Chapter 1
-Kathy-
“Come on! Let’s go out and drink,” Piper said, another nurse I had become friends with after my closest one quit. But I shrugged.
“We need to let loose. How long has it been since you’ve had a man between your legs?”
“One who could actually satisfy me, or just any man?” I asked, scribbling down some notes.
The ER was quiet tonight. I was on a night shift with Piper, and while she was a talker like me, her chatter only made me miss Harper more because Harper wasn’t chatty. I did most of the talking. It was a perfect dynamic.
“Hilarious. Come on, I know you’re in a dry spell,” Piper teased.
“Oh? How do you know?”
“Because I’ve seen not one, not two, but three paramedics ask you out, and one doctor. You’ve turned them all down. I’ve even seen hot guys at the bar around the corner offer to buy you a drink, and you say no. What’s the deal?”
Yes, what is my deal? Honestly, I had been asking myself the same question. It had started happening after Harper left. Men, attractive men, started approaching me, but I turned them all down. I felt nothing. I even went home with a few of them, but there was no desire. No burning need for sex. I had always had a high sex drive. Sex had been a regular part of my life since I was fifteen, and I had many partners—no shame. But now, for the first time in my life, I was experiencing a dry spell. My body didn’t crave sex... or maybe I didn’t want sex with these men?
An image of an older, very attractive man popped into my mind.
I’m typing away on the computer, sorting through journals when suddenly I get the sensation that someone is watching me. Leaning my head back, I look up at the most handsome man I’ve ever laid eyes on. I can tell there’s an age gap, but I simply can’t stop staring. Tall, powerful, and a little enigmatic—but that smile! The smile on his lips is what makes me melt.
“I’m sorry to disturb you, but I’m looking for my daughter,” he says.
“Um, your daughter?”
“Harper. She works here,” he explains.
“Oh, y-you’re Harper’s father?”
“I can tell from that little stammering that she must have told you she has no interest in reconnecting with me.”
“Um, she might have mentioned something about how you abandoned her,” I admit shyly. The words slip out before I can stop them, and I curse myself quietly. But he continues to smile, albeit a little sadly.
“Yes, we didn’t have much time together when she was young, but the story is more complicated.”
“Oh?” Why was I asking this man’s life story?
“Maybe when I’ve had a chance to talk to my daughter, she can tell you. Now, is she in?” he asks, looking around.
“Um, no. She called in sick.”
“Sick?” he echoes, looking confused. “I might not be close to Harper, but isn’t she a workaholic?”
“Definitely.”
“And she called in sick?”
“Yes, even the best of us go down once in a while,” I explain.
He seems even more confused, which only perplexes me.
“Should I call her for you?” I offer.
He gives me that charming smile again, then shakes his head. “No, I’ll come back another time.”
I nod, almost unable to speak because he takes my breath away. Don’t crush on your friend’s dad! I scold myself, but I can’t help but watch him leave, my eyes following his every move.
Apparently, Harper wasn’t sick at all. She ran off with some guy and fell madly in love. It didn’t sound like Harper. She was a workaholic, never dating. I even believed she hated men. But now she had left her job and vanished after meeting this man, and me? I... couldn’t stop thinking about her father! What was wrong with me? I hadn’t even seen him since... well, over a year ago, just when Harper disappeared. We’d spoken only twice—once when he came looking for her, and a second time to explain where Harper had gone—but the image of that man was burned into my mind.
“Come on! Drinks!” Piper said, snapping me out of my thoughts.
I turned to her and paused, considering her suggestion. Maybe getting over this strange obsession was the answer. To get over one man, you had to get under another. That was my motto every time I went through a breakup.
“Drinks?” she pressed.
“We won’t be off until four.”
“I meant tomorrow!” Piper clarified.
“Okay, I think I can make it,” I replied.
“Well, we both have the day off so I definitely think you can.”
I smiled and nodded.
“Carl’s?” she suggested, referring to the bar around the corner that many doctors and nurses frequented during their time off.
“I’ll meet you there.”
“Great! I was thinking around—” Piper didn’t get to finish as a pair of paramedics rushed through the door, pushing a man on a gurney.
“We need help here!” they shouted.
Piper and I quickly sprang into action, joined by other nurses. They rushed the patient into a room, and we swiftly set up everything we needed.
“What do we have?” Piper asked.
“Trauma to the abdomen and chest. Looks like he’s been ripped open by a wild animal,” one of the paramedics explained.
Piper opened the man’s shirt while I prepared the disinfectant. If the wounds weren’t too severe, we might be able to stitch him up here, but we needed to check for internal damage and the extent of the bleeding.
“What the hell?”
I turned and saw everyone staring at the patient. I stepped closer, puzzled by what they were seeing.
“What is it?” I froze and then turned to the paramedics. “Didn’t you say he was scratched open by a wild animal?”
They both nodded.
“But he looks fine!”
I looked back at the patient, who remained unconscious, with only faint marks on his chest and stomach. There was nothing wrong with him. However, his clothes were soaked in blood. How could that be?
“I don’t understand,” one of the paramedics admitted.
“Who found him?” Piper inquired.
“A civilian on the road. They called us, and when we arrived, he was scratched open,” they explained.
Piper and I exchanged a glance.
“Well, let’s clean up the scratches and keep him under observation,” Piper said, removing her gloves and tossing them in the trash. She shot an irritated look at the paramedics. “Next time, double-check.”
The paramedics glanced at each other, and Piper held the door open, gesturing for them to leave.
“And no drinking on the job!” she called after them.
It was a half-hearted joke. Neither of them smelled of alcohol, and they were working efficiently. Still, I bet they didn’t appreciate being called out in front of the whole ER. She turned to me, and I gave her an annoyed look.
“What?” she asked.
“That wasn’t very nice,” I said.
“Wasting our time isn’t nice either. Do they need glasses or something?” she retorted.
“I don’t know. It just seems strange,” I said, looking back at the patient. “Look at his clothes.”
Piper followed my gaze and shrugged.
“Maybe it’s someone else’s blood.”
“Maybe, but how could both the paramedics and the civilian agree that he was scratched open?” I asked. “Have they all been drinking? Or is there something in the water?”
Piper shrugged again. “No idea. All we can do now is clean his wounds, monitor his vitals, and keep him under observation.”
“I just find it so weird...”
“Hey, Sherlock Holmes, we’re not detectives,” she interrupted.
“Maybe we should call some.”
“You mean involve the police?”
“I mean, he could be a missing person,” I said.
Piper nodded. “Okay, let’s give him the night. If he’s not awake by then, we’ll call the police and see if there’s a missing person report that matches his description.”
I nodded in agreement.
“Can you clean him up, or do you need an extra hand for ‘all the scratches’?” she joked.
I chuckled. “No, don’t worry. I’ve got it,” I replied.
“Good. Then I’ll go tell those idiots to get their eyes checked.”
I laughed and shook my head as she left the examination room, then focused on the task at hand.
