Page 1 of I Still Do

Chapter One

Cora Wells filled the last of the four vials of blood she was taking from her patient. After she set the vial on the nearby tray, she carefully taped the small catheter against the older woman’s arm to secure it for use as a future IV. “There we go, Mrs. Sayles. See, that didn’t hurt too much, did it?”

Karen Sayles gingerly pressed the tape as though she were afraid it would come loose. “Well, it did hurt, but it was better than I expected. At least you didn’t use a square needle this time.” Her eyes sparkled with humor.

Cora chuckled. “I should hope not. Where did someone use a square needle?”

“The lab on Main. My arm was bruised for a week.”

Cora finished putting her patient’s ID stickers on each of the tubes of blood before regarding her with a sympathetic look. “That’s not good. Hopefully that tech’s skills have improved drastically since then.”

Mrs. Sayles nodded. She pointed to one of the pockets of Cora’s scrubs. “That’s a beautiful pin.”

Cora’s hand brushed the metal angel that she always kept pinned to her scrubs. “Thank you. It reminds me that God sends us help when we need it, even if it’s not always the way we expect.” She never hesitated to tell her patients the true meaning of the pin she wore, but she also found out that not many people asked about it unless they had similar beliefs.

“That’s a lovely thought,” Mrs. Sayles said as she leaned her head against the hospital bed. The poor woman had come into Denton Regional Hospital’s emergency room with several unusual symptoms, including intense pain in her lower back. Upon initial examination by Dr. Coalson, the cause was uncertain. He’d ordered blood work and, because of Mrs. Sayles’ high blood pressure and heart rate, a bag of saline to make sure she was properly hydrated.

Cora patted the older woman on the hand. “I’m going to take these to the lab. I’ll be back to get you hooked up with some fluids to help you feel a little better.”

“That sounds good. Any chance you could add a little painkiller to those fluids?”

Mrs. Sayles had indicated a high pain level when she was first brought into the ER. Cora smiled kindly. “I’ll check with the doctor for you.” She moved the control within reach. “Remember, just push that green button if you need me for anything. I won’t be long.” With a last comforting smile, she left the small triage room.

After making sure the blood was delivered to the lab, Cora tucked a wayward blond lock behind one ear and headed for the nurse’s station at the center of the ER. She’d French-braided her long hair first thing that morning and used some bobby pins and hair spray to preserve the hairstyle for as long as she could. Her hair was so straight and fine, though, that it always managed to escape at some point during the day. As her coworker, and fellow nurse, Jen, would say, it was a good problem to have. Especially compared to Jen’s curly hair that often turned frizzy.

Jen handed Cora a steaming mug filled with coffee from the coffee maker in the break room. Cora took one sip and tried not to grimace. “George must’ve made it this morning.”

Jen nodded. “Yep. Someone needs to teach that man how to make a real cup of coffee.” She took a tentative sip from her own before pushing it away. “That’s not going to happen. The vending machine it is. You want anything?” When Cora shook her head, Jen stood. She patted her curly hair with a frown. “I really wish it weren’t so muggy today.”

Cora doubted her friend would mind the warmer weather so much if her hair didn’t take on a permanently frizzy look in the heat.

“Okay, I’ll be right back.” Within five minutes, she’d returned with a can of Dr Pepper. She sat down again before opening it and taking a swig. “It’s going to be so strange not seeing you on Friday. I swear, you’re practically always on shift. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you take an unscheduled day off.”

That was an exaggeration, but not a huge one. It was true Cora took as many shifts as she could safely work. She liked to think of it as dedication as opposed to not having enough of a life like Jen often accused her of. Well, that and a need for money to pay for her apartment and insurance. She may not have grown up knowing she wanted to be registered nurse, but now she knew this was totally her calling. “It will be weird. But I’ll be back to work again on Monday.”

Cora spotted Dr. Coalson come around the corner. She flagged him down and told him of Mrs. Sayles’ request for pain medication. The doctor agreed and wrote orders on the patient’s chart.

“As soon as we get that blood work back, I’ll come in and speak with her again.”

Cora nodded. “I’ll let her know.” She looked at Jen. “I’m sure you all will get along just fine without me.”

“Maybe so, but I can’t help but wish I were going with you. Aspen, Colorado would be an amazing change from all of our heat and humidity.”

Jen frequently made it clear how much she disliked the warm summers in Texas. According to her, it was practically a sin for the temperatures to remain above sixty into the second week of November. It seemed as though fall was nearly non-existent this year. While Cora sometimes missed the pretty autumns she’d seen in other locations, she didn’t miss the nasty winter weather. As far as she was concerned, it was a good trade-off.

“Cooler weather would be nice. I plan on curling up by a roaring fire while reading a good book.” Cora smiled. She’d told Jen about the trip a while ago but kept the details to a minimum.

“Well, you should definitely get out a little. Learn how to ski. Something.”

“I promise I won’t stay a hermit the entire time,” Cora said with a smile.

“Good. I’m going to hold you to that. It’s a free vacation, and you need to take advantage of that. So, tell me about your ex-husband’s family. You must’ve been close if you were invited.” Curiosity shone in Jen’s eyes.

Cora resisted the urge to sigh. It always seemed to baffle Jen that Cora didn’t want to spill about her personal life. Especially when Cora probably knew more about Jen and her family than she’d ever wanted to know.

Besides, just thinking about Grey Jackson had Cora’s heart aching. “I spent most of my time with his family through high school. There’s Grey, his younger brother, Dare, and his older brother, Flynn. I guess their dad took off before Dare was born, and Flynn always kind of filled in the protector role. He never did like me. My parents were so messed up, and Grey’s mom and grandfather kind of took me under their wings…” Her voice caught. She’d spent a lot of time visiting with Grandpa Jackson. It was still hard to believe he was gone.

She’d attended his funeral several months ago and stayed at the back of the church. Other than saying hello to Grey’s mom, Maria Jackson, she hadn’t really spoken to anyone else. She’d watched Grey from a distance as he grieved with his family but didn’t think he realized she’d attended at all. Which was probably for the best. Grandpa Jackson’s funeral was not the place to reopen old wounds.

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