Love On Call

“Long day.” Mari opened her locker, fished out her bag, and slung it over her shoulder. She smiled brightly—at least she hoped she looked perkier than she felt. She wasn’t sick, she knew the difference, but she didn’t want any questions about her doing the job. “Good day, though. I think I’m still on West Coast time.”

“Uh-huh.” Glenn leaned her shoulder against the bank of lockers. Mari was trying to pretend she wasn’t almost out on her feet, and she wouldn’t embarrass her by telling her the act wasn’t working. She appreciated pride, and guts. It had been a good day, different than what she was used to, but surprisingly satisfying. If she wasn’t used to eighteen-hour days she’d be beat herself. After the chaos of the mass casualty alert first thing in the morning, four bright-eyed and eager PA students had arrived on their doorstep, greener than green, and they had a full board backed up of routine patients to see. Some of them had already been waiting several hours. Glenn had planned a full morning of orientation talks and tours for the students, but patients came first. The newbies didn’t seem to mind. Their first clinical rotation and Glenn had to sort them out on the fly, get them assigned to a senior supervisor, make sure they understood the chain of command, and keep an eye on them all day. Overseeing new troops in the field whose entire orientation included little more than an exchange of names wasn’t anything new, and at least under the current circumstances, they weren’t likely to get themselves blown up if they made a mistake. But the potential was there, figuratively if not literally, for them to FUBAR a trusting civilian, and that was unacceptable. So Glenn spent the whole day with eyes on the students even though each had their own assigned supervisor.

Mari had taken to the ER as if she’d been working there forever. Glenn clued in pretty quickly that she was a natural with patients, got along well with the nurses, and didn’t ask for help unless she needed it—and knew when she did. Glenn hadn’t spent valuable time watching Mari, and if she had, she might have noticed sooner the deepening shadows under her eyes. Her mistake—one she wouldn’t repeat.

“Things went pretty well today,” Glenn said. “You’ve got a knack with the students.”

Mari smiled. “Thanks. They seem like a pretty good bunch.”

Glenn unlocked her locker, stuffed her wallet into her back pocket, and locked up again. “So far.”

“You have any worries?” Mari looked around to make sure they were alone. “I didn’t notice any obvious problems.”

Glenn shrugged. “No, not really. The usual pecking order—at the top is Antonelli, who’s overconfident and cocky, and then there’s Marcus on the bottom rung, uncertain and deferential. They’ll need watching for different reasons. Baker and Hernandez are the middlemen, both solid, not flashy but they get the job done.”

“Antonelli has something to prove,” Mari said softly, thinking the big, dark-haired, movie-star-handsome man’s attitude reminded her a little of Glenn. Although Glenn lacked the arrogance—she didn’t need it. Her skill was all the swagger required to cement her place at the top of the hierarchy. “That might come from him being older than the rest. And his military service is a plus, even if it makes him a little hardheaded.”

Glenn laughed. “He’s got decent experience, it’s true. Maybe a little too used to going it alone. Sometimes experience gets in the way.”

“Double-edged sword.”

“Many-edged sword,” Glenn murmured. “At any rate, no clear and present danger among the group.”

“I agree.” Mari hitched her shoulder bag a little higher. “Well, I need to get home if I’m going to put together that talk for tomorrow morning.”

“I’ve got a PowerPoint, if you want it, that would cover most of it. It hasn’t been updated in a while, but it shouldn’t take long to add a few pertinent slides. Place to start.”

“I’ll take it,” Mari said instantly and pulled out her phone. “If you give me your number, I’ll text you my email address right now. This is great.”

Glenn hesitated. Flann and the hospital operators were the only ones who had it. Even Carrie didn’t have it, and they often shared rides to and from events. Come to think of it, Carrie had never asked and she’d never thought to offer. “Right. Sure.”

Mari tapped away, and a few seconds later, Glenn’s phone buzzed. She checked the text and saw an email address. “Got it.”

“You’re a lifesaver.” Mari started for the door. “I’ll be home in twenty minutes, so send it over whenever you think of it.”

“You walking?” Glenn asked. Sunset wasn’t for another hour, and even if it had been dark, Mari would be fine walking home alone. Still, unease gnawed at the part of Glenn’s psyche that couldn’t stop assessing, surveilling, hunting for hidden dangers. For the secret killers.

Mari nodded. “How did you know?”

“Because you can drive anywhere in town in ten minutes or less, and if you’re not living in town, you’ve probably got at least a half-hour drive.”