“Got it, Dad.” She rushed off like an eager puppy, obviously pleased to be in the thick of the excitement.

“Heads up!” Becky called from the central desk. “Incoming. They’re here with Norville.”

Lauren helped Christy and Bill unload Norville from the ambulance and turned to find Grant walking out to meet them. Some of Lauren’s tension dissipated. She saw Beau rushing past the desk and then caught sight of Brooke carrying a pair of green scrubs down the far hallway.

Safe. They were safe. Thank God.

As Christy gave report, Lauren followed the retinue. The place was packed, and more were coming. She’d be busy here for a while.

“There you are, Lauren McCaffrey. I’ve been looking for you!” Gina Drake caught her as soon as she entered the department. Gina’s bright hair, the color of a new penny, fell in disheveled curls to her shoulders—she’d been growing it out. She touched Lauren’s arm, tugged at her shirt. “Where’s your Superwoman outfit? Everybody’s already heard about the emergency surgery you performed. Way to go, girl!”

“Thanks, but—”

“No time to talk, we’ve got patients to see. I volunteered to help out here for a few hours, and I’m going to follow you around for a while to orient. You did come here to work, didn’t you?”

“Of course, but—”

“Come this way, then. The triage area is now a regular exam room, and they’re setting up for triage in the conference room. Got it?”

Lauren tried to keep up with her firebrand friend, the respiratory therapist turned ER aide. “Who’s following whom around?” she teased. “How are the boys?”

“Oh, they’re loving the excitement. They’re at the neighbor’s, where we rode out the tornado in the basement. Levi’s disappointed that nothing happened on our street except one tree got uprooted.”

Lauren heard a sudden gasp behind them. She turned to see the town mayor, Jade Myers, approaching the entranceway to Trauma Two, her intense dark eyes filled with shock, the slender fingers of her right hand covering her lips as she watched Grant and the others working over Norville.

“Uh-oh,” Gina murmured. “Guess she just found out about Norville the hard way.”

Lauren squeezed her friend’s shoulder. “Why don’t you go on to the triage area and start taking vitals. I’ll be right there.”

“Okay, but be warned, we’re doing lots of urgent care tonight. Lots of cuts and bruises, scrapes and panic attacks, and we only have two docs. You’re going to have to play nurse practitioner.”

Lauren nodded, still watching Jade. Obviously, the woman cared a great deal about Norville. “It can’t be any worse than what I’ve already had to do,” she said softly. “I’ll just check on Jade and be right there.”

Gina went on without her, and Lauren stepped to Jade’s side. “He’ll be okay,” she said softly. “They’ll take good care of him.”

Jade looked at her. “I didn’t know.... I came to see about Uncle Ernest, and then this ... What happened?” The woman’s customarily deep, commanding voice trembled. “I tried calling him at home and couldn’t reach him.”

“He came to the church,” Lauren explained. “When the tornado hit, two kids ran toward the windows, and Norville ran after them. It looks like a sliver of glass shot into his neck, almost like a bullet. It hit a vein, and the blood built up in his neck, cutting off his airway.”

To Lauren’s surprise, moisture filmed Jade’s eyes. “But he’s breathing now.”

“We had to do an emergency procedure to relieve the blood. Don’t worry, it looks worse than it is now. Dr. Sheldon will call a surgeon in, and they’ll be able to take care of it.”

“He’s going to be okay?”

“I think he’ll be fine.”

Jade nodded, straightened her shoulders. “Then I’ll stay out of the way and let them work. I need to see about Uncle Ernest.” She patted Lauren’s arm as she turned to walk away, all business once again. “Thank you.”

Excerpted from:
Urgent Care (THE HEALING TOUCH, Book 3) by Hannah Alexander
Copyright © 2003, Hannah Alexander
ISBN 0764225308
Published by Bethany House Publishers
Used by permission. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.

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