about to discharge Sabrina Turner, but need someone to send her home with.”
He frowned. Why the hell would they call him about Sabrina? “Wait… Is she all right?”
“Yes sir, she’s fine. The doctor would just prefer not to send her home alone this time. We’d hate to see her rebound and have to come back again.”
“Again?”
She hesitated. He knew a little about those privacy laws healthcare professionals had to follow these days, but since she called him, Sabrina must have given some sort of permission already. “She’s here every couple of months. Once in a while, twice in a night though… Uh, can I ask your relationship to Miss Turner?”
“We’re uh…” Neighbors sounded too cold. Lovers not even close to true.
Confidants didn’t work either. “Friends.”
Another lie, really, but she didn’t have to know.
33
Dee Carney
“Can we release her to your care?”
“Of course.”
He hung up the phone and wiped a hand down his face, scraping against a night’s growth of stubble. Laura hadn’t provided any details on what brought Sabrina to the hospital, and his curiosity gnawed at the back of his mind. Well, they’d all have to deal with him unshaven and unshowered. No coffee either? They’d be lucky if he made it down there in one piece and coherent. Pure adrenaline kept him functional right now.
It took less than twenty minutes to arrive. Once there, he paid the cabbie and trotted through the sliding doors. He had to blink against the bright glare of lights once inside. Some people called the distinct, disinfectant aroma of a sterile hospital off-putting, but he appreciated the sense that no germs would find safe haven here.
Between the fluorescent glow ready to shine down on a single speck of dust, and the bleach vapors strong enough to provide a nice little buzz, he had no doubt that whoever ran this place indeed believed cleanliness was next to godliness.
Signs pointed the way to the information desk and once there, he followed the directory toward the ER. As with the car drive over, during his trot down the pristine tiled floor he kept turning over in his mind why Sabrina would call him of all people.
He passed a bank of empty slots where gurneys presumably went. Myriad electronic equipment, hoses and tubes of all types hung in various locations along the walls. IV poles, spare linen stacks and carts of even more supplies formed neat lines along the way.
“Excuse me, but I’m looking for Sabrina Turner,” he said to a woman walking by in scrubs.
She turned toward an area where curtains kept the occupants in privacy. Beneath the hems, he saw efficient movement by feet of several people. A few of the “rooms” only had one set of legs, so far as he could tell. She pointed. “In bay one. The set of curtains at the very end.”
He thanked her, picking up speed. He pushed through the pale-green curtain, and came face-to-face with a round-faced young woman sitting in a chair reading a book.
She looked up at him, the surprise in her expression probably an exact match to his.
“Oh, excuse me. Sorry,” he mumbled. His feet wouldn’t back up fast enough.
She put down the paperback and started to rise. “Can I help you?”
“Sorry,” he said, halfway through the partition. “I was looking for…Sabrina?” He’d almost missed her, sitting in another chair opposite the woman. Dressed in a simple t-shirt and a faded pair of pants, she didn’t look worse for wear. In the small space, he only needed three steps to reach her. Crouching, he touched her knee. “Hey, what’s going on?”
She dragged her gaze from some spot on the floor she’d been studying to regard him. Then her head tilted, as if she couldn’t quite make out the words someone said to her, only no one was speaking.
34
Intimate Whispers
Jason looked to the woman who he now realized wore a black pair of scrubs, the white badge on her chest too far away to read. “What’s wrong with her?”
“Um,
He frowned. Why the hell would they call him about Sabrina? “Wait… Is she all right?”
“Yes sir, she’s fine. The doctor would just prefer not to send her home alone this time. We’d hate to see her rebound and have to come back again.”
“Again?”
She hesitated. He knew a little about those privacy laws healthcare professionals had to follow these days, but since she called him, Sabrina must have given some sort of permission already. “She’s here every couple of months. Once in a while, twice in a night though… Uh, can I ask your relationship to Miss Turner?”
“We’re uh…” Neighbors sounded too cold. Lovers not even close to true.
Confidants didn’t work either. “Friends.”
Another lie, really, but she didn’t have to know.
33
Dee Carney
“Can we release her to your care?”
“Of course.”
He hung up the phone and wiped a hand down his face, scraping against a night’s growth of stubble. Laura hadn’t provided any details on what brought Sabrina to the hospital, and his curiosity gnawed at the back of his mind. Well, they’d all have to deal with him unshaven and unshowered. No coffee either? They’d be lucky if he made it down there in one piece and coherent. Pure adrenaline kept him functional right now.
It took less than twenty minutes to arrive. Once there, he paid the cabbie and trotted through the sliding doors. He had to blink against the bright glare of lights once inside. Some people called the distinct, disinfectant aroma of a sterile hospital off-putting, but he appreciated the sense that no germs would find safe haven here.
Between the fluorescent glow ready to shine down on a single speck of dust, and the bleach vapors strong enough to provide a nice little buzz, he had no doubt that whoever ran this place indeed believed cleanliness was next to godliness.
Signs pointed the way to the information desk and once there, he followed the directory toward the ER. As with the car drive over, during his trot down the pristine tiled floor he kept turning over in his mind why Sabrina would call him of all people.
He passed a bank of empty slots where gurneys presumably went. Myriad electronic equipment, hoses and tubes of all types hung in various locations along the walls. IV poles, spare linen stacks and carts of even more supplies formed neat lines along the way.
“Excuse me, but I’m looking for Sabrina Turner,” he said to a woman walking by in scrubs.
She turned toward an area where curtains kept the occupants in privacy. Beneath the hems, he saw efficient movement by feet of several people. A few of the “rooms” only had one set of legs, so far as he could tell. She pointed. “In bay one. The set of curtains at the very end.”
He thanked her, picking up speed. He pushed through the pale-green curtain, and came face-to-face with a round-faced young woman sitting in a chair reading a book.
She looked up at him, the surprise in her expression probably an exact match to his.
“Oh, excuse me. Sorry,” he mumbled. His feet wouldn’t back up fast enough.
She put down the paperback and started to rise. “Can I help you?”
“Sorry,” he said, halfway through the partition. “I was looking for…Sabrina?” He’d almost missed her, sitting in another chair opposite the woman. Dressed in a simple t-shirt and a faded pair of pants, she didn’t look worse for wear. In the small space, he only needed three steps to reach her. Crouching, he touched her knee. “Hey, what’s going on?”
She dragged her gaze from some spot on the floor she’d been studying to regard him. Then her head tilted, as if she couldn’t quite make out the words someone said to her, only no one was speaking.
34
Intimate Whispers
Jason looked to the woman who he now realized wore a black pair of scrubs, the white badge on her chest too far away to read. “What’s wrong with her?”
“Um,
Similar Books
