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The unit secretary was already sighing to prepare for me to attack her. “Sorry to ruin your weekend, Doc. But I thought I’d give you a heads up that there was an accident at the dirt bike track, and they’re on their way in now.”
Hissing air through my teeth back at her, I bent down to peek out my side mirror as I made my way to the turnaround. “I’m on my way. But I’m out of town, so it’ll take me a minute to get there. Don’t blow up my phone again unless it’s to tell me never mind.”
Flicking the call off before she could answer me, I shook my head and waited for the next car to pass before I spun out into the other lane. “I’m sorry about this. Hopefully, it won’t take too long.”
Sliding her hand up and down my knee, she uncurled from me and straightened up against the seat. “It’s okay. I understand how it is.” Bringing her shoulder up toward her ears, she hummed to herself to taunt me. “I’ll just be lounging around in my jammies, looking at big-screen TVs and kitchen tables.”
I needed her body against me — like if we could reconnect physically, everything else in my life would be easier. “Beds. You need to be looking at beds.” Her love saved me once, and I was counting on her to sort me out this time, too. “Go ahead and order one of those now, if you don’t mind. Everything else is vastly less important.”
Once I got to the top of her driveway, I grabbed her face and pushed my lips against hers. “I’ll call you as soon as I can and let you know what’s up.”
She pulled my hand away — at least she tried to, but I held her tight until she nodded. “I’ll be right here until you come back. I promise.”
Dipping toward my left, I pulled her phone from the door and held it out as I let her go. “Remember, find a bed.”
She backed out of the seat and flicked her eye up at me as she opened the door. “Yes, sir.”
Once she got to her kitchen door, she spun around to blow me a kiss, and I grabbed it before she disappeared.
The truck went into reverse, and I tossed my arm around the back of the seat as I maneuvered the narrow driveway. “If your crazy ass has finally snapped, Dom, just go with it.”
The lip gloss she slathered on earlier rested in the cubby above the stereo, slapping against the wall closest to me when I turned onto the street. I hadn’t been able to even look at one of those little tubes since the night I wrecked my truck, but I slid it into my pocket to have something tangible in my hands that Faith was real this time.
30
Always
Faith
I stayed up half the night responding to Dom’s sporadic texts and few-second phone calls that faded from ‘I shouldn’t be much longer’ to ‘I’m so sorry, baby.’
I’d worked with more doctors and nurses than I could count over the years and witnessed the terrible pressure they faced, even under the best circumstances.
The overwhelming stress of Dom’s exhausting and understaffed shifts in this ICU on a shoestring budget in the boondocks leaked through his short, sweet messages, no matter how he tried to shield me from the truth of the toll his job took on him.
His whole life was in chaos most of the time, and it had gotten no simpler now that I returned to it. I took my responsibility to heart. Trust me. So, when I caught dueling male voices below me in the kitchen over the gurgles of my mouthwash, I rushed to finish getting ready for him.
Finding Dom and Dad standing against the counter in the kitchen, I leaned in the entryway. “What are you doing here so early?”
Yawning back at me, Dom checked his nonexistent timepiece. “Oh, shit. I’m sorry.” His eyes struggled to stay open as he wiggled his finger by his ear. “I didn’t leave work until a little bit ago and wasn’t thinking, I guess.”
When we were kids, he ran himself ragged night and day to make sure I had everything I needed. But we were older now, and the youthful energy that used to keep him going looked like it abandoned him sometime throughout the night.
Rushing to catch him before his body collapsed on itself, I laid my hand on his cheek and realized he was still wearing the same thing he left me in. “Have you been to sleep at all since you brought me home yesterday?”
Prying my fingers from his face, he kissed them and put his arm around me. “I’m fine. I just came to see if you wanted to go for a ride or something.”
My father and I shared a glance, and I rolled my eyes up to the ceiling as I led Dom toward the hallway. “Un-un. You’re going upstairs to bed right now. We can hang out when you wake up.”
Touching my shoulder as we passed him, Dad put his imaginary phone to his ear. “If you need anything, I’ll be up at the lake.”
Pointing behind me at him, I yelled over my shoulder. “If you get too drunk, call me. Don’t be driving home shitfaced.”
The crinkly shopping bag full of snacks I packed him fell from the counter. “Yes, ma’am.” Needing a good spritz of oil, the creaky kitchen door almost covered for him when he murmured back under his breath. “I forgot how damn bossy you are.”
Already pulling his shoes off when I got through the bedroom door behind him, Dom seemed to have trouble even catching his breath. “I’m so sorry I skipped out on you last night.”
Straightening out the bedding I hadn’t made, I yanked out the sheet from the bottom so his long legs could poke out the end. “You never have to apologize to me for doing your job. Especially not one as important as yours.”
