, but thankfully she headed into the room without any words for his dad. Satisfied that she had prevented a fight, Emma spun around to tell Tammy about her good deed but accidentally slammed into someone instead. Not just any someone. The someone.

      Dr. Spencer was a pretty man. His honey-blond hair was carefully and purposely styled to look messy, and his big brown eyes exuded the perfect mix of warmth and wonder. He steadied her with his hands and began to apologize at the same time she did.

      The sound of his laughter was like a gentle breeze on a warm day, exactly what she needed. “I’d give you a hard time about not watching where you’re going, but I never complain when a beautiful woman bumps into me.”

      This was not how she wanted to make a first impression. Running him over wasn’t part of the plan. She tried to forget it and focus on the fact that he wasn’t bothered by her clumsiness. “I appreciate the compliment.”

      His smile revealed two rows of the straightest and whitest teeth Emma had ever seen. “I appreciate the bump, Nurse—” he studied her name tag “—Everhart.”

      “Well, until we bump again, Doctor.” He laughed once more and stepped around her. Heat rose up her neck to her cheeks. Her plan had been to impress him with her wit and skills. Instead, she’d been ridiculous. He had dazzled the brain right out of her head.

      She watched as he pushed the sliding door to Oliver’s room open and greeted the boy’s parents. Taking a deep breath, she told herself that years from now she and Dr. Spencer would reminisce about how they’d first met by colliding outside the room of the boy with a broken arm. He’d tease her about having been so awkward and she’d admit to enjoying the contact more than she should have. They would both laugh and remember the moment fondly.

      “It is your fault!” someone screamed from the examination room. “If you used your head, you would have realized he’s too little to go on the swings!”

      “You treat him like a baby! He’s a boy. He likes to run around and go on the swings and get dirty.”

      “That doesn’t mean he can jump off a swing eight feet in the air!”

      Emma headed over to run interference. Dr. Spencer didn’t need to deal with this on his first day.

      “How would you know how high he was when he jumped? You weren’t there.”

      “I have witnessed your incompetence firsthand more times СКАЧАТЬ