She didn’t expect things to be less stressful, per se, but in most situations the more control she had, the better she fared. She’d take on more liability, but also had room to be part of the decision-making team. She’d be the one ordering medications rather than giving them, the one interpreting and responding to lab results rather than the one drawing the blood. Each piece was critical to do well, but she was ready for a change.
Progress in the love department hadn’t budged in a long time, so she focused on taking a step up in her career instead.
Sirens in the distance edged closer and finally shut off when the vehicle parked outside the unit. The doors to the ambulance entrance burst open and the standard flurry of movement commenced. Paramedics barked information to the receiving staff, and the attending physician who had been alerted of the incoming patient shouted orders and demands to get out of his way as they wheeled the patient to the nearest trauma bay.
Claire glanced up briefly, planning to stay well out of the way at this point, but her eyes landed on a familiar face.
Noah stood just inside the doors, his face pale and eyes wild. It took her several long seconds to piece together why he was here, and why he’d come through the ambulance entrance. Fear shot through her like a bolt of lightning, and she jumped to her feet, catching a glimpse of the patient’s lower half before the door swung shut to the trauma bay.
Pushing aside the unnatural angle of his right leg, her brain homed in on the green shorts—the same ones Graham often wore climbing.
She blinked twice before her brain caught up.
“Noah,” she cried out, and his eyes found hers. She stumbled toward him, pushing off the counter, but with each step her lungs squeezed tighter. She tried to breathe but her throat was closing in. At the edge of the nursing station she gripped a chair and slid to the floor, knowing she might pass out if she remained on her feet.
Noah was at her side immediately, kneeling down and with one hand on her shoulder.
“It’s Graham?”
He nodded, his expression grave. “I don’t know what happened. He was at the top of a cliff to anchor the rope. We haven’t top-roped in a while, but it’s basic, beginner stuff and I’ve seen him do it a hundred times. I noticed he didn’t anchor himself first, but I don’t know why. I was at the bottom, waiting. We all were.” He shifted onto his knees and squeezed his eyes shut. “Claire, when he hit the ground I thought he was dead.”
Her stomach heaved and she whirled around to reach behind the counter for a trash can. By the time she’d emptied her stomach, Ruthie was there, her hand on Claire’s back. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
Claire shook her head and lifted a shaking finger to the room where they’d taken Graham. “That’s my friend. My roommate.”
“Shit.” Ruthie’s forehead wrinkled in concern. “Hang tight. I’ll see if I can move your patients around, okay?”
Claire pressed a trembling hand to her forehead and nodded.
“But…you can’t go in there right now.” Ruthie’s eyes were empathetic but stern. “Okay?”
Claire’s whole body began to tremble, and Noah put an arm around her.
“Is there somewhere we can go?” he asked Ruthie. “While we wait?”
Ruthie finished tying the plastic bag and pulled it out of the trash can, then glanced around the ER. “Take her over there to pod 7. You can pull the curtain. I need to speak to a few people and I’ll be there soon, okay?”
Noah helped Claire to her feet, though as they crossed the shiny linoleum floor, she wasn’t quite sure who was supporting who. His skin had gone past white and was now tinted a shade of green, which could have been from witnessing Claire getting sick, or everything hitting him now that he was out of the enclosed environment of the ambulance.
He deposited Claire into a chair against the wall and pulled the curtain before he sat in the chair beside her.
She stared straight ahead at the clean hospital bed in the center of the room. “What did they say on the ride over?”
“A lot of stuff I didn’t understand,” Noah said. “Broken leg, but not through the skin. Likely concussion. Thank God he was wearing a helmet. They put a tube in his throat…” His voice cracked and he dropped his face into his hands.
They had to intubate him? Another wave of nausea crashed over her, and she slumped over and pressed her forehead to Noah’s shoulder. “Did they mention his blood pressure? Give him any medications?”