Maverick In The Er

Matthews Jessica

Two, Dr. Keegan had promised she could return to her hospitalist position on the fifth floor. Knowing how the other internist, William Madison, was already complaining about covering those patients as well as his own in the cardiac ICU, he was also eager for her to shake the E.R. dust off her feet and return to where she belonged.

Three, the odds of encountering a trauma that involved a close friend or family member were nonexistent. After three months in Pittsburgh, she still hadn’t developed any serious friendships or personal relationships and as long as she was expected to staff the ED, she intended to keep it that way.

As she strolled around the labyrinth, a growing sense of acceptance and her natural can-do attitude filled her. Her transfer may have thrown her off balance, but she was slowly feeling more in control over her situation. Today’s trauma had only caused her a few moments of anticipatory dread, but after that she’d handled herself well. She’d still have some bad moments, but she’d be able to deal with them. She would deal with them.

Her next mental project was to get Trey Donovan, including his twinkling eyes and his lazy grin, out of her head. After a single morning in his presence, he’d already shattered her calm, making her wish for those happy-ever-afters she’d stopped imagining were possible.

She knew better than to respond like a schoolgirl to a man who had enough charisma for three guys, but she’d done it anyway. Maybe her reaction was due to first-day-on-a-new-job stress because she’d been dreading this day for the past week. Maybe it was because she hadn’t slept well last night and her defenses were down.

Maybe it was because her blood sugar had dropped. She’d chosen to take the late lunch break and that had been delayed because they’d been busy.

Then again, maybe it was all of the above. Yes, she decided. That was it. She’d been simply tired, stressed and hungry. This afternoon, she’d be more like her old self, able to resist his wicked grins with the logic that they meant nothing.

“Can I walk with you?”

Startled out of her private thoughts, Sierra glanced down to see a girl, about ten years old, falling into step beside her on the concrete walkway. The child wore an oversize T-shirt, bright pink leggings and well-scuffed white-and-lavender tennis shoes. Her skin was tanned and her brown hair possessed lighter streaks, which suggested she spent a great deal of time outdoors. Several strands of hair had escaped her ponytail, which wasn’t quite centered in the back of her head.

Although Sierra wanted to finish her walk through the labyrinth in contemplative quiet, she didn’t want to be rude. Instead, she glanced around the garden, carefully scanning each bench for a potential parent or an otherwise responsible adult. Surprisingly, the garden was vacant and no one else was walking the labyrinth. They were alone.

“Won’t your parents wonder where you are?” Sierra asked instead.

“My mom’s dead and when my dad’s out of town I stay with my uncle,” the girl informed her. “He says I have to keep myself busy until he finishes his shift. He has a very important job, you know.”

“Really?” she replied, amazed by how anyone could expect a child at her age to amuse herself in a hospital for hours on end. Surely a man who had this so-called “very important job” would realize that.

“He’s a doctor,” the child added meaningfully.

Sierra wasn’t as impressed as the little girl obviously expected her to be. By virtue of his profession, the man should know better than to let a child run around a busy medical center completely unsupervised.

Immediately Sierra wondered if any of the physicians she knew had a niece this age, but none came to mind. Even so, something about this child’s features seemed familiar.

“You’re a doctor, too, aren’t you?” the youngster asked, as if she already knew the answer.

“Yes, I am. Are you supposed to be outside by yourself?”

The girl drew herself up, adding an inch or so to her almost five-foot frame. “I’m almost eleven,” she said, clearly affronted by Sierra’s question. “My uncle says I can come out here if it’s not raining.” She raised her hands, palms up. “No rain today.”

“No. No rain today,” Sierra echoed. “Doesn’t he worry about you wandering all over the hospital while he’s working?”

“No, because I had to cross my hearts…” she pantomimed “…and promise to follow the rules. I can only go to certain places, like the li-berry, the coffee shop or this garden. Or his office,” she tacked on. “He trusts me.”

At least this nameless man had set a few boundaries.

“The other rule is that I don’t talk to or go with a stranger, no matter where I am.”

“I’m a stranger,” Sierra pointed out, deciding she would hunt down this irresponsible uncle and give him a piece of her mind, colleague or not! The risk was too great to leave this little girl unattended. The garden saw a lot of foot traffic and anyone who weighed more than a hundred pounds could haul this youngster off without breaking a sweat, even if she was kicking and screaming.

“No, you’re not,” she said, shaking her head. “I’ve seen you lots of times.” She scurried in front of Sierra and peered at her identification badge. “You’re Dr. McAllaster. Your name tag says so.”

“Yes, but—”

“I’m Hannah,” she answered. “Now we aren’t strangers anymore.”

Hannah’s logic was definitely lacking. “Actually, we still are strangers,” Sierra corrected her gently. “I could be a not-very-nice person.”

Hannah’s ponytail bounced with each shake of her head. “Nope, you’re not. I’ve been watching you ‘cause you come here almost as much as I do. If you were a rotten person, you wouldn’t feed the birds your leftover crackers.”

Goodness! Had she been so self-absorbed that she hadn’t noticed an unattended child before today? Or maybe she’d seen her and thought she’d been under the watchful eye of one of the many visitors who came to the garden for fresh air and sunshine. Regardless, it was still eerie to realize that someone had observed her so carefully without her knowledge. She would definitely have to pay closer attention to her surroundings in the future.

“Plus, you’re a doctor. Doctors aren’t mean people. Oh, they can do nasty things like give us a shot, but it’s for our own good,” she said confidently.