Page 74 of Deprivation

“What’s up?” I ask.

“Not sure. Huggie and Jamie are downstairs and they asked what our ETA was. I’m assuming they’re just dropping off a patient, but it’s not like them to stick around for us. I need to get back down and mark back in service so we’re available to respond to the next call.”

“Oh, of course.” Wanting desperately to know more about Katrina’s situation, I make a mental note to return later to check on her and find out how she and the baby are doing. As the three of us head back toward the ER, we abruptly come to a stop in the doorway as we hear a tiny, shrill cry from the newest patient at St. Luke’s. My hand flies to my heart and I feel tears return, immensely relieved at the sound. As we enter the elevator, we all look to each other in stunned silence. I wonder if they’re considering how close we’d come to delivering that baby in here.Had that really just happened?

As we turn the corner into the ER, returning the stretcher to its home in room five, the hallway is a buzz of conversation. I walk out of the room and notice Jamie is standing next to Mark wearing a haggard expression. I wonder who they’d brought to the ER to give him such a look. After a brief conversation, I watch as Jamie walks away, swiping his large hand over his shiny, bald head with a look of perplexed seriousness. Mark brings the radio to his mouth, giving the all clear to dispatch that his crew is available for their next emergency call.

Slumping my back against the wall adjacent to room five, I take a cleansing breath. Completely flummoxed by the day’s events, I must look like a war weary soldier.

Mark walks up, pinning his hands on either side of my head and looking down at me. Without warning, we both break into hysterical laughter. This crazy moment is one no one would truly understand besides Mark, Jess, and myself. “I guess I should stop ordering enemas on people who can’t poop until I’m sure what they’re trying to push out, huh?”

* * *

Nick

It’s been almost a week since I was schooled by that brazen, brown-eyed firecracker, and instead of using the incident as a wakeup call to walk away, I cannot stop thinking about her. Replaying her words in my mind, I have to admit I did come off sounding like a pompous bastard. What had she said? “Come on my fancy boat so I can impress you with my wealth and self-importance.” I had to face it, there was plenty of shame in my game.Well, lack of game.

I only have one more patient in the office for the day, and she’s already fifteen minutes late to her appointment. Five more minutes and I’ll write her off and head to the ER. Maybe I can apologize. If I tell her I’m sorry for coming off as a portentous jerk, might she reconsider and have a drink with me? Why wasn’t I letting this go? If it’s this difficult trying to get to know her, why would I think going out with her would be any easier? But there was an indisputable pull toward this challenging beauty I couldn’t fight… or didn’t want to.

Turning the corner into the ER, I walk with renewed determination. I’m going to simply walk up to her and ask if I can speak with her momentarily. We don’t need every conversation between us to be fodder for ER gossip. I’ll apologize and be frank. I suck at this. Well, maybe not that frank. I want to ask her out. See where this could go. And her reactions to me in the past, both physically and from her texts, seem to confirm she could want the same.

Or so I thought until I look down the hall to see Katarina leaning against the outside wall of a patient’s room, a large attractive firefighter pinning her in, both of them laughing and smiling like they have their own little secret.

It appears I’m too late.

Chapter Thirty-One

Present Day

Nick

It’s Saturday. I’m not on call today and should be reveling in a leisurely day with nothing planned, but I’m in a foul mood. It’s raining, so my soccer game has been canceled. I can’t take the boat out. I could get some things done around the house and then go out for drinks and find some company, but I’m man enough to admit… the only company I want I watched flirt with another man. And not just any man, an attractive, well-built firefighter. It seems I couldn’t pull my head out of my ass fast enough to go after what I wanted. Fear and distrust can really cripple an otherwise intelligent, capable man.

“Hey, Dad. What’re you up to today?” I ask, missing this big-hearted man.

“Not a lot with the weather like this. Probably put some soup on the stove to simmer. You want to come by and have a little lunch?”

“Sure. I have to run some errands later, but lunch would be nice. I’ll see you in about an hour.”

* * *

Pulling up to my childhood home, I note Dad has planted pansies where the begonias were this summer. There are also bright yellow mums planted strategically about the yard and porch area. He has such an eye for gardening, and his choices add so much to the pleasing aesthetic of the home. I find myself hoping I’ve inherited some of his green thumb.

“Hey, Son, right on time. Pull up a seat. I made some iced tea and some biscuits to go with the soup.” He beams as he lets me in the front door.

“Sounds and smells really good.”

Sitting down, I remove my phone from my back pocket and place it on the counter. Dad still has his back to me, preparing the lunch spread he’s worked so hard on. I open the phone and look down at the message app, shining up at me like a beacon. Unable to help myself, I open the text with Kat from a few weeks ago when I spontaneously text her on my birthday. Reading through the silly banter, I shake my head and laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Dad asks, watching me over a bowl of steaming vegetable soup.

“I don’t know that I can explain it so it’d make any sense. After I left dinner with you on my birthday, I text the woman I mentioned to you on the boat.” I watch as Dad hurriedly places the second bowl at his placemat and quickly takes a seat.

“Go on. If it made you smile, I take it you two have made up and started seeing each other?” he responds hopefully.

“Well, no. The texts started off as innocent banter, but then it got a little weird. We’ve never really spoken about it since then.”

“What was weird about it?”

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